230g a stinky mess :-(

[Outatime]

Hi All

Need some help please, I am really loosing the will to keep my reef tank and I really don't want to give up so hoping someone can help solve my problems.

My setup is: 230g Prostar with sump.
2 x Nero 7s
Sicce return pump
Reefmat 1200
Reef Octopus Regal 250 INT
UV Light
Lifegard Aquatics Turbo Reactor with Rowaphos
Sump has chaeto and a led light
Marco rock 40 lbs and Gulf live rock (sorry can't remember quantity right now)
AI Hydra lighting 32,32 and 64

Stocking:
Powder blue tang, Naso tang , Picasso trigger, blue throat trigger, puffer, hawk fish,fox face, file fish and Copperband.

I started the tank last June and the Nitrates are 75 and flashing on the hanna, phosphate .90 flashing on the hanna. I started dosing Nopox in October and it went down to 45 but now upto 75.

My original issue was long hair algae on all the rocks because of the high nitrates and now I am getting a white snotty substance growing over the glass, seems like the algae is getting killed off by the Nopox and stuck in a cycle. It's clogging up the neros as it builds up and causing the water to be misty looking. This junk gets caught everywhere inc the reactor as you can see in the photos.

I have been doing 4 week water changes of about 40% and brushing the rocks.

And OMG the smell, my living room stinks, I am sure the sulfur smell can't just be fish poop alone? Just emptied the skimmer and my wife has to stay in the bedroom it's so bad.

I know I caused all this with lack of the experience, I really thought a bigger tank would be less trouble ..boy was I wrong! Can someone help me reclaim my tank....and living room ;-)

Thanks guys

 

[crazyfishmom]

I would highly recommend considering bacterial products to manage waste. Should also help to reduce nutrients and maintain them over time. Unfortunately this is not going to be an easy fix and will take a few weeks until you start to see results. Do you run any carbon or any media in your tank?

I don’t think I saw, do you use RODI?

 

[cdemoss01]

It has got to be your sump. Algae really smells so I would recommend getting it out of there. It could also be something dead decomposing. Check EVERYTHING!

 

[Outatime]

I would highly recommend considering bacterial products to manage waste. Should also help to reduce nutrients and maintain them over time. Unfortunately this is not going to be an easy fix and will take a few weeks until you start to see results. Do you run any carbon or any media in your tank?

I don’t think I saw, do you use RODI?

Thank you yes I use RODI I make myself. What sort of bacterial product would you recommend, I did use microbactor7 for a couple of months but didn't seem to do anything.

Weeks to fix is fine with me...had this mess for about a year now.

 

[blstravler]

What are all of your parameters, I would start with that. A, C, M, P and N?

 

[Outatime]

It has got to be your sump. Algae really smells so I would recommend getting it out of there. It could also be something dead decomposing. Check EVERYTHING!

Thank you, no nothing dead it's been smelling like this for months now, some days worse than others, had something died it would have gone by now. Checked all the sumpz apart from the white/grey algae that's getting caught but that's not the smell coming from the skimmer.

 

[PeterErc]

Looks to me like a bacterial bloom from the NOPOX which is a carbon source. Keep an eye on the fish as the bacteria could deplete oxygen. Leave the skimmer running even if you have to remove the cup due to overflowing.

if you do a google NOPOX bacteria bloom, you will find all the info you need better than I can explain it

 

[IvanL]

Too much light in the sump. What algae are you trying to grow?

 

[blstravler]

What is the size of your UV, also is the a fish only tank or are you hoping to do coral?

 

[Outatime]

What is the size of your UV, also is the a fish only tank or are you hoping to do coral?

Not sure of hand I can't find the make but it was meant to be sized for the tank when I installed it, new bulb recently too. I would love corals I just want to try keeping fish it in to start with without all this mess and smell.

 

[Dburr1014]

I'm with petererc, sounds like you started nopox and had a bacterial bloom.
How much nopox are you dosing?

 

[crazyfishmom]

This is going to sound backwards but with that level of nutrients running a refugium is going to be more of a problem than helpful. I would stop using the refugium light and get that algae out of there. I might suggest something drastic and say that maybe 30% water changes every other day for a few days until your nutrients are a lot more manageable would probably really help. Dr Tim’s sludge or Pristine would be what I recommend for bacterial products right now. I would clean the skimmer frequently for a few days as well. The accumulation of decaying organic matter in the cup is going to be awful but if you clean very frequently it’ll be a lot less stinky when you do.

 

[Outatime]

I'm with petererc, sounds like you started nopox and had a bacterial bloom.
How much nopox are you dosing?

Thank you, I am dosing 30ml per day as my nitrates were above 10...70 at the time and I have a 230g combined water.

 

[Outatime]

This is going to sound backwards but with that level of nutrients running a refugium is going to be more of a problem than helpful. I would stop using the refugium light and get that algae out of there. I might suggest something drastic and say that maybe 30% water changes every other day for a few days until your nutrients are a lot more manageable would probably really help. Dr Tim’s sludge or Pristine would be what I recommend for bacterial products right now. I would clean the skimmer frequently for a few days as well. The accumulation of decaying organic matter in the cup is going to be awful but if you clean very frequently it’ll be a lot less stinky when you do.

Thank you, I am going to clean out the refugium tomorrow and do a couple of big water changes this week see if that helps. Just unsure if I should continue Nopox treatment? Dr Tims sounds good but worried about adding too much to the tank.

 

[Idech]

If the skimmer itself smells (they often do as they fill up), you can place carbon bags on top of the holes on the lid. It made all the difference in the world for me.

I would also turn the lights down for now. Like 30%, and slowly increase by a few percents every week, but only when things are under control.

 

[Cycleguy0623]

You have some good advice above. I think some DR Tim’s is a great idea to help process the junk in the tank once you get things down. Kind of a soft reset on the tank with mostly new water. Before you clean the sump I would scrub off everything I could and try to get as much out of the display while cleaning the sump.

For me I use two things to control smell but they are linked. I run ozone into my skimmer and have a recirculating CO2 scrubber lid in my reef octo. I pull the air from the skimmer through carbon then co2 media and back into the skimmer. Unless my skimmer cup is off for cleaning we have 0 smell at all.

 

[Js.Aqua.Project]

When fighting algae, if your tank has no corals, turning the lights down or off with restrict in its ability to grow. I would cut your overall output by 30-50% while you are trying to eliminate it.

One of the big issues fighting high nitrate and phosphate levels is that they can bind/unbind to rock and sand. If there are no corals involved and you have the time, multiple large water changes will give you a head start but the nutrients will unbind from the rock/sand to seek equilibrium with the surrounding water.

Running GFO helps lower phosphate levels as it binds phosphate in the water column - which will cause some to unbind from the rock (seeking equilibrium to the water) until the GFO has reached capacity and should be changed.

I personally never had good luck with Rowaphos so I currently am using the BRD high capacity GFO.

Running any carbon dosing -especially NoPox- alongside GFO has been reported to cause some extra bacterial growth.

For the skimmer smell, you are having algae die off and excess bacteria growth, these being pulled out by the skimmer is going to cause a special odor. Try as @Idech suggested and putting some carbon bags in top of the vents in your skimmer lid while it is running. That won't help when you emptying it but will at least cut back some while it is running.

Long term you need to solve your nutrient source issue - overfeeding, dirty food, RODI filter need changing, etc

Hope this all helps.

 

[blstravler]

Not sure of hand I can't find the make but it was meant to be sized for the tank when I installed it, new bulb recently too. I would love corals I just want to try keeping fish it in to start with without all this mess and smell.

I believe that is a Coral Life Turbo Twist, not sure it’s big enough but it’s a start. Be careful with them long term as they are known to have rust issues, happened to me years ago.

I would do a few simple things to start….

1- turn off your lights, including your refugium light in your sump.
2- tune your skimmer to skim very wet.
3- manually remove as much algae by hand as possible and get a small pump and blow off your rock. Do this weekly prior to water changes.
4- Do large water changes weekly (at least 25%)
5- Change RowaPhos weekly and use smaller amounts, or instead of GFO use Phosphate RX, might be more cost effective (RowaPhos is expensive but by far the best GFO)

I would also consider adding a lot of copepods.

Do these things and test your water every 5 days until you are at the levels you like. Then SLOWLY turn your lights back on. I would only worry about getting phosphates down for now and ignore Nitrates until your phosphates are below .1

I’m not a fan of NOPOX, etc if you want to carbon dose there are better products on the market or you can make your own NOPOX for a few dollars a gallon. I would stop dosing NOPOX or anything else.

 

[BOYERZ]

Thread 'Minimalist Reefer' https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/minimalist-reefer.1030960/

Keep it simple.

Do NOT give up! Awesome set up.

Ditch the skimmer, refugium light, algea. Etc.

Use the reactor for carbon.
Change every 5 to 7 days.

You have two tanks trying to compete against each other.

Black out the sump.

Keep the roller.

Turkey baster is your friend.

When everything clears up add skimmer, refuge, etc.

 

[Kodski]

Personally I wonder if something funky came in your gulf rock but its too late to speculate. Instead, lets problem solve. Small issues are rarely solved by doing one thing. Dosing NoPOX sounds to be an issue from what the others are saying. I can't say I have experience with this product but since its a carbon source it makes sense that it would be feeding the bacteria causing a bacteria bloom. To tackle a problem as large as this you'll need to try multiple solutions at once and sadly they arn't going to be a dose this and you'll be fine. This is going to take some elbow grease, but its very doable. This way, you're more than likely going to have a positive outcome.

First thing, as others have said, I would stop dosing NoPOX right away.

Secondly, nix the refugium for the time being. The light is only going to help the nasties stay alive during this battle.

Third, lights off. Make sure minimal light into the tank. I'd recommend a full black out for a week even. If you go the blackout method, you can remove any coverings after a full week but make sure to keep the lights off. You'll likely need them off until your issue is totally solved. Do make sure to keep the UV running the whole time though.

Fourth, large (40%-60%) consecutive water changes for 4 days in a row removing as much algea and gunk as possible. (make sure you check your RO/DI filter and if you haven't in a while, change your membranes and carbon blocks just to make sure. Even 0 TDS water can have some unwanted stuff it in.)

Fifth, Dr. Tim's waste away and refresh. There is a dosing calendar online for this stuff. I've used this exact method before and it worked wonders. They really are great products. Likely with how bad your issue is, you may need to double the weeks of dosing. IE if one week you dose waste away twice, follow that for the second week before you move onto the next week of dosing.

Sixth, add biodiversity. Microbacter 7 is pretty good at this and I have used this before with decent results but personally, nothing beats even a small rock from a well established and healthy system. I prefer a trusted local reefer's over LFS just because LFS's tend to have more pests than an experience hobbyist. Many reefers get biodiversity inadvertently through adding corals. Since you have a FOWLR, you skipped this. You could also try adding a bunch of Pods. Personally, thats a touch too expensive for my taste and I'd rather just buy a rock, toss it in the display for a few weeks before transfering it to the sump.

Seventh, by this time, things are hopefully really starting to transform for the better. Finally, now lets start paying attention to nitrates and phosphates and solve this issue. With that amount of bioload and water volume, I don't feel like you should have that much of a nutrient issue. There has got to be an underlying cause to such high nutrients. Your goal is to identify the issue and rectify it. Theoretically, your equipment is defiantly up to the job with your bioload and water volume. I have more fish in about the same volume but my regal 250ext does a great job of keeping nutrients in check and I don't have a filter roller, GFO, or refugium. Maybe look into skimming heavier (wetter) to pull more out of the water. I would also try to add more rock/media for beneficial bacteria. As much as you could fit in the sump really. How much/often do you feed? Less more times a day is always better than once with the same total amount of food. Some people say to only feed what the fish can eat in only two or three minutes. I still find this inefficient and prefer to go by trying to make sure every bit you add gets eaten by adding a little bit at a time versus just dumbing the lot of food into the water. The actual food you feed could be an issue also. Do you feed different foods, just pellets, only frozen, ect? Pellets are SUPER nutrient dense and just dumping a bunch in won't do you any favors. The same amount of nutrients by volume with pellet food versus frozen foods like Mysis is like 100x. I can only recommend to read up on foods and fish diets and develop a dietary plan that suits your tank and inhabitants needs. You could also start your refugium back up to help stabilize your nutrients. I would only turn back on the lights until you have gotten the nutrients balanced out and stable (not rising at least). If you turn the lights on before this point, you'll likely have another algae outbreak and be backwards fast.