Overwhelmed & in over my head! Might just give up! PICS

[mardeebo]

Some of you may have read my first post here a couple weeks ago asking if I should start with a new tank from scratch or go with an established tank. Well I chose the established tank (how could I resist such a good deal?). Now I'm feeling so overwhelmed and uneducated I think I might have to take a step back and either quit, start over, or sell the darn thing.

I also feel like I'm trying to learn about so many things in a big hurry because I have to stay on top of what's going on in my tank. Yep....I'm now regretting taking on so much, so fast.

Here's the latest.

I have all this brownish thick stuff that covers my sand & glass. I"m trying to figure out if it's cyano or diatoms, much less how to get rid of it.

My fish have ich. Well I thought they did, then next day no spots. Now today spots again. Have a QT tank set up but am holding off until I know what it is.

The prefilter box came off my powerhead on the CPR Bak Pak (guess I ddin't have it on right to begin with) and my bubble tip got sucked up in it. So I take it out and start floating it in the QT tank & change my mind when I see that it seems to look pretty good except for the area where the chuncks came off it's foot. It looked good today too...but then again, how do I even know what "good" is!! LOL. Can this thing actually survive such damage and how do I know if it isnt?

I have an order of live rock coming in today. I hope I don't mess that up too.

I feel like I have to go out and spend $250 on a new skimmer because I can't get the adjustments right on my bak-paks.

I could go on & on.

I feel like I'm spinning my wheels trying to keep up with this thing and in the process make a ton of mistakes.

Am seriously thinking about converting to a simple ol' freshwater.

Heck, I don't even know if I'm feeding my fish too much, too little, right kind, etc.

Sorry about the self-pity here.

 

[austinsdad]

Most likely diatoms. Ick is seen of fish before it releases into the water I believe. Sounds like the QT tank may be in use soon.

What have you read about SW fishkeeping. Robert Fenner's book is always a good read.

 

[SirLight1337]

I got the book "Salt Water Aquariums for Beginners" while my tank was cycling and read it about 2 or 3 times just to really have things stick. The bakpak skimmers are hard to setup when you first put them on and they are "seasoning" Just put them on with the air totaly shut off for about a day or two, and then open them up a few turns. They can be a pain to setup initially but really are nice skimmers. If at all possible, id recommend getting a different larger skimmer. Try and find one rated for ~100gal.

Check your SG everyday, check your temps to make sure everything is on par, and during feeding do a visual inspection of your fish to see if they have any skin diseases and how their behavior is. ( aggressive during feeding, very passive and hiding etc..) scrape all the algae off the front of the tank. some people like to let it grow a little on the sides. every 4 weeks check all your filters and equipment for excessive algae buildup and remove it if necessary. every 6 months ( depending on filter) the filter element needs to be replaced or cleaned. Just take your time, read and learn as much as you can. i cant keep my face out of all of the invert and other fish and coral books.

 

[mardeebo]

I've been reading so much my hubby thinks I"ve lost my mind 8O

I've been reading 3 or 4 books - Conscientious Marine, Problem Solving the Marine Aquarium, Baensch, skimmed thorugh "saltwater for dummies" (aint that the truth), plus literally days on the internet but that can be SOOO confusing & contradictory.

I guess my thoughts were that if the prior owner was able to keep bubble tips successfully in this set up (and sell them when they split to the lfs), why couldn't I? I didn't think I needed to upgrade any of the equipment, but after reading so much, I think I do.

 

[SirLight1337]

You could just give up and sell all of your stuff if thats what you want to do. You sound like you have a significant amount of cash invested in this setup already, why spend more for less ?

Just take your time, read and research as much as possible but dont overload yourself. You may lose a few specimens but its all part of the learning curve. From what you listed in your sig, i dont see any type of powerhead, and you may be a bit underlit for a reef tank. powerheads create water circulation and current to feed inverts as well as prevent stagnation. Look into a maxi-jet 1200 or two or Rio powerheads are also quite good. A maxi-jet 1200 could be had on the internet for around 15-20 dollars but expect to pay 30+ at LFS. HTH

 

[Phyl]

Deep breath... inhale. Now exhale. Repeat after me: I can do this. I CAN do this...

Ok that's a good start. Now that you've relaxed... don't try to do so much all at once.

Brownish dusty stuff is most likely diatoms. These will burn themselves out so don't worry about them.

Start adding garlic juice (Kent Garlic Extreme or fresh crushed) and a vitamin if you can get one easily. Your fish are stressed out over the move. If it has been in the system the whole time they're probably pretty good at fighting it off naturally once they get back on their fins. Ich is cyclic because of the reproductive cycle. It will appear to come and go until it disappears completely.

As for the anemone, make sure you acclimate it properly each time you move it (especially if the PH and SG don't match). Do things very slowly and deliberately. Panic reactions are usually unnecssary. If your bubble tip is still inflated (bearing in mind that they will deflate on occassion, mine daily) that's a good sign. Is it attaching to things? Whatever you do don't pull it off of anything. That's just going to hurt it more. If it has been thriving in this environment and has good color then you have every reason to believe you will be able to keep it healthy also.

A skimmer is a nice to have, not a have to have. Take your time and get acquainted with it before ditching it. You may find research answers your questions.

Keep mixed SW handy and change water frequently in the presence of any Ammo or trite or trate over 40. Lots of 20% water changes should keep your parms stable during this period of time where your system is settling in.

Remember to breathe!

 

[mardeebo]

I have two bubble tips - one of them has not moved at all and looks great. The other one moves around - i'm sure because I've arranged the live rock different than the prior owner and it's trying to find its perfect spot. I had it up toward the top, it moved and hid in the bottom. After the powerhead fiasco yesterday, it was back on top of the rock and aside from the damaged area, it was inflated and looking nice.

I have a 4x65w power compact and I have been feeding the anemones 2 freeze dried krill every 4 or 5 days.

PUMP QUESTION:
If more current is needed, how much do I need? I have the 2 bak-paks, 2 aqua clears , and 1 powerhead in the tank right now. Do I need to add more current and where would I put it? Even the sea cucumber gets that brownish stuff on it. I try to suck up the stuff with a turkey baster, but it clogs the bottom because it's clumpy.

VITAMIN QUESTION:
What kind of vitamin? I have added Kent's Essential Vitamin with my last two water changes - is that the same stuff that you are referring to?

I THINK I CAN, I THINK I CAN

---breathing a bit better now, but then again, I'm at work and haven't seen my tank since 5:00am---

 

[MadManMac]

Once again, relax all is good in the world, or at least tell yourself that until you believe it to be true. As for the brown stuff, does it come and go with the lights? For vitamins, I use Kent Zoe and Garlic Extreme. I have fended off multiple cases of Ich using larger than normal Garlic doses and since I have a 175 with about 250 pounds of rock, QT is out of the question for me. Just keep up the filters to make sure the sponges or pads or whatever is in them stays very clean and possible add some Carbon to help remove bad stuff from the water. Don't over reacted, this is a great hobby (LIFE) that teaches you something new eeryday, myflame scallop just reappeared from behind the rocks after 3 months and he is HUGE!, so anything is possible just be patient and make small changes. Good luck and keep asking questions.

 

[mardeebo]

YES - the brown stuff does come and go (not completely) with the lights, now that you mention it! What does that mean?

I did add another 5 turbo snails and 10 red legged hermits (per LFS suggestion). The glass looks good but the sand seems to be a bit worse every day.

I was running a bag of carbon and some phosphate remove in the aquaclears the first week but have since taken them out (again not sure if that was right or not). The phosphates tested at 0 so that's why I removed it. The brownish carpet on the sand has been worse since I removed it so perhaps I'm getting phosphates somewhere??? The prior owner used an Aquarium Pharmaceuticles Tap Water Filter and I took about 90% of her water. I've used purchased RODI water for my water changes (the TWF cartridge is used up). Should I put the bags back in?

 

[mardeebo]

Here's some pics of what's going on in my tank:

This is the brownish stuff on the bottom of my tank. The cirular area in the back is where I had a powerhead set blasting at it too strong.

Another picture of mystery stuff from the middle of the tank. BTW - what are those little white anemone things in the middle of it? I have them all over my sand.

Here's the anemone that was damaged in the powerhead - 18 hours post incident.

Here's the other anemone. He looks good, right?

I hope all these pictures show up..if not, check out my gallery.
Thanks for all help.

 

[mjvincent]

Is the brown stuff powdery or slimy when you move it in the sand?

 

[mardeebo]

It's sticky and the clumps together. I'd say more slimy than powdery. I'm guessing cyano, huh?

 

[SirLight1337]

Have you checked all your water parameters lately ?? pH, Calcium, alkalinity etc..

 

[mardeebo]

I checked everything last Friday -
PH - 8.4
SG 1.023
temp 78
ammonia - 0
nitrites - 0
nitrates - 10
hardness - 10
calcium - 415
phosphate - 0

I did a water change (about 10 %).

I'll check again tonight & repost. I wonder if my phos test is old??? All the test kits came with the tank so I can't comment on their age.

 

[dr.diggler]

Wouldnt worry about the anemone, I had the same thing happen. Mine was oozing out this mustard color stuff. It lived it just took a little time for it to come around.

 

[mardeebo]

The anemone, although hiding and moving around alot, seems to be doing okay. I really can't beleive my eyes.

I noticed my phospates were creeping up again so I added a phos remover.

I also decided to get a different skimmer..couldn't afford a new ASM so I got a 6 mos old turboflotor multi. Hope that helps.

I guess waht I'm saying is even with the problems I'm having, I am not ready to give up on it.

Thanks for all the great posts and support.

 

[lando]

When things happen all at once it can be pretty overwhelming. Your biggest problem right now is with the cycno. Your PO4 is reading zero (or close to it) becasue the cyno is feeding off of it. Test your source water for PO4 and make sure you rinse all froozen food in RO/DI water before adding it to the tank. You have two goals here. first, getting the exsisting cyno removed from the tank. Second, identifying the source of the cyno and eliminating it. Get some Chemi-Clean by Boyd and use that to remve the cyno fromthe tank. Manually removea s much as you can first. Remove all GAC and turn off our skimmer during the treatment. This stuff works well but if you do not eliminate the source the cyno will just keep coming back. How old are the bulbs in the lighting fixture? If this is a used tank I would replace the bulbs. As bulbs age they loose spectrum and this can cause algea problems. You certainly need more flow in your tank. Add at least three powerheads, four would be better. Cyno has a hard time getting a hold in high flow areas. Your other water parameters look great. Best of luck! Chin up...it will get better.

 

[mardeebo]

Thank you so much lando!

I retested my water again last night and did see the PO4 was reading about .5 (I think I remembered the scale correctly).

My tap water reads about .2 PO4 and I was using that to thaw out the frozen food (I figured, heck it's only like a tablespoon, that can't hurt, can it!!) I will also quit feeding flake food until I can get this figured out.

How can you manually remove this stuff? It gets all balled up and I cant seem to suck it up in the turkey baster. Would a canister filter/vacuum unit work?

Lights are about 8 months old, according to prior owner. Is it time to change already?

Where is optimal placement for the 4 powerheads? What size should I get for all of them (I don't think I need a hurricane in there, right? 8O )

Do you do any onsite consulting, lando? Heck, I'd pay to have come and help me out for a few hours!!

As always, thanks for the help.

 

[lando]

My tap water reads about .2 PO4 and I was using that to thaw out the frozen food

This is a big part of your problem. Try to get a hold of RO/DI water for your changes and top-offs. Best plan is to buy your own unit (It is easy to spend other people's money ). This is best way to keep PO4 form building up in the system.

How can you manually remove this stuff?

Use a brine shrimp net and scrape it off of the top of the substrate. You can syphon it off as well.

Lights are about 8 months old, according to prior owner. Is it time to change already?

It is getting close, PC bulbs have a useable life of 9-12mounths. With the bulbs being 8mo old I would not say it has contributed to this problem.

Where is optimal placement for the 4 powerheads? What size should I get for all of them

Maxi-Jet 1200's. Placement is really up to you. The goal is a caotic water current that eliminates dead spots. If you do not have them pointing directly at your substrate you will avoid a sand-storm.

Do you do any onsite consulting, lando?

Where the heck is Emerald, WI anyways?
This is not a hard problem to beat. It will just take some time and attention.

 

[mardeebo]

I was using ro/di water from the lfs for my water changes & top offs. Although one day I was a bit short so I added maybe 1 gallon of tap water to the salt mix. The prior owner was using an Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Tap Water Filter - perhaps it was building up with that too??

Yeah, an ro/di filter is on my list of "wants". Probably just bumped up to "needs". Hmm..wonder if the baby can go w/o diapers for a month.

Maxi-Jet 1200's it is. Ebay here I come.

Emerald - a small town consisiting of one street, one dairy farm, and 3 bars. It's about 15 miles NE of Baldwin. I work in St. Paul - commute 55 miles every day.

Seriously - I can't thank you enough.

Deb