First skimmer with questions

[mrpontiac80]

I am still in my first year of this hobby and just got my first skimmer.
I am 2 weeks into a fallow period because my fish came down with velvet. They are quarantined at this time and I have corals that are doing well. My tank is a 65.4 aio Waterbox and I just scored a Tunze compline 9004. So my parameters are good for the the most part but nitrate has been around 25 ppm and phosphate was slightly above .2 when I pulled my fish. Over 2 weeks time it has dropped to .04 as of today. I have cuc and shrimps and therefore have been feeding about a 1/2 cube of frozen brine every other day with no fish. I just got back today from a week vacation and now have what I believe is small patches of brown hair algae.
So I am wondering if I should go ahead and start up the skimmer? If I do, should it be run 24/7? Any thoughts are appreciated.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Run skimmer and post a couple of pics under white lights to assure it’s not Dino

 

[jsker]

I started my skimmer when I set up my system at the beginning

I would suggest to start up your skimmer on monitor your nitrates and phosphates. If your nutrients start dropping to low the start shutting down your skimmer starting for 12 hours. if not enough then 8 hours and so on.

How long has your tank been setup?

 

[mrpontiac80]

Run skimmer and post a couple of pics under white lights to assure it’s not Dino

So here are the best pics I could manage.

 

[mrpontiac80]

On a side note, I started the skimmer last night and have dumped the cup a couple of times. It seems till completely fill with water quickly. It’s got some color but I’m sure that’s not right. I checked the water line just a few minutes ago because I didn’t realize there was a suggested water level on the backside. I actually pushed it slightly further down to match. My air silencer seems to be a newer design with a disk and a - and + to adjust pressure on the line. According to the instructions you should aim for full positive but I just now decreased it. Maybe it takes a bit longer to break in?

 

[mrpontiac80]

I started my skimmer when I set up my system at the beginning

I would suggest to start up your skimmer on monitor your nitrates and phosphates. If your nutrients start dropping to low the start shutting down your skimmer starting for 12 hours. if not enough then 8 hours and so on.

How long has your tank been setup?

Also, the tank has been running since late april after using dr tims I added first clowns sometime late may

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thanks for pics. unfortunately, it is dinos but can be beat. There is also hair algae but focus on Dino
Dinoflagellates are protists organisms -those that do not fit within the three natural kingdoms: animalia, plantae or fungus- with ability to move with rotating movements. All dinoflagellates have the common feature of having two flagella located at right angles allowing them to perform such rotational movement which makes them easily recognizable (although some species such as the genus symbiodinium they are virtually immobile).
There are about 2.400 species which have a highly variable size ranging from 20 and 300 µm in the most common ones and up to 2 mm in the case of species such as noctiluca. In the marine aquarium species are usual smaller as symbiodinium and Amphidinium, While some like ostreopsis are large and can be seen without a microscope (with good lighting and visual acuity).
The problem arises when conditions in the aquarium break the biological balance and some dinoflagellate species spread uncontrollably, smothering the rest of the aquarium inhabitants. If the dinoflagellate species in question has the ability to produce toxins (usual in ostreopsis, gambierdiscus and prorocentrum to name a few)
The problem often arises when we try to bring cleanliness it to the limit, in order to improve its appearance and color of corals.
They tend to occur suddenly when the aquarium water reaches an extraordinary cleanliness, in which most microorganisms perishes for lack of food. With no other organisms that can stop them, this type of dinoflagellate can multiply so fast that when we realize it's late and we will find an aquarium full of brown and ochre slime suffocating fish and invertebrates. These dinoflagellates possess chloroplasts enabling them to synthesize their own food even under a minimal amount of light. Some species can form cysts called pellicles which allow them to remain in the aquarium for months although we have completely sterilized or kept in complete darkness. Once the light or the right conditions come back, they will reappear and thus problems.
Most of these dinoflagellates have a very curious behavior, typical of pathogens and parasites. With the presence of light they secrete mucus which adhere to any surface, including algae, coral and fish. They spend hours synthesising food and extending vertically in search of the light source (if we turn off the pumps in the aquarium we can see brown filaments grow towards the surface). When the light source disappears and can no longer synthesize food, it begins to diminish to none.
To Battle:
Prepare by starting with a water change and blow this stuff loose with a turkey baster and siphon up loose particles.
Turn lights off (at least white and run blue at 10-15%) for 5 days and at night dose 1ml of hydrogen peroxide per 10 gallons for all 5 nights. If you dont have light dependent coral- turn all lights off.
During the day dose 1ml of liquid bacteria (such as bacter 7) per 10 gallons.
Clean filters daily and DO NOT FEED CORAL FOODS OR ADD NOPOX as it is food for dinos.
Day 5,, you can start with blue lights - ramping up and work your white lights up slowly

 

[mrpontiac80]

Thanks for pics. unfortunately, it is dinos but can be beat. There is also hair algae but focus on Dino
Dinoflagellates are protists organisms -those that do not fit within the three natural kingdoms: animalia, plantae or fungus- with ability to move with rotating movements. All dinoflagellates have the common feature of having two flagella located at right angles allowing them to perform such rotational movement which makes them easily recognizable (although some species such as the genus symbiodinium they are virtually immobile).
There are about 2.400 species which have a highly variable size ranging from 20 and 300 µm in the most common ones and up to 2 mm in the case of species such as noctiluca. In the marine aquarium species are usual smaller as symbiodinium and Amphidinium, While some like ostreopsis are large and can be seen without a microscope (with good lighting and visual acuity).
The problem arises when conditions in the aquarium break the biological balance and some dinoflagellate species spread uncontrollably, smothering the rest of the aquarium inhabitants. If the dinoflagellate species in question has the ability to produce toxins (usual in ostreopsis, gambierdiscus and prorocentrum to name a few)
The problem often arises when we try to bring cleanliness it to the limit, in order to improve its appearance and color of corals.
They tend to occur suddenly when the aquarium water reaches an extraordinary cleanliness, in which most microorganisms perishes for lack of food. With no other organisms that can stop them, this type of dinoflagellate can multiply so fast that when we realize it's late and we will find an aquarium full of brown and ochre slime suffocating fish and invertebrates. These dinoflagellates possess chloroplasts enabling them to synthesize their own food even under a minimal amount of light. Some species can form cysts called pellicles which allow them to remain in the aquarium for months although we have completely sterilized or kept in complete darkness. Once the light or the right conditions come back, they will reappear and thus problems.
Most of these dinoflagellates have a very curious behavior, typical of pathogens and parasites. With the presence of light they secrete mucus which adhere to any surface, including algae, coral and fish. They spend hours synthesising food and extending vertically in search of the light source (if we turn off the pumps in the aquarium we can see brown filaments grow towards the surface). When the light source disappears and can no longer synthesize food, it begins to diminish to none.
To Battle:
Prepare by starting with a water change and blow this stuff loose with a turkey baster and siphon up loose particles.
Turn lights off (at least white and run blue at 10-15%) for 5 days and at night dose 1ml of hydrogen peroxide per 10 gallons for all 5 nights. If you dont have light dependent coral- turn all lights off.
During the day dose 1ml of liquid bacteria (such as bacter 7) per 10 gallons.
Clean filters daily and DO NOT FEED CORAL FOODS OR ADD NOPOX as it is food for dinos.
Day 5,, you can start with blue lights - ramping up and work your white lights up slowly

So I have a serpent star, hermits, urchin, and different snails, and shrimps. Obviously some coral. So will the hydrogen peroxide hurt any of them? Do I continue to feed brine? And lastly, instructions say to turn off skimmer for 4 hours after microbactor 7…. Do I do that? And just do one good water change before and after?

 

[vetteguy53081]

So I have a serpent star, hermits, urchin, and different snails, and shrimps. Obviously some coral. So will the hydrogen peroxide hurt any of them? Do I continue to feed brine? And lastly, instructions say to turn off skimmer for 4 hours after microbactor 7…. Do I do that? And just do one good water change before and after?

No- it’s mainly water

 

[reeftivo]

On a side note, I started the skimmer last night and have dumped the cup a couple of times. It seems till completely fill with water quickly. It’s got some color but I’m sure that’s not right. I checked the water line just a few minutes ago because I didn’t realize there was a suggested water level on the backside. I actually pushed it slightly further down to match. My air silencer seems to be a newer design with a disk and a - and + to adjust pressure on the line. According to the instructions you should aim for full positive but I just now decreased it. Maybe it takes a bit longer to break in?

Skimmer= raise the skimmer an inch and report back after a day or so. Dinos! only way to be sure of which strain they could be is to get a cheap microscope and post "through the lens pics" on the nuisance algae forms. The different strains are treated somewhat differently.