| Author |
 Topic Search  Topic Options
|
MadReefer 
Guest
Joined: December 13 2007
Location: Kearns
Status: Offline
Points: 1965
|
 Post Options
 Thanks(0)
 Quote  Reply
 Posted: November 05 2009 at 10:16pm |
Where did the rock that was not live come from?
A cup of sand from a well established tank will help. More live rock will help. I'm not sure why the LFS said it would be ok to add fish. I would wait until it shows signs of the cycle finishing before you add fish. If you test and there is no ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate, you can add fish food to help it cycle.
|
 |
Guests
Guest Group
Pet Store
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: November 05 2009 at 10:19pm |
|
i got most of the dead rock here in evanston and the rest from bird word. im pretty sure its cycled, i had brown stuff growing on the rock now its green. i also have the purple algae not sure on names for any of it, but its growing on the rocks.when i set it up i also put a bag of live sand in it.
Edited by 93_fd - November 05 2009 at 10:20pm
|
|
MadReefer
Guest
Joined: December 13 2007
Location: Kearns
Status: Offline
Points: 1965
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: November 05 2009 at 10:22pm |
Did you buy all the dead rock from fish stores?
Can you tell us a history of your testing and what values they show?
|
|
Guests
Guest Group
Pet Store
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: November 05 2009 at 10:35pm |
|
yes i got all of it at fish stores.
ammonia 0 ppm havent seen it read anything since its been set up.
nitrate 10 ppm. the highest i have seen it is about 40 ppm, that was the other day, i did a 10 g water change now its back to about 10 ppm
nitrite 0 ppm. never has read anything but 0
ph is about 8.2 never over 8.6
alkalinity maybe 280 ppm somewhere around there.
temp 78 to 80
salinity 1.023 to 1.024
all my problems began around the same time. i put rock in from bird word and removed my canister filter and put in a sump that i got from a member on here. i did all that within 2 days and it seems like i have had problems since then. not sure if its coincedence or not.
|
|
badfinger
Guest
Joined: May 18 2009
Location: Murray, UT
Status: Offline
Points: 2079
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: November 05 2009 at 10:41pm |
|
do you have any power heads pointed at the surface of the water? to make a ripple effect, and cause gas exchange.... brad is right if you got a skimmer and changed out that filter sock daily (two days at most).
|
|
Guests
Guest Group
Pet Store
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: November 05 2009 at 10:49pm |
|
yes i have my powerheads pointed slightly up. i just changed out my sock.
|
|
badfinger
Guest
Joined: May 18 2009
Location: Murray, UT
Status: Offline
Points: 2079
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: November 05 2009 at 10:50pm |
|
does it ripple your water?... the reason i ask is cause it seems to me that you dont have a could gas exchange rate.. but i could be wrong
|
|
Guests
Guest Group
Pet Store
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: November 05 2009 at 11:05pm |
|
to me it ripples the water pretty good. can i post video on here? or does it have to be posted with youtube?
|
|
Guests
Guest Group
Pet Store
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: November 05 2009 at 11:10pm |
dont know if this pic helps but it does ripple. the water isnt just standing water on top 
|
|
Jeffs_little_ocean
Guest
Joined: October 04 2009
Location: Kaysville
Status: Offline
Points: 869
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: November 06 2009 at 8:04am |
|
Crushed coral should be fine for a substrate. So if you have 50 pounds of rock and 40 pounds isnt live rock, what kind of rock is it? From the pics it almost looks like lavarock. Fine for a FW tank, but usually not recommended for a SW tank due to some high PH value or something.
|
|
Guests
Guest Group
Pet Store
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: November 07 2009 at 9:36am |
|
not sure what kind of rock it is. i think its just some utah rock, it all looks just like the dead stuff they have in that bucket at bird world
|
|
sanddune600
Guest
Joined: February 20 2008
Location: Logan
Status: Offline
Points: 1825
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: November 07 2009 at 9:48am |
|
from the pics it looks like the right rock to me not lava rock did they sell it to you as saltwater rock it might be good to go ask where you got it from I think a skimmer would help alot but I also think you are still getting cycles when things start to die it pollutes the water and causes more to die imo I think this is what you are seeing mostly
|
|
Andy Jorgensen
My number is four three 5 7 six four 8 0 three four
|
|
Mark Peterson
Paid Member
Joined: June 19 2002
Location: Murray
Status: Offline
Points: 21436
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: November 07 2009 at 1:45pm |
If the cloudiness is a gray color, it will eventually clear up. If it is a green color it may rrequire more time or some other attention. Which color is it?
There are some other hobbyists here that also live in Evanston. Why not ask in a new thread if anyone there can bring over some Macroalgae and a quart or more of their Live Sand. Or you could go see their tanks and learn from them. Take some of your sand to trade for theirs.
These two things, LS and macroalgae will help improve the aquarium in several ways. It will start to capture the dust that is floating in the water and it will add some of the life that is currently missing, which also captures dust from the water. The algae and LS will also help filter the water in very good ways. Be patient and let us know how this goes. Call me if you want immediate help. My phone number is below and I enjoy helping. Also check out this thread which gives lots of tips and understanding of how to have a beautiful reef aquarium.
|
Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks:www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member 
|
|
Guests
Guest Group
Pet Store
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: November 08 2009 at 4:19pm |
|
i would say its more of a greenish color. i have talked to my friend that is on this forum and he is from evanston. the last two mornings my water is crystal clear, then i turn my light on and by the end of the day it is looking murky again. is my light causing something to happen?
|
|
MadReefer
Guest
Joined: December 13 2007
Location: Kearns
Status: Offline
Points: 1965
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: November 08 2009 at 4:54pm |
|
The light could be growing free floating micro algae.
|
|
EvanB756
Guest
Joined: August 04 2009
Location: Eagle MTN, utah
Status: Offline
Points: 164
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: November 08 2009 at 7:12pm |
|
Yeah, I'd go with free floating algae also.
My cousin has this problem right now, if it is free floating algae i'd be interested in getting info on how to get rid of it.
he was told to buy a UV sterilizer so he did and it cleared it up for about a week but now it's back... any insight would be appreciated.
|
|
90gal display w/ 30gal sump.
|
|
Guests
Guest Group
Pet Store
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: November 08 2009 at 7:16pm |
|
Yea info on getting rid of this please.
|
|
Mark Peterson
Paid Member
Joined: June 19 2002
Location: Murray
Status: Offline
Points: 21436
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: November 09 2009 at 10:56am |
There are many animals that eat phytoplankton/free floating algae. The natural way is the best. Feather duster worms, sponges, clams and all kinds of coral eat it. If it goes away by morning, there are probably already some things eating it through the night. You just want more of them. They also come free on LR. Can you see tiny feather dusters?
Also have the light on for a shorter time so the algae grows less, giving the animals time to eat what is produced.
If after all of that it still has not diminished after about a week or two, I'd borrow a UV Sterilizer and run it for 2-4 weeks. That usually clears the problem if there are enough animals to keep it under control after that. Green water from algae is good in a way since it's good food for many reef organisms.
Here was a problem I had.
And this is what fixed it:
The skimmer did nothing so I added coral and clams. This large clam was from a friend who was moving. I didn't have to use a UV Sterilizer this time but since then I have used it successfuly in many tanks temporarily until the tank was able to clean the water itself.
So I began growing phytoplankton to feed the clam.
Clownfish loved that clam
Edited by Mark Peterson - November 09 2009 at 11:03am
|
Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks:www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
|
|
Guests
Guest Group
Pet Store
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: November 09 2009 at 1:28pm |
|
The rock almost looks like lace rock. I know birdworld sales it. Some say you can use it while others say you cant Im not sure on that.
|
|
Mark Peterson
Paid Member
Joined: June 19 2002
Location: Murray
Status: Offline
Points: 21436
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: November 09 2009 at 6:46pm |
It is definitely mostly lace rock which usually adds nutrients to the water which are great for growing algae, including phytoplankton. But for now we should see if this problem can be resolved without having to replace the rock. 
|
Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks:www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
|
|
