My New Marine Tank From Week 1

Jeff

Glad to hear that the Ozone worked for you....
Would have hated to see things going bad in that beautiful tank

Best of luck buddy

Neil

Thanks Neil

Well after the ozone was switched off my nitrates went off the wall altogether reaching near 30 at one stage, then I got a cyano bacteria bloom on most of the sand, and to top it off I got (......) in my tank ahhhhhh, came home from work one night and the tank smelled like the local swimming pool fish doing the back stroke me naso tang was swimming straight but in a vertical position, most corals closed some dead looking my elegance looked like a grenade went of in it, what does one do when you see that and not know what is going on,
Well I can tell yeh I felt light headed weak and wanted to throw up,
100 things rushing threw my very light headed head making me worse, what's wrong

Boom it's from the filter sock that I had steeping in bleach to clean it,

It was well rinsed and we'll aired for a couple of days and the night before this happened I put it in and went to bed shortly after and was out the door the next morning and one of the very few morning's I didn't check or dose the tank, had to work late and when I came home my 9yr old daughter said dad the tank doesn't smell great and the corals don't look to good

Panic panic panic


I had no water ready nowhere open ahhhhhh

Powerheads all to the top to create as much oxygen as I could turned the skimmer to a very wet skim mode and put in some carbon,
Must of emptied the skimmer cup don't know how many times, for bow this is all I could do

3.30 in the morning later decided can't do anymore and tried to sleep as u was up at stupid o'clock for work

Next morning fish looking much better swimming normal and breading half normal emptied skimmer aging and had to go to work cause I had made a promise to a regular customer that I'd finish the job before their weekend party

I did sneak away for a bit and got some pollyfilter went home and put that in, when u got home I done a 100ltr wc and prayed

Within 2-3 days smell was gone corals where opening cyano was gone but lost my two shrimps but two shrimps is nothing compared to what is in their so I am very very lucky

Foocing mental buzz altogether

That was a couple of weeks ago and all is good now added another 25kg live rock,
3 yellow tail damsels, and a 5/6" yellow belly hippo tang

Il get some new pics up tomorrow when lights are on, might even treat yez to a video now that I know how to do it

SO their's some update for yeh haha

Have spare bleach their if anyone needs it (never again)

Wow man I had no idea.. it must have been a nightmare for you.

I always freak out when I feel I am losing control over my aquarium (when I feel something is wrong but I dont know what).

Fair play to you for bringing it back under control so quickly. Like you said it could have been worse, much worse... imagine this happened while you were away????

Next time maybe try using baking soda instead of bleach, at least if it leaches you wont risk killing anything... I wonder what caused the bleach to trigger that chain of events, in small doses bleach should not cause a major catastrophe like this one... now I am scared about using bleach myself! I am going to try baking soda from now on.

I feel you bud!

Cheers mate yeh it was a nightmare not to be forgotten Darren in sh recons I used to much bleach as I done a 50 50 bleach and water mix but I wouldn't even try a 10 90 now it's just not worth it, baking soda is an option but don't think it would get it totally clean I've gone back to my old way with the internal juwel filter box with holes cut at the bottom and floss and change every 2-3 days works out a bit dearer but least I know it safe, tank sitter will be employed to change this and do the dosing and clean the skimmer when I'm away for sure

How many gray hairs have you now Jeff?

It is best if bleach is not used at all. It leaves a residue behind that is hard to get rid of. Washing or rinsing normally wont get rid of all of it.
You want to use a bleach like product. Something that will oxidize with out a residue. Paradox can be used or you can get a bleach like product in super markets but I forget what its called.

Ah ok 50/50 is quite a lot. So maybe the bleach killed some of your bacteria?

I never clean anything in my aquarium with bleach. When I am curing base rock I use Bleach, dip the rock for 24 hours in a 10/90 solution and then soaked them in RO water for 3-5 days (doing water changes every day) until the pH is "normal" and then leave them outside for another week. Then start the soaking process in RO water again to remove as much phosphate as possible (this could take weeks or even months) before putting it in the aquarium.

Have you reseeded your aquarium with more bacteria? I read you added more live rock.

How is the elegance doing?

platty252 wrote:

How many gray hairs have you now Jeff?

It is best if bleach is not used at all. It leaves a residue behind that is hard to get rid of. Washing or rinsing normally wont get rid of all of it.
You want to use a bleach like product. Something that will oxidize with out a residue. Paradox can be used or you can get a bleach like product in super markets but I forget what its called.

Their growing from me nose and ears now and I think I lost a bit of weight also
Il have a look at the paradox?
Is it Milton your talking about i remember elaine use to use that for the baby's bottle's

But really considering sticking with the floss cause how does one air dry the socks in the winter if it lashing for the week?

Bohrio wrote:

Ah ok 50/50 is quite a lot. So maybe the bleach killed some of your bacteria?

I never clean anything in my aquarium with bleach. When I am curing base rock I use Bleach, dip the rock for 24 hours in a 10/90 solution and then soaked them in RO water for 3-5 days (doing water changes every day) until the pH is "normal" and then leave them outside for another week. Then start the soaking process in RO water again to remove as much phosphate as possible (this could take weeks or even months) before putting it in the aquarium.

Have you reseeded your aquarium with more bacteria? I read you added more live rock.

How is the elegance doing?

Jasus man that's allot of work for a bit of rock but at least you know what's going into the system so probably worth it in the end

Yeah I added another 25kg git it from a good source hand picked from a clean established tank and had it in my tank within ah hour I'm expecting a site spike but guns are loaded and I'm waiting, it's only in 2 full days now and everything is fine so far I'd say tomorrow or Saturday will see nitrates go up but nothing a water change won't sort out

Il have a Vid up later just done one their and waiting for it to upload on y tube

Oh yeh the elegance is flying growing every day i did get two of them a large and a small the large was a bad idea when it fully opened it was way to big so I moved it on and kept the small one which now is twice the size of when I got it so well chuffed

a quick vid with the extra rock excuse the phone quality

Looking good..the yellow belly tang looks like hes settled in very well....was showing the little earlier where i got the starfish from and all she wanted to know was why your tank looks so much beter than ours.

Lol Chris you should bring her up on ur next trip, I have some frags done if Yeh want first choice I can PM what I have ready

Thank is running perfect again added the new sand 3-5mill so no fine cap floating around

Also added a tunze 8000l/h wavemaker and will be adding another one soon

Added another two fish a flame angel and a wreckfish

oh yeah I gota have a look at those frags

love those flame angles was only looking at one in seahorse quarantine last week absolutely lovely fish,think I was looking at some wreckfish in there too,,did ya get him from seahorse????did ya see the mystery wrasse????seahorse really had some lovely fish come in last week

Got both from a girl on lfks the flame is the best looking ones I ever seen wasn't mad about the one in sh tbh
Didn't see the mystery fish but I did see some very very nice fish out their, they have loads more in their display tank also some crackers that are not in the shop which is a pity

looks great jeff well done is some of the bottom of the tank left bare with no substrate

Thanks Alan it was back then I ended taking all the sand out cause I was getting loads of fine bits floating around so Im now using a 3-5 mill grain much better and easier to clean

I had a nasty time with syano bacteria for a good few weeks and could not for the life of me find where it was coming from, only started on the sand that was getting direct light so under over hangs and big corals was spotless,
So I replaced bulbs and after a while still the same, so I started experimenting with different tings less food etc. And nothing still their and all this still going on even with big water changes so the tank was fecking spotless I couldn't do anymore infact it was getting cleaned to much but that's what happens when your loosing an unknown reason,
So after many of scoops one day I sat down at stared at the tank saying what the fu,, is causing this its wrecking me head and I can't seem to fix it?.................................................

I look up at my ceiling which has 6 small lights in it (the little small ones) (yeh know them)

I replaced all 26 lights down stairs with led bulbs a few mts ago to try cut down esb in winter,

and their is one directly over the tank, mmmmm

So I took that one out just to see? And cleaned the sand again

Ehem it hasn't came back in for 3wks today

So after all that it was a bulb!!!

I took great pleasure jumping up and down on that bulb

And all is very good again

Good thinking. That cyano is a pain in the ass to get rid of.

More pics

Fantastic looking tank. You must be well pleased with it

Eric

Thanks Eric, I've had a few disasters with it nearly loosing everything at one stage but it's all good now running perfect and everything growing at a nice pace, Yeh man absolutely love it best money I ever spent

looking good.....love the vampire tang.

Wow some difference from start to finish to see how it matured looks great!

Loving how you started and now what you have progressed to
Its true that you always want a bigger tank Truly amazing the second tank you have setup and over time has just got better and better.
There are a few tropical holidays in that tank he he. Worth every cent though.

Thanks ceech only took 2 years to get this far and il squeeze a few more corals in their too

Won't be long before your hunting down a bigger tank ha

It does cost a fair bit, infact allot, but yeh can't put a price on it when ur slumped in the chair enjoying it all in all its glory

jeff wrote:

Thanks ceech only took 2 years to get this far and il squeeze a few more corals in their too

Won't be long before your hunting down a bigger tank ha

It does cost a fair bit, infact allot, but yeh can't put a price on it when ur slumped in the chair enjoying it all in all its glory

I agree with you 100% , they calm me down especially after a stressful day at work with meeting and all the bull lol

Sounds like you need a big tank on work lol

My tank corals fish are all doing great, BUT

For mts now I've been battling with brown shit on my sand bed, don't know if it's cyano dinos or something else, only a view through a microscope thingamagig by a biologist would know exactly what it is

But after lots of research and seeing that others suffering the same problem with a mature tank I'm not the only one

After a good clean up on the sand and blowing all rock work and a 10% water change this crap is back in a few days

It's a joke

It keeps coming back and my water is fine

....

Theirs allot of build up of waste/crap in the sand bed that I can't get to due to rock work that can't be removed unless I start wrecking the setup every few mts, but in a marine tank that's not possible not a hope

All the gobies crabs starfish worms 'can not' help with this cause they can't get to it and their for it is trapped and becomes worse than a nitrate factory it's more like a sewage plant

And over time it will cause problems of course it will

Bacteria bacteria bacteria and more bacteria

.....

I read an article 'well a good few' but one guy with his 40+ yrs of experience with marine tanks explained that back in the early days nobody used sand, they new it was set up for a disaster after a couple of yrs because of these dead spots where the sand was never moved, and in a marine tank their can be allot especially if you build up a wall structure from one end to the other (and more)

So as he states before the sand geniuses came along this wasn't a problem they all ran bare bottom tanks 'bb tanks' and they didn't need to splash out on as much clean up crews that are now advised (which is way over rated) as they don't do that good of a job, their just cool additions for viewing as most people luck upon them as just wow factors (what the hall is that thing) and we say that's my clean up crew their deadly aren't they

I personally do like them, they are cool, makes the tank look more dramatic

But at the end if the day they are shite waste of money especially if you have a tang or two or three or four no food ever gets to get half way down the tank as they are the most hungry animals in a fish tank, sure they eat their own crap for God sake..... No satisfying their food intake unless you are stupid enough to keep adding food until the look like they are about to explode

....

So today I got smart and took out my sand bed

Omg omg can't believe I'm even writing omg as I'm past my mid 30s but omg the dirt was mental (and I've been cleaning my sand every week since the tank started)

But them dead spots I blew out holly sh1t balls

I actually started to panic

But with the tank still running skimmer going mad (emptied 3 times) topped up with 15ltrs saltwater in the process as my return pump was spitting bubbles floss box changed 3 times as it was clogging with 'DUSTY crap' and 8 fecking hrs later left arm bigger than the right
I got it all done
Plus a 10% water change

It's now a bb tank and I do sincerely believe after what I seen coming out if it that this tank is going to run allot better than the last year and us going to be a he'll of allot easier to maintain

Some powerheads have been repositioned facing down and cranked up full power I've allot more flow and the bottom hasn't a chance of collecting crap
In time the bottom will cover in coraline algea and look natural


I will update with pics and my experience of running the tank this way every couple of weeks until I'm proving right or wrong but u do now believe this is the only way to do it

Experience is priceless especially when it's your own but it takes time haha

Looking forward to seeing the results of your labours....
You know ive read thru all your experiences again and again and again and again.
Trying to learn enough that when I start my marine tank (coral only in the start i recon) I may actually have a chance of getting something right!

now for the questions:
I like the idea of a bb tank, but whats protecting the glass from the rock work?
Im going to setup with Dry Rock, would it be a good idea to add 2 or 3 pieces of cured live rock to seed the rest? or is there an alternative?
Has anyone tried to grow or keep their own muscles?
Does going with a Coral only tank in the beginning cause any issues? do i need certain livestock to help out the corals?
last and not least, Can you just lift your entire setup and move it to my house to save me the hard work and you can start again..... after all with all your expreience, It would be easy for you

Jesus so much crap out of that gravel...and only in a few months....makes me wonder whats sitting at the bottom of my tank...

i suppose it would be easier to see the detrius in a bb tank and there fore easier just to remove..but will it be as easy to see once its covered in coraline algea????would it not be better to keep it totally clean??

Have the pelletts seeded yet???any drop in nitates yet???

Spent the last half hour with respond on this with laptop and when I hit enter or submit it was all gone as i was using the hotspot on my phone and it had gone dead

Will respond tomorrow guys sorry

Hate when that happens, put a good bit if effort into response in detail grrr