Help! Skimmers Gone Crazy !

[Dewman]

Ok, I know WHY it's gone crazy.
Let me explain. My cyano problem came to a head. I had to do something and I think, for the time being, it was the right thing.
My cyano was out of control. i was doing everything that everyone told me to get as much of the dissolved organics out of the tank, but it wasn't working. I layed down 1.5 inches of oolitic, over the three inches of sand already there. The back wall of my tank (75 gal) was covered. I had done 2 - 25% water changes two days apart and had syphoned off most of the cyano from the sand. In addition, I bought three fighting conchs and ran carbon. I put 5 new 110watt VHO bulbs over the tank.
I came home from work yesterday and the bottom of my tank had blossomed with cyano.
So, I took desperate measures. My LFS owner is a big proponent of using natural solutions to problems, but even he had seen me battle this cyano for too long.
I guess he felt like I had spent enough money on the problem (over $150), because he gave me some antibiotics to add to the tank.

Well, now my skimmer is going crazy with foam, i guess the sudden die off of all that cyano is doing it. i can't adjust the flow of water into the skimmer and the cup keeps filling with dirty water every 20 mninutes. The foam is VERY wet!

Can any one help ?
Do I just need to keep removing this skimmate until the water clears up and the die off stops?

 

[Dewman]

My LFS was not open today (one day off a week) so I couldn't ask him.

 

[danmhippo]

Yes, just keep emptying the collection cup. Do you think you can make modification to the collection cup so you can connect a vinyl tubing to the collection cup for the skimmate to flow into a larger container?

 

[Dewman]

In Fact, that is exactly what I just did. i took a 1/16 inch drill bit and drilled a hole in the bottom of the collection cup on the side.
A red tubing coupler just exactly fits into the hole. I attached about 4 feet of silicon tubing to the coupler (heavier and gravity keeps it straight) and ran it into a five gallon bucket. i also closed off the air hole just a little bit by inserting a tubing reducer into the end.

Foam is still pouring out at an incredible rate and it is just slightly dirty.
Normally the skimmer produces perfect , slightly moiust foam with a nice body on it. This is just rediculous. It looks like you shook a bottle of beer and opened the top.

 

[wasabi]

i believe most slime removers recommend turning the skimmer off for several days. hth

 

[Dewman]

Seriously? I can do that, but I wasn't sure.
Won't that just allow all the dead cyano to build-up in the tank? Won't I just have the same problem when I turn the skimmer back on?

U mean no disrespect Wasabi, But will someone else comment on this. If so, I will turn it off for a couple of days.

 

[wasabi]

sorry i can elaborate a little more on cyano. i dont think red slime remover or antibiotics are going to solve your problem they never did for me. dilligent water changes, less feeding, and the one sure fire way i have found to combat red slime is by dripping kalk. both tanks i started dripping kalk into overcame the red slime in several weeks.

 

[danmhippo]

Dewman, I don't use antibiotics in my tank, but have read instructions on some of the packagings that skimmers are recommended to be turned off for a day after the application. Water changes are also recommended, and will certainly help in your case.

 

[SPC]

I agree with both Dan and wasabi on their recommendations, turn the skimmer off. The die off mess you are now going to encounter should be dealt with using carbon and water changes. Also let me add that the cyno can become resistant to the medication and often will come back worse than before.
Steve

 

[Mouse]

Yea, youll end up breeding a super strain cof cyano, same deal with the mozzies and malaria pills.

 

[Dewman]

Well, this morning I went and looked at the bucket and it ws half full of water. I am at work now, but will call and have my roommate turn off the skimmer. I had to go to bed lastnight and didn't get these messages until this morning.
I had planned a water change for tomorrow anyway. I dripped kalk lastnight. I had been experiencing a lower PH so I have been dripping b-ionic and kalk in higher than usual amounts.

I was told, now that I have started the antibiotics, I need to see them through and not stop dosing for 5 days. The package says to do this as well so I better do it right now that I have taken the plunge.

I will give more updates as events warrant...

 

[Anonymous]

dewman- i think i may have told you that emycin will make your skimmer go nuts(if i haven't, know you know-not trying to be an' i told you so'). sounds like something,either has slowly, or suddenly, is adding an appreciable amount of organics into your tank.keep your skimmer OFF if you're gonna go through with the antibiotics-but they will not solve the issue, and the chances are excellent that somewhere in the tank, some cyano WILL survive and not respond to further antibiotic treatments.you might want to double check your PO4 levels after you're done.(don't bother now, the emycin will shoot it through the roof) what PO4 kit are you using?and, don't take the question the wrong way, but is there a chance that anyone used some kind of glass cleaner on the outside of the tank w/out you knowing?

 

[Dewman]

I am not sure it was eurythromycin (sp?) zitz, but thanks for letting me know. I will go home during lunch and shut it off.
I know antibiotics won't take care of the problem, but it certainly will help.
I only decided to do it at the recommendation of the LFS owner.

No glass cleaner for sure. My roommate doesn't even pay attention to my hobby, he could care less if all the fish were floating on their backs, he wouldn't notice. So I know he didn't do anything to it.

I still don't know where the dissolved organics are coming from.

The tank started out as a critter tank and a hotbed of copepod breeding. Low light and warm water, 60 lbs live rock and 3.5 inch DSB. I had about 40 hermits and two brittle stars in there. I also had a Clarkii and a conylactus anemone. That was it!
I fed twice a week and only as much as the clown could eat, plus a little more for the detrivores. The condy got one salad shrimp per week.
I covered the old sand bed with 1.5 inches of new sand, so I know that the stuff living in the upper levels of the sand will die, but hopefully it will be trapped below the sand and contribute to the anaerobic activity in the DSB.
I have done, all together, a 100% water change since I put the contents of the 29 gal reef, into the 75.

 

[Dewman]

Byt the way, almost forgot...

I don't have a phosphates test kit. i test for Mg, Alk, Ca, Nitrates and nitrites, PH and...salinity... that's about it. Have not tested for anything else before.

What do you recommend?

 

[kanapino]

Hey Dewman,

1. I don't think antibiotics dose away with your problem but the contary considering that they kill all bacteria indiscriminately, i.e. also those that contribute to your nitrogen cycle.

2. Wet foam is not good in any skimmer it is mostly water anyway.

3. Why don't you try to reduce your nutrient level in your tank by adding an oxidizing solution. This will oxidize all the organic material. Here on reefs there is an article by Albert Thiel discussing the use of KMnO4 potassium permanganate in a 5% solution as a form of nutrient export in an emergency situation. The article was called "Nutrient and Algae Control in the Marine Aquarium." It worked for me when I had a huge cyano bloom a while back. Like written in the article "Watch your redox potential."

Good luck,

Brian

 

[Anonymous]

What are you using for your water changes/makeup water? Are you using RO/DI water or plain tap water? unfiltered tap water can have a high amount of organics.

I didn't see this answer in your posts, so I'm soory if I overlooked it.

 

[Anonymous]

if you're keeping inverts, i'd say a PO4 kit is a must- i used red sea fish farms kits a while back, and for the lower end of the price spectrum, i'd say they were fairly accurate and reliable-others here pro'bly have experience with other, and higher end brands-but i think red sea's are a good start- the level you want to shoot for is ZERO.check your salt water after you mix it and let it sit for a day with aeration as well.some carbons will add phosphate to your tank!(another reason why some only run it occasionally-only to remove 'tint')PO4 is a major fuel for micro algaes and cyano growth, though it's usually a combination of factors.please update on what you find out. + i agree with jdm-i once had an analysis done of the water in the salem, n.h. area,and was not only shocked at what i found, but also at some of the 'allowable' standards-from heavy metals to volatile organics-i've seen PO4 levels off the reading capabilities of PO4 kits in some tap sources!again, good luck

 

[Dewman]

Vitz-
Hi, just got back from the house. (30 miles away + Lunch traffic= long drive)
OK, I turned off the skimmer and tested the water PH. It tested out at 7.8 or there abouts. Just slightly acidic. Started my kalk drip.

I use RO/DI water for water changes and I use Instant Ocean for salt.
So Now tonight I am going to scrape the remaining cyano off the back wall. It has all turned white and started to blow in the current. I have not seen one trace of the red cyano any more. The LFS said to dose through by the directions.

I remember a couple of people on here were using some special type of filter medium that was very efficient at removing EVERYTHING from the water. I think it the name starts with a( P_ _ _ _ _ _ Filter) ?
Does anyone know what I am talking about?
I think it is the same stuff they use in kidney dialysis. If the LFS has some of it, I think i will try some of that tonight when I put the filter on for a couple of days.

Any suggestions?

 

[danmhippo]

Poly filter

 

[SPC]

Or you can purchase a Hot Magnum and use the micron cartridge, I have to lend mine to danmhippo all the time .
Steve