ReefWeeds Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 All from assorted aquaculture facilities in homestead. All were bought small, like 2", and are now like 6" long! That would be my dream Stella. It's already plumbed for it and has the lighting for it! Imagine how many clams you could fit in there? Quote Link to comment
Jorgieee Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 NICE !! Yeah imagine my RL-45 on a 10x larger scale... I'd go 1/3 clams, 1/3 anemones, and 1/3 LPS. No SPS Yeah you would be be swimming in it lol Quote Link to comment
HarryPotter Posted July 25, 2015 Author Share Posted July 25, 2015 Imagine how many clams you could fit in there? Ooooooooooo! Given I have 5 in a 45 we are talking at least 30! NICE !! Yeah you would be be swimming in it lol Too expensive though plus my parents like the cichlids Quote Link to comment
Hammerstone Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 Yeah that stand is beautiful!!! Sorry about your tank!! Quote Link to comment
HarryPotter Posted July 25, 2015 Author Share Posted July 25, 2015 Any ideas though? Besides cleaning the sand (which I've done a dozen times) and doing more 80% water changes, I'm stumped Quote Link to comment
hey Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 Lighting schedule/intensity too much possibly if algae is the prob. You say it's got enough intensity for reefing? That's about 3-5 times too much light for a planted let alone a non planted. My guess is after the die off nutrient levels never made it back down to previous levels that produced minimal algae. On any fowlr type tank I'd also use a uv sterilizer sized appropriately just to make my glass cleaning chores minimal. 3 Quote Link to comment
Hammerstone Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 Maybe wait awhile and see if it settles Down by itself? Quote Link to comment
HarryPotter Posted July 25, 2015 Author Share Posted July 25, 2015 Maybe wait awhile and see if it settles Down by itself? Its been 3 months Lighting schedule/intensity too much possibly if algae is the prob. You say it's got enough intensity for reefing? That's about 3-5 times too much light for a planted let alone a non planted. My guess is after the die off nutrient levels never made it back down to previous levels that produced minimal algae. On any fowlr type tank I'd also use a uv sterilizer sized appropriately just to make my glass cleaning chores minimal. It has 8 24" T5s that were replaced recently. That too much? So what do you recommend? getting a large UV? Doesn't solve the nutrient aspect though Quote Link to comment
Hammerstone Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 Maybe wait awhile and see if it settles Down by itself? by the way I have a 30 gallon tank with 2 large angels and a school of about 20 Rasboras. It's fresh obviously, it's also 20 years old and had enough nutrients in the sand for me to plant it without adding anything into the substrate. I love cichlids. I'm guessing yours are Africans, hence the brackish? Quote Link to comment
HarryPotter Posted July 25, 2015 Author Share Posted July 25, 2015 by the way I have a 30 gallon tank with 2 large angels and a school of about 20 Rasboras. It's fresh obviously, it's also 20 years old and had enough nutrients in the sand for me to plant it without adding anything into the substrate. I love cichlids. I'm guessing yours are Africans, hence the brackish? Yep... 100% malawi and tanganyika Quote Link to comment
Goldfox Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 Sand is probably leeching hydrogen sulfide, smells like rotten eggs. Quote Link to comment
basser1 Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 What is your lighting schedule? Going lights out for a couple of weeks isn't a bad idea as someone mentioned. I'd also give John at Reef-Cleaners a try to seeif he can put together a clean-up crew special for you. Quote Link to comment
RK_tek Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 I had cichlids in a 55 for a long time. Loved them. I switched to a sand bed bc they like to dig so much. IMO, remove as much of the sand bed as possible. Put it in buckets, on a tarp in the yard, whatever. Run as much filtration as possible, extra HOB etc to remove the fine particulate. You could run a polishing pad to get that sparkle. Then wash the ever living mess out of the sand. Put a 5 gallon bucket of clean sand in each week until back to normal. You could filter the water by siphoning out water(you said you did 100g water changes? So I assume you have some big barrels or tubs) drill a bucket and pack it with filter floss(pillow stuffing from JoAnn fabric). Let your water go through this into a collection container so you know it has all been filtered then return it to the tank. 3 Quote Link to comment
HarryPotter Posted July 25, 2015 Author Share Posted July 25, 2015 What is your lighting schedule? Going lights out for a couple of weeks isn't a bad idea as someone mentioned. I'd also give John at Reef-Cleaners a try to seeif he can put together a clean-up crew special for you. Reef Cleaners does for fresh water? Don't think so... I have 0 CUC in there though I had cichlids in a 55 for a long time. Loved them. I switched to a sand bed bc they like to dig so much. IMO, remove as much of the sand bed as possible. Put it in buckets, on a tarp in the yard, whatever. Run as much filtration as possible, extra HOB etc to remove the fine particulate. You could run a polishing pad to get that sparkle. Then wash the ever living mess out of the sand. Put a 5 gallon bucket of clean sand in each week until back to normal. You could filter the water by siphoning out water(you said you did 100g water changes? So I assume you have some big barrels or tubs) drill a bucket and pack it with filter floss(pillow stuffing from JoAnn fabric). Let your water go through this into a collection container so you know it has all been filtered then return it to the tank. 300g water changes as well direct from the hose- no barrels. Just all the water siphoned out, and then hosed back in. Its 800lbs of sand, I don't know if I can realistically take it out and put it back in. The tank is very tall as well, requiring a ladder. I like the idea of a HOB filter, but I do have only surface skimming filtration already. If you see on the right side of the tank there is a filtration column that skims the surfave Quote Link to comment
basser1 Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 Reef Cleaners does for fresh water? Don't think so... I have 0 CUC in there though Sorry...... Thought I read something about brackish water. Some snails and crabs may be able to tolerate it. Quote Link to comment
HarryPotter Posted July 25, 2015 Author Share Posted July 25, 2015 Sorry...... Thought I read something about brackish water. Some snails and crabs may be able to tolerate it. Yeah it runs at 1.001, not really enough sadly Quote Link to comment
djfrankn Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 Hi there. Haven't been around for a long time. Oh Cichlids! One of my favorite fresh/brackish water fish. Sad to know you are having problems with your tank. Just piece of advice, reef tanks are somehow different when it comes to maintain a tank, specially equipment-wise. My piece of advice to you is simple. Don't change to many things at once since it may make things worse. I have a good friend who is passionate to planted tank and Cichlids (Discus specifically). He had a problem similar to yours a while back. Something I've learned years ago when I kept turtles is how hard is to keep the water in those tanks sparkling clean. I ran from time to time a Marineland H.O.T. Filter with the polishing cartridge. The trick is to load it with diatomaceous earth (aka D.E.). It can be obtained at a pool supply store or somewhere like Home Depot in the pool maintenance section. When my friend ran into that problem (water getting greenish and particles) this is what I advised him to do. It worked and from time to time and runs the canister filter in that manner. D.E. is not toxic to water. Just do not create a dust cloud and do not breath it (obviously). I would advise you to try to go this route and stop so many water changes. You may need something like 3 rounds of it. Just make sure that when the file is drastically reduced is time to change the D.E. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatomaceous_earth Hope this helps. Frank. Quote Link to comment
HarryPotter Posted July 26, 2015 Author Share Posted July 26, 2015 Hi there. Haven't been around for a long time. Oh Cichlids! One of my favorite fresh/brackish water fish. Sad to know you are having problems with your tank. Just piece of advice, reef tanks are somehow different when it comes to maintain a tank, specially equipment-wise. My piece of advice to you is simple. Don't change to many things at once since it may make things worse. I have a good friend who is passionate to planted tank and Cichlids (Discus specifically). He had a problem similar to yours a while back. Something I've learned years ago when I kept turtles is how hard is to keep the water in those tanks sparkling clean. I ran from time to time a Marineland H.O.T. Filter with the polishing cartridge. The trick is to load it with diatomaceous earth (aka D.E.). It can be obtained at a pool supply store or somewhere like Home Depot in the pool maintenance section. When my friend ran into that problem (water getting greenish and particles) this is what I advised him to do. It worked and from time to time and runs the canister filter in that manner. D.E. is not toxic to water. Just do not create a dust cloud and do not breath it (obviously). I would advise you to try to go this route and stop so many water changes. You may need something like 3 rounds of it. Just make sure that when the file is drastically reduced is time to change the D.E. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatomaceous_earth Hope this helps. Frank. Hey frank- thanks! That looks really promising! Can I run DE in my wet dry or BRS reactor? The tank has a canopy so a HOT is difficult. I am also planning on ordering GFO to run in the reactor- would that be better off DE? Quote Link to comment
rafastank727 Posted July 26, 2015 Share Posted July 26, 2015 DE are also sold at natural food stores. I use to get rid off fleas Quote Link to comment
tdannhauser30 Posted July 26, 2015 Share Posted July 26, 2015 DE are also sold at natural food stores. I use to get rid off fleas The only reason Im posting on this thread is becuase I saw the warriors logo Rafastank727, Go Warriors! sorry for cluttering thread up!! lol Quote Link to comment
djfrankn Posted July 26, 2015 Share Posted July 26, 2015 Harryjsinger. D.E. is a very fine powder. In the order of <10 microns. Therefore, the only way it is going to fulfill its purpose as a filtration media is by "sticking" or coating a surface. So reactors are not suited for this purpose. In the case of my proposition, ideally would be a filter cartridge made out of paper (what comes with the filter type/model I suggested). Go on Amazon an look for a D.E. filter. You may find one there. Also, I am not suggesting the use of any chemicals or remove/add living creatures that may affect the biological balance of your tank in a negative way. I think there may be a way to figure something out. It would be great if you can upload several pics of your equipment setup (decent quality please), to help you better. Best of luck, Frank. Quote Link to comment
djfrankn Posted July 26, 2015 Share Posted July 26, 2015 Also, forgot to mention. My approach to tank keeping is try to mimic what you see in nature and It will be easier to achieve success. Many people in the aquarium hobby are convinced by advertising that if they do not use this particular product their tanks will eventually fail. I bet that more than half of that people have never dived in a lake, river or reef more than once and observed what are the surroundings like. What I mean by that is that the GFO is up to you. I do not run any media in my mixed Reef (75g). Just water changes, protein skimmer and mangrove fuge. Of course, rock and sand in the display. I can tell you this... No problems once I achieved the proper balance. Reefing for 7 years now. Mistakes at the beginning took me in the path of using different media... Those days are gone. Frank. 1 Quote Link to comment
HarryPotter Posted July 26, 2015 Author Share Posted July 26, 2015 Harryjsinger. D.E. is a very fine powder. In the order of <10 microns. Therefore, the only way it is going to fulfill its purpose as a filtration media is by "sticking" or coating a surface. So reactors are not suited for this purpose. In the case of my proposition, ideally would be a filter cartridge made out of paper (what comes with the filter type/model I suggested). Go on Amazon an look for a D.E. filter. You may find one there. Also, I am not suggesting the use of any chemicals or remove/add living creatures that may affect the biological balance of your tank in a negative way. I think there may be a way to figure something out. It would be great if you can upload several pics of your equipment setup (decent quality please), to help you better. Best of luck, Frank. I will take many HD photos today of my situation and upload them here- thanks so much for taking the time to help! Quote Link to comment
masterbuilder Posted July 26, 2015 Share Posted July 26, 2015 I would use a canister filter instead of a HOB. Canisters are far far superior option on a tank your size. Get the largest one you can that holds pleated cartridge filters. Not much gets past those. With one sized right, I cant imagine that it wouldn't eventually clear things up faster than what ever is producing your mess. Filter pads, floss and the like aren't worth crap compared to what I have suggested. You can use diatoms, pack it with carbon or what ever. I would probably just use the pleated filter at first. I had a tank similar to yours long ago and I wouldn't consider any other filter for what you got going on. Nu-Clear filters are the best. Ocean Clear are just about as good. Pricey but sure beats losing 1000's on what you already have. 2 Quote Link to comment
outerorbiter Posted July 26, 2015 Share Posted July 26, 2015 +1 on the canister with pleated filter with DE added. They used to sell at pool supply stores and there are motor oil absorbents that are just DE also. Used a polishing filter for years made by vortex out of Florida that used DE. The owner once owned vortex springs in FL Quote Link to comment
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