jccaclimber
Active Member
- Joined
- May 25, 2018
- Messages
- 322
- Reaction score
- 233
- Location
- San Francisco, CA
- What state or country do you live in
- California
I'm trying to move a 600 gallon reef across the country, so I've set up a temporary 170 in an apartment near the destination in an effort to have a home for some of the critters. Tank was dry started ~3 months ago, and then I threw in a pile of frags after a few weeks. Currently I have more brittle stars (at least 2 types) and pods than I know what to do with, so there is life. Of course the system is misbehaving like many new tanks do. No fish, and don't expect that to change soon. Also no CUC, although no issues yet there. Also bare bottom due to impending moves. I am running a skimmer and a a bunch of flow.
LPS is mostly happy (goni is only ok, not thriving), easier SPS (porites, etc) are happily encrusting. The acro and milli frags are less happy.
Tank initially went through a diatom phase and a brown slimy phase. I've always had to add nitrate to my tanks, and this one seemed to be no exception, particularly after getting chaeto going. That consumption stopped one day without me noticing, went from consuming 2-3 PPM/day to 0. Add a lack of testing and I ended up with the nitrate 30-40 PPM (target 5-10). That stayed for several weeks with no more dosing so I figured I might have zeroed out phosphate. Water became a slightly cloudy white during this time. I added a single cube of mysis and went out of town for work. Came back to rocks that were almost sterile white (brown slime completely gone). Nitrates were ~10, chaeto growing like a weed.
After a couple weeks of waiting out the water it got to the point where I can't see the the 5' length of the tank and was taking a greenish tinge, so I blacked out the tank (actually the entire apartment) by securing corrugated cardboard over the one window and stuffing towels under the doors. The brightest thing in the whole place is the clock on the microwave. Occasionally my laptop screen, but not in line of sight of the tank, and turned down.
I'm right at 3 days now and finally decided to briefly peek. The water is just as cloudy as before, and I swear it has a slight greenish tinge to it. I figure I'll have to turn the lights back on tomorrow, but this didn't work. I don't have easy access to a microscope here, and mine won't be out any time soon.
Time to beg/buy/borrow a UV unit, or something else? What can I do to go IDing this? I'm in a temporary apartment with most of my fish stuff half a country away, so a 100% water change would be highly impractical, and I'm also not convinced it would solve the issue. Would super fine filter socks (say 1-10 micron) work, or would they just instantly clog?
LPS is mostly happy (goni is only ok, not thriving), easier SPS (porites, etc) are happily encrusting. The acro and milli frags are less happy.
Tank initially went through a diatom phase and a brown slimy phase. I've always had to add nitrate to my tanks, and this one seemed to be no exception, particularly after getting chaeto going. That consumption stopped one day without me noticing, went from consuming 2-3 PPM/day to 0. Add a lack of testing and I ended up with the nitrate 30-40 PPM (target 5-10). That stayed for several weeks with no more dosing so I figured I might have zeroed out phosphate. Water became a slightly cloudy white during this time. I added a single cube of mysis and went out of town for work. Came back to rocks that were almost sterile white (brown slime completely gone). Nitrates were ~10, chaeto growing like a weed.
After a couple weeks of waiting out the water it got to the point where I can't see the the 5' length of the tank and was taking a greenish tinge, so I blacked out the tank (actually the entire apartment) by securing corrugated cardboard over the one window and stuffing towels under the doors. The brightest thing in the whole place is the clock on the microwave. Occasionally my laptop screen, but not in line of sight of the tank, and turned down.
I'm right at 3 days now and finally decided to briefly peek. The water is just as cloudy as before, and I swear it has a slight greenish tinge to it. I figure I'll have to turn the lights back on tomorrow, but this didn't work. I don't have easy access to a microscope here, and mine won't be out any time soon.
Time to beg/buy/borrow a UV unit, or something else? What can I do to go IDing this? I'm in a temporary apartment with most of my fish stuff half a country away, so a 100% water change would be highly impractical, and I'm also not convinced it would solve the issue. Would super fine filter socks (say 1-10 micron) work, or would they just instantly clog?
