Holy smokescreen Batman...

[42jeff]

Woke up to a tank I couldn't see through this morning. 90 Gallon, Emperor 400 whatever...has a yellow tang, maroon clown, mandarin goby, bunch of snails and crabs, about 43 or so pounds or so of liverock.

ANYways...the tanks been going strong for about two weeks now. Everybody's happy. Test levels are always good albeit I just canNOT seem to get my ammonia to zero out for anything...and other than a bit of a red algea diatom kinda problem which I'm remedying with changing out tapwater with RO, I'm totally satisfied with the tank.

WELL, this morning I go out there and as I'm walking across the room toward the tank I couldn't figure out if I still had sleep boogers in my eyes or what, but the tank was totally opaque.

Yes. I freaked out. Turned the lights on and started running around like a the proverbial chicken. Grabbed both filters and rinsed them out (even though I've been obsessively rinsing them every few days) and did a quick water change with the last of the RO water I had on hand.

After praying over it for a bit, I called up my lfs. She asked if I had a sand bottom (yes) and did I have any sifters....no. She went on to tell me that sometimes gas bubbles will form under the sand and when they all start going they dirty up the water. I could use my hand and kinda sift, NOT CHURN, the sand to get the bubbles to release themselves. And as I got looking...albederned...there were a bunch of bubbles under the sand...

Any thoughts? Comments? Requests for me to stop with these long drawn out posts?

 

[Guest]

Yep first off your tank isn't even cycled. You don't have enough LR, and you can't support a mandarin goby. Ammonia = serious issues. Best bet would be to return all the fish, get more LR, finish the cycle then do some reading. It's really important to do research, search for articles on cycleing. Otherwise, your fish may all die, before the cycle is completed.

 

[Brad]

Sand bubbles

I'm not the LFS...but I extemely doubt that sand bubbles were the cause of your opaque..ness.

It wasn't something as obvious as a powerhead hitting the sand and stirring everything up?

I'm a bit worried about ammonia that just won't go away. That ain't right. Do you have any nitrite?

 

[Guest]

It's been running for 2 weeks, thats why he has ammonia.

 

[mrmarine]

buddy take out those fish!!!!listen to six line!
2 weeks whatre you thinkin!!???man do researc at...you at least know about cycling your tank right??

sorry to be mean but...that really frustrates me

 

[William]

Don't you need a fully mature tank with a healthy supply of pods to even think about a mandarin?

 

[ReefRaff]

I would atleast take back the goby, and while your there get another 45lbs (or in my opinion) another 90 lbs of LR. this will help greatly with the cycle.

a cycle will tipicaly take 4-8 weeks, during this time there shouldn't be any fish in the tank, or an anenome for that matter.

anenome, and the manderin, should not be introduced to a tank unless it has had atleast a year of run time.

 

[lando]

I agree with everyone else. Take back your livestock ASAP. See if the LFS will just hold it for you for about four weeks so your tank can cycle. Better yet, trade them in for more live rock. The mandarin needs a mature tank with lots of pods and live rock. I will not live more then a week in your current tank before it starves. I would do a 50% water change now and test your levels tomorrow. The reason you can not get your amonia down to zero is because your tank has not yet cycled and you are adding to the bio-load. Wait until your amonia and nirtite are at zero and your nitrates close to it before you add any fish. Goos luck...Lando

 

[HoopsGuru]

Depending on what you are "rinsing" the filters in could also be compounding the fact that you added livestock WAY too early. If it is in chlorinated tapwater you are potentially killing off the bacteria that is trying to colonize the media.

The bubble idea is a weird one, and I also agree that it likely has nothing to do with your problem. I would guess it is a bacterial bloom, as they try to establish themselves in the environment.

I would return everything, if one dies most likely it will cause a chain reaction because your tank cannot even properly handle them alive at the moment. Buy a good book and take a few weeks to become more familiar with saltwater concepts and you won't have near as much trouble and hassles.

 

[1neondottyback]

I agree with what has been said. This is a great place for advise but this is not a replacement for in depth books on caring for aquariums. Breaking in a tank takes patience. The LR will help but you need more of it and if it's not cured you will be adding to the duration of tank cycle.

I would't advise cleaning your filters too often and when you do it's alway a good idea to do it with some tank water when you do a water change. Otherwise you kill all the beneficial bacteria that you want.

Down the road you should invest in a good protein skimmer. Take your time and you will be ahead of the curve.

 

[1neondottyback]

New tank syndrome will cloud a tank opaque if you add livestock too early