Dirty Sand Problem

[Kvark27]

Thanks man, I'm glad it's starting to look better. I just tested for phosphate and from what I could tell it seemed to be at 0. Since this Chemi-pure elite says it helps with tons of stuff, I still plan on using it.

 

[Jacobsal91]

Lookin good! That cemipure stuff is close to the same as the phoslock that i poated, Good stuff even if you dont have phosphate it will KEEP it that way

 

[Kvark27]

Perfect! Yeah I had your picture of the phosphate remover up at the store but couldn't find it so this was the closest thing to it. Does it matter what compartment I put it in? I have the water going through filter floss, then phos pads, then the chemipure elite. Hope it helps!

 

[Crystal A]

Wow looks great! Question how many fish do you have now?

 

[Kvark27]

Thanks! I have 4 fish total. 2 clowns, 1 Chromis, and the neon Dottyback.

I just put the chemipure elite in the filter too.

 

[Evilbass]

I have been following the post and haven't posted anything because I wanted to learn, and so far i can say it looks 100 times better! good job!!!

 

[Kvark27]

Thank you very much. I have learned a ton from this thread too!

 

[Crystal A]

You don't want to add to many more fish. Make sure you add any slowly as well. It increases the bioload and gives you a slight ammonia peek. Adding slowly gives your good bacteria time to balance the water out.

 

[Kvark27]

Sounds good. I'm still going to wait until I feel all of this algae and stuff is clean and the tank is healthy. What would you recommend adding?

 

[Evilbass]

So Kvark,

what did you end up doing?? I mean there was a lot of advice on here, but what did you end up going with and ultimately what are you going to continue to do?

 

[Kvark27]

The first thing I did was throw away all the parts of the filter that came with the tank. All 3 black sponges, the carbon, and the white blocks from the lowest compartment. Then I put filter floss in the first compartment, phos pads in the second, and chemipure elite in the third. I also put in a Hydor 750 power head for more flow. I replaced the filter floss everyday since it was getting so dirty. I plan on continuing this until everything is healthy.

I still plan on changing 10 gallons this weekend and putting a turbo snail in to help clean. I believe that's all I have done so far! If I left anything out let me know.

 

[Kvark27]

Oh yeah, and I decreased my feeding and set my lights differently. The blues come on at 12 and whites at 1. Then whites off at 6 and blues off at 7.

 

[Crystal A]

I would maybe suggest a goby. They are good for stirring up the sand bed, just be sure your rocks a steady cause they dig under them. I'm gonna try and get a goby and pistol shrimp pair for my tank.

 

[Evilbass]

I have a yellow watchmen and pistol... I love them! they're awesome to watch! I ended up putting my rock down first before adding sand in my new 30 gallon because i wanted to make sure nothing crushed any of them!

 

[Jacobsal91]

Perfect! Yeah I had your picture of the phosphate remover up at the store but couldn't find it so this was the closest thing to it. Does it matter what compartment I put it in? I have the water going through filter floss, then phos pads, then the chemipure elite. Hope it helps!

I dont think it really matters, how
My filter works is the overflow goes through the dponge in first compartment, the. Goes to second with the carbon and thoese bio rings, then through the bioballs that just came with the tank dont think i really need it but whatever
And then out to the tank, I put it in with the carbon and its
Doing the job just fine

 

[Crystal A]

Have you done a water change yet? This is Probaly the most important aspect of keeping the tank clean. It's by far the best way to remove the excess nutrients in the tank.

 

[Kvark27]

Plan on running to the store to pickup water soon. I'm going to change 10 gallons out in a few hours.

 

[Collatos]

I have a 14 g bio cube and I keep getting cynaide build up. All is low except a bit of nitrate I do weekly to bi-weekly water changes, I'm thinking of adding activated carbon and phosphate reducer bc phosphates can add to cyanide. Any thoughts?

 

[Crystal A]

Water change, water change, water change. That is the best method of getting rid of nutrients. I do them every week faithfully.

 

[Kvark27]

Well today I did a 10 gallon water change, added a turbo snail, replaced the filter floss, and replaced the phos pads. Here is a picture. It's looking better and better each day. Thanks everyone for all of the help!