*Need Help (Pics)*

[chatyak]

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[chatyak]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14409895#post14409895 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mutateddogbone

as you can see i had the same problem as you do now. i forgot to ask, but what exactly are your params? if your MG is too low then it could be fueling the growth as well.

Why would low MG fuel growth?

 

[chatyak]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14409629#post14409629 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mutateddogbone
it definately looks like diatoms to me. i had that same problem when i had a hair algae outbreak. tank was covered in diatoms sticking to the hair algae and sand. most likely the diatom bloom is from a flood of nutrients into your tank from the hair algae dying. you want to turn off all your pumps and powerheads and siphon out all of the diatoms, even the ones on the sand, being careful not to siphon off much of your sand. also manually remove as much hair algae as possible.

as far as the refugium goes you want to be careful if you are going to remove the sand. there is a lot of nutrients locked up in it and it may send your tank through another cycle, which would make your current algae/diatom problem even worse.


all in all a series of 15% weekly water changes should take care of it if your bulbs are still in date

I plan to make a new sump.. will that cause a cycle?

 

[Whys]

A new sump shouldn't create a cycle. Cycles are caused by decaying matter.

 

[chatyak]

I'm going 3 days without lights. Only using lights to siphon out junk.. see how that helps..

 

[chatyak]

Well today was a lot of work.

I ended up going to the store and buying a 90 gallon tank for a sump. So now I need to figure out what compartments should fit where.

I emptied both my 40g and 55g underneath the main tank and dragged the 55 gallon sump/sand outside... moved the 40g back into the stand... emptied my RO/DI bin and threw it away (was getting 150ppm... which is odd b/c the same bin that holds ro/di near the sink has .002ppm... go figure...)

So a few questions....

1) Where can I buy a large 50+ gallon bin that is Food Safe that I can use for a gravity fed top off?

2) What is the best way to transfer the RO/DI water from near the sink (where the unit is) about 20 feet away to the auto top off bin? I was using the same bin in both places and one had .002ppm and the other 150+ppm... so I assuming the vinyl tubing I bought at HD was "dirty"?

3) There was some live rock rubble in my sump I just threw away... it is out drying now.. can I put that back in my new sump or will I have a cycle?

 

[Whys]

How long has it been dry? Chances are there will be a bit of dieoff. That could result in a cycle, depending on the amount of rock, the amount of dieoff, and the amount of healthy liverock and sand to handle the added bio-load.

Sorry, no easy answer. Feel'n lucky?

 

[chatyak]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14450919#post14450919 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Whys
How long has it been dry? Chances are there will be a bit of dieoff. That could result in a cycle, depending on the amount of rock, the amount of dieoff, and the amount of healthy liverock and sand to handle the added bio-load.

Sorry, no easy answer. Feel'n lucky?

By the time the new sump is ready... probably 4-5 days dry.

I will take pictures of them... I cant' see any visible growth on them... they were in the intake bubble tower in my old sump. I'm going to say that beneficial bacteria will probably have died off.. but as far as decay to start ammonia... I doubt it?

Any ideas on the other questions?

 

[Whys]

When liverock is shipped it is simply wrapped in paper. Much of the bacteria survives. Most of the dieoff is the stuff clinging to the rock, such as sponges, filter clams, amphipods, etc.

Sorry, can't help you with the other stuff. Honestly, I'm a little surprised at how few responses you're getting on this thread. I personally rely a great deal on the collective knowledge here to fill in gaps in my own information.

Maybe you need to start with a joke?

 

[Tswifty]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14436384#post14436384 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by chatyak
Well I cleaned out my GFO/Carbon reactor.. shiny and new... vinegar works miracles! Then rinsed in RO/DI then back to work.. I found out I was using half of the amount of GFO and Carbon I should of been.

So that's back to work full force. I also took some pictures of the skimmer's collection for the past 1.8 days or so.. so will post those later.

Any more thoughts on the sump are welcome.

You will be exhausting your GFO a lot faster, and you need to try and change it out as soon as it exhausts. You can check by monitoring the output of your reactor, and testing the PO4 values in it. Initially you should be getting a 0 reading out of the output, as soon as you see it begin to increase... time to swap it out.

Looking at the pictures... I come back to the skimmer. With that type of algae issue and the daily maintenance, your skimmer should be pulling "mud" and almost overflowing daily.

When I went through a nasty algae battle, I had to empty my collection cup every 18hrs or it would overflow... and that was a Remora. :eek2:

 

[chatyak]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14451710#post14451710 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Whys
When liverock is shipped it is simply wrapped in paper. Much of the bacteria survives. Most of the dieoff is the stuff clinging to the rock, such as sponges, filter clams, amphipods, etc.

Sorry, can't help you with the other stuff. Honestly, I'm a little surprised at how few responses you're getting on this thread. I personally rely a great deal on the collective knowledge here to fill in gaps in my own information.

Maybe you need to start with a joke?

Ok I will... I thought this was reef CENTRAL not reef SINGLE.

:rollface:

 

[chatyak]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14451893#post14451893 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Tswifty
You will be exhausting your GFO a lot faster, and you need to try and change it out as soon as it exhausts. You can check by monitoring the output of your reactor, and testing the PO4 values in it. Initially you should be getting a 0 reading out of the output, as soon as you see it begin to increase... time to swap it out.

Looking at the pictures... I come back to the skimmer. With that type of algae issue and the daily maintenance, your skimmer should be pulling "mud" and almost overflowing daily.

When I went through a nasty algae battle, I had to empty my collection cup every 18hrs or it would overflow... and that was a Remora. :eek2:

Those are good points Tswifty thank you. By monitoring the output, do you mean the more it puts out the better it is? ie) Slow flow = exhausted?

 

[Tswifty]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14450619#post14450619 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by chatyak
Well today was a lot of work.

I ended up going to the store and buying a 90 gallon tank for a sump. So now I need to figure out what compartments should fit where.

I emptied both my 40g and 55g underneath the main tank and dragged the 55 gallon sump/sand outside... moved the 40g back into the stand... emptied my RO/DI bin and threw it away (was getting 150ppm... which is odd b/c the same bin that holds ro/di near the sink has .002ppm... go figure...)

So a few questions....

1) Where can I buy a large 50+ gallon bin that is Food Safe that I can use for a gravity fed top off?

2) What is the best way to transfer the RO/DI water from near the sink (where the unit is) about 20 feet away to the auto top off bin? I was using the same bin in both places and one had .002ppm and the other 150+ppm... so I assuming the vinyl tubing I bought at HD was "dirty"?

3) There was some live rock rubble in my sump I just threw away... it is out drying now.. can I put that back in my new sump or will I have a cycle?

Any particular reason you want a gravity fed top off?

Here is the ATO Reservoir I used to use. Rubbermaid Roughneck... you just want to look for HDPE or LDPE grade materials.

I use a 44g Rubbermaid Brute trash can on wheels, and also have a few 18 gallon containers that have wheels on them as well.

As far as the rock goes, I would consider bleaching it, drying it out, then re-using it. I've done that with some rocks that had become overtaken in vermetid snails before.

 

[Tswifty]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14451948#post14451948 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by chatyak
Those are good points Tswifty thank you. By monitoring the output, do you mean the more it puts out the better it is? ie) Slow flow = exhausted?

No... the flow will remain constant. You want to dial down the flow until you have a reading of zero PO4 in your output. Then check it every few days... once you begin getting a reading, the GFO has become exhausted... and needs to be replaced.

Slower flow is better... too much, and the GFO media will pulverize.

Here is an example of what the media should look like in the reactor, although I recently read an article which questioned if even "tumbling" is necessary.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVbw1yCGTbg

 

[Whys]

See that?! I'm the guy who turns the embers while waiting for others to supply more "would".

 

[chatyak]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14451957#post14451957 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Tswifty
Any particular reason you want a gravity fed top off?

Well I paid $110 for mine and it works 100% well.. but I don't know how to set it up unless it's gravity fed.

I have this one.

I just drilled a hole into a rubbermaid trash can and ran ro/di tubing into the open side of it you see there...

 

[chatyak]

Can I use this ato with a resovoir on the floor?

 

[chatyak]

I also have that aqua lifter pump you have tswifty.. never used it for more than acclimation though.

 

[chatyak]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14451987#post14451987 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Tswifty
No... the flow will remain constant. You want to dial down the flow until you have a reading of zero PO4 in your output. Then check it every few days... once you begin getting a reading, the GFO has become exhausted... and needs to be replaced.

Slower flow is better... too much, and the GFO media will pulverize.

Here is an example of what the media should look like in the reactor, although I recently read an article which questioned if even "tumbling" is necessary.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVbw1yCGTbg

I understand what you mean. I will also look into the MSX line as you say they are good?

I need a PO4 test kit then as I do not have one. I also just replaced the media so that will buy me some time.

Isn't it true though that if there is algae in your tank a PO4 test kit will read zero since almost all of the phosphates are being used by the algae to grow??

 

[chatyak]

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