Pretty much starting over

[RBTA]

Well, quite frankly, things involving my tank is a mess... My sump is this wierd bioball thing and wierd shaped box from Fishman. My skimmer is an Excalibur and isn't working to right anymore. About the only things going great is the Tunze skimmer and the Metal Halides. My fuge and main tank is infested with cyano, which I am going to take down the fuge and completely wash it out and stuff, I don't have a lighting fixture for it anymore so I'll have to buy a new one. I also have bubble algea on a lot of rocks. I had a killer BTA that killed about two of my BTAs save for my rose, and then I completely forgot to check the salinity this week and realized it was really high.

But anyway the thing Im posting about is that I am going to completely drain the tank, take out the old sand, scrub the bubble algea and other gunk of the live rock. And basically I am asking for assistance. I have like two plastic tubs that hold about 20gal? give or take of water, I would need a few more possibly. One for coral, one or two for liverock and water, and I can put my rose in a small bucket I have.

So if you just want to drop off any spare containers I can borrow, even a few cups of live sand to help seed my new sand, I'll have some of my own but I would like a bit more diversity. And if you even want to stop buy and help me with everything it would be appreciated, my parents aren't that fond of helping with "gross and smelly stuff" Of course if anyone stopped by food and drink will be offered.

I haven't set a date since my work schedule is a bit shaky right now since the boss is gone for vacation, and my parents want to go down to Chikita?sp? in Virginia to watch the wild ponies swim from their island and such.

But I need pointed in the direction of buying a few things.
-New skimmer possibly?---etc what is pretty good yet not extremely expensive?
--Sand, I will check Home Depot eventually.

So if anyone has anything to lend that will make it a bit easier for me let me know, I will try and find a suiteable date and let you know about it.

Thanks for all the help!
-Chris

 

[wds21921]

Ugh Chris, I wish you would have done this about a month or two ago. I just threw out some perfectly good Southdown. Sorry to hear about the mess also. A friend of mine from work went through the same problems with his Excalibur EX(?) model I believe. He switched over to either a Coralife Super Skimmer (CSS) or an Aqua C Remora about 6 months ago. Since then he's had no skimming problems.
I've got a 20 gallon silver rubbermaid container your welcome to use. I already promised it to Tbor but I dont' think she'd mind in this case if you borrowed it to get things up and running.

Second, get rid of the bioballs. All you need is a prefilter and some live rock under it in that chamber. The bioballs are probably keeping a high level of nitrates in them causing much of your cyano problem.

 

[RBTA]

Yeah I am going to get rid of the bioballs, that was my main plan and then thought that I should take care of all of the problems going on in my tank.

I have Chemi Clean to get rid of the cyano, worked great the first time, but I think the reason it came back is because of the bioballs.

 

[kaptken]

Hi Chris, sounds like a lot of problems. first can you clean the excalibur and its pump to get it working again? sounds like similar cyano problems ive been playing with in some tanks. do you have a southdown DSB in the fuge? you might disconnect itfrom the tank and sump and see what happens. mine just filled up with waste and smelled like sufides. the macro grew good on it though but it wasnt helpingthe tank much. try that first andleave the bioballs. change only one thing at a time and then run a while to look for any improvement.

i have a stand alone tank. 30 gallons, with a small sump. it was sliming so i added a penquin biowheel filter on the sump and it cleared up. the macro in it is growing like crazy and the frags look better. this tank has a plenum sand bed. how much flow do you get from sump to tank?

I removed all my southdown DSBs for now. they were not working out for me. but if you want to continue anyway i have some new SD sand for you. I dont believe HD carries it anymore. they switched brands to a silica sand. I just found the southdown too fine, and with not many critters to bore thru it it turned anerobic right away. emitting sulfides and amonium, which i think feeds the cyano and hair.

 

[RBTA]

I have a DSB in the tank right now, but I am thinking of just going with only a small amount in the tank. I do need to try to clean the skimmer and see if that helps any, I probably should take smaller steps like you recommended, but I think I still have to take LR out to scrub off bubble algae and atleast, and I would like to catch and take out my tomato clown and a yellow damsel.. big mistake putting them in.

but in order to take the old DSB out I would have to take all the water out of the tank right? otherwise it could make the water high in nutrients right? Especially since its DSB correct?

 

[kaptken]

well, you can syphon the SD DSB out with a 1/2 inch vinyl hose. try to leave the top aerobic layer alone and push the hose into the sandbed and take out the deeper layers. that way you remove the bad part and leave the rest covered with the aerobic sand on top. the bioballs and skimmer should clean up any effluent stirred up. that way you can remove the dsb a little at a time. it takes awhile. you might get a couple gallons worth of sand with each 5 gallon bucket sypyhoned.

 

[mbbuna]

Hey Chris

sorry to hear of your troubles. dont buy any sand, i have plenty when/if you need it and you can also have a few cups from my sand bed. when you pick a date to do this lets us know, if im free i will help in any way i can.

Chris

 

[RBTA]

Ok thanks for all the advice and everything! I will slowly remove the bio balls, a few every day, I should start that soon hopefully. I will get back to you with a date when I decide to change sand and scrub the LR and such.
-Chris

 

[kaptken]

well Chris, the algea only grows if it has the right food and light. so getting filtration up to speed would be the first thing to do. nothing wrong with bio balls, they convert the stuff the algea uses to the nitrate cycle. and hopefully the rock takes care of that. there are way too many successul reefs around using arobic filtration, of bioballs, or fluidized sand beds to think its just bad. i think the problem lies elsewhere. when i have increased the aerobic filtration in a couple tanks, some slime and algea problems went away. i just have my frag sstem to fix now. itstill gets slimed, buti need to redrill for better drainage to the sump. more flow. and better bio filter in the sump. the first order of business for a tank filter is to quickly handle amonium, and nitrites which are bad. then worry about diguesting the nitrates with either live rock, DSB or a plenum sandbed.

 

[RBTA]

I have read that bioballs can be beneficial to the tank, but they also can be hazardous as well. And while they do break down stuff into the nitrate cycle, they can also have debris build up and contribute to the nutrient levels. I just think I would like to see the results of the tank with bio balls out of it.

Indeed I do admit I need a bit more flow I think. I have the return pump to the tank, a Mag 7 and a Tunze that I bought from MTM. I also need to replace tubing to and from the fuge, I need to replace the overflow siphon piece as well. Maybe buy another powerhead too.

 

[MadTownMax]

I agree with the advice above - I'm personally not a big "sand" guy - but the guys above know how to do sand the right way.

I've converted my excalibur over to an air-driven skimmer using a tetra tec deep-water air pump and a large airstone - pretty cheap conversion (check my gallery for pics)

If you want a new skimmer that's cheap and effective - I'll add my vote for the coralife super skimmers of the needlewheel variety (online or a store with similar prices so you don't pay 2X as much as you have too)

sorry to hear about the killer BTA - you should name it "Kujo" :lol: it might be best to dump all but your favorite BTA and just pamper it (regular 2-3X a week feedings with high-protein food) until it splits a bunch and fills the tank w/ it's clones - may take a year or two - but it would be worth it

you might want to check out the Maxi-Jet stream mod for a cheaper way to more flow (even if you're not DIY handy, you can now buy all the parts pre-made) - but I don't know how safe it would be in a tank full of anemones.

 

[Tbor]

Chris - Sorry to hear about your problems. I have some buckets you could borrow, and a keg tub and rubbermaid trash can only ever used for water that could work temporarily. Let me know if and when you decide to do the tear down. My weekends are looking pretty busy for now, but I'll be gald to help if I'm around. I can also give you some live sand as a seed (now that mine is back in business!). - Mary

 

[MadTownMax]

oh - yes, I can help too - I've got a few buckets and a rubbermaid. I could make some water for you too, but my Kold-Sterile unit still puts out about 3ppm nitrates in my make-up water (Newark water... grrrr)

I've got some free time on the weekend, and can donate some generic rowaphos too if you want to try some out....

 

[RBTA]

Ok thanks for all the replies and the offers for the help! I am not sure what day it is yet, I was hoping for next week but I get to work monday-saturday seeing as my boss is on vacation, so I will shoot for the week after that. And I'll let you know when it is.

I probably need only two or three containers.. I just remember one or two of mine have holes in them for some reason.

I also could use guidance on cleaning my skimmer and cleaning my return pump.

Sand of course, but Chris said he had some so that would be great.

Uhh.. I think I covered everything, if not I'll remember last minute and hurry to get it covered haha.

Thanks again for all the help and advice
-Chris

I think I may shoot for sunday July 16 possibly, I'll get back to you on all that.

 

[MadTownMax]

skimmer cleaning - just a brush that can fit inside- if it really needs it badly - I myself have never cleaned a skimmer, but then again - I've never used the same one for more than 2 years.....

cleaning a pump - you want to soak the impeller and the interior of the pump with vinegar - let it sit for a few hours to clear away and loosen all the calcium deposits - then scrape out what is left (careful not to scratch anything :eek1: ) generally people do this every 6-months, I prefer to do it more often (like every 3 months) as I dose kalkwasser, and that tends to deposit calcium on the impeller and surrounding parts of pumps more quickly.

If you really want to clean those out quick, you can use muriatic acid (avilable at hardware or home improvement stores) but you have to be careful as it is extremely caustic!

 

[wds21921]

White vinegar does a good job also in breaking down calcium deposits. Just mix 50/50 with warm to hot water and let soak.

 

[kaptken]

Yup, Ive used muratic acid fora long time. its real quick because its pretty concentrated hydrochloric acid. they sell it in the paint department at home depot, for about 5 bucks a gallon. they sell it to ETCH concrete before painting. i'm always cleaning my maxi jets with the stuff. just add a couple ounces to water, not water to the concentrated acid, and wear goggles or some sort of good eye protection., and dont breath the fumes. being an old chemistry buff as a kid i got used to handling strong acids and bases. but it works ten times faster than vinegar. just be careful.

I use a lot , and sometimes go thru 2 gallons a year. but for most people a gallon will last forever.

 

[mbbuna]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7709931#post7709931 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kaptken


I use a lot , and sometimes go thru 2 gallons a year. but for most people a gallon will last forever.

what else are you useing it for?:blown: :mixed:

 

[kaptken]

good little smiley face!!

nothing much else. just cleaning lots of pumps and power heads that get calcite deposits and jam up. and anything else that gets covered too. like when i tear down one of the smaller tanks. it takes the encrusted coraline off the glass, and anything plastic. and i do the sea clone skimmers now and then. they get covered with those little feather dusters inside with the hard shells. they slow down the skimming. and the waste water cleans the drains. hopefully all PVC piping. it fizzes away all that aragonite sand that goes down the drain, from cleaning stuff and syphoning sandbeds during water changes.. just keep the ventilation on. its all hydrogen gas fizzing off.

 

[Tbor]

Good save, Ken! LOL