I'm about to quit!!!!

[shackman]

Ok guys I need some advice, so I took down my tank due to a dyno outbreak I believe. dumped all rock, replaced with new and washed everything else in bleach, tank pumps, skimmer, sump, etc. NOW ITS BACK. Been back at it about three weeks now. I am using a RO/DI from thefilterguys OCEAN REEF+1. the only thing I can think of is the RO system is not working properly, but I don't know how to check. I have a tds meter and it says 000. ANY HELP GUYS, THANKS

[Tuscaquatics]

This is normal. It's part of the algae cycle. You need to be patient, get a clean up crew and wait it out.

[lwolfe44]

i went through the same fustration when i started (but it was diatoms) and i couldn't stand to look at my tank for about a month. but i was patient and did water changes and ran gfo and now im glad i waited it out.

good things come to those that wait....



my wife just reminded me that i cursed at my tank for about 3 months.....

[Tuscaquatics]

Actually, it is probably diatoms and not dino. These guys require silicates. The reason that they happen early on in a tank's life is because, over time, your live rock gets filled with all kinds of sponges that use up the silicates in the water. Until this happens, you get that nasty hard stuff on your glass.

[shackman]

The thing is I had the first set up for about 1 year and for the first 7 months I didn't have any problems, then for christmas I got the ro system and now I have this crap. I was using ro water from a Save Mart with no problems.

[reefvilla]

Originally Posted by shackman

The thing is I had the first set up for about 1 year and for the first 7 months I didn't have any problems, then for christmas I got the ro system and now I have this crap. I was using ro water from a Save Mart with no problems.

Well, if it worked better before.... might need to go back to what you were doing.

Is it an RO/DI system or just R.O.? RO will get your TDS down but it doesn't eliminate it. You need a D.I. to get down to 0 TDS
Have you tested your source water for TDS?
Tested your RO water for TDS?
Tested Save Marts water for TDS?

[shackman]

I have the ocean reef+1 from the filter guys, and my tds is reading zero. I don't make that much water being that my tank is only 29g with a 15g sump but enough water to make it a pain in the *** to go and get it everytime. So what should I do? How do I identify what it actually is, it is stringy with bubbles and gathers in sand and rocks.

[jeepguy242]

what should you do? be patient!!!! its part of the cycle

[reefvilla]

Patients...
Don't over feed the tank..
Stay up on your water changes..

Everytime you tear down the tank and scrub your rocks, your starting the cycle all over.....Stop doing that!!!

[angel125]

How much flow do you have in the tank?

[shackman]

I waited it out the first time for 3 months, if you're saying be patient I'm not sure what more you mean. I have two koralia 2's

[reefvilla]

Originally Posted by shackman

I waited it out the first time for 3 months, if you're saying be patient I'm not sure what more you mean. I have two koralia 2's

Be patient means chill... Its saltwater, Everything is slow with saltwater.
We all have issues now and then and as long as your tank is cycled properly and you keep an eye on all your parameters, it will more than likely work itself out.

Maybe you need more of a clean up crew... I had about 40 snails in my 24g nano along with 15 or so hermits, Brittle star, cucumber, urchin and some misc. crabs. I believe in a Huge clean up crew!!

[jeepguy242]

only things that happen fast in this hobbyare bad!

[shackman]

ok ok ok, I just thought 3 months seemed kinda long in my opinion.

[megatsea]

Can you please explain the silicates and sponge relationship? I have sponges in my 2 tanks.....thankyou.

[shackman]

Ok so how long should I wait before I start to worry?

[mthomp]

wait you said its stringy with bubbles? I could be wrong here but isnt a diatom bloom mostly when your sand turns all brown and yucky? is the stuff your talking about kind of red by chance? have you noticed a lot of bubbles appearing on your LR

[shackman]

Yup bubbles on the stringy part, it's kinda of a brown color and on the rocks and sand

[rayn]

Originally Posted by shackman

Yup bubbles on the stringy part, it's kinda of a brown color and on the rocks and sand

OOOOOO now I wanna know.

[returnofsid]

Dinoflagellates are not a normal part of a tank maturing. They're actually one of the worst "algae" problem us hobbyists can face. The reason for this is because they're toxic, on two levels.
1. They're toxic. Herbivores that eat them, if they eat them long enough, will die. This includes fish and inverts.
2. The "life cycle" of Dinos is strange. At night, it all dies off, leaving your tank looking great in the morning. By mid afternoon, it's back with a vengeance, covering everything in slimy snot. The danger is that when it dies off, at night, it takes all of the oxygen with it. This can cause entire tank death.

Because of #2, Dinos are easier to identify, than a lot of other algae problems. Like I said, tank will look great in the morning, snotty by mid afternoon.

Another thing about Dinos, that no one's figured out yet, is that water changes seem to fuel it. Don't do water changes, like you would to fix most other problems. There's 2 pretty successful ways to combat Dinos. One is much more difficult than the other.

#1. Raise ph to 8.7 and keeping it there. This is difficult to do and requires dosing baking soda, several times per day.

#2. Lights out. This one seems scary, because it requires lights to be left completely out, for a period of 5 days. Day 6, lights are on for 4 hours. Day 8, lights are on for 5 hours, Day 10 lights are on for 6 hours, and so on...every other day, until normal light cycle is reached.

I battled Dinos once, in a predominately SPS/Clam tank. I did the lights out treatment, and it worked just fine. No corals or clams had any negative effect.

It's also a bit difficult to find much good information on Dinos, on the net, but here's a great article.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-11/rhf/index.php

[shackman]

Good info, but I replaced all rock and gravel and soaked everything in bleach, now how in the hell could it have come back

[reefvilla]

Originally Posted by shackman

Good info, but I replaced all rock and gravel and soaked everything in bleach, now how in the hell could it have come back

Did you remove the sand or just using gravel ?

[shackman]

I am using argaonite and yes i used a new batch.

[shackman]

Can it be that my ro system is not doing what it is suppose to be doing

[mutateddogbone]

if your TDS is measuring 000 from out of the DI it is not the unit. i battled a terrible case of dinos and the only thing that helped was waiting it out and increasing my MG levels to where they should be.

this

to this


patience and let your tank do its thing is the only thing you can do.