Another log of a Newbie starting out with TBS rock!
- Thread starter gregt
- Start date
Scuba Oz
New member
Dang, Dave. Whats going on up there? How did the output on your skimmer get clogged? $12.99 for a porc!!? bet you were laughing your *** off at that:lol:
Thats great to hear Dave, congrats to the kids and their leader:beer: (for us) and for the kids :celeb1: :celeb3:
Glad to hear you got it all cleaned back up and going again. How bad is the skimmer? Where did it break at.
Good to hear you are doing well
Thats great to hear Dave, congrats to the kids and their leader:beer: (for us) and for the kids :celeb1: :celeb3:
Glad to hear you got it all cleaned back up and going again. How bad is the skimmer? Where did it break at.
Good to hear you are doing well
dwculp
New member
Attack of the algae
Attack of the algae
I am currently having a massive algae outbreak and am doing mortal battle with it. I came back from vacation to a completely algae choked tank and, a clogged skimmer and saltwater all over the floor. The algae was covering EVERYHTING in the tank, mostly brown algae with a touch of red cyano. The brownish/green algae was covering the rocks, glass and everything else. The red cyano was creeping onto corals and choking off things. I cleaned the tank on Friday and changed 15 gallons of water.
I came in Monday to more algae, I cleaned and changed another 15 gallons.
Today the algae was back, covering the sand of the tank. I siphoned off more red cyano and cleaned as much as I could off the rocks and changed another 15 gallons of water.
I will go in tomorrow and do another cleaning and water change. I also fixed the skimmer and added phos-guard to help drop PO4 levels. I am changing so much water in order to try and drop nutrient levels, mostly PO$ as my nitrate levels are mostly undetectable.
I believe the algae bloom is caused by an increase in PO4 levels and a massive temperature rise fuelling the algae growth. During the summer there is no AC in the room unless I am there to turn the timer on and so water temperatures are soaring to around 86 degrees. I have put in a request to have the timer reprogrammed so that my AC doesnt turn off.
After cleaning everything still seems healthy, the tank is not as vibrant and colorful with the bits of algae hanging over everything and covering up the nice pink and red coraline algae.
I am confident I can lick the problem though.
Attack of the algae
I am currently having a massive algae outbreak and am doing mortal battle with it. I came back from vacation to a completely algae choked tank and, a clogged skimmer and saltwater all over the floor. The algae was covering EVERYHTING in the tank, mostly brown algae with a touch of red cyano. The brownish/green algae was covering the rocks, glass and everything else. The red cyano was creeping onto corals and choking off things. I cleaned the tank on Friday and changed 15 gallons of water.
I came in Monday to more algae, I cleaned and changed another 15 gallons.
Today the algae was back, covering the sand of the tank. I siphoned off more red cyano and cleaned as much as I could off the rocks and changed another 15 gallons of water.
I will go in tomorrow and do another cleaning and water change. I also fixed the skimmer and added phos-guard to help drop PO4 levels. I am changing so much water in order to try and drop nutrient levels, mostly PO$ as my nitrate levels are mostly undetectable.
I believe the algae bloom is caused by an increase in PO4 levels and a massive temperature rise fuelling the algae growth. During the summer there is no AC in the room unless I am there to turn the timer on and so water temperatures are soaring to around 86 degrees. I have put in a request to have the timer reprogrammed so that my AC doesnt turn off.
After cleaning everything still seems healthy, the tank is not as vibrant and colorful with the bits of algae hanging over everything and covering up the nice pink and red coraline algae.
I am confident I can lick the problem though.
Scuba Oz
New member
Who was taking care of the tank while you were gone, anyone? Wonder how the PO4 levels got up high if there was nobody feeding the tank, I guess the skimmer getting clogged would have done it, only thing that seems feesable. It will take some time but you will get it back to where it needs to be, we have faith in ya!
dwculp
New member
Of algae and vegetarian trigger fish.
Of algae and vegetarian trigger fish.
Still doing battle with algae but it is starting to come under control. I think tomorrow or Friday I will get a toothbrush and scrub the rocks really good as I siphon water, that should bring back the vibrance of the rocks!!
I also have a fish-only tank with a lion fish, niger trigger, HUGE and MEAN Clarkii clown and a yellow tang. I put some seaweed in for the tang today and the trigger, lion and clown were chewing on it!!! Really surprising was the lion fish!!
Of algae and vegetarian trigger fish.
Still doing battle with algae but it is starting to come under control. I think tomorrow or Friday I will get a toothbrush and scrub the rocks really good as I siphon water, that should bring back the vibrance of the rocks!!
I also have a fish-only tank with a lion fish, niger trigger, HUGE and MEAN Clarkii clown and a yellow tang. I put some seaweed in for the tang today and the trigger, lion and clown were chewing on it!!! Really surprising was the lion fish!!
dwculp
New member
The turn of the tide
The turn of the tide
I think I have turned the tide on this algae battle. I brought a toothbrush and a few other scrub brushes and began scrubbing algae off the rocks today and spihoning it out. The tank looks sparkly again and the rocks are starting to show their colors once more. I think one or two more scrubs and water changes ought to do it!!
The turn of the tide
I think I have turned the tide on this algae battle. I brought a toothbrush and a few other scrub brushes and began scrubbing algae off the rocks today and spihoning it out. The tank looks sparkly again and the rocks are starting to show their colors once more. I think one or two more scrubs and water changes ought to do it!!
dwculp
New member
Big giant gorilla crab must die!!
Big giant gorilla crab must die!!
I think part of my algae problem stems from the big hairy gorilla crab I have been unable to catch!! He is eating my clean up crew!!!
I now declare all out war upon him. Tomorrow I remove every rock from the tank and search it good, he can no longer hide from me, I tried to be nice and get him out easy, no more being nice, he comes out tomorrow whether he wants to or not!!
Big giant gorilla crab must die!!
I think part of my algae problem stems from the big hairy gorilla crab I have been unable to catch!! He is eating my clean up crew!!!
I now declare all out war upon him. Tomorrow I remove every rock from the tank and search it good, he can no longer hide from me, I tried to be nice and get him out easy, no more being nice, he comes out tomorrow whether he wants to or not!!
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dwculp
New member
Holy crab Batmn, I got him!!
Holy crab Batmn, I got him!!
I got him!!! I got him!!! Wooooooooooooooooo Hooooooooooo!!! I got him!!!
After the lights went out I was observing the tank and while cleaning earlier I had knocked a rock off and behind everything else and forgot about it, this one has the really pretty blue and orange Christmas tree worm that adorns the TBS site now ( http://www.tampabaysaltwater.com/ordering/index.html ). So I desiced to reach in a find it, I reached back behind everything a knew this was also the lair of the gorilla crab. I began pulling dead snail shell after dead snail shell out, probably 20-30 empty snail shells, a few keyhole limpet shells etc when I latch onto something and pull it out. My heart skipped a beat, IT WAS THE CRAB!!! I thought, great, I got his last molt, now if I could only get him. When his big black claw dug into me I knew it wasnt his molt but it was him!!!
I pulled him out and threw him into the FO tank, he sank to the bottom and attracted the attention of the spawn of satan, my GIANT decorator crab who has done battle with trigger fish - and won.
The claws came up and both opponets began circling each other, they locked into a battle of the titans that did not last long. The spawn of satan won handily and made a nice dinner of big, mean, hairy gorilla crab.
I think I can now safely replace my clean up crew.
Holy crab Batmn, I got him!!
I got him!!! I got him!!! Wooooooooooooooooo Hooooooooooo!!! I got him!!!
After the lights went out I was observing the tank and while cleaning earlier I had knocked a rock off and behind everything else and forgot about it, this one has the really pretty blue and orange Christmas tree worm that adorns the TBS site now ( http://www.tampabaysaltwater.com/ordering/index.html ). So I desiced to reach in a find it, I reached back behind everything a knew this was also the lair of the gorilla crab. I began pulling dead snail shell after dead snail shell out, probably 20-30 empty snail shells, a few keyhole limpet shells etc when I latch onto something and pull it out. My heart skipped a beat, IT WAS THE CRAB!!! I thought, great, I got his last molt, now if I could only get him. When his big black claw dug into me I knew it wasnt his molt but it was him!!!
I pulled him out and threw him into the FO tank, he sank to the bottom and attracted the attention of the spawn of satan, my GIANT decorator crab who has done battle with trigger fish - and won.
The claws came up and both opponets began circling each other, they locked into a battle of the titans that did not last long. The spawn of satan won handily and made a nice dinner of big, mean, hairy gorilla crab.
I think I can now safely replace my clean up crew.
dwculp
New member
Ok, Im ****ed now!!
Ok, Im ****ed now!!
This algae thing is driving me up the wall!!! I cleaned the tank yesterday and came in to another algae covered tank again. The stuff grows THICK overnight!!!
Brown algae.
I measured my water paramteres today:
pH: 8.2
Temp:: 26C (79F)
Nitrate: undetectable
Nitrite: 0
Ammonia: 0
PO4: 2.0ppm!!!!!!!!!!!
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...........whats causing these PO4 levels!!! I have changed greater than 75 gallons of water in the last week!!
My tank looks ugly!!! Im ****ed, Im really hopping mad now!!!
So, my plan:
1. No food for anyone for a week.
2. Change 15 gallons of water a day
3. Keep scraping and siphoning the algae out.
4. Im running Phos Guard in the skimmer right now, thinking seriously of getting a phos-ban reactor.
Oh, got a super nice looking Ricordia mushroom today!! Was fairly small, about the size of a half dollar but was pretty cheap. It only had a tiny, tiny rock it was attached to so I didnt glue it down, I just set it in the tank, besides, I will probably move it once I get this darned algae under control.
I will take pics tomorrow if I can.
Ok, Im ****ed now!!
This algae thing is driving me up the wall!!! I cleaned the tank yesterday and came in to another algae covered tank again. The stuff grows THICK overnight!!!
Brown algae.
I measured my water paramteres today:
pH: 8.2
Temp:: 26C (79F)
Nitrate: undetectable
Nitrite: 0
Ammonia: 0
PO4: 2.0ppm!!!!!!!!!!!
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...........whats causing these PO4 levels!!! I have changed greater than 75 gallons of water in the last week!!
My tank looks ugly!!! Im ****ed, Im really hopping mad now!!!
So, my plan:
1. No food for anyone for a week.
2. Change 15 gallons of water a day
3. Keep scraping and siphoning the algae out.
4. Im running Phos Guard in the skimmer right now, thinking seriously of getting a phos-ban reactor.
Oh, got a super nice looking Ricordia mushroom today!! Was fairly small, about the size of a half dollar but was pretty cheap. It only had a tiny, tiny rock it was attached to so I didnt glue it down, I just set it in the tank, besides, I will probably move it once I get this darned algae under control.
I will take pics tomorrow if I can.
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