flurry tank, argggg!!!

[dragonfisher33]

fairly new to the reef system compare to the veteran reefers on this forum, but so far i have been able to keep all of my corals and livestock happy. here's the thing that's bothering me, i have almost 40x turn over ratio in my regular 29gal tank setup by using 4 Koralias-two opposing each other and two on each side of the tank facing front of the glass. anyways, i see brown stuffs on my rocks and crevices between the rocks and whenever i brush these detritus i would create a detritus storm in my tank. i'm not sure if this is normal. if not, can someone tell me how to deal with it? if this is normal, i find it very hard to add more powerheads into my tank without sacrificing the limited space i have. i have seen some of the most beautiful tanks using just two powerheads mounted on each side of the tank and i'm wondering if i'm doing something wrong. i'm using a toothbrush to brush the liverock and what-not every week and i'm looking to see if that's normal. i do run the powerhead 24/7 and my skimmer (Reef Octopus BH1000) 9hrs a day (only 9hrs because it's in sync with my timer for the light as well as the fact that the tank is in my room and i'm a light sleeper)

 

[fishroomlady]

are your levels high in phosphate? needing to use a toothbrush on your rock every week is not typical.....

 

[dragonfisher33]

are your levels high in phosphate? needing to use a toothbrush on your rock every week is not typical.....

maybe not every week but def. every other week. so the phosphate is causing detritus to stick onto the live rock?

 

[fishroomlady]

I'm sorry I wasn't very clear, I'm assuming you were cleaning algae off the rocks...you're needing to clean detritus off of the rock? You should be able to just blow it off and it will stay suspended for a bit - that's normal...I would say that you may want to play with your powerheads so that you're getting the best flow throughout the tank and without dead spots. The dead spots (where no flow reaches) may have detritus build up. I would probably just use three of the powerheads, one on each opposing side and then one toward the lower back facing the front of the tank - I would think that should give you good flow. Is it sand that you're seeing that stays on your rock? what size grain is your sand? is it in constant suspension?

 

[mike007]

Excess nutrients you may want to cut down on your feeding. And It would be better If you could run skimmer 24/7

 

[dragonfisher33]

I'm sorry I wasn't very clear, I'm assuming you were cleaning algae off the rocks...you're needing to clean detritus off of the rock? You should be able to just blow it off and it will stay suspended for a bit - that's normal...I would say that you may want to play with your powerheads so that you're getting the best flow throughout the tank and without dead spots. The dead spots (where no flow reaches) may have detritus build up. I would probably just use three of the powerheads, one on each opposing side and then one toward the lower back facing the front of the tank - I would think that should give you good flow. Is it sand that you're seeing that stays on your rock? what size grain is your sand? is it in constant suspension?

it's brown stuff, def not the sand. i have very fine sand but it's not suspended in the water at all.

 

[dragonfisher33]

Excess nutrients you may want to cut down on your feeding. And It would be better If you could run skimmer 24/7

could anything else cause it? i feed pellets and usually they don't even get to the bottom of the sandbed before snatched by the fish or the other inhabitants.

 

[Mike in CT]

Diatoms?

 

[fishroomlady]

yes, I was thinking that too but diatoms wouldn't create a storm of debris ??

 

[fishroomlady]

it sounds like it could be brown cyano?? but cyano usually blows off and you don't need a toothbrush.

 

[Mike in CT]

If there is a lot of them they will make a cloud..., I have been there.., lol

 

[fishroomlady]

if the op could get a picture, that would be very helpful

 

[mike007]

could anything else cause it? i feed pellets and usually they don't even get to the bottom of the sandbed before snatched by the fish or the other inhabitants.

Have you tested water? If so what are your readings. Nitrate, phosphates mainly.

 

[dragonfisher33]

Not the best pics as the lights are off now. see if you can tell what I'm trying to point oit. it's more of a debris/detritus than algae

 

[dragonfisher33]

Here's a better pic from this morning. The dust is near the base of the GSP

 

[fishroomlady]

it definitely looks like detritus. Usually this builds up due to lack of adequate flow and nutrient build up. did you try rearranging the powerheads? to get a storm when you blow or brush it off is normal......I just went through the thread again, and it may be beneficial to consider running your skimmer all of the time.

 

[dragonfisher33]

it definitely looks like detritus. Usually this builds up due to lack of adequate flow and nutrient build up. did you try rearranging the powerheads? to get a storm when you blow or brush it off is normal......I just went through the thread again, and it may be beneficial to consider running your skimmer all of the time.

I'm thinking about redoing the rock work, which could have contributed to the detritus build up. right now it's consisted of a few large rocks with a lot of crevices that my inhabitants can go in and yet at the same time blocking so of the flow even though there's no dead spots on the sand bed.