Near Tank Crash 101

[SnowManSnow]

Tank Specs:
75g volume (65g display)
Octopus recirc 150 Skimmer with venturi and mesh wheel mods
250 DE MH with T5 actinic supplimentation
A couple of MJ1200s with high flow mods for circulation
_____________________________________________________________

It pains me to state that my tank is NEAR a crash. BUT, I'm going to post here to HOPEFULLY illustrate to some less experienced reefers how to bring one back.

RIGHT NOW. I have a cyno outbreak due to neglected water changes, over feeding, and under skimming.

SEVERAL of my LPS corals are bleaching from the outside rims some exposing skeletons (not good when you see white skeleton). Due, in part to poor water conditions and a fairly drastic (however gradual) change in lighting.

One fish is loosing a little color around the front of his mouth.

I've also changed wattage and spectrum of lighting over the past few months that is aiding to everything.

Here is what I'm going to do TONIGHT_______________

15g water change (While vac the substrate to remove buildup of detrius and other organics).

Set skimmer to "a little extra wet" for a few days.

I'll post results and other actions as they happen.

Wish me luck. I love my tank, and gotta get it back in immaculate shape!

B

 

[Anonymous]

that octopus is underskimming your tank? I thought they were pretty decent skimmers?

 

[SnowManSnow]

I've had it off a few days to do the mod. Before that it was doing a decent job. One of my main issues is that I stated dosing phyto

I also had a rock with some pretty BIG shrooms on it that went sour in the back of the tank> I just pulled that rock out and it was REALLLY messy up under it. Those shrooms can really make a mess when they nuke.

b

 

[SnowManSnow]

BTW a REALLY strange thing happened when I pulled that rock out. About 10 mins after dealing with that gunk I was sitting here typing and had to RUN to the bathroom. Felt like I was gonna puke! Got REALLY HOT all of a sudden and weak. It lasted about 30 seconds then my strength started coming back. Stomach never hurt or anything. Still doesn't. Gonna try to down some fluids before hitting the sack. I have some nicks on my hands, but thought they would have healed up enough by now as not to allow any toxins in.

 

[Anonymous]

keep an eye on those nicks come morning, if they're red and swollen, go to the docs, I poked a hole in my hand while cleaning my softie tank and did some pretty stupid decision making between then and finally getting to the doctors

 

[SnowManSnow]

Over the last few weeks I've changed out 30 gal of water. The algae us some better, but still is intruding on my coarls despite manually removing it. One of my main issues it a lot of detius, I'm not really sure where it all came from. The filima algae just thrives on it.

I'll continue to skimmer wet and going to a 5 g change every other day or so.

Any further advice would be appreciated.

 

[Anonymous]

How old are the bulbs?

 

[SnowManSnow]

3 months old.

I think they are just burning in good.

UPDATE

YESTERDAY was the first REAL decrease in algae I've seen (the brown slimey stuff with airbubbles in it that likes to cover everything). I would say that the tank is DEFINITLY recovering.

This week (starting Monday) I also reduced the photo period to 4 hrs on my halide, leaving the t5s where they were.

I'm going to do another 5g water change this evening or tomorrow morning.

I'm still skimming wet and heavy.

So far I have DEFINITLY had some tissue loss on a few of my nicer corals, but it isn't anything 6months of growth won't cover up.

Fish are looking GREAT again (although I've only been feeding every other day .. and light at that).

Conclusion so far... things looking up.

B

 

[bleedingthought]

Sorry to hear it, Brandon.

How are the SPS taking this?