Disgusting brown goo
 

Christy,

I forgot to add this one for you as no one else has mentinned it.

Nutrient export. Are you running a fuge? or have any way to grow macro algae?? You have to outcompete the dino's for food.

HTH

Disgusting brown goo
 

My this thread has been busy. I've been watching the hockey game. Way to go Canada!!!

OK so, answers to questions.

Yes its brown gooey and has lots of air bubbles in it. Its almost impossible to siphon as it has clumped the sandbed and in order to remove it the top of the sandbed has to be removed as well. The last time I did this approximately 3 lbs of sand was removed. I was not thrilled to say the least.

Better protein skimmer. Yes. I have a CPR Bak Pak II right now and just blew $250 on new bulbs. Unfortunately a better protein skimmer is not in the cards unless someone is willing to donate.

Water circulation. I don't have much luck with powerheads. I just bought one from J&L and half the parts are missing (as with the last two I bought from other places). They are shipping them to me and will hopefully be here sometime this week.

Alk, this is something that confuses me mightily. The test kit I have (FasTest) says its at 2.5 meq/L. What the heck does this mean? Is this good? Everyone seems to be reporting different numbers in degrees of hardness etc etc. My conversion table is screwy because 2.5 seems to be okay but then when I convert it it is too low for the degrees of hardness. As well I was using Kent ProBuffer and I swear the stuff was getting sucked up by something because I was having a hell of a time keeping the alkalinity up so I gave up, until I can figure out what the heck is going on.

Trying regular water. Well as I said before the bulbs wiped me out for cash and I have run out of salt. I think I'll try to bum some from work because its like $30 a bag here and quite frankly I refuse to pay that much unless I am totally desperate (which I am not right now).

Victor,
I did #1, #2, #3 repeatedly (what fun, scrubbing rocks for 2 hours every week), nobody in Nanaimo sells kalk so thats a no go. As it was I had to get the kent buffer in vancouver, #5 (well I already talked about that. I had it up to 12 at one point but the next day it was back at 8), #6 (carbon replaced every week), #7 (we'll call that escargot for the hermit crabs, I just bought 20 and they aren't even making a dent, 5 were snacks for hermits so far), #8 done every time I get really ****ed off (about every 2 weeks or so), #9 using the mechanical filter to run the carbon and phosphate sponge thru changed every couple of days. #10 verrry interesting. I am going out today to get and airstone.

Great call on the snails Darren. Another $30 in feed for my hermits. No wonder they are getting so big [img]images/smiles/icon_razz.gif[/img]

No nothing has recently died in my tank. However I have noted that this problem coincided with the addition of a lawnmower blenny. Man those guys can really churn out the waste. There is plenty to eat believe me. So do you think that maybe this lawmnower blenny is just too much for my tank. He is constantly eating and quite frankly his waste is probably equivalent to 4 fish. Any thoughts??

No no refugium. Every time I try to get organized enough to get out there and try to get parts for one, something else comes up (in this case, lightbulbs). Any ideas for an ultra cheap refugium, I have a spare 20G and 5G (Probly too small). What other parts do I need?? I have a crapload of caulerpa growing in the main tank which I ripped out while doing my last cleaning frenzy (there is quite a bit left still growing).


Keep those thoughts coming I'll try to post more pics of any success, otherwise you may see my stuff in the buy/sell forum [img]images/smiles/icon_razz.gif[/img]

Thanks for all the ideas guys, keep em coming!!

Christy [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Disgusting brown goo
 

All I can say is do a large water change 50-60%, then folow up this with a weekly water change of 25% until the problem is gone.

Disgusting brown goo
 

Christy,

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quoteHere are two links you may want to read if you haven't already. The first is an explanation of what Alk is. I am sure you know, but wanted to pass it on. It gets a bit much for most but you should be ok. With the biology n stuff.. [img]images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img] The second is a great conversion table. I keep mine at 12 dkh

Alkalinity Reefs.org library

Alk conversion table

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quoteOk it sounds like you are only measuring alk. Am I right? You will need to watch Alk, pH and Ca together. These three will interact together constantly. One goes high one will drop. All kids of wahcky stuff. Once you have all three stable you may see a fix to your problem. I am not saying this will be a fix. but try it. I am running 8.2-8.3 for pH, 12 for dKh and 450 for Ca. All measured on salifert kits and a pH moonitor. Others will get different numbers. But usually close to that.

If you are having a hard time keeping Alk up you may be having other problems you can't see. What do you do towards Ca? and keeping it up? This may be a part of the problem.

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quoteTap water???

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quoteMake sure it outs out fine fine bubbles. ie limewood airstone.

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>He is constantly eating and quite frankly his waste is probably equivalent to 4 fish. Any thoughts??
<hr></blockquote>

Could be.. how many fish ya have in there now? If he is making enough for four fish and is new he may have put the tank jsut over the edge for wastes. And it can't keep up.

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quoteTake the 20 gallon. Go to HD and buy a small cheap ballast/lamp kit. GE Ultra daylights work fine for lamps. Get the tank drilled with one hole for a drain on the side. Mount it higher than your tank so gravity send the H2O back into the tank. Use a MaxiJet1200 for the feed line up to it. Make it so it only has to go a few inches and you get max pressure

And finally Get salt ASAP and do changes. regular ones. With RO/DI if you can.
Hope you got something out of that.

[ 24 February 2002: Message edited by: DJ88 ]</p>

Disgusting brown goo
 

Thanks Darren,
Regular water in my mind is fresh RO/DI sorry for the confusion. I know tap water is bad bad bad!! [img]images/smiles/icon_razz.gif[/img]

Yes I am only measuring alk. I never even thought to measure the Ca and pH. I have Kent liquid calcium that I add every once in awhile. My Ca usually stays at about 420 or so.

I found a limewood airstone that came with my crapulent Lee's Protein Skimmer. That sucker lasted about 3 days before I threw it in a drawer where it belongs.

Right now I have 2 firefish gobies (thinkin about getting rid of them since one hides and the other one has a $hit eating grin on its face all the time after chasing the other one around the tank.) clown goby, lawnmower and an ailing anthias (cloudy eye, treating with Maracyn2).

As for the refugium. Good input. I can't get the fuge higher than the tank. Guess I'll have to work on that one.

Christy [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Disgusting brown goo
 

It all comes down to a proper balance of nutrients within the system.

If your LDSB wasn't seeded properly or isn't live enough, that's going to cause continuous problems.

Unfortunately, your skimmer is apparently inadequate for your current bioload. This is not to say you have too many fish, rather your nutrient export is insufficient for your intended purposes.
You can alleviate some of the inefficiency of your skimmer by also ensuring that you harvest macro algae, but the bottom line is that you need to increase your nutrient export one way or another while also addressing the culprit that is responsible for your elevated nutrient levels.

Your alk should ideally be around 3.5-4.5 meq/L. This is higher than natural seawater but raising your alk from your current 2.5 meq/L is going to make a significant difference.

It's kinda like losing weight. It's not as complicated as people make it seem. One is a case of ensuring that energy in is less than energy out (when losing weight), and the other is a case of ensuring that nutrients in are less than nutrients out.

[ 24 February 2002: Message edited by: Canadian ]</p>

Disgusting brown goo
 

Do a large water change!!!!!!!

Disgusting brown goo
 

Christy, if you're in Vic during the next week, I can give you some salt. If you haven't got any by next week-end, I'm probably going to Lantzville and can bring some with me.

Disgusting brown goo
 

hi christy
just a thought, if you want a refugium/sump we have a 20g drilled that i would probably give away if it came down to it or trade for a fish magazine or something. it has been sitting on the shelf for too long and i basically just want to move it out.
i posted it on the board this am in case you aren't interested, but if you are, i have the bulkheads still (i think) and could help you set it up el cheapo -- that's how i try to do everything in this hobby. it keeps me out of bankruptcy and tanja is an accountant so imagine the challenges!! [img]images/smiles/icon_redface.gif[/img] )
i can't visualize your setup but it would be best for this to be slightly higher than your tank (on a bookshelf of sorts maybe??) and then just use a ph as darren i think suggested. i don't think this will be an instant fix for the super goo you have but long term it will benefit your system in many ways. we have macro algae by the bucket you could seed it with.
just an idea. if it won't fit the plan no worries.
as for super goo destruction, i have found success with a combination of things, the best being high alk and high current. as a cost saving measure, i would avoid doing many 50-60% h20 changes cuz of the cost of salt but that's just my approach with our large volume.
anyway just a couple thoughts. shane