HELP!! Need Quick Help

[Dewman]

OK, I have a 75 gal that was holding live rock. No corals , but some crabs and anemones. I have a 29 gal reef. I just took all the live rock and crabs out of the 75 and dumped 2 bags of oolitic sand (sugar sized) into the 75. i only have a penguin filter on it. It has been 12 hours or so, and there is no visible sign of it clearing at all.
This is in preparation for combining the tanks into the 75.

Question... will running a canister filter on it clear the water up faster than the Penguin 330? If so, I will go buy a HOT MAgnum or something like that.

I just don't know what to do.

Help...

 

[Chucker]

First things first... Patience is a virtue - it's only been 12 hours. 8)


As for canisters cleaning things up, a HOT Magnum with a diatom filter does work quite nicely for the task. Don't expect instant gratification though- depending on the size of the particles involved and the current in your tank, it make take 2 days to clear, even with the added filtration.

 

[Dewman]

Ok, so I have NO filtration on it and there is no water moving in the tank. i assumed this would only stir things back up. I was going to attach a powerhead to a sponge filter, but again I assumed this would only maker things worse.

So, do you recommend I buy a canister right now?
I have all the liverock and my anemones (condys) in a rubbermaid container, closed, with a powerhead circulating water around. Will everything be OK in the dark for two or three days?

 

[Dewman]

Do i need to buy a acanister or keep filtration on this thing?


I will wait for an answer.

 

[jhaag]

Just be patient. It will clear up but probably not till tomorrow or maybe even Saturday. It probably wouldn't hurt to have a little water circulating. You mentioned a HOB filter. Just leave that plugged in a circulating water and wait a few days and it'll be fine. I personally wouldn't waste the money to buy a filter that your are only going to use this one time.

 

[Dewman]

If I can, i am going to see if my LFS will let me borrow a power diatom filter.
I will report back when I get back.
I wouldn't normally be worried except that all my live rock and all of my coralline algae will be without light for as long as it takes for the tank to clear.

 

[Reef Fever]

A couple of days without light will not do any damage. I have had specimens in the dark in similar situations before. Think of what reefs go through during extremely stormy/ cloudy days. Corals also go without light for periods during shipping and such. As long as you are keeping water movement and watching for evaporation and temperature changes- you should be fine. I also had to leave mine in the dark here at work before getting the timer- I figured a weekend in the dark was much better than 24 hr. light for sure!

I would re-introduce the light subdued or at least cut the photoperiod back when you restart just to keep stress to a minumum. Especially if you are running MH.

 

[sawcjack00]

Put the LR in the tank. The bacteria from the LR will colonize the sand, and the result wioll be that the tank will clear, often times in a matter of hours, but usually at least within 1 day. As long as your salinity, PH and temp are good, it won't cause much die off on the rock.

 

[Dewman]

Well, I must say, The water has cleared considerably now that the filter and the skimmer are running.
I have not done any tests on the water yet because I didn't figure they would be accurate (dissolved Calcium, low PH) etc.
I did have a little cyano on the back wall I forgot to scrape off before i smothered my sand bed with the new layer of sand. It has now stared to form small pink spots in the sand bed ALREADY!!
This sucks. I think I am going to look for some erythromycin.
I can't get rid of this stuff!!

 

[Anonymous]

dewman-read chuckers post again(no, i'm not trying to suck up to anyone :lol: )if you start dumping emycin in your tank-you're treating the symptom and not the cause.it may interfere with the establishment time of your tank as well(caution-it can make a skimmer foam so much that it'll drain lots of water out of your tank!!)TEST THE WATER- if you don't have the patience, your lfs may offer the service(possibly for a small fee) but you're gonna have to learn patience and not to panic with stop gap 'treatments'- or you will have a lot of unnecessary difficulty in the future. keep your levels where they oughtta be, and with good management the cyano will go away, (patience, again), and if it doesn't, there are smarter ways to solve the problem.peace

 

[Dewman]

Vitz-

I have been keeping a tank, well established, for about a year now.
I know how long it takes to cycle a tank and I know all about patience, trust me. What I was looking for was a little help with the cyano. i have talked to several other people who cannot seem to control their cyano either.
I have a well established sand bed, extremely healthy live rock, my problem was that I was running a filter on the tank that was returning a LOT of nitrates to the tank. Antibiotics shouldn't hurt the DSB. Now that I added a 1 1/2 inch layer of fresh sand to the tank it is just taking a littler longer than I remembered to clear up. I was just anxious to get all my coral and liverock back under the lights as soon as possible. I was really more concerned with them being in the dark for so long.
I added the medicine to my tank and I am already seeing a difference with the cyano.
I have my hood constructed for the tank. I have 5, 110W bulbs hooked to two icecaps. This, combined with the meds should kick the cyano's butt!
In any case, I guess we'll find out now...

thanks to all who wrote.

 

[danmhippo]

As long as nutrient level are under control and not progressing, a bit of cyno ain't gonna hurt nothing. I always has a small patch of cynobacteria in my refugium. I just leave it be, not too worried about it. As long as my nutrient level is in check, it will not spread.

When you notice cynobacteria spreading, you should look for the cause of it. I think you know the cause of your cyno, Dewman. Vitz is right, erythromycin is only treating the symptom, not the root of the problem. If not cynobacteria, other nuiance algae will proliferate in absence of cyno.

Good luck

 

[Anonymous]

dewman-while emycin will knock out the cyano, its decomposition will further add to the nutrient bank in your tank, and sooner or later, you'll be back to square one.no, it won't hurt your livestock, in fact some of your inverts will even feed off of it, but it will affect the 'balance' of your tank(see above)at one year, your tank is really just starting to get 'established'.what's your phosphate level,your calcium level, etc?(also- if you check out the 'modern coral reef aquarium' by nillsen & fossa, you'll find a really good 'timeline' description of some of the 'typical' algae cycles of maturing tanks and how long they can take.if you had the patience to read the label on your oolitic, you prob'ly would have seen something about rinsing it off first.(kinda like shooting first, then asking questions,maybe?...) one last thing- while emycin is a relatively gentle antibiotic, it's still an antibiotic, who's main characteristic is that it KILLS BACTERIA(!).cyano can also develop a resistance to it, so if it comes back later, what'll you do?that's why it's smarter to eliminate the cause.(an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure...)

 

[Dewman]

Ok vitz...
I'm not going to get into a pissing match with you. :roll:
I have heard several time from the people on this board that you are NOT to wash your sand. They say that it takes a lot of the Ca away. I don't know who's right, but I am going to go with the majority here.
I'm sorry if I sounded a slittle short in my last couple of posts, but I was trying to get some useful information, and all you did was treat me like an idiot. I know to expect some cloudyness when I add sand. I have never talked to anyone who washes their sand. my LFS doesn't recommend it, and his tanks are gorgeous. I like to go with what works.
I do appreciate the info on the cyano though. You are probably right about it adding more dos to the tank, i never thought of that, so thanks.

Danmhippo- my lfs gave me two conches to eat what was left in the tank after I filled it back up. he also said not to worry about it and that it would probably show up in the sump or refugium when I got them going again.
It had been off the sump since the beginning.


Thnaks for all the help guys!

 

[Dewman]

I finally put all the rock back in and added the crabs. All the other critters will stay in the 29 until I can get the test results I am looking for.

I put all five 110's over the top and MAN is it bright. i may have to move the television because of the glare! And the HEAT! I couldn't believe the heat it produces. Definitely have to get fans now. My return pump stopped on me but luckily I had just installed a float valve in the sump. I also had a problem with my heater and found that there was water in it! Its a 250 watt and I had put my hand in the water several times after I plugged it back in!
So monday will be an expensive day for me, a new pump and a new heater!

 

[Anonymous]

Ok vitz...
I'm not going to get into a pissing match with you. :roll:
I have heard several time from the people on this board that you are NOT to wash your sand. They say that it takes a lot of the Ca away. I don't know who's right, but I am going to go with the majority here.

Thnaks for all the help guys!

:?: sorry if you misunderstood an offer of helpfull advice for an invitation to a pissing match. sorry to put you in a pissingly pissed off pisser mood there are a couple of fairly sensible reasons why i suggested you rinse the sand-the really fine dust particles can actually bond together and cause chunking of the bed-i'm not saying it WILL happen, but it can.also, regarding the Ca issue-the amount(probably not alot), is gonna get used up anyway, most probably by your corallines when they start to take off, and which you'll be replacing continually for the life of your tank, so i just don't think it's a valid reason for not rinsing- one of the mistakes i've seen people make when they do rinse the stuff is that they overrinse, however, and toss out very fine 'true' particulate sand, thinking it's dust.i personally do think that avoiding the potential 'chunking' of your bed is less of an evil than losing that small amount of calcium-hence the advice.hope this clears things up.luck!

 

[SPC]

Posted by vitz:
if you had the patience to read the label on your oolitic, you prob'ly would have seen something about rinsing it off first.(kinda like shooting first, then asking questions,maybe?...)

-According to Dr Ron and Rob Toonen (the two sand bed experts most of us follow) you should not rinse the sand. The silt that is in the sand is an important part of the sand bed with certain critters only living in this composition. You done good Dewman .
Steve

 

[Anonymous]

Posted by vitz:
if you had the patience to read the label on your oolitic, you prob'ly would have seen something about rinsing it off first.(kinda like shooting first, then asking questions,maybe?...)
sorry for the tone and the implication -the method i used for rinsing did not get rid of the silty, mudlike,stuff, so i can't really say if it goes against the advice that 'most of you follow'.
again,i was just trying to offer an opinion based on own experience
(hmmm... wonder what happens when the only valid experience and opinions are in line with what the majority follows-NOT to belittle Dr.Ron and Rob Toonen, but a bit of open mindedness about there being other valid points of view, in spite of what the majority may or may not think, would be appreciated.)
if i appeared to 'diss' anyone's methods when offering my own, my apologies