Please help

[Breezy86]

I have a biocube 29, I had it cycled and I have about 45 lbs of live rock in it. It has been running since like November 2011. But sadly I have had some fish die off. There also seems to be alot of stuff gathering on the bottom and when I try to siphon it out I don't succeed as to I have the really small live sand. I am considering just taking all my rocks out scrubbing them off and putting all new water in. I still have 3 hermit crabs and 2 turbo snails alive. I didn't know if there is any upgrades or something I should use instead. I have an oceanic biocube protein skimmer, but it doesn't seem to work worth a hoot! Any help! I'm getting frustrated and almost want to give up!! Thanks for any help!

 

[carey]

Hi. Welcome to the forum.

How often do you do water changes, how much each time and do you use ro/di water? That can help with algae and other gunk in your tank.

I also have a 29 cube and use a media rack instead of the bioballs and the stock filter cartridge. here is a link to it if youre interested.

BioCube 29 - Aquarium Filtration Upgrades & Supplies

I had a biocube skimmer and ended selling it off as it really did nothing but annoy me. Never pulled anything out of the water. :-( Don't feel bad, it's not just you.

 

[Breezy86]

I tried doing a water change every two weeks, and I usually do about a 5 gallon bucket. I dunno what but when I do siphon out that gunk doesn't get sucked up. Did you buy a different protein skimmer or leave them out all together?

 

[carey]

i have no skimmer running now at all. I do about a 3g - 6g change a week on mine. Are you using a fish siphon thingee like this?

Aqueon Siphon Vacuum W/ Priming Bulb, Aquarium Gravel Cleaning | PetSolutions

You should just be grazing the surface of the sand and rock with the siphon thing, never dig in and spread the sand around or anything like that.