Ok well i did as much as i possibly can today, and well so dam sad to say the water is going back to its original disgusting color green again and there is nothing i can do at this point to stop it, i have tried huge water changes, new sand, skimming 48hrs, phosphate media, carbon media, polypad media, no lighting for 24hrs, removal all all bad things suggested by you mreefers but i mean what else do i have to do here, it may just be my time to break down this tank.....it might not be meant for me to have a 65g....=(
SomeOne Help Green Again!
- Thread starter Chris5
- Start date
- Location
- Union Square, NY
Do you have any photos of the tank?
Have you used a phosphate sponge?
Have you used a phosphate sponge?
- Location
- Howell, NJ
chris with all that done it leaves a couple of things that might be a problem. one is your rocks. and 2 is the copper or whatever metal thing you had that might of left some chemicals in the tank that were either absorbed in the rock and in the silicone.
I would skim it but....at this point the skimmer isnt even foaming anymore so i dunno whats up with the skimmer to be honest and going back to school in 2 weeks i cant really buy another skimmer....ill still be home but just the time to maintain will be less, this really sucks, sorry to vent but i mean i have never seen this happen before to anyone really, and to think after starting over 100% again it would be better.....
I think i have one more 100% water change in me and than im done.....
I think i have one more 100% water change in me and than im done.....
- Location
- Howell, NJ
chris honestly you have did a 100 % water change and you changed the sand bed. so i guess those werent a real big factor. i would have to say the rock has something bad in it and the silicone in the tank must have absorbed some chemicals. i dunno pisan what i would do get a brand new tank and new live rock. that would prob. be your best bet.
- Location
- Union Square, NY
Maybe I am coming in to this late, but I would still like to see a picture of the full tank and the equipment if you have time.
- Location
- Howell, NJ
just a little late josh, he is gonna end up quiting the hobby cause all this crap thats been happening. (CHRIS DONT QUIT) lolz hehehe
when the going gets tuff you try even harder.......
when the going gets tuff you try even harder.......
- Location
- Union Square, NY
Have there been any pictures of the setup posted?
Its too bad when someone has a tough experience with their new tank, once you get it to a certain point (sometimes it takes a year or two) you can really relax a lot and be somewhat of a "ghetto reefer". If you never know that experience, you will never love the hobby as it becomes too much of a chore.
Its too bad when someone has a tough experience with their new tank, once you get it to a certain point (sometimes it takes a year or two) you can really relax a lot and be somewhat of a "ghetto reefer". If you never know that experience, you will never love the hobby as it becomes too much of a chore.
Josh...
Here are his previous threads.
Pics are in there.
It looked pretty bad.
Wish I knew what was wrong~
http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7947
http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8055
http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8116
Here are his previous threads.
Pics are in there.
It looked pretty bad.
Wish I knew what was wrong~
http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7947
http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8055
http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8116
- Location
- Union Square, NY
Then he should bottle it and sell it on the corner of 39th st!
- Location
- Union Square, NY
OK, I checked the threads, a lot of very experienced and talented reefers have responded.
One thing I think is clear is that water changes are not helping. You are only removing water and putting in freshly made water (read: food) for this fairly nasty bloom of phyto.
Are you still running the sump? I would probably turn that off and remove all hosings/overflows. Can you run the skimmer without the sump? If so, use it, otherwise forget it. That is only making things too complex. People run tanks at 5-10 gallons now with little to no serious tech behind it. It might be wise to start removing things until the algae blooms stop.
Do you have a cannister filter or some other sort of mechanical filtration? Aside from a wet/dry, you might want to run just a fluval or eheim for a while with carbon, a nitrate sponge (the rock material, not a real sponge) and the Kent silicate/phosphate sponge media.
Have you stirred up the sand recently? Do you have a plenum?
I can understand giving up, a lot of people have gotten out of the hobby for a lot less. If you are going to give it a little longer, just start removing things as I suggested until something changes. If you were to remove everything and just run powerheads then you would just have a tank filled with saltwater. Something is awry that is causing this to happen, if you start dumbing the whole tank down a bit you might stumble across it.
Sorry if this is a repeat of what others have said, but there seem to be a LOT of messages about this (which is a pretty good thing!) and I didn't get a chance to read them all.
Good luck.
One thing I think is clear is that water changes are not helping. You are only removing water and putting in freshly made water (read: food) for this fairly nasty bloom of phyto.
Are you still running the sump? I would probably turn that off and remove all hosings/overflows. Can you run the skimmer without the sump? If so, use it, otherwise forget it. That is only making things too complex. People run tanks at 5-10 gallons now with little to no serious tech behind it. It might be wise to start removing things until the algae blooms stop.
Do you have a cannister filter or some other sort of mechanical filtration? Aside from a wet/dry, you might want to run just a fluval or eheim for a while with carbon, a nitrate sponge (the rock material, not a real sponge) and the Kent silicate/phosphate sponge media.
Have you stirred up the sand recently? Do you have a plenum?
I can understand giving up, a lot of people have gotten out of the hobby for a lot less. If you are going to give it a little longer, just start removing things as I suggested until something changes. If you were to remove everything and just run powerheads then you would just have a tank filled with saltwater. Something is awry that is causing this to happen, if you start dumbing the whole tank down a bit you might stumble across it.
Sorry if this is a repeat of what others have said, but there seem to be a LOT of messages about this (which is a pretty good thing!) and I didn't get a chance to read them all.
Good luck.
am also wondering if i put in any kind of like cycle booster stuff maybe that will counteract all this garbage? maybe i need to kick start a new cycle?
Also if i stop the sump wouldnt that be to much load on my hang on filter....and make matters worse..?
Also if i stop the sump wouldnt that be to much load on my hang on filter....and make matters worse..?
- Location
- Union Square, NY
If you returned from the trip and started the sump up again without emptying it and giving it a good wash, that could be contributing to the problem.
The reason I suggest cutting out some equipment is because I ran a successful 37g tank with a Fluval 20x, live rock, a deep sand bed and a plenum. This hobby has grown a lot, but people have been keeping FOWLR or even just FO for a long time. You can always add things back once the tank is healthy.
I know the technology is a bit outdated, and I never dealt with what you are facing, but if you remove things, you will literally end up with a big tank of moving water. The algae can't grow on nothing and should eventually level off the population. If it is receiving no light (i.e. the lights are off and the tank is not near a lot of sunlight), things should stabilize.
The problem is that you don't want a tank that just has water in it, so it may be pure luck. If the problem is with the last item you remove, the tank will already be pretty much gone by then.
You have already replaced the water a few times, which I think is actually helping the algae grown. It MUST be something with the equipment or the current bio-load.
The reason I suggest cutting out some equipment is because I ran a successful 37g tank with a Fluval 20x, live rock, a deep sand bed and a plenum. This hobby has grown a lot, but people have been keeping FOWLR or even just FO for a long time. You can always add things back once the tank is healthy.
I know the technology is a bit outdated, and I never dealt with what you are facing, but if you remove things, you will literally end up with a big tank of moving water. The algae can't grow on nothing and should eventually level off the population. If it is receiving no light (i.e. the lights are off and the tank is not near a lot of sunlight), things should stabilize.
The problem is that you don't want a tank that just has water in it, so it may be pure luck. If the problem is with the last item you remove, the tank will already be pretty much gone by then.
You have already replaced the water a few times, which I think is actually helping the algae grown. It MUST be something with the equipment or the current bio-load.
chris take all your rocks, put them in a garbage can filled with saltwater, put a powerhead and a heater, and close the lid of the garbage can. wait 2 weeks go into the garbage can scrub the rocks do a 50 percent water change and do it for another 2 weeks.
- Location
- Union Square, NY
Don't add a cycle booster or whatever they are selling these days.
You can kill off all the rock (cook it) and put a single piece of rock in to start everything over again, that would be the "purest" way to get started.
Concentrate on stopping whatever is happening before working on getting the bacteria back to normal.
You can kill off all the rock (cook it) and put a single piece of rock in to start everything over again, that would be the "purest" way to get started.
Concentrate on stopping whatever is happening before working on getting the bacteria back to normal.
- Location
- Union Square, NY
I am only suggesting cooking the rock as an example of how to restart the bacteria if necessary. It seems everything you have tried has not killed it, so cooking it may NOT do anything, this stuff may be able to live for a while in the rock without light.
Start removing things, it will eventually starve to death, like wine.
What HO filters/skimmers do you have? A protein skimmer would be nice, but a Fluval would be optimal I think. I didn't have a skimmer or a sump for the first three years on my tank.
Start removing things, it will eventually starve to death, like wine.
What HO filters/skimmers do you have? A protein skimmer would be nice, but a Fluval would be optimal I think. I didn't have a skimmer or a sump for the first three years on my tank.
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