Tank Is Crashing Please Help!!

[dnjan]

The above calculations are for oven-dry rock immersed in water. For saturated rock (rock that has been under water for much longer than 24 hours), the amount of contaminent that would diffuse into the rock would depend upon the concentration of the contaminent, the time period of the exposure, and (to a lessor degree) the molecular size of the contaminent.

Personally, I would put the rock in a separate container to soak. Change water daily. After the second day, put an airstone in and watch. If the air bubbles from the airstone remain stable and accumulate on the surface of the water, I would say it was still contaminated with soap. Rinse longer or give up and pitch.
If, however, the bubbles break and go away (as would normally happen with an airstone in saltwater), I would use the rock.

 

[DonW]

I think if your fairly convinced all this was caused by softscrub. I wouldnt worry about it all that much. If you qt or store everything (fish and corals) the tank will be fine as is LR and all. Its probably going through a big bacterial die off and bloom cycle. The cycle will keep going back and forth as you do water changes until it stabilizes. Then it will cycle just like you were starting from scratch. The soap in soft scrub kill bactera as does the surfectant.
Unless you itching to get new rock and sand then I'd just let it go and keep changing water and carbon.

Don

 

[Ditchplains2]

Im confused

Ok I removed the corals, crabs, snails, anenmone, all except the fish.

I vaccumed out the ssb, threw out the LR as my new LR is comming today, and guess what happened to the water?

ABSOLUTELY NOTHING

ITS STILL FING CLOUDY


Im not sure if I mentioned this new problem, but there is this slime, looks like mucus over everything, I keep taking everything out, cleaning with vinegar and its not helping cause after water change next day, slime comes back. The slime is clear to milky white. It keeps clogging my Carbon reactor as well, causing it to stop working. Im FING loosing my mind with this thing. I seriously wish this was a joke or I was making the SHHAT up but Im not! I'm perplexed, bamboozled, facing an enigma, at a cross roads, dilemma, you name it I'm feeling that lost in the woods here.


Please somebody throw me a bone here as to what the heck this is.

Tests are fine

Aquacontroller probe reading steady 8.16, temp 79.1.

Could it bethe chiller is broken even though its a bran new pacific coast imports one?

Water from Ro/DI is clear comming out.

I'm using Seachem reef salt and mixing for a day or so.

I dont have the foggyest clue here, but if this continues Im about to have a fire sale of everything I own reef wise and get out of this hobby for good. I cant take this stress or this constant problem I cannot fix whatsoever.

thanks ahead of time guys.

David

 

[jnarowe]

inspect your temp probe and see if it is plated with something. You might be getting a false reading on that, and even the pH probe as a result.

the fish are OK? can you take a picture? how about mixing up salt water and getting the fish out too? could be some sort of bacterial bloom as well. hard to say without seeing it.

 

[Ditchplains2]

fish, snails crabs were all fine, I could get them out to a small container, but I dont think its effecting them really seems to be just the water. Temp probe is not plated niether is ph probe, so niether is giving a false reading plus the test kits arent lying so that doesnt seem to be the answer.

David

 

[jnarowe]

usually when there is a water quality problem, snails and crabs bitre it pretty quick. Without seeing pictures and based on what you have said about removing just about everything, I really wonder if there isn't some sort of bloom going on.

Maybe put the fish into a Rubbermaid and sterilize that tank?

 

[DonW]

Messing with it not letting it stabilize is only making it worse. The slime is most likely bacteria. Now that you stirred the SB it really going to go nuts. Keep doing water changes, more along the lines of 50 to 100%.

Don

 

[Scooterman]

As Don mentioned, It will need to settle. Also as I said a while back, isolate your refuge, just put a ph in it with a heater & keep it isolated, just one less thing to deal with. Keep your carbon Wc's going, It should clear up fast without the LR's & fuge.

 

[Ditchplains2]

Guys, fuge is isolated, corals , crabs and snails are in the fuge section off from return.


SSB has been removes, LR removed, nothing is left, only fish.

New LR comes today

Ok I will try to do a huge wc of 50%, but its hard when you get home at 8pm at night and have to be at work by 9am next day, Ive been getting wife to help, infact she has been the best help ever, she busy what I need, and makes water for me, she's being an angel when it comes to this problem. If you dont have a supportive spouse it can be even worse at times like this.

Well I could be a bacteria bloom and maybe Ive made it much worse by removing everything but I had to start somewhere I really didnt have a starting point without doing everything I could.


thank you guys so much.

yes I will sticking with Wc's and new carbon, Im changing itdaily right now.
David

 

[Scooterman]

Hope this gets better, I can't imagine it not after all that, hang in there!

 

[Ditchplains2]

Thanks man, Its just hard cause I can't do huge water changes right now with my time crunch, just doing smaller ones. Tonight I cleaned out my skimmers, and started running PhosGuard I used to run this all the time before this problem. So I got my new LR its gorgeous Im afraid of putting it into this milky mess, any suggestions. I'm going to be doing the most amount of water changes tonight, basically almost 50% of water if I can do it before 1am.

I think after that I'm going to put the Live Rock in and hope for the best.

Its 40lbs and 3 huge show pieces, they look gorgeous, very deep purple.


I hope this will help the cloudyness.

What do you guys think, suggestions?

cheers
David

 

[jnarowe]

I would be hesitant about putting it into that tank. You might be better off using a bathtub or some other vessel so you can completely clean that tank.

 

[Ditchplains2]

So what should I do here guys any suggestions?

 

[Holygral]

I think that I would try and take your chiller off line and then do another big water change and see if the slim comes back, I was just thinking that maybe some kind or oil or some other pollutant is coming from the chiller. I also think that I would put the new LR into a tub with a PH until you can find the problem.

 

[micki]

I agree with jnrowe, take the fish out and steralize the tank. If you are putting new LR and sand why not start out clean? Whatever is in there now is just going to get in the new sand and rock and the problem isn't going to go away.

 

[Scooterman]

Yea, I agree at this point you should go all out on it & be done with it, being that you removed everything just assume finish it off & properly clean it.
My chiller does need high flow from time to time to clean the coils out, even over time they have procedures to cleaning them, this will maximize efficiency, just another thing to go through.

 

[Ditchplains2]

I agree guys, So I put my new LR in a tub with fresh mixed saltwater and my fish, my corals and mangroves are still in the quarentined off section of my fuge. I ran phosguard last night but it did nothing, so ya Im breaking down the tank to clean it. Any suggestions, should I try the old method of using bleach and iodine to purify the water?

Then using a dechlroinator to that water, then dumping that water and refill with ro/di. Sound good?

David

 

[jnarowe]

watch out for de-chlorinator. that's what started Steve Weast's crash last year. I would clean it with RO/DI and vinegar. Or even just tap water and vinegar and then a good rinse out with RO/DI. I would skip any chemicals to be on the safe side. You can let it dry for a couple three days too. You could bake it with a lamp as well.

I would bet that de-chlorinator and bleach would react.

If you have a UV lamp, you could cover the tank with a blanket and fire off the UV bulb inside for a day.

 

[MikeS]

. Any suggestions, should I try the old method of using bleach and iodine to purify the water?

Then using a dechlroinator to that water, then dumping that water and refill with ro/di. Sound good?

David

No.....you have enough weird stuff going on with your water as it is to start messing with that kind of thing. I'd do as Scooty suggested....tear everything apart in the main tank, clean it good, and start all over.

MikeS

 

[Ditchplains2]

Guys agreed, corals, anenmone, mangroves are all getting rinsed and added to Qt tank, I know I should have done this from the get go, but I didnt know what was wrong. I'm going to run straight tap water with lots of vinegar, then dry it and bake it as JNAROWE suggested. This should kill or clean most everything and I will start over fresh.


Btw the LR I got is outstanding, I have used Marty from Aqauriumarts.com before, but these are truly show pieces, 3 big monster pieces, gorgeous. I have them in a rubbermaid tub, thats clean and brand new and rinsed with my fish right now.


Its been a long painful disaster, cost me tons of cash, I'd say easy 1000 bucks, but hopefully the worst is over and I'm on the upswing.

cheers and thanks everyone.
I will keep everyone posted with my progress.

I had to stop my tank build thread as this was a roadblock, but what I might do is continue with it, to the point where i got to before the crash, then show the tear down and rebuild.

I can't say enough how truly appreciative I am of everyone here, your help and sympathy.

I really am happy to call Reeffrontiers home.


cheers
David V.