Tank Water Turned Black

[DanReedRogers]

Alrighty, Some background information. I set my tank up on the 22nd (This month) Added live sand (Deep sand bed), then around 21 kg of Live rock to my 50 gallon. Filled my tank up with salted water and left it to cycle. At This current moment I have a HOB skimmer, heater and power head going, No light right now, Planning on buying one soon. Anyway I noticed 2 days ago my water was getting darker, I thought it might just be part of the cycle. But today the water is almost pitch Black (As you can see in the photo) is this normal part of the cycle?
Also I see, what I believe to be Black hair algae... I think!

The past couple of days, The ammonia has been spiking, It is up to 8.00ppm.

Cheers. Dan.

[jennmac415]

I've never seen this before... Following along to see what others say.

[Dapg8gt]

No that is not a normal cycle at all.. Are you sure it's not just really dark green?

With a cycling tank right next to a window I can see a green algae bloom in the water column but black is totally not normal and something major happened..

I read another thread where someone's drapes ( old black sheet) was in the water and turned it black but that's about it..


I personally would start over for sure, but testing the water for everything you can wouldn't hurt..

[DanReedRogers]

I just tested the water now and this is what is reads.

Ph - 8.0
Ammonia - 8.00ppm + (The color was darker then the max reading on the test chart)
Nitrite - 0.00ppm
Nitrates - 0.00ppm (I think reading was kind of in between 0.00 and 5.00ppm)
Phosphates - 1.00ppm
Temperature - 23 Degrees Celsius ( 73F)

Would you recommend a 50% water change, then see what happens?
Oh By the way, when cycling is the tank meant to smell unpleasant?

[slief]

Originally Posted by DanReedRogers

I just tested the water now and this is what is reads.

Ph - 8.0
Ammonia - 8.00ppm + (The color was darker then the max reading on the test chart)
Nitrite - 0.00ppm
Nitrates - 0.00ppm (I think reading was kind of in between 0.00 and 5.00ppm)
Phosphates - 1.00ppm
Temperature - 23 Degrees Celsius ( 73F)

Would you recommend a 50% water change, then see what happens?
Oh By the way, when cycling is the tank meant to smell unpleasant?

Water shouldn't smell foul and it shouldn't be black. Something is definitely wrong. Was your live rock cured? I can't help but wonder if your live rock wasn't cured and all the die off from the rock has made a mess of your water. If your rock wasn't cured, there is no way the HOB skimmer could keep up 46 pounds of live rock curing. What is your salinity and how are you measuring it?

If it is a case of your live rock curing which I suspect it is, a 50 gallon water change couldn't hurt at this point.

[DanReedRogers]

The Rock was cured ( Or so the store said), It was however left out of water for maybe.. 4-5 hours. But I did notice a lot of "loose" rock on the sand bed. I am using a API drop Test
And If im not mistaken I do believe that my salinity is 1.020 - 1.030..

Cheers.

[slief]

Originally Posted by DanReedRogers

The Rock was cured ( Or so the store said), It was however left out of water for maybe.. 4-5 hours. But I did notice a lot of "loose" rock on the sand bed. I am using a API drop Test
And If im not mistaken I do believe that my salinity is 1.020 - 1.030..

Cheers.

Your salinity is 1.020 - 1.030?? Really?? That is a huge range and salinity is something your need to be sure of. By that statement alone, I can tell you that you are not getting off on the right foot. I'm not familiar with an API drop test for salinity but you should be using a calibrated refractometer. I can also tell you that if you want to be successful in this hobby, quality salt water and knowing your salinity are very critical to your success and any success in this hobby depends 10000000% on your waters quality. This means that you have to know your water. Not just nitrates, PH ammonia etc but first and foremost, you salinity and the quality of the water that you start with.. I.E. Your fresh water assuming you are mixing it.

As far as rocks out of water for 4-5 hours.. That may be an issue or it may not. It just depends on what measures were taken to keep it moist such as wet paper and what the ambient temps were while it was out. You are likely to have die off with your rocks and without a doubt there is some curing going on, if not for just the time out of water alone. The fact that you don't even know your actual salinity is very concerning too as that is a VERY critical factor when keeping a salt water tank. Did you mix your own water or is this store bought water?

I'm going to put this out there now. First off, you have almost certainly die off or curing happening with your live rock which is causing severe issues with your water. This die off could be because the rock was never cured to begin with or because of how it was handled between when you bought it and when you got it in your tank or it could be the result of improper salinity. It could also because of a combination of any of the above. Either way, I suspect you rock is the reason for what you are seeing.

The fix would be to get a proper tool for testing salinity and verifying what your actual salinity is followed by massive water changes with quality salt water. If you are setting up a reef, you should be targeting 1.025 - 1.026. At 1.020, you will increase the amount of stuff that dies in your rocks. Natural salt water is typically 1.026. If you are mixing your own water, what is your source of fresh water? Are you using an RODI filter and is it properly maintained? If you are using tap water, that can be an issue as different water sources use different chemicals to treat water that is not safe to reef inhabitants including some of the stuff that lives in your rock. What kind of salt are you using?

[rgulrich]

If you haven't already, try a few water changes, making sure the replacement water is within parameters. Replace as much as you can to try and knock the ammonia level down. It looks a like a pretty heavy die-off of from the rock is fueling an algae bloom, aided by the light coming in through the window. While the algae isn't pretty, it does help mitigate some of the harmful effects of the ammonia spike...at least until it starts dying off.
To try and get things on track: 1. Water change as much as you can with water prepped to recommended parameters. 2. adjust skimmer to skim as much crud out as possible. 3. from your initial description you don't mention using a filter sump, so use a particulate filter, even a hang on back or canister filter, and clean it daily until this clears up. Us not only the polyester or sponge particulate filter in it, but carbon as well.

Let us know how things are going. Provide us with details of your complete setup, your level of experience, and how much time, effort, and (unfortunately) money you're willing and able to invest in keeping things alive in your aquarium.

Cheers,
Ray

[DanReedRogers]

Ah, My bad. Sorry I'm testing for the Ammonia, Nitrites with API drops. I'm testing the Salinity, with a glass Salinity rod. If the rocks were curing, The Skimmer should be pulling junk out of the water, correct?. Well the skimmer has been going for almost the entire time (Minus 2 days) So it has been going for 4 days and it still isn't pulling anything out, The collection cup is completely empty, Barely any water in there and if there is. It is completely Clear. The rock was transported in a plastic bag with a cup or two of water.

I retested the Salinity then and it was 1.022.

[gone fishin]

Wow, I have never seen one like that. I agree with Slief.

What kind of rock was it?
Where did it come from?
Did you dose anything into the tank to start a cycle?
do you have a rotten egg smell?
where did you get the sand and how deep?


Judging by your salinty response I will assume you are very new. This may be a good time to take a step back ,stop and read some of the stickies in the new to the hobby forum. Good luck!!

[slief]

Originally Posted by DanReedRogers

Ah, My bad. Sorry I'm testing for the Ammonia, Nitrites with API drops. I'm testing the Salinity, with a glass Salinity rod. If the rocks were curing, The Skimmer should be pulling junk out of the water, correct?. Well the skimmer has been going for almost the entire time (Minus 2 days) So it has been going for 4 days and it still isn't pulling anything out, The collection cup is completely empty, Barely any water in there and if there is. It is completely Clear. The rock was transported in a plastic bag with a cup or two of water.

I retested the Salinity then and it was 1.022.

If your water is black, the skimmer should be pulling stuff out regardless of the rocks curing. As such, I'd speculate that your skimmer is not setup right or adjusted properly. I'd ditch that glass hydrometer and get yourself a refractometer and some 53,000ms (1.026) calibration solution. Rgulrich may have a point about algae bloom caused by ambient light but even so, something else is going on in there and even if it were a bloom, your skimmer should be going nuts with all those organics in your water.

[DanReedRogers]

Alright, So I am using Tap water, However I am on tank water. and I was told by the person at the store that, it is okay to use Tank water.... I am using the stores brand of salt as it was a lot cheaper than the brand name salt, it is called "Kirby's Premium SPS sea salt" I brought this over the red sea salt.

Okay so my setup, I do not have any lights yet, I am planning on buying those in the very near future, any suggestions? oh by the way it is a 40 gallon tank, not 50, that was a typo.

Stream pump: Voyager - 800 GPS
Skimmer: HOB -200 L capacity
Heater: 200w

Am I missing anything?

[DanReedRogers]

Hmm okay, here is a link to the skimmer
http://shop.coburgaquarium.com.au/pr...-box-200l.html

There were no instructions, so I think it is setup properly (Doesn't help this is my first time) I just put water in the two sides filled it up to the pipes and put it in the water... Do i need to do anything else?

[DanReedRogers]

hah, yeah your bang on, This is my first tank setup.

Alrighty, So all I know that it is live rock, and it came from my LFS.... is there anyway I could find out more?

I didn't put anything into the water to start the cycle, I thought the LR stats the cycle? The Rotten egg smell is what it smells like when I think about it! The sand I got from my LFS and there is 15kg in there and it is around 2 - 2.5 inches deep. Ill have a look at the new to the hobby topic now.

[johnike]

Rotten egg smell is usually Hydrogen Sulfide in the sandbed, but that setup is too new.

[fishgate]

Throw it all out and start over.

[julie180]

One thing that you need to remember about any retail operation, they are in the business to make money. Some will tell you the truth at the expense of a sale, but that's the exception not the rule.

Please research all purchases and take what the store tells you with a grain of salt.

[Nina51]

Originally Posted by DanReedRogers

Alright, So I am using Tap water, However I am on tank water.

what do you mean by "tank water"?

[biomek]

Bizarre. Had to follow along on this also

[tmz]

I suspect lots of die off in and on the rock providing organic material in anoxic areas . The blackness is probably sufide from sulfate reduction occuring . The sewer gas smell is probably hydrogen sufide a toxic gas. Don't breathe it in much. Change the water and dump the old. Rinse the rocks as thoroughly as you can.

[campos]

Originally Posted by fishgate

Throw it all out and start over.

+1, definitely not a good start. Buy an RO/DI unit.

[Green Chromis]

Hi Dan, the first thing you need to do is buy a brand name, (I prefer Spectra Pure) RO/DI unit so you can make your own water to mix with a brand name salt mix. Store brand salt mix, never heard of a LFS making their own salt as this is a very expensive operation if done correctly and they would need to sell a huge amount to keep the price down. You need to move the rock into some external plastic food grade storage systems with your freshly made RO/DI water and a brand name salt mix as soon as possible. This is a very expensive hobby and you cannot go cheap on the basics, this includes your salt mixes, testing instruments, your bacterial filtration, lighting, etc. If you don't spend the money on quality produces now, you will be paying for it in the future. I would read all the information you can find on setting up a new tank on this website and go from there. Start over and listen to what the people have to say here, you will be much better off if you do. Good luck, and enjoy, this is a wonderful hobby, although an expensive one.

[campos]

Originally Posted by Green Chromis

Hi Dan, the first thing you need to do is buy a brand name, (I prefer Spectra Pure) RO/DI unit so you can make your own water to mix with a brand name salt mix. Store brand salt mix, never heard of a LFS making their own salt as this is a very expensive operation if done correctly and they would need to sell a huge amount to keep the price down. You need to move the rock into some external plastic food grade storage systems with your freshly made RO/DI water and a brand name salt mix as soon as possible. This is a very expensive hobby and you cannot go cheap on the basics, this includes your salt mixes, testing instruments, your bacterial filtration, lighting, etc. If you don't spend the money on quality produces now, you will be paying for it in the future. I would read all the information you can find on setting up a new tank on this website and go from there. Start over and listen to what the people have to say here, you will be much better off if you do. Good luck, and enjoy, this is a wonderful hobby, although an expensive one.

well said

[whiteshark]

Originally Posted by fishgate

Throw it all out and start over.

As harsh as this sounds, I agree. Ultimately it would be less work and less headache to start over on the right foot.

That is to say, empty the tank, ditch the rock which is likely now contaminated, ditch the sand, buy an RO/DI, a salt mix like Reef Crystals or one of the many other name brand salt mixes and a refractometer to make your own saltwater, a good light (the exact one will depend upon what you want to keep coral wise), a couple decent powerheads like koralias or jebaos if you want to save a couple bucks or a couple Vortechs or Tunzes if you want to spend a bit more, and I would suggest an auto top-off unit as I think they are necessary, and get all that set up. Then fill up the tank with RO/DI water, mix in the salt after the tank if full, get the water to between 1.025 and 1.026 SG, add your new sand and rock, and start the cycle over again. I know nothing about that skimmer, and I have never used a HOB skimmer, so I'll let others make recommendations there. However, many of us believe a skimmer is a crucial part of the system for many reasons and the difference in effectiveness from the bad ones to the good ones is very large.

Bulk Reef Supply and Marine Depot are great places to shop for equipment. Starting from a point where you have all the equipment you need will give you the best chance to succeed long term. You really don't want to be piecing the system together as you go, at least not the major components. You can always add another powerhead or a reactor at a later date if you find it would be beneficial.

Know and understand the below article as well, and know that you are capable of testing for everything in table 1. (plus nitrite and nitrate):

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/

[tkeracer619]

I've seen this before. Most of the recomendations here are good. Iirc it corrected its self.