desperate detritus cleaning question

[saltnmyeye]

I have a question about detritus cleaning. I have detritus on my sand bed and all over my rock. I have new growth coming out on my rock and I fear the detritus will kill it. Should I use a soft brush to clean the rock or get snails. I have hermits, 2 and a cleaner shrimp, but no snails yet. Its a 55 with a clown, and some damsels. How many snails should I get and what kind. And should I add more hermits or cleaner shrimp, and is there any thing else i should add to help clean this up. I'm desperate. Thanks for any reply.

 

[ChrisRD]

By the sounds of your post in the other thread it's not detritus. You mentioned something about having it on the glass in the other thread - if so, it's not detritus. Is this a new tank? How long has it been setup?

 

[saltnmyeye]

Hi my tank has been up for about 3 months. This stuff is an orange brown color, on the glass in circular spots and it covers my dsb and live rock.

 

[saltnmyeye]

My digicam is broke. I'm gonna try to barrow my sister's cam and post some pics.

 

[ChrisRD]

Sounds like a diatom bloom, not detritus. What are you using for source water for top-off and water changes (tap, RO, RO/DI, etc.)?

A diatom bloom is normal as a new tank gets established. Provided you are using a pure water source for top-off and water changes it will basically clear-up in time. Some snails also eat diatoms which can speed the process.

 

[saltnmyeye]

Thanks for replying. I use filtered tap water. Will these diatoms hurt the growth on my live rock? Or anything else if it gets too bad?

 

[ChrisRD]

How are you filtering the tap water?
Do you have a skimmer on the tank?

 

[saltnmyeye]

its a waterpic faucet filter. and no i dont have a skimmer, i'm getting one next week.

 

[ChrisRD]

You should see an improvement once the skimmer is up and running. If the problem persists, I'd suggest using a better source of water (DI, RO, RO/DI, distilled, etc.) as that could be part (or all) of the problem. In fact, using a better source of water would be a good idea either way as it may lead to other algae problems in the future.

You may want to pick up a TDS meter to test your tap water before/after the filter to see what, if anything that filter is removing. Also, tap water quality can fluctuate from time to time and a TDS meter is a convenient way of checking on that.

 

[saltnmyeye]

Okay thanks again, and I am thinking seriously about getting an RO unit. I live about 60 miles from the nearest lfs that has RO/DI water. I appreciate your concern. I'll post pics as soon as I get them. Maybe tomorrow. :mrgreen:

 

[R33f_$hark]

I would also recommend getting and RODI unit. You can find them fairly cheap online and they are great once you have them. I have a 5 stage and I absolutely love it. Good luck to you.

 

[Anonymous]

It sounds like the same problem i have with the diatoms...i have it posted in general reef keeping forum
How much over the internet is a RO/DI unit....I live in a one bedroom apt...i dont think i could spare any faucets for the RO unit...(my wife drinks lots of water, i would never get any for the tank) but im still curious what the standard on price is and how much they go for...???

thanx
jason 8)

 

[R33f_$hark]

I would check out the website www.airwaterice.com

I would recommend getting a 5-stage RO/DI like one of the Typhoon models. Also, and this is what I do, you can get a faucet adapter so that you just hook up the unit to the faucet and use it whenever you need water as opposed to actually plumbing the unit in. The Typhoon model is $149.00.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanx...Ill look into it...i appreciate the advise 8)

 

[JohnD]

A good skimmer does wonders for cleaning the water in the tank. Putting good water into the tank gets you off on the right foot. An RO/DI is the ticket.


Years ago, I was using an American Pharmaceuticals Tap Water Purifier (TWP). It is a DI unit. At the time, it cost about $20 for the whole unit and replacement cartridges were $12. It worked great and my water needs were modest. As I bought more tanks, the cost of TWP replacement cartridges got crazy. For you right now living in an apartment, the TWP may be the way to go. At least for now.

Then I purchased a 3-stage Dolphin from AquaFX. At the time, they were not sponsors of this board. I told them to get with the program, as I am sure others did, and now they do support reefs.org. Maryann is great to do business with.

I attached the RO water output line into the input for the TWP and get RO/DI water.

 

[Anonymous]

its funny you mentioned that...i have recently just seen a DI unit on Drs Foster and Smith for about 30 dollars...i was thinking of going that route...and have now just reinfoced my decision...However i would still prefer a RO/DI unit...I have 3 tanks and my reef tank is the highest demand on water..the other 2 are freshwater....btw...off the subject...i get these white spiral shaped things on the glass of my tank(LR also) they dont seem to get very big, but then again i dont let them...just curious to what it/they are/is??? It/they seem harmless

thanx 8)

P.S. I do have a counter current skimmer...and it removes alot of gunk...brownish green in color