Having Problems

Norsk Reef · 09/02/2008, 02:24 AM

This is a long story, so I will try to make it as quick as possible.
I moved from Texas to here in Norway.
I shipped all my equipment, tanks etc.
I boiled my live rock before I shipped my rocks as it is very expensive here.
I shipped live sand in bags to seed the tank once I got here.
Once I set up my tank everything seemed very good as I used the water from the Fjords here and put my dead rock and $40 per pound live rock from Norway in to seed the tank. I only got 2 rocks.
My tank is 29 gallons Oceanic biocube.
I have used the coralife metal halide over the tank for lighting and also the regular hood for the tank, couldnt make up my mind what to use.
Then suddenly the microalgae that someone gave me here started to die off and I had snails I shipped here start to die off as well.
So basically, I could never keep my PH at a good level, my Nitrates were off the scale and I had high phosphates which I think is expected with dead rock.
I did water changes, but to get salt I have to drive 2 hours away and it is very very expensive so I try to use the water from the Fjords. I bought stuff to control the phosphates and nitrates, but nothing helped and my fish all died as well as all my snails.
When I boiled my rocks the live parts I guess turned green color and after a while in my tank the dead rocks turned even more green color and not what it should be.
I have used Funky Old Reef Mud, and other supplements but my tank just looked like crap.
The tank was basically filled all the way with rock that was dead and only 3 live rocks.
Yesterday I got sick of my tank and took all the water out, tried to get all the detrious stuff out of the sand and replaced it with new water and less dead rock.
It looks much cleaner and when I checked the PH it was 8.3 and the salinity was 1.023.
I did not check Nitrates yet.
So basically am I doing anything wrong?
I am not new to the hobby, I have been doing this for 10 years and usually to fix my tanks I just put good water in and it fixes itself.
This time I am using the dead rock which I think is causing major problems.
What do you guys think?
Thanks for any comments.

Al · 09/02/2008, 09:04 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Norsk Reef
So basically, I could never keep my PH at a good level, my Nitrates were off the scale and I had high phosphates which I think is expected with dead rock.

That's going to happen with once live rock - it's always going to be full of dead animals and algae. Bleach will dissolve out any organics left in the rock. Boiling I think just leaves anything once alive in place.

Yesterday I got sick of my tank and took all the water out, tried to get all the detrious stuff out of the sand and replaced it with new water and less dead rock.

You're doing the right thing. I envy your chance to just go for a drive and get all the seawater you need. I think its better than ASW, as long as its not polluted.

Kannin · 09/02/2008, 09:49 AM

It sounds like your tank cycled. Does it smell? Did the ammonia spike?

tkeracer619 · 09/02/2008, 10:04 AM

The rock needs to cycle. For future refrence do not boil rock! A simple bleach solution is all that is needed if you want to kill your rock. Boiling kills the stuff on an inside the rock by heat. It is still all there. Bleach dissolves organics and leaves the rock clean. For this reason you will have a long cycle process.

I would "cook" the rock. Not with heat but with bacteria. Basically move all of the rock live and dead into a container with a lid, powerhead, and maybe heater (to speed it up). Keep the lid on the container and do 100% water changes each week untill no sloth from the rocks is left over in the container.

Once nothing is left in the container during water changes the rock is fully cured and can be put back in the aquarium. This sometimes takes around 2 months to complete.

Norsk Reef · 09/03/2008, 12:33 AM

I believe my tank cycled, yes it smelled like a cycled fishtank, but I had lots of algae, Low PH, High Nitrates and High Phosphates- some amonia, but not much.
Before I shipped the rock, I boiled it and you guys say I should have bleached it. Oops!
When you boil it, the rock turns lime green and when I put this dead rock in my new tank, that lime green got darker green fuz on it that I kept brushing off the rock.
I think the water here is good being from the fjords. I had to dodge jellyfish to get the water though

Today, it has been 2 days since I changed the water and got the yucky stuff out of the sand.
My PH is 7.9 to 8.0 which decreased in 2 days.
Nitrates are about 20
My tank just looks yellow. I dont like the lighting, but if I change out the water it looks blue/white and good.

tkeracer619: What about light in the container you are mentioning?
I would like the live rock to spread its coraline algae to the rest and I thought that needed light. Does it have to be a dark environment?
Please enlighten me.
Thanks for the responses.

jrdoan · 09/03/2008, 02:25 PM

I would also look into the water. Getting it from the Fjords could be the issue. Maybe there are chemicals or something in there. I have often thought about getting water from the bay here (MD) but I am almost 90percent sure it would not be well suited for and aquarium due to polutants etc.. I would test the water prior to putting it in the tank just to see what readings I got. Even then though you could have a fertalizer or something from a farm or whatnot in there that you could not even detect. My other question was or comment had alot to do with the sand. You shipped it in bags but keep in mind you basically turned up the sandbed (never a good thing) and in shipping some of the orginisms that make a DSB a good thing probably died. So my guess is that alot of you nitrates and phospates are comming from that situation and given time and water changes would eventually stabalize.

Yes the coraline will eventually spread once we get your water right.

Norsk Reef · 09/03/2008, 10:41 PM

You know that is funny. I live on a farm!!
I just thought about that the other day.
They spread stuff all over the fields and I know it goes down into the water.
Cow crap, other stuff, not sure what else.
As for the live sand, it was new bags of live sand that I bought at the fish stores in Houston so it was not bad when it got here. Unless heat from shipping kills it.

Thanks for the response Jrdoan.

Juan Fisher: where are you when I need to talk to you!!

Coming to you live from a farm in Norway.

jrdoan · 09/04/2008, 10:13 AM

Yeah then I would totally say it's a water issue...That close to a farm there is almost no way it's not gonna be a problem... Glad I was able to help ..

Norsk Reef · 09/05/2008, 12:36 AM

I have put my skimmer back on and put the metal halide coralife light on again. Maybe that will get alot of the junk out of the water as it is perfect salinity and PH levels. My Nitrates are down also now since using the sea water.
I think my main problem in using this water is going to be problems from fertilizers etc that run into the water. I think a skimmer might help that greatly.
Thank you.

09/02/2008, 02:24 AM	#1
Norsk Reef Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Norway Posts: 10	Having Problems This is a long story, so I will try to make it as quick as possible. I moved from Texas to here in Norway. I shipped all my equipment, tanks etc. I boiled my live rock before I shipped my rocks as it is very expensive here. I shipped live sand in bags to seed the tank once I got here. Once I set up my tank everything seemed very good as I used the water from the Fjords here and put my dead rock and $40 per pound live rock from Norway in to seed the tank. I only got 2 rocks. My tank is 29 gallons Oceanic biocube. I have used the coralife metal halide over the tank for lighting and also the regular hood for the tank, couldnt make up my mind what to use. Then suddenly the microalgae that someone gave me here started to die off and I had snails I shipped here start to die off as well. So basically, I could never keep my PH at a good level, my Nitrates were off the scale and I had high phosphates which I think is expected with dead rock. I did water changes, but to get salt I have to drive 2 hours away and it is very very expensive so I try to use the water from the Fjords. I bought stuff to control the phosphates and nitrates, but nothing helped and my fish all died as well as all my snails. When I boiled my rocks the live parts I guess turned green color and after a while in my tank the dead rocks turned even more green color and not what it should be. I have used Funky Old Reef Mud, and other supplements but my tank just looked like crap. The tank was basically filled all the way with rock that was dead and only 3 live rocks. Yesterday I got sick of my tank and took all the water out, tried to get all the detrious stuff out of the sand and replaced it with new water and less dead rock. It looks much cleaner and when I checked the PH it was 8.3 and the salinity was 1.023. I did not check Nitrates yet. So basically am I doing anything wrong? I am not new to the hobby, I have been doing this for 10 years and usually to fix my tanks I just put good water in and it fixes itself. This time I am using the dead rock which I think is causing major problems. What do you guys think? Thanks for any comments.

09/02/2008, 09:49 AM	#3
Kannin Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Fall City, WA Posts: 1,538	It sounds like your tank cycled. Does it smell? Did the ammonia spike? __________________ I used to target feed mojanos... until I found out that they weren't baby bubble tips.

09/02/2008, 10:04 AM	#4
tkeracer619 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Westminster, CO Posts: 17,289	The rock needs to cycle. For future refrence do not boil rock! A simple bleach solution is all that is needed if you want to kill your rock. Boiling kills the stuff on an inside the rock by heat. It is still all there. Bleach dissolves organics and leaves the rock clean. For this reason you will have a long cycle process. I would "cook" the rock. Not with heat but with bacteria. Basically move all of the rock live and dead into a container with a lid, powerhead, and maybe heater (to speed it up). Keep the lid on the container and do 100% water changes each week untill no sloth from the rocks is left over in the container. Once nothing is left in the container during water changes the rock is fully cured and can be put back in the aquarium. This sometimes takes around 2 months to complete. __________________ Hobby Experience: 9200ish gallons, 26 skimmers, and a handful of Kent Scrapers. Current Tank: Vortech Powered 600G SPS Tank w/ 100gal frag tank & 100g Sump. RK2-RK10 Skimmer. ReefAngel. Radium 20k.

09/03/2008, 12:33 AM	#5
Norsk Reef Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Norway Posts: 10	I believe my tank cycled, yes it smelled like a cycled fishtank, but I had lots of algae, Low PH, High Nitrates and High Phosphates- some amonia, but not much. Before I shipped the rock, I boiled it and you guys say I should have bleached it. Oops! When you boil it, the rock turns lime green and when I put this dead rock in my new tank, that lime green got darker green fuz on it that I kept brushing off the rock. I think the water here is good being from the fjords. I had to dodge jellyfish to get the water though Today, it has been 2 days since I changed the water and got the yucky stuff out of the sand. My PH is 7.9 to 8.0 which decreased in 2 days. Nitrates are about 20 My tank just looks yellow. I dont like the lighting, but if I change out the water it looks blue/white and good. tkeracer619: What about light in the container you are mentioning? I would like the live rock to spread its coraline algae to the rest and I thought that needed light. Does it have to be a dark environment? Please enlighten me. Thanks for the responses.

09/03/2008, 02:25 PM	#6
jrdoan Registered Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Baltimore MD Posts: 68	I would also look into the water. Getting it from the Fjords could be the issue. Maybe there are chemicals or something in there. I have often thought about getting water from the bay here (MD) but I am almost 90percent sure it would not be well suited for and aquarium due to polutants etc.. I would test the water prior to putting it in the tank just to see what readings I got. Even then though you could have a fertalizer or something from a farm or whatnot in there that you could not even detect. My other question was or comment had alot to do with the sand. You shipped it in bags but keep in mind you basically turned up the sandbed (never a good thing) and in shipping some of the orginisms that make a DSB a good thing probably died. So my guess is that alot of you nitrates and phospates are comming from that situation and given time and water changes would eventually stabalize. Yes the coraline will eventually spread once we get your water right.

09/03/2008, 10:41 PM	#7
Norsk Reef Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Norway Posts: 10	You know that is funny. I live on a farm!! I just thought about that the other day. They spread stuff all over the fields and I know it goes down into the water. Cow crap, other stuff, not sure what else. As for the live sand, it was new bags of live sand that I bought at the fish stores in Houston so it was not bad when it got here. Unless heat from shipping kills it. Thanks for the response Jrdoan. Juan Fisher: where are you when I need to talk to you!! Coming to you live from a farm in Norway.

09/04/2008, 10:13 AM	#8
jrdoan Registered Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Baltimore MD Posts: 68	Yeah then I would totally say it's a water issue...That close to a farm there is almost no way it's not gonna be a problem... Glad I was able to help ..

09/05/2008, 12:36 AM	#9
Norsk Reef Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Norway Posts: 10	I have put my skimmer back on and put the metal halide coralife light on again. Maybe that will get alot of the junk out of the water as it is perfect salinity and PH levels. My Nitrates are down also now since using the sea water. I think my main problem in using this water is going to be problems from fertilizers etc that run into the water. I think a skimmer might help that greatly. Thank you.