New to hobby - help me get my tank clean!

[SAC83]

I am new to the hobby and I setup my BC 29 two nights ago. I washed my crushed coral and added water to start cycling. The water cloudiness is gone, however there the tank is full of small particulate matter. At first I thought it was microbubbles but when I unplug the pump and let the water flow stop everything pools to the top of the tank and its just really fine dirt or dust. I've cleaned the stock filter, and also cut a strip of filter material and placed in chamber one with the stock filter. Any suggestions? should i do a water change?

[MWafler]

Tip - Before you get too set up, take out the crushed coral and put in an aquarium sand. Crushed Coral = No good.

[dsoz]

+1 No crushed coral. You want aragonite sand. CC looks like aquarium gravel, and it traps fish poo in the large spaces in between the pebbles. Not good.

 

As for the cloudy... Keep up the filter sock and the floss. Change them often. The cloudiness will go away.

 

dsoz

[SAC83]

+1 No crushed coral. You want aragonite sand. CC looks like aquarium gravel, and it traps fish poo in the large spaces in between the pebbles. Not good.

 

As for the cloudy... Keep up the filter sock and the floss. Change them often. The cloudiness will go away.

 

dsoz

 

 

thanks for the tips, I'm disappointed I purchased crushed coral on the LFS recommendation.

[wabbit]

Stock BC29 filter clogs up way too fast. Do not waste any money on replacement filters, just search other BC29 tank threads for filter mods. I just ripped off original filter from plastic tray, empty out carbon pellets and cut bulk filter pad to fit. Instead of putting filter in original position in chamber 1, I attached it to the bottom of the drip tray in chamber 2 with 2 plastic zip ties (I think some have used rubber bands). I had to drill 4 small holes for the ties. To change the pad, I just cut off 1 tie, and the filter tray hinges enough on the drip tray to put a new pad in. Doing it this way allows most of the water to pass through the filter without changing the water levels in chambers 2 and 3. When the pad gets clogged, the water just runs over the sides of the drip tray into chamber 2.

[divecj5]

+1 on the above filter mod. Although you started with crushed coral sand, you are not doomed to fail. There are some tanks out there that have done great with it. That said, you will just have to keep an eye on where things accumulate and making sure that you keep things stirred up so it doesn't settle and accumulate. Just make sure you have a good clean up crew once things get done cycling and you should be ok. You just may not always have that nice white, sparkling sand. After 8 months of my tank going though, honestly there is no real way to keep things crystal clean and still healthy.

 

Best of luck with the tank. Run some filter floss with the above mod and your water should be crystal clear in no time.

[SAC83]

thanks for the advice - My friend who is mentoring as I slowly learn about this hobby says its micro bubbles caused by the agitation in chamber two. So I need to have some live rock. However, I have modified my stock filter as shown above and it works great. I also found a suction cup washcloth/soap holder with holes to let water drain at Target for $2. It is designed for a shower but it fits perfect in the second chamber so I filled it with filter floss and use it as an additional filter for the time being.

[tangov559]

can we see a pic of your drip trey in action? I am still confused on how this works?