I have a canister filter in the garage for just such occasions. Floss only maybe carbon.
Guys, I need help......
- Thread starter GHsaltie
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I use hannas but I have a 200gal. I like saliferts
I swear by Gfo in a reactor. If ur sure that it's Dino's a certain % of bleach is the only thing that works. I've never done it. No light will knock them back if you do it twice . Corals will be fine.
I swear by Gfo in a reactor. If ur sure that it's Dino's a certain % of bleach is the only thing that works. I've never done it. No light will knock them back if you do it twice . Corals will be fine.
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GHsaltie
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@Florida Sunshine I am certain it is Dinos as I have taken microscope samples. When it first started coming on I was religious about doing a wc every week, sometimes twice, combined with manual removal and none of it helped it would be back in full force if not worse in two days time. I have tried netting it out but if I continued with that I wouldn't have any sand left because it comes back so fast.
@SandJ that's a good idea I'll definitely do that.
@SandJ that's a good idea I'll definitely do that.
And it may not hurt to try a quick cyano test on what is growing in the tank. Just put some of the stuff in hydrogen peroxide and see if the water turns red. That would indicate it is cyano.
Know anyone that could look at some under a microscope for you? Or I am just a couple states away and would be happy to throw a sample under the scope and send you some pictures. Just pm me.
Know anyone that could look at some under a microscope for you? Or I am just a couple states away and would be happy to throw a sample under the scope and send you some pictures. Just pm me.
And look at this. In this case its a carbon source Overdose.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/dinos-help-me-kill-them-all.285644/
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/dinos-help-me-kill-them-all.285644/
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GHsaltie
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@saltyfilmfolks that's a good idea with the canister filter, do you just let it filter the whole tank for a little while or do you leave the sump filtering as well? I think I have a spare canister filter lying around, I'll give that a go during the next water change.
@SandJ I originally thought I had cyano so I did the test on a couple different samples and came up negative each time for cyano. That was when I started looking under the scope and it was pretty clear at that point it is dinos.
@SandJ I originally thought I had cyano so I did the test on a couple different samples and came up negative each time for cyano. That was when I started looking under the scope and it was pretty clear at that point it is dinos.
yea when I deep clean or move stuff around I run it for a couple days. You can also put the bag of carbon in it and its now a reactor.
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GHsaltie
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I read the thread you linked and I am somewhat confused. Multiple times I see "Cut down on feeding" and then right after that "increase nitrates". Which is it and why? I want to figure out how to fix my tank's problems but I also want to know the why behind what I'm doing. Also you said it could be carbon overdose but still recommend running some carbon, is that just to try and remove aminos? Also I did forget to mention I have only been using the Vitachem for 3 weeks approximately.
organic carbon(carbon dosing) is different.
Basically what happened was, it went away by itself once the excess carbon source was eliminated, and the excess was used up by the tank.
Cyano and diatoms both have something in common. Co2. both are photosynthetic . they need to take in co2. Low Ph means low alk/cal or low 02. I would add a massive amount of fresh air.
Cyano and diatoms both give off some toxins. Activated Carbon will remove a lot of that.
Gfo may remove excess silicates or other undesirables such as Po4 that also feeds it.
In both my tanks I have high no3 and Po4, but no cyano. But Ph is 8+ even at night due to good dosing, refugiums and outside air supplied to the skimmer.
I have never in 8 years had "diatoms" even though I put things directly from the ocean in the tank and and didnt quarantine anything at all ever.
I have never run gfo in a reactor and only purchased my first skimmer 2 years ago.
But i Have always had refugiums, air, and good Ph.
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No any toxins from the dinos or cyano.
Blind guesses.
Basically what happened was, it went away by itself once the excess carbon source was eliminated, and the excess was used up by the tank.
Cyano and diatoms both have something in common. Co2. both are photosynthetic . they need to take in co2. Low Ph means low alk/cal or low 02. I would add a massive amount of fresh air.
Cyano and diatoms both give off some toxins. Activated Carbon will remove a lot of that.
Gfo may remove excess silicates or other undesirables such as Po4 that also feeds it.
In both my tanks I have high no3 and Po4, but no cyano. But Ph is 8+ even at night due to good dosing, refugiums and outside air supplied to the skimmer.
I have never in 8 years had "diatoms" even though I put things directly from the ocean in the tank and and didnt quarantine anything at all ever.
I have never run gfo in a reactor and only purchased my first skimmer 2 years ago.
But i Have always had refugiums, air, and good Ph.
.
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GHsaltie
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That helps me a lot in understanding that part of things, thank you! I will take all the suggestions in mind and start making a few changes. You mentioned fresh air and I have tried opening a window (tank is right next to two good sized windows) for several hours or the whole day to help the PH and it never made a difference. I have thought about trying to run a line from my skimmer to outside but I haven't the slightest clue how to do that. Do you or anyone else know of some references that could help me with that? Also in regards to the low Alk and Mag, what would be ways I could work on remedying that or should I wait and fix one thing at a time?
Water changes are best Imo. Its a reset. I ran a 1/4 in line out my window and connected it to the skimmer. I did have a really odd Ph event in a tank(7.5), I wound up putting an airstone in the tank and the pump outside the window till the tank stabilized. Its tuff if its cold outside though.
yea go slow. But air and water changes for PH are easy and noninvasive.. and carbon too. If you decide to hook up the canister you can stir the sand or at least blow the cyano/diatoms up so they get pulled out by the canister.
If it persists then Id go to the next phase. Peroxide, vibrant, etc.
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GHsaltie
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I had a spare couple feet of 3/8in tubing so I used that to run a line out the window. That was Wednesday night, I have checked PH this morning as well as a few minutes ago and so far I don't see any change. Of course it's hard for me to see with the salifert test so I'm going to see if I can find a Hanna checker or something a little more pin point but that won't be until Monday as the two LFS near me are closed. I couldn't find any gfo but I picked up seachem seagel as it said it removes phosphates silicates and organic waste. Would that be an ok substitute until I get some gfo? Also it's supposed to have carbon in it already but should I put a bag of carbon in just in case?
should be fine yes.
If you have kalk you can use a small amount of that as well. but let the air work for a bit.
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GHsaltie
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I didn't think about kalk, I've wanted to use it but I'm worried about messing everything up. Do you think it would be worth trying little bits at a time, or maybe one of the other ph products? I can pick some up next week when the store opens again and that should be plenty of time to know whether the airline is doing anything. Does kalk do anything for Alk or just PH? Those two are connected in a way right?
yes correct. It adds cal/alk. Helps with ph as well. Like a two part dose but only one part. Much better than a PH only buffer as that will mess things up. they are only ALK.
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GHsaltie
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Ok perfect. I might give that a shot. What would be a good target range for now to get the PH and Alk to? And also about how much would be safe to raise the levels each day?
As long as the Ph is in the 8 to 8.3 ish range your golden. All is fine around 7 or 8 for most folks.
DO you run a refugium in you sump?
