Guys I'm so discouraged, P***** Off, ready to give up - Page 2

ScubaSteve · #1 12-18-2012, 01:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by whatcaneyedo

Am I the only one who thinks that the skimmer is grossly inadequate for this tank? Based upon the picture it also looks quite immature, especially for coral and clams.

I couldn't find an exact spec on the skimmer but it looks to be of a CPR BakPak style design, which for this tank I wouldn't call grossly inadequate but certainly on the lower end. That said, I grew SPS happily for many years skimmerless and with a CPR skimmer on a similar sized tank.

Mandyplo: what kind of skimmer are you running there?

I agree with you though: tank looks young. I don't think that's the problem at hand but without the tank's "immune system" at full speed, it's more of a battle keeping things in check.

I bet the clams are lovin' the excess phyto though

whatcaneyedo · #2 12-18-2012, 02:03 AM

I've yet to see a tank with a good skimmer turn into green soup. I've also run the CPR BakPak, Aqua C Urchin Pro, Red Sea Prism, and some other horrible piece of crap that no one else has heard of. They're alright for aerating a nano but I'd spend the money on good liverock before I'd purchase one again.

mandyplo · #3 12-18-2012, 02:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScubaSteve

I couldn't find an exact spec on the skimmer but it looks to be of a CPR BakPak style design, which for this tank I wouldn't call grossly inadequate but certainly on the lower end. That said, I grew SPS happily for many years skimmerless and with a CPR skimmer on a similar sized tank.

Mandyplo: what kind of skimmer are you running there?

I agree with you though: tank looks young. I don't think that's the problem at hand but without the tank's "immune system" at full speed, it's more of a battle keeping things in check.

I bet the clams are lovin' the excess phyto though

Hi tank is a year old in January. Should I keep the clams in and let someone babysit my corals? Also I am running the octopus BH-2000 skimmer.

#4 12-18-2012, 02:59 PM

Algae water. This happens with freshwater high tech planted tanks all the time. If you could borrow a uv steralizer or a diatom filter, it will clear up in a day. If not, just keep up with water changes.

My endlers would love this type of water.

lastlight · #5 12-18-2012, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChizerBunoi

Algae water. This happens with freshwater high tech planted tanks all the time. If you could borrow a uv steralizer or a diatom filter, it will clear up in a day. If not, just keep up with water changes.

My endlers would love this type of water.

+1

My freshwater buddy uses his uv every now and then for what appears to be the same issue. Assuming it's algae and not bacteria or clam soup maybe see if you can borrow someone's uv?

ScubaSteve · #6 12-18-2012, 01:06 AM

I share your pain. I too am a poor-a** student. This hobby combined with school ain't the best combo at times. But... we can get through this. I've had my share of s****y times with the tank too. Just gotta persevere.

You might have a couple of things going on here. The first being the algae itself. Algae is incredibly persistent and can survive with very little in the way of nutrients. There is a reason why algae has gone, more or less, un-evolved for millions of years and still kick ass. It is really good at what it does - unfortunately for you. Before you moved the tank it was in a sorry state of affairs and over run with algae. You went lights out for a few weeks and killed off the algae (or so you think). This die off released nutrients into the water and rocks. As soon as the lights came back on BAM! algae comes back with a vengeance because it has the nutrients to do so. Algal spores can pretty much survive a nuclear holocaust, so they were just sittin' there waiting for the lights to come back on.

You're probably not measuring much in the way of nutrients in the water because, well, the algae is consuming it all. Even as algae dies off, there are new cells forming that scavenge the nutrients. It's the circle... circle of life...

Gotta break that cycle up! The worst thing about algae is also its best: it's really good at scavenging nutrients! Right now all of your nutrients are, more or less, locked up in the waterborne algae. This makes it really easy to remove. Do HUGE water changes (50%+) every couple of days to try to export as much of the algae (and along with it, the nutrients) in one go as possible. Take your more delicate corals over to a friend's place (someone here will probably be willing to coral-sit) and go to town on your tank. Do a few really big water changes over the course of a few days to really cut down the population and reduce nutrients. Hopefully the GFO can then start to compete with the algae for phosphate and wipe out the population. And the BRS reactor, whenever it gets there, will do an even better job of that. You might have to do this a couple of times but eventually the algae will exhaust it's own food supply, especially if the GFO is doing its thing.

Basically, good ol' fashioned water changes is what you have to do. Adding GFO to your tank will remove nutrients from your water as they are produced (be it from feeding, dying corals, or dying algae).... assuming the algae doesn't get to it first. Typically just adding GFO in a reactor works for algae growing on rocks because you can remove the phosphate before the algae can get it. But right now, with waterborne algae, you probably have more algae than GFO (in terms of surface area). They're winning the battle simply by sheer numbers. Water changes will, literally, divide and conquer.

Remember, a tank is a closed system. Accumulation = Mass in - Mass out. Even if you kill off the algae, that mass has to go somewhere else in your tank. You need to take it out of your tank via skimming, water changes and GFO. Water changes are the big guns in your case.

Also, if you're looking for a cheap maintenance method consider vodka dosing or VSV + MB7. Serious, what student doesn't have an excess of vodka around the house. This has been incredibly effective for me in keeping the tank in good order.

Skimmerking · #7 12-18-2012, 01:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScubaSteve

I share your pain. I too am a poor-a** student. This hobby combined with school ain't the best combo at times. But... we can get through this. I've had my share of s****y times with the tank too. Just gotta persevere.

You might have a couple of things going on here. The first being the algae itself. Algae is incredibly persistent and can survive with very little in the way of nutrients. There is a reason why algae has gone, more or less, un-evolved for millions of years and still kick ass. It is really good at what it does - unfortunately for you. Before you moved the tank it was in a sorry state of affairs and over run with algae. You went lights out for a few weeks and killed off the algae (or so you think). This die off released nutrients into the water and rocks. As soon as the lights came back on BAM! algae comes back with a vengeance because it has the nutrients to do so. Algal spores can pretty much survive a nuclear holocaust, so they were just sittin' there waiting for the lights to come back on.

You're probably not measuring much in the way of nutrients in the water because, well, the algae is consuming it all. Even as algae dies off, there are new cells forming that scavenge the nutrients. It's the circle... circle of life...

Gotta break that cycle up! The worst thing about algae is also its best: it's really good at scavenging nutrients! Right now all of your nutrients are, more or less, locked up in the waterborne algae. This makes it really easy to remove. Do HUGE water changes (50%+) every couple of days to try to export as much of the algae (and along with it, the nutrients) in one go as possible. Take your more delicate corals over to a friend's place (someone here will probably be willing to coral-sit) and go to town on your tank. Do a few really big water changes over the course of a few days to really cut down the population and reduce nutrients. Hopefully the GFO can then start to compete with the algae for phosphate and wipe out the population. And the BRS reactor, whenever it gets there, will do an even better job of that. You might have to do this a couple of times but eventually the algae will exhaust it's own food supply, especially if the GFO is doing its thing.

Basically, good ol' fashioned water changes is what you have to do. Adding GFO to your tank will remove nutrients from your water as they are produced (be it from feeding, dying corals, or dying algae).... assuming the algae doesn't get to it first. Typically just adding GFO in a reactor works for algae growing on rocks because you can remove the phosphate before the algae can get it. But right now, with waterborne algae, you probably have more algae than GFO (in terms of surface area). They're winning the battle simply by sheer numbers. Water changes will, literally, divide and conquer.

Remember, a tank is a closed system. Accumulation = Mass in - Mass out. Even if you kill off the algae, that mass has to go somewhere else in your tank. You need to take it out of your tank via skimming, water changes and GFO. Water changes are the big guns in your case.

Also, if you're looking for a cheap maintenance method consider vodka dosing or VSV + MB7. Serious, what student doesn't have an excess of vodka around the house. This has been incredibly effective for me in keeping the tank in good order.

Well Said Steve