Giving up

[Reefbuds]

Sounds to me like you need to slow down and try to stop controlling every aspect of everything. Hands out and let everything balance out. Then you can take it one step at a time. It will be ugly for a bit but will be a masterpiece in the long run.

 

[Todvod]

I personally use kalkwasser in my ATO reservoir and hand dose alkalinity when needed with sodium bicarbonate. Each system is different, but I've never had precipitation causing "concrete" sand.

I did have precipitation using sodium carbonate a couple years ago. It covered everything in my sump, pumps just like concrete. Never again would I use baked baking soda!

Uh oh. I just made up a gallon of baked baking soda. Guess I’ll do some more research.

 

[Flippers4pups]

Uh oh. I just made up a gallon of baked baking soda. Guess I’ll do some more research.

Just drip it into a high flow area slowly. My ATO dumps quite a bit at one time. So it didn’t work in my situation.

 

[Jeff_H]

@Billldg - I'm in the middle of a dino battle, and slowly gaining ground. I would take a look at the thread below and follow the advice given there. There is a wealth of information on the topic, but it comes down to ID'ing the dinos and following the protocol others have had success with. If the dinos are mainly in the sand, you might try removing most of it for now as this seems to help with certain types of dinos. Once you get them under control, you could slowly add the new sand you just purchased. Good luck with your battle!

Dino Thread

 

[Gonebad395]

I’m new here but not to reefing sorry to hear about all this. We all go through a omg why am I doing this for phase just don’t give up. What I’ve learned in my years of reefing is sometimes we as reefers can’t put to much thought into it. What I mean is sometimes going back to the basics is the best. I try to keep my reefing very simple and it works for me. I do regular water changes and try to keep my hands outta the tanks as much as possible. I hope it all works out for you hate to see someone quit cause I’ve been there.

 

[marvelousone]

Hang in there. I have been battling Dinos and Cyano for 2 years. Up until last week I think I won the battle. I have tried a bunch of things. What finally help me win the battle. I scrubbed the dino off the rocks. vacuum the sand to get the most of cyano up. I did a water change then I dosed BioDigest ever other day for a week. 2 virals a day. 8 total for the week. then I did chemiclean. Water change 3 days later. I have not had dinos or cyano for over a week now. My tank has not look this good since I set it up. As this helped me the main thing is don't give up. I was ready to take the tank down and get rid of it. I have lost a bunch of money and sps frags because of dino and cyano. If I would have to say what won the battle. It would be BioDigest. Getting more good bacteria to out compete the bad. Then chemiclean.

 

[vetteguy53081]

We've all been there and I have lost more than that but always came back with a Vengeance.
As humans , we have an instinct or notion to troubleshoot and this is the first step in conquering issues.

HELP US HELP YOU..............................................

CHASING PARAMETERS ARE THE WORST THING A REEFER CAN DO.

WHAT EQUIPMENT ARE YOU USING FOR THE TANK AND FOR TESTING?
AGE OF TANK?

PULL OFF OF DOSING ANYTHING UNTIL YOU HAVE IDEAL CONDITIONS WHICH WARRANTS DOSING. Perhaps consider using an ICP test such as triton labs and have them break down every element in your water and give you a full online report of your water quality. From there you will know what your tank both lacks and has too much of as far as elements in your water.

In slang terms, I can say this................... There is a lot of things on earth than can kick my butt, but it will not be a Reef Tank. Beat the odds like many of us have !!!!!

 

[lion king]

It is not always your fault, the lfs and industry try to put the blame on the hobbyist, but that's only half the truth. The way the livestock is collected, transported, and care for along the way; at best you have a 50/50 chance. If you are ok losing $1000 a year to enjoy this hobby, don't give up; if that's not ok, get out while you can. the addiction will cloud your mind as to how much you are really losing.