out of control new tank
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Myteemouse
NOTHING
gross. .
vacuum it out and get some flow down there
vacuum it out and get some flow down there
hairoids
Member
Is it a new tank taht is cycling?
parameters
amonia-0 nitrite -2-3ppm nitrate-20ppm kh-300 ph-8.3 Tank is a 75 gallon with a 30 gallon sump. I did a 25 gallon water change 3 days ago with r/owater plan on doing another today.. dont understand why this happened have not been overfeeding only one damsel and a haitian anemone..about 30-50 lbs live rock..possible top offs with tap water any ideas..
amonia-0 nitrite -2-3ppm nitrate-20ppm kh-300 ph-8.3 Tank is a 75 gallon with a 30 gallon sump. I did a 25 gallon water change 3 days ago with r/owater plan on doing another today.. dont understand why this happened have not been overfeeding only one damsel and a haitian anemone..about 30-50 lbs live rock..possible top offs with tap water any ideas..
gotfish
Well-known member
Is it a fluffy like substance or does it stick to the substrate? It looks to me like it's just a lot of detritus which could be the reason why you have nitrites. What kind of flow do you have going on?
it sticks to everything. when I turn the lights on in the morning it's like it comes loose and starts floating around....just did a vacum and water change 3 days ago not deterius flow rate somewhere around 200 gph that's just power heads in the tank.. return from sump is a rio 3100 at 5 ft head somewhere around 300 gph.
You need A LOT more flow. You also need A LOT more live rock. An RO/DI unit would help with water quality. From your nitrite readings, I'd say your tank is still cycling. No fish, and especially no anemone should be added to a tank that's still in it's cycling stages. I'm assuming this tank hasn't been set up long?
Your nitrite and nitrate readings are both a sign of a problem.
Your nitrite and nitrate readings are both a sign of a problem.
Saltyfish
Banned
I agree with RO/DI for all water,more flow here and more live rock.
I would recommend using 1 K4 (1250 gph) going across the mid / top of the tank.
I use 2 of these, 1 is always on the other turns off and on every other hour. I just did this until I can get a K1 to put on the other side of tank blowing on the back of my rocks.
I have been told the rule of flow in a tank is 10-30 times the volume of the tank and sump per hour. You have about 105 gals there. For that you would need at least 1050 of flow in the tank. With my 90 gallon I have a total of 3400 GPH for flow and it is a bit strong for what I have in my tank. I will be scaling back to 3000GPH flow here shortly, thus being 28 - 29 times my volume.
If you are going to go all SPS then two K4's would work great. If you going with softies then 2700 to 3000GPH would be better. I have a mix so that is why I am going with less flow.
Since you are in the cycle for the first month I would not even turn on your lights.
It might be easier to drain the tank, rinse the sand and clean all your rocks with RO/Di water.
I know I started my 55 gallon tank in August / September with tap water and it took FOREVER to get it under control. Just as I did get it under control I upgraded to a 90 gallon.
With my 90 I used RO/DI water and I had enough flow to keep everyone happy. The 90 was a lot easier to get it cycled and the outbreak I did have of the brown slime was easy to get rid of with leaving the lights off for 3 days.
I would recommend using 1 K4 (1250 gph) going across the mid / top of the tank.
I use 2 of these, 1 is always on the other turns off and on every other hour. I just did this until I can get a K1 to put on the other side of tank blowing on the back of my rocks.
I have been told the rule of flow in a tank is 10-30 times the volume of the tank and sump per hour. You have about 105 gals there. For that you would need at least 1050 of flow in the tank. With my 90 gallon I have a total of 3400 GPH for flow and it is a bit strong for what I have in my tank. I will be scaling back to 3000GPH flow here shortly, thus being 28 - 29 times my volume.
If you are going to go all SPS then two K4's would work great. If you going with softies then 2700 to 3000GPH would be better. I have a mix so that is why I am going with less flow.
Since you are in the cycle for the first month I would not even turn on your lights.
It might be easier to drain the tank, rinse the sand and clean all your rocks with RO/Di water.
I know I started my 55 gallon tank in August / September with tap water and it took FOREVER to get it under control. Just as I did get it under control I upgraded to a 90 gallon.
With my 90 I used RO/DI water and I had enough flow to keep everyone happy. The 90 was a lot easier to get it cycled and the outbreak I did have of the brown slime was easy to get rid of with leaving the lights off for 3 days.
Last edited:
gotfish
Well-known member
You might not necessarily need more rock. That all depends on the porosity of your rock. 50lbs of fiji isn't much. I recently bought 50lbs. of rock for my 125 that nearly takes up 3/4 of the tank. I had 70lbs of fiji/tonga already and I ended up putting a good 20lbs of the fiji in my sump. Also, for your bio load right now, that much rock would be enough. If it is a fairly heavy rock, before you start adding anything else, get more cured rock.
You do need more flow. For a 75g, 500gph is a drop in the bucket. I had 2 k3's in my 75g which is 1700gph plus another 300-400gph for the return pump. I'd say get your flow up and cut your lights for a couple days along with a couple 25% water changes. If it is some sort of algae bloom, this should get rid of it. You need to get your parameters under control though or it will probably come back.
If your rock was uncured when you bought it, I'd also say your tank is still cycling. A month is a pretty good amount of time for curing, but that all depends on how you're doing it. If it was cured, then you had a major spike in ammonia from something which died or you feed too much.
You do need more flow. For a 75g, 500gph is a drop in the bucket. I had 2 k3's in my 75g which is 1700gph plus another 300-400gph for the return pump. I'd say get your flow up and cut your lights for a couple days along with a couple 25% water changes. If it is some sort of algae bloom, this should get rid of it. You need to get your parameters under control though or it will probably come back.
If your rock was uncured when you bought it, I'd also say your tank is still cycling. A month is a pretty good amount of time for curing, but that all depends on how you're doing it. If it was cured, then you had a major spike in ammonia from something which died or you feed too much.
S. clarki
Member
Could the stuff be a bacterial bloom and not detritus?
