What should I do now? Help

[Awibrandy]

Well, the valve for the RO unit didn't arrive today. So I still can't make any water. And now to boot the sand bed is covered in cyano, it is even climbed up on one of the three rocks that I left in the tank because it has some polys,zoa, and mushroom on it. I haven't done any water changes waiting on the RO unit. I've been making top off water with a tap water purifier.
What should I do now? I am dumping all of the sand when the switch happens. But what do I do now with this cyano, before it covers the corals? Leave it alone, get rid of the sand now? Do water changes with tap water and Prime?:frown:

 

[jhale]

don't use tap water, prime won't remove the phosphates etc...

it's better to wait till you get the RO hooked up.
the tap water, water change will just make things worse IMO.

 

[Awibrandy]

you talking about the 1/4 valve that gos on the RO lines ? if so
you can come here and take one valve ,,or go to HD they should have one .It should b ein the plumbing section in both places :lol

I'm talking about the water supply line valve. The one that pierces the pipe. I was told HD wouldn't carry it.

 

[jhale]

you can get a splitter that attaches the cold water line under the sink.
one split goes to the sink faucet, the other to the RO, it's very easy to install.
HD has them. all you need is some plumbing tape and a plyers.

 

[House of Laughter]

Its called a self piercing saddle valve.

Also, I would go to the store (local pharmacy) and get distilled water for your top off and water changes. This will make a world of difference in a short time if you are routine about your changes.

Also, why are you throwing out the sand? Are you opposed to using a chemical cyano remediant? Chemi-Clean worked wonders for when I started my tank.

First step is to rid yourself of those bad products (tap water purifier) and use pure water.

HTH

House

 

[crox99]

Awibrandy

I might have an extra self piercing saddle valve. Let me check.

 

[Awibrandy]

Its called a self piercing saddle valve.

Also, I would go to the store (local pharmacy) and get distilled water for your top off and water changes. This will make a world of difference in a short time if you are routine about your changes.

Also, why are you throwing out the sand? Are you opposed to using a chemical cyano remediant? Chemi-Clean worked wonders for when I started my tank.

First step is to rid yourself of those bad products (tap water purifier) and use pure water.

HTH

House

House, I guess you haven't seen my Tank Thread:And so it begins!! - Manhattan Reefs. I am in the middle of switching tanks. The sand is going because it is 4 or 5yrs.old,and it is southdown. I'm changing to esv sand. I used red slime remover in the past. But again in reading up on cyano, and other algeas I've been finding out that I should not use chemicals. In any case, with the new tank set up the plan is to fix what was being done wrong. To long a story, but it is in other threads here.

Right now I just want to know what to do before the cyano covers the corals because they are sitting on the sand.

 

[fritz]

She's not using tap water, she's using a tap water purifier which should have a TDS of 0 or really close to it.

Try turning the flow down lower when you're making your make up water so that there is greater contact time. A phosban reactor if you don't have one is a fantastic investment. Chris and I were just having a conversation about how phosban reactors are probably the best thing going in reefing. They cured my cyano problem and with the amount of straight tap water you've used in the past your Live Rock will be leaching phosphates for quite some time to come. Personally I would run two phosban reactors on your tank if it were mine and a third with carbon. You can daisy chain them together so that they are all run off a single Maxi-jet 900.


You can also start by ciphoning out any cyano patches but any solution other than a phosban reactor will be treating the symptom not the problem.

 

[crox99]

Sorry but i couldn't find the extra self piercing saddle valve.:dead1:

 

[House of Laughter]

Awi, I havent read thw whoel thread, and I find it hard to believe the tap water purifier is giving you "0" TDS -

I guess I am still not undertsanding why you'd throw out the sand - Prattreef used a large portion of his 10yr old sand (guessing on the age but I now it's at the very least 5 yrs) and mixed it with the ESV to give it the start of it's life - one way to do it, not the the law.

I would still use something to readicate the cyano - including a chemical remediation -

There is a few ways: more flow, siphoning, chemical, by hand etc. I used a combination of all of them - there is no magic pill IMO on this stuff.

Also, I never referred to red slime remover - I said Chemi-Clean - I found one works differently than the other and worked like a charm for me.

Whatever you decide to finally do, good luck with it - I am in the middle of breakin down my tank and know how much of a PIA it is.

House

 

[House of Laughter]

She's not using tap water, she's using a tap water purifier which should have a TDS of 0 or really close to it.

Did I say she was using tap water somewhere? I don't believe a tap water purifer would yield a "0" TDS

House

 

[fritz]

You could use chemi-clean. It will cause your skimmer to freak out for 24-48 hours so unplug it if you use it. Also it will only kill the cyano for about the same period. Once the chemical is gone from your water new cyano will move into the tank (it's in the air we breathe) and your problem will slowly start over again. The only cure for cyano long term is to ensure that there is no food for it.

Getting rid of your sand will certainly help that endeavor. Both sand and live rock will hold on to phosphates in the water column. Because you've used tap water for so long there is likely quite an amount bound in each. By dumping the sand you're losing half of your phosphate problem. Running phosban reactors will grab the phosphates out of the water as they are slowly released by the Live Rock. It will also grab the phosphates released by decaying waste and food etc.

I'm pretty sure the Boyd (makers of chemi-clean) recomend a LARGE water change after using their product so be prepared if you go that route.

 

[Awibrandy]

Awi, I havent read thw whoel thread, and I find it hard to believe the tap water purifier is giving you "0" TDS -

I guess I am still not undertsanding why you'd throw out the sand - Prattreef used a large portion of his 10yr old sand (guessing on the age but I now it's at the very least 5 yrs) and mixed it with the ESV to give it the start of it's life - one way to do it, not the the law.

I would still use something to readicate the cyano - including a chemical remediation -

There is a few ways: more flow, siphoning, chemical, by hand etc. I used a combination of all of them - there is no magic pill IMO on this stuff.

Also, I never referred to red slime remover - I said Chemi-Clean - I found one works differently than the other and worked like a charm for me.

Whatever you decide to finally do, good luck with it - I am in the middle of breakin down my tank and know how much of a PIA it is.

House

Thanks Crox, the mail guy just bought me the new saddle valve. All hooked up, just watching a small leak where the supply line meets the valve. Nothing big, I'm just tightening the valve nut 1/8" at a time. Don't want to crush the supply line.
Fritz I have been running a phosban reactor for about a month now. I started with a small amount of phosban, which I changed yesterday morning. I had used say a 1/4 of the phosban initially, I put the entire contents that was left in the container in yesterday. I have another reactor on order for the chemi-pure.
House, I was using the Tap Water Purifier temporarily until the RO/DI unit arrived. I thought it was better then using straight up tap water.
I mentioned that I used "red slime remover" in the past along with that afterwards I read that I shouldn't use any chemicals. And that came from this site. There are so many opinions out that the whole thing becomes very confusing.:scratch: I didn't say that I would not look into chemi-clean.
I appreciate all the advice that I get on this site, but as you know some advice is not the greatest. And that does not mean that I am saying anything bad about your advice. It simple means that I cannot just run out and do what everyone tells me to do. Especially since I know that my brain is no longer working as it should at the moment.:sgrin:

Peace guys, the new tank will be totally different. I have some awesome help with the new set up..:grouphug:

 

[House of Laughter]

Awi, eaither way good luck with it, I am sure you'll get it bak on track soon.

house