Dirty aquarium
- Thread starter jazreef
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jazreef
Active Member
So based off of your comment, it is normal for bacteria blooms? Also, the two things needed would be the UV sterilizer, and the pump?So if the water looks like that and you didnt stir it up you definitely have an aglea bloom and its very common. The best solution for that is a UV sterilizer. I know those are expensive, but the do have cheaper alternatives to the expensive ones. When this happened to me I ordered a a cheap pump off amazon.. literally this green one.
Its 18$ and I ordered this UV sterilizer as well
Now I know thats a bit more expensive but it worked very well...so this hangs on the rim of your tank. I put the pump in the display and sweeped it out of the tank into this sterilizer and it dumps back in the tank.. it was in the display for a week which was about 4 days longer than it probably needed to be. The water was crystal clear by day 4.you can barely see it but its in the upper right corner. This was my tank just starting out and let me tell you before that sterilizer I couldn't see the back glass it was so bad... anyways, my 2 pennies.
jazreef
Active Member
Another question, what do you mean by it sweeped out of the tank into the sterilizer? Is there water coming out of the tank?So if the water looks like that and you didnt stir it up you definitely have an aglea bloom and its very common. The best solution for that is a UV sterilizer. I know those are expensive, but the do have cheaper alternatives to the expensive ones. When this happened to me I ordered a a cheap pump off amazon.. literally this green one.
Its 18$ and I ordered this UV sterilizer as well
Now I know thats a bit more expensive but it worked very well...so this hangs on the rim of your tank. I put the pump in the display and sweeped it out of the tank into this sterilizer and it dumps back in the tank.. it was in the display for a week which was about 4 days longer than it probably needed to be. The water was crystal clear by day 4.you can barely see it but it’s in the upper right corner. This was my tank just starting out and let me tell you before that sterilizer I couldn't see the back glass it was so bad... anyways, my 2 pennies.
saltcats
Active Member
Are you confident the temp reading is accurate?
If it is, you'd want to check if some equipment is overheating (like a pump, etc).
Bacteria will grow faster in warmer temps (not helping your bloom) and I suspect being that far from the recommended range is probably putting a damper on microlife that you actually want.
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I didn't see the temp, but if it's really 35 then that's extremely hot. Was the water milky before the temp got that high?
You have Algae growing because you do not have anything to eat the algae! You have NO SNAILS or Crabs! You need 1 dwarf cerith snail per gallon of water. I'd also add a few Nerite snails, Nassarius snails and a Trochus or 2. Maybe even 1 Tiger Conch to stir your sand bed. And maybe 2 hermit crabs, but the crabs are really optional, the snails are not IMO.
These folks have pre-made "packages" for what ever size tank you have, just match up your Tank size and see what they recommend for CUC! https://www.reefcleaners.org/
As an FYI, I run a 340g system, 300g DT and I have over 400 snails and hermits in my tank. I stopped doing water changes 6 months ago roughly. Tank is about 14 months old.
Picture from April 28th.
These folks have pre-made "packages" for what ever size tank you have, just match up your Tank size and see what they recommend for CUC! https://www.reefcleaners.org/
As an FYI, I run a 340g system, 300g DT and I have over 400 snails and hermits in my tank. I stopped doing water changes 6 months ago roughly. Tank is about 14 months old.
Picture from April 28th.
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Here is the 65g Snail Only Clean-Up-Crew (CuC) recommendation from Reef Cleaners.
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It looks like your husbandry may be lacking. For me, Sunday is water change day where each of my four tanks get 20% of the total system volume replaced. But before I do that:
- All substrate gets raked.
- All glass gets scraped.
- All filter media gets replaced.
- All sponges and other reusable filter media get rinsed in FRESH RODI.
- All lights get wiped down.
- All salt creep is removed from the sump and surrounding areas.
The process takes about 1-2 hours depending on what I find and any fixes that need to be made.
On your tank, if you make this commitment, you will have a beautiful tank!
We have a habit of using abbreviations here which are specific to the hobby (obviously).
Acronyms and Abbreviations for the Reef Aquarist
Reef aquarium acronyms for beginners.
www.reef2reef.com
jazreef
Active Member
I had a temp reader that was definitely off and it was showing a way higher reading than it really was. When I got a different one, it showed I’m in the green range (which is the ideal range)
jazreef
Active Member
I do have inverts like I have 3 snails, 2 emerald crabs, 1 urchin, and maybe 5 hermit crabs. I have 65g tank though, so I probably need more ur saying ?You have Algae growing because you do not have anything to eat the algae! You have NO SNAILS or Crabs! You need 1 dwarf cerith snail per gallon of water. I'd also add a few Nerite snails, Nassarius snails and a Trochus or 2. Maybe even 1 Tiger Conch to stir your sand bed. And maybe 2 hermit crabs, but the crabs are really optional, the snails are not IMO.
These folks have pre-made "packages" for what ever size tank you have, just match up your Tank size and see what they recommend for CUC! https://www.reefcleaners.org/
As an FYI, I run a 340g system, 300g DT and I have over 400 snails and hermits in my tank. I stopped doing water changes 6 months ago roughly. Tank is about 14 months old.
Picture from April 28th.
jazreef
Active Member
How do you rake the substrate ? I try to clean it but I was told to not vacuum it because it holds good bacteria. Also, I do this process every 2 weeks, and the week in between I still clean the glass and do a light brush on any over grown algae. This usually takes me about an hour. I feel like I’m maintaining the tank and cleaning it properly, that’s why I’m confused why it’s getting so dirty. I also am going through another bacterial bloom and I’m worried about my fish and my anemone now.
jazreef
Active Member
Thanks! I’m still new so I didn’t realize everyone used the acronyms lolWe have a habit of using abbreviations here which are specific to the hobby (obviously).
Acronyms and Abbreviations for the Reef Aquarist
Reef aquarium acronyms for beginners.
You will not vacuum up good bacteria. If you did remove any, there is plenty in your live rock to support the tank anyway. If it was an issue, there wouldn't be any bare bottom tanks.
Every two weeks isn't frequent enough. Water changes should be weekly, along with the husbandry practices I mentioned.
I understand you feel like you are doing enough, but based on your results, it seems like you could be doing more.
saltcats
Active Member
I feel that reefcleaners exaggerates a bit how many snails etc you need, so I wouldn't follow that list exactly. But yeah, definitely add more!
For reference, I have about 12 algae eating snails in my 50 gallon currently; still planning to add more (was waiting for a toxic dino outbreak to finish).
If you have an LFS so it's convenient, I like the advice to add just a few each week/2 weeks, so you can see how the algae level responds and not risk overstocking on snails.
jazreef
Active Member
Ok thanks for the feedback. So it’s ok to use a little Syphon on the gravel? If so, I will start doing that. I agree with you, it seems like I’m not doing something right if it keeps getting so dirty, I just don’t fully get what the issue is. But I’ll try doing more frequent water changes
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