Well, thanks

[Ralph Rogers]

Thanks for your welcoming note. Not real sure how to do this forum stuff , but will give it a try. I took my grandkids to the Florida Aquarium in Tampa a couple of months ago. We all had a really great time. So that got me thinking over the next few weeks. I managed to remember that I ran a salt water tank 25+ years ago. Did OK with it for 4-5 years. But sold the house. Aquarium stayed in the house. It was a built-in. (It's still there and running, but fresh now.) So I researched and visited with a number of LFSs and started a Red Sea Reefer 6 weeks ago. Lots of live rock and sand. It cycled (I think) at 3 weeks or so. Never saw any ammonia, nitrate bumped up slightly but then back to 0. Several cardinals and a gobie were added. They seem well and active. I do have a problem with cloudy water. I'm embarrassed to post a photo. I'm collecting (or growing) some funk in the sump, all chambers. It collects on top of pump, on skimmer protrusions. It passes right through 400 and 225 micron filters. It seems like a precipitate. It's a light brown in color. It almost seems "dusty". Ca++ is 400, Po4- is 0, pH 8.0, KH 180 or so, spgr 1026. RedSea salt, RODI water. Ideas??
I'm a retired surgeon. Originally from East TN, worked and still live in west central FL.

 

[Pongo]

Welcome to R2R!

The first couple of months I had all sorts of "growths" from stringy white to brown.
Eventually things settled down as the tank aged and found it's equilibrium.

What size is your tank?
What skimmer are you running?

 

[dbl]

First of all, welcome to R2R from a fellow Floridian. I would suggest starting a build thread here. Please don't be afraid to post pictures as it can help us identify and hopefully help diagnose issues.

 

[Ty Hamatake]

Welcome to a great place with great people!! Of on places in the world, this should be the last to be embarrassed about how your tank looks. The "dusty" brown just sounds like diatoms which are just a part of starting a new tank. Pretty much every reefer before you and most after will encounter the exact same thing!

 

[4FordFamily]

Welcome home, you will love it here!

I'm not much help with what you ask, but you're in good hands here!

Let's see some pics of that Red Sea reefer!

 

[kschweer]

Welcome to R2R!!

 

[Salty1962]

Welcome to R2R!

 

[Ralph Rogers]

First of all, welcome to R2R from a fellow Floridian. I would suggest starting a build thread here. Please don't be afraid to post pictures as it can help us identify and hopefully help diagnose issues.

I enjoyed your 10 question, 12 answer statement. My other activity is RC aircraft. I'm an instructor and get lots of questions. I advise that each question can get 100 answers, about the same as club membership

 

[Ralph Rogers]

Good morning. Tank is RSR 425 reefer. ~90 gal. up top, 22 gal in sump. Skimmer is Reef Octo 152SS. I had (what I was told) a mess of "diatoms" earlier, in or on the sand. Red to reddish-brown. The gobie and a few crabs have cleaned that up fabulously. Skimmer is pulling out greenish-brown yuck, looks like skimmers in LFS. The stuff on the neck of the skimmer looks somewhat like the powdery gunk on bottom of sump.
How often does one clean the skimmer? It doesn't work very well for a while after cleaning. I'll try to post a photo when lights come on. (don't have that figured out yet either-Ecotech, radions, reef link)

 

[KJ]

Welcome to R2R!!!!

 

[Ralph Rogers]

LFS suggested that my cloudiness is from the sand being disturbed by my gobie. Suggested putting filter floss in area on high flow. Anyone else having trouble with RSR filtering?

 

[Pongo]

LFS suggested that my cloudiness is from the sand being disturbed by my gobie. Suggested putting filter floss in area on high flow. Anyone else having trouble with RSR filtering?

What type of sand did you start with.

I started with live sand so it didn't get rinsed before putting it in the tank.
One year later there can still be a fine silt in the water column if I disturb it.
So, I disturb it often by using a turkey baster and blasting parts of the sandbed about once a week.
I takes about 1 - 2 hours to clear up afterwards.
I can't imagine what a mess a gobie would make in my tank, but I bet my sand would look much more white .

Try stuffing filter floss in the filter socks and see if that helps, but I'd bet you need to change it often.

 

[Ralph Rogers]

thanks, yes I started with live sand, not rinsed at all. I believe my gunk is indeed silt from the sand. I did a water change the other day, "vacuuming" a lot of the silt from the sump. I believe the gobie is innocent. Don't see any "dust" or silt where he's working. I'll do the filter floss stuff as soon as I can get to a LFS. Irma has screwed everything up for the present. Thanks again.