New to skimmers could use some help.

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cdemoss01

cdemoss01

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Hi,
I just wanted to know if I put things in my skimmer like media or something? And will it help with my nitrates and eventually help get rid of my algae? One last thing I'm going to rip clean a couple of my rocks does anybody have any tips on how to clean them and what to use?
#reefsquad
@Reefer Matt @vetteguy53081
 
Deltec
cdemoss01 said:
Hi,
I just wanted to know if I put things in my skimmer like media or something? And will it help with my nitrates and eventually help get rid of my algae? One last thing I'm going to rip clean a couple of my rocks does anybody have any tips on how to clean them and what to use?
#reefsquad
@Reefer Matt @vetteguy53081
Click to expand...
If you put anything inside the skimmer, it is no longer a skimmer.
 
www.dinkinsaquaticgardens.com
There are, of course, things you can attach to your skimmer such as a CO2 Scrubber. But no media. It's all about air and water.
 
Deltec
cdemoss01 said:
Hi,
I just wanted to know if I put things in my skimmer like media or something? And will it help with my nitrates and eventually help get rid of my algae? One last thing I'm going to rip clean a couple of my rocks does anybody have any tips on how to clean them and what to use?
#reefsquad
@Reefer Matt @vetteguy53081
Click to expand...
No, however you can acquire a reactor and accomplish this. For rocks, bleach or muriatic acid
 
Top Shelf Aquatics
Yes bleach/ acid will restart the tank. Skimmer primarily removes organic matter and aerates the water. It won't solve algea problems by itself. Have you been keeping up on manual removal/feeding appropriately/ water change/ cuc?
 
Skimmers are a preventative not a solution. So in other words it might help what's undesirable not get worse but it's not gonna eliminate it. What's done is done. Your best bet before treating or scrubbing anything would be to place a rock in a bucket of freshly made climatized salt water. Wait 24 to 48 hours and test the phosphate. If the phosphate matches your display then scrubbing/cleaning the rock will do no good and the algae will just return.
 
cdemoss01 said:
The rocks are live though will muriatic acid kill good things? And I don't got a dump so reactors are sump exclusive right
Click to expand...
Ok, if live use a soft-med brush and some hydrogen peroxide which serves as an oxidizer
 
cdemoss01 said:
Briopis and GHA
Click to expand...
For this, Bryopsis is one of the more challenging of algae due to need of its complete removal. Removal is best accomplished by taking the rock out of tank and placing in a container of tank water. Then you will want to pull as much as you can by hand and discard. With a dental pick or small crochet needle, pull the roots off the rock. YOU MUST GET EVERY ROOT OR IT WILL SIMPLY RETURN !!
After you are done return rock to tank and reduce white light intensity and even hours of white light and add the following cleaners which will help with control. These guys will consume bryopsis but not as fast as bryopsis can grow - They will never keep up.
Pin cushion urchin, Chiton snails, pitho crabs, and larger astrea snails

This procedure is not as bad or time consuming as it seems. Assure phosphate levels do not become elevated which helps feed this algae

harbor Freight:

dental picks.png
 
vetteguy53081 said:
For this, Bryopsis is one of the more challenging of algae due to need of its complete removal. Removal is best accomplished by taking the rock out of tank and placing in a container of tank water. Then you will want to pull as much as you can by hand and discard. With a dental pick or small crochet needle, pull the roots off the rock. YOU MUST GET EVERY ROOT OR IT WILL SIMPLY RETURN !!
After you are done return rock to tank and reduce white light intensity and even hours of white light and add the following cleaners which will help with control. These guys will consume bryopsis but not as fast as bryopsis can grow - They will never keep up.
Pin cushion urchin, Chiton snails, pitho crabs, and larger astrea snails

This procedure is not as bad or time consuming as it seems. Assure phosphate levels do not become elevated which helps feed this algae

harbor Freight:

dental picks.png
Click to expand...
Im going to install the skimmer probably today, I am a little nervous that a rip clean will kill my 3 fish for some reason, do you think if I pull about 4 or 5 rocks out could it cause anything bad? What should I expect after the clean and after installing my skimmer? Also with the addition to my skimmer should I take all the bio filtration out of my Tidal and make a fuge out of it?
 
Deltec
Reefering1 said:
Yes bleach/ acid will restart the tank. Skimmer primarily removes organic matter and aerates the water. It won't solve algea problems by itself. Have you been keeping up on manual removal/feeding appropriately/ water change/ cuc?
Click to expand...
Been trying to keep up with manual removal but there's simply to much now and I cant pick it all off it simply will not come off. My cuc keeps dying for 0 reason and if they do live they just love the glass.
 
vetteguy53081 said:
For this, Bryopsis is one of the more challenging of algae due to need of its complete removal. Removal is best accomplished by taking the rock out of tank and placing in a container of tank water. Then you will want to pull as much as you can by hand and discard. With a dental pick or small crochet needle, pull the roots off the rock. YOU MUST GET EVERY ROOT OR IT WILL SIMPLY RETURN !!
After you are done return rock to tank and reduce white light intensity and even hours of white light and add the following cleaners which will help with control. These guys will consume bryopsis but not as fast as bryopsis can grow - They will never keep up.
Pin cushion urchin, Chiton snails, pitho crabs, and larger astrea snails

This procedure is not as bad or time consuming as it seems. Assure phosphate levels do not become elevated which helps feed this algae

harbor Freight:

dental picks.png
Click to expand...
I feel like my main problem is nutrient exports, all I have is a singular Tidal. What can I do to help with filtration besides water changes?
 
cdemoss01 said:
Im going to install the skimmer probably today, I am a little nervous that a rip clean will kill my 3 fish for some reason, do you think if I pull about 4 or 5 rocks out could it cause anything bad? What should I expect after the clean and after installing my skimmer? Also with the addition to my skimmer should I take all the bio filtration out of my Tidal and make a fuge out of it?
Click to expand...
Leave tidal going and use for mechanical filtration-you'll need it. Plus it's good for water movement.
You can place a bag of chemi-pure elite in there. Sounds like you have a phosphate problem.
Post some of your parameters that'll help us help you. Test.
Not believing in rip cleans, whatever they are remove 3 gallons of water into a 5 gallon bucket and scrub vigorously each rock you feel comfortable with.
Rinse and shake, put it back in the tank.
You're going to have to work at this but it's always fixable.
Keep up on water changes.
Joel
 
Deltec
cdemoss01 said:
I feel like my main problem is nutrient exports, all I have is a singular Tidal. What can I do to help with filtration besides water changes?
Click to expand...
tidal is minimal and skimmer is a good addition. If you place chemipure, go Blue not elite which will quickly drop phos and then nitrate levels which you dont want. Unfortunately, your filter is part of issue as it does part of what it claims mainly entrapping particles, but it is a hang on filter which is a mechanical filter unit and you want to have mechanical , biological and chemical to manage proper water quality. The tidal unit will polish water and trap particles via the cartridge.
Chemical is what traps and breaks down chemical compounds such as feces and uneaten food often accomplished with use of carbon and GFO as examples. Skimmer again helps with this
Biological is what utilizes the natural process of biological filtration such as use of ceramic nuggets, bio blocks, and microscopic bacteria surfaces as examples. Best it to add or use a hang on refugium such as Reef octopus or AquaMaxx unit
 
vetteguy53081 said:
tidal is minimal and skimmer is a good addition. If you place chemipure, go Blue not elite which will quickly drop phos and then nitrate levels which you dont want. Unfortunately, your filter is part of issue as it does part of what it claims mainly entrapping particles, but it is a hang on filter which is a mechanical filter unit and you want to have mechanical , biological and chemical to manage proper water quality. The tidal unit will polish water and trap particles via the cartridge.
Chemical is what traps and breaks down chemical compounds such as feces and uneaten food often accomplished with use of carbon and GFO as examples. Skimmer again helps with this
Biological is what utilizes the natural process of biological filtration such as use of ceramic nuggets, bio blocks, and microscopic bacteria surfaces as examples. Best it to add or use a hang on refugium such as Reef octopus or AquaMaxx unit
Click to expand...
Well what else can I add to help my tank even more? Can you think of anything else I could add? This is all nitrate issues basically. They never go down. You said to add a chemical to the water I use to rip clean? What should I add into the water?
 
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