Air bubbles underwater??

[CoryB]

Under daylight it looks completely different guess I should have done that from the start.





Please help. It looks terrible.

 

[mr_X]

That's cyanobacteria. Water changes vacuuming out what you can, and reducing feedings. Either that, or Chemiclean. Chemiclean will force you to do water changes to remove it, and it not coming back will be because of that- lowering the nutrient level in the tank.

 

[CoryB]

I change 20% water every week and only feed every other day. Just enough that the clowns can eat so nothing really settles on the bottom.

Should I be doing bigger water changes a week?

Should I remove the hob and GFO.

 

[CoryB]

Is this harmful to the livestock?

 

[mr_X]

No, cyano is not harmful to livestock, but it's unsightly. I don't know how effective the gfo will be in the HOB filter, but it's not hurting anything.
Maybe it's your source water...RODI?
What is the T.D.S. ?

BTW, I've used the chemiclean many times on various tanks with no ill effects.

 

[CoryB]

I use stop and shop distilled water.

In the beginning I bought ro/di from a Lfs but out of laziness went to stop and shop. Literally a 1 min walk. I kept reading distilled is perfectly fine in reef systems but maybe not.

I have around 35 psi water pressure and most filter systems won't even work with that little pressure.

Also don't have a Tds meter.

 

[mr_X]

Well, I suppose ruling out the water would be my first action. TDS meters are pretty cheap.

 

[CoryB]

I'll have to pick one up. Seems like a great first step.

Could my lights be causing any of this chaos. I left my tank fallow for a few months due to ick and left the lights off as well.

 

[mr_X]

Well, light is one component, but you need nutrient filled water to make the environment complete for nuisance algae and cyanobacteria growth.

 

[CoryB]

Ok I'll start by testing the water and going from there. Thanks.