rob92
Active Member
How would I go about cleaning the sandy substrate or should I just let the cleaning crew worry about it once I get passed this ick problem??? Is it normal for the white sand to start turning brown in color???
Cleaning substrate
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808jaymakoa
Active Member
I assume you have a relatively new tank. If so the brown is diatoms or brown algae. Completely normal in a new tank normally happening at the end of your cycle. If your using clean RO/di water and good husbandry it will eventually go away. You have a real thick sandbed and could vacuum it right before you do your water changes. A cuc will help but a good combination of both is what if reccomend.
808jaymakoa
Active Member
Do you have fish in the tank? You mentioned you have ick. How are you treating fish or is your tank empty now. If it's empty and your letting the ick die with a fallow period (3 months) then you could actually add a small cuc.
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rob92
Active Member
No the fish are still in the tank I have 2 clowns. I never got the chance to set up a hospital tank so I'm currently in the process of doing that here are some pictures of it. I need to go to the store tomorrow and buy gallons of RO Water for the hospital tank. Also I was stupid and used regular tap water to do water changes in the display tank.
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rob92
Active Member
Once I get the hospital tank going I'm gonna move the fish over and start treating them for ick but like other people have said I need to be careful because I'm gonna have to do a lot of water changes due to it being just setup and hasn't had time to cycle
808jaymakoa
Active Member
When I bring fish into my quarentine tank I do a small one gallon water change daily and clean up all the poop or uneaten food. It's bare bottom offcourse and has no beneficial bacteria in it. You can treat with hypo or copper. Once fish are out of the display tank you can let it go fishless for 2-3 months and all ick will be gone. I reccomend 3 months. During that time you can add a cuc. As ick will not effect hermits snails sprimp etc. I'd recommend an RO/di unit as well. I used to use bottled row water from store and I always had algae problems and always had high phosphates. Now your bottle water might be better than mine and that's definitely better than tap but you can't beat a good RO/di system.
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rob92
Active Member
I would like to have an RO system but dad won't let me tap into the water line like all units require. I have yet to find one that does not need to be tapped into a water line but instead use water coming from, let's say a 55 gallon drum.
teddy13
Active Member
not sure if this would work or not but an idea, someone else may be able to say yea or nay to it..
if you fill a drum with water, most have a hose nib at the bottom of them, hook a hose to it, and run the open end back into the tub, this one circulates and two gives you a hose in which to connect the rodi unit.. it may MAY work. maybe someone rehearsed in DIY would be able to say or give an alternative
if you fill a drum with water, most have a hose nib at the bottom of them, hook a hose to it, and run the open end back into the tub, this one circulates and two gives you a hose in which to connect the rodi unit.. it may MAY work. maybe someone rehearsed in DIY would be able to say or give an alternative
tearlessnikon
Community Member
I have a bulk reef supply ro/di unit and it comes with an attachment that just screws on to my kitchen sink faucet and when I'm done I just disconnect it they are not very expensive and work awesome. . That along with regular water changes and a good clean up crew will help clear your tank up.. I had the same problem till I bought the ro unit
808jaymakoa
Active Member
I use a faucet adapter on mine to.
Bowin
Active Member
+1 I love my BRS RO/DI unit. I started with tap (like an idiot) too. Then used RO from the machine at Publix. Had nitrate issues until I bought the RO/DI. Maybe tell your dad about the additional drinking system they offer and maybe he'd fall for it like my wife did.
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rob92
Active Member
Lol that could work plus we all have out own tanks and we are using tap for all of them. Except for my 15 gallon marine that I'll slowly be switching back to RO with water changes. Mom has a 25g fresh, my fiancé and I have a 50g fresh dad has a 55g that's gonna be fresh when he gets it up and running mid next year and I'm the only one with a 15g marine
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rob92
Active Member
Thank you everyone for their help. I may be asking a lot of questions (different posts) and some of them may be somewhat the same, but I am taking in everyone's answers and replies and learning a lot.
