Semi New - Need advice

[onetootreefor]

Hey everyone,

I am new to r2r, but been in the reef game about 8-10 months so still pretty new there. I have had a nice JBJ rimless set up and running great for a while now until recently when I ran into some issues.

Some background; I do 20% water changes every 2-3 weeks. My parameters are as follows:
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 10
PH - 8.0
Salinity - 1.024-.025
Alk - 9.8 dKH
Calc - 480
Mag - 1800
Temp - 78 degrees

I am posting because in the last month or so I have had some things cause me to get nervous. First a colony of normal pretty common zoos I have had in my tank since its been cycled closed up and started to fall off and die. Shortly after some other colonies started to see the same fate. All the colonies that started to close and die were pretty old and I kind of chalked it up. Then next some of my newer more expensive zoas started to close up and die. It is happening in random spots as most are not placed near each other. Finally what broke the camels back is that my green star polyp a colony that has been bright and huge for 6 months started to close and started to look sparse.

I have plenty of coral in the tank that is growing and thriving. a hammer, torch, and frog spawn have all sprouted new heads and open big everyday. I have 2 chalice's that have spread faster than anything in my tank during the time the zoos were having issues. I have a rose bubble tip that has never been healthier and a rock flower anemone that i saved from a lfs that was completely bleached starting to regain color and healthiness. I test my water pretty regularly (at least once a month) and all parameters are pretty stable.

Since the all the zoos started to keel off and the gsp that started to close and fade I decided to make some changes. I added a hydro nano slim skim, and added 2 small power heads for more flow. Now since i put the skimmer it it seems to work really well except 1 very strange thing. The foam and bubbles it produces that feeds into the collection cup is brown and icky like it should be, but after the water settles and the cup is full I pull it out and the water in the cup is blue...the color of Listerine blue. Crazy I know but it is coming out this blue color almost every time i have to empty the cup. I could not find any info on blue skimate and it makes me very nervous. Ill post tank shot so maybe you guys can see anything i cannot. Any info is appreciated on any of my concerns. Thanks for reading.

 

[KorL]

Never heard of blue skimmate. Any pics?

 

[Eienna]

I would guess there's some kind of contaminant in your tank. Were the rocks from a retail store or another hobbyist? If it was another hobbyist, said person may have used medication of a blue color while the rock was in the tank - in which case the rock is leaching it back into the water.

As far as the zoos (I call them zoas...) check for detritus around the base of the colonies. They do NOT like a detritus/sand buildup but it can happen, especially with older/bigger colonies. Blow it out with a turkey baster or a powerhead from time to time.

Your params sound good, though the calcium MAY be a touch high (don't quote me on this, but I _believe_ the max recommended is 450). I also notice you did not mention phosphate, which could be playing a big role. Some would say your nitrate is too high...but I do believe zoas and GSP both like it a touch "dirtier" than many corals.

Has anything changed within about 3 months before they started acting odd (change in lighting, episode of alk getting too high, etc?)

 

[onetootreefor]

thanks for the infos!

i do call them zoa's as well but my mac seems to autocorrect it to zoos hahahah! I don't notice much detritus or sand build up around the colonies of zoas. Thats good info to know about the leeching rocks. I got them from a LFS but they were already covered in coraline and the LFS does buy rocks out of other people tanks to sell so its very possible that my rocks are leeching a blue chemical of some sorts into the water. Is the skimmer going to eventually clean it all out of my system?

I have not changed anything until I started to see the warning signs of my zoas. I have been using the same lighting and haven't noticed alk getting too high, but how high is too high?

the skimmer has only been running about a week or two at this point.

i did notice that coraline started to turn white in some places, and as i understand that means its dying too, but at the same time of death I have new coraline popping up all over my back wall and not looking white or dead.

I will try to get a picture of the skimate next time i clean it out

 

[Reefkeepr1986]

That blue stuff has me worried?? There should only be greenish brownish in the skimmer collector cup?? Is the plumbing Glued with proper Glue? Is there anyone else in the house maybe kids? And yes the skimmer may clean it out of your reef if it's already skimming it will skimm more of it!! If I were you I would do a 25% water change every 3days and see if that "Blue" skimmate goes away?? Hope that helps!! And hope you find the culprit!!

 

[onetootreefor]

oh and i don't have a test for phosphate, never tested it before didnt know it was a big contributor to test for. ill get it tested asap. sorry for the double post but i could not find the edit button to change my post

 

[onetootreefor]

thanks reef keeper, has got me a bit worried too, but I don't have any kids. just me and my girlfriend who live together and she's afraid to get her hands anywhere near my saltwater tank lol.

Also, the bubbles and foam that foam into the collection cup are a perfect greenish brown, but after the bubbles/foam settles its the blue listerine color. Ill get a picture of it asap.

The tank is a cube with a back section where all the plumbing is. The glue is the same glue that the manufacturer used to glue the return pump hoses back into the front of the tank. Its a white glue and very hard.

 

[Reefkeepr1986]

I hope everything turns out ok with your system!! Good luck and sorry I don't have an answer but I would like to see a pic?? Thanks

 

[onetootreefor]

Ok I just cleaned out the cup...and it's actually much more green than usual i took a pic, but like I said it's usually a lot more blue than this...maybe I'm making progress

 

[Reefkeepr1986]

That looks like skimmate it's light green it looks normal to me!! When you looked at the other "Blue skimmate" did you look at it in regular lighting (in your home) or natural lighting coming through your window? If light skimmate like yours is looked at using natural sun light on a "blue" sunny day it may tint your skimmate to seem blue looking color!!
Try looking at it up against a white wall in your home and use the room light??
Or did you rinse the skimmer and pumps?? Maybe it came from the new Equiptment??
But if it's going away then hopefully that "Blue" stuff is getting skimmed?? That's good news!!
I hope that's the problem??

 

[onetootreefor]

well i didnt rinse the skimmer or any pumps, they have just been working. Im always afraid to rinse things with tap water because we live in a big city and lots of contaminants. I usually look at the skim mate against a white wall in normal house lighting, same way that is pictured above, and its usually way more blue. So i think whatever it is seems to be clearing up!! That being said the skimmer was added way after the zoa problem started so maybe that blue stuff could be the cause only time will tell at this point.

 

[Reefkeepr1986]

Good luck with your reef and hope all goes well!!

 

[HumanMachine]

Blue... Hmm interesting.

Could the rocks be leeching out any sort of Malachite Green in the form of Quick Cure? If the system was treated for Ick or any sort of treatment prior to your ownership? The timeline seems off though... Either way, Malachite green is not invert safe and might account for some of the dieoff? This is a shot in the dark from me though.

http://www.petsolutions.com/images/Products/48037444.jpg

http://www.myfishforum.com/attachments/fish-medication-their-applications/1905d1139795503-quick-cure-medicine-quickcurefront.jpg

Malachite green tends to stain blue, and can be skimmed out of the water as a blue liquid.

Edit:
Or as Eienna states below, possible also?

 

[Eienna]

Or methylene blue, would be my guess

 

[JLight]

That does not look like any skimmer I've ever had. I'm not sure of the cause but that bizarre

 

[digitaledge]

Noticed your using what looks to be "real reef rock"? not saying it has any thing to do with the issue but I had some real reef rock it started turning blue. Got rid of it for some BRS reef saver. It was gone before I really started skimming so not sure if that's whats ending up in you skimmer..die leech?

 

[reggaedrummin]

I've only ever had green and brown... blue isn't right!

 

[PaulKreider]

I was adding a calcium supplement for a while that was very blue, turned my skimmate blue, forget who made it but if your dosing calcium out of a bottle that may be the culprit?

 

[onetootreefor]

im not dosing any supplements, just food....i use reef chili and fuel twice a week.

The color of the fuel is very yellow green liquid...maybe that is causing a reaction and for the skim mate to turn blue?