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For Sale CAUTION

Discussion in 'Buy/Sell/Trade' started by MadManMadrid, Aug 21, 2016.

  1. MadManMadrid Well-Known ReefKeeper

    440
    Iowa City
    Ratings:
    +158 / 4 / -0
    Ok so here is my problem been battling hair algae for 6 months nothing has worked. 3 fish have died in the past week. Now one of the fish got stressed out and has ick pretty bad ( Caribbean blue tang). I am going to work on fixing my set up so I am selling my fish to do so: 1 regular clown 1 DaVinci clown (pair), 1 yellow tang, 1 Caribbean blue tang, 1 purple firefish, 1 green target manderan.

    I would like to sell them as a package deal if possible, but I realize that may not be possible.
    Accepting all Reasonable offers.
     
  2. Qtr

    26
    Marion
    Ratings:
    +5 / 0 / -0
    I just had a powder blue tang show some Ick signs. If you don't find some one to take them all, i'd be happy to take the Caribbean off your hands since I could treat him the same time I do mine.
     
  3. MadManMadrid Well-Known ReefKeeper

    440
    Iowa City
    Ratings:
    +158 / 4 / -0
    Thanks for all who messaged i got a offer for someone to qt them for me thanks @Roman@Roman
     
  4. Have you tried an algae scrubber yet ?
     
  5. MadManMadrid Well-Known ReefKeeper

    440
    Iowa City
    Ratings:
    +158 / 4 / -0
    I have tried manual removal during water changes, tons and tons of gfo, feeding once every three days, 25 gallons a week water changes (in a 125), snails literally die within 3 days of being in the tank, was going to do a diy ATS but was offered a biopelet reactor to try had that runnimg for 6 weeks now no change, just got done doing a 2 day black out and the algae actually grew and 2 fish dead. So im kinda at the end of my rope.
     
  6. I'm sure you've been thru this a million times but Whats your nitrate and phosphate at ?
    Where are you getting your water and where did you get your rock.
    I think you should figure out where your nutrients are coming from, it's gotta be your water or leaching from your rock.
    I think I spoke to you before about an algae scrubber, you should really try one, easy to build and costs about 25 bucks.
    It grows algae on a screen and robs your tank algae of its nutrients.
     
  7. jeremy Acro Addict

    Davenport, IA
    Ratings:
    +836 / 4 / -0
    Yeah a algae scrubber will help but it is by no means a quick fix. I run one and love it.
    You have run bio pellets for 6 weeks and no change in nitrate levels?
    Bio pellets won't do a whole lot for phosphate levels. It will reduce it some but not much.

    Look into the liquid phosphate remover. I can remember what it's called. Go probably is exausted in a few days and levels probably climb right back up.

    There is no quick fix. Your either gonna have to reset your rock and sand by taking it out cleaning it, baking it and doing another cycle or keep fighting it wit po4 removers and water changes.

    And bio pellets can take up to 8 weeks to work well. But mostly just on nitrates. I ran then for quite a while.
    Make sure you skim the pellet reactor effluent or you will have cyano and or other algae blooms.
     
  8. MadManMadrid Well-Known ReefKeeper

    440
    Iowa City
    Ratings:
    +158 / 4 / -0
    Nitrate and phosphate are at 0. Nitrate i use api tests and phosphate i have a hanna. Iv tested my Rodi no detectable phosphates and it is zero tds. Its just so hard to tell when the gfo is exhausted because my teats always comeback 0.00 on the hanna. Right biopellets mostly remove nitrate and very little phosphate.it all started in my 40 breeder on March 27th. I went on vacation and when i came back had a hair algae explosion. Thats when i started really using gfo alot cutting my light cycle and doing bigger water changes. Then when i moved on may 23rd when i moved into my new place i set up a 125 added 100# of marco rock and added 30#of dry sand and put everything in my 40 into the 125 and then the algae just spread so i bought 5 tubo snails to help with the ckean up and those died in 3 days that was over a month ago. Then i just bought 35 margarita snails and only 2 of them have lasted 4 days. But the long spine urchin is still alive from 2weeks into the 125 being started.So im at a loss of what this is.
     
  9. jeremy Acro Addict

    Davenport, IA
    Ratings:
    +836 / 4 / -0
    Hmmmm. No idea why snails would die off. The algae is consuming phosphate so your gonna get 0 reading.
    Must be some po4 bound up in rock leaching out or something. Gonna be a tough battle.

    Have you considered acid bath on rocks and remove sand and rinse and redo the cycle.

    If you do I have some rock in my sump I can send with you to jump start a cycle. If you want.
     
  10. jeremy Acro Addict

    Davenport, IA
    Ratings:
    +836 / 4 / -0
    Blue Life USA: Phosphate Rx | Melev's Reef, Inc
    Here's the link to the liquid po4 remover if you want to go that route.
    I am assuming you have no corals in there?? If not I wouldn't worry about how fast you drop your po4.
    Hopefully the hair algae will start dieing off so you can remove it.
     
  11. MadManMadrid Well-Known ReefKeeper

    440
    Iowa City
    Ratings:
    +158 / 4 / -0
    Well i think what im gonna have to do is take the rock out and acid bath it or just powerwash it and cook it with some lanthium chloride. Thats the point its coming to and idk maybe take the sand out and wash it too while im at it?
     
  12. jeremy Acro Addict

    Davenport, IA
    Ratings:
    +836 / 4 / -0
    That's what I would do. That way your starting over with everything clean.
    Like I said. I have a few pieces of rock and some sand if you want to use it for your cycle.
     
  13. MadManMadrid Well-Known ReefKeeper

    440
    Iowa City
    Ratings:
    +158 / 4 / -0
    Ok thanks jeremy apprecitate the help. So the corals that are in the tank now what should i do with? Its some mushrooms 3 bubbletips 2 rockmens and torch.
     
  14. blackx-runner Administrator Website Team Leadership Team

    Cedar Rapids, IA
    Ratings:
    +738 / 5 / -0
    I was going to suggest that as well. Since your getting the fish out of there just go ahead and pull the rock and treat it to remove phosphates, I'm sure they're your big problem now. I'd do all new sand as well.
    It's a nightmare battling phosphates and nitrates on a running system. It seems you can go through pounds of GFO and every other media and nitrate reduction method and barely make a dent in things. It's been an ongoing battle for me although I never had hair algae, but I think that's because my fish keep it in check pretty good. There have been several times I have considered just tearing down and basically starting from scratch. I just don't want to get rid of my fish, and have no were to keep them while I cycle a new system.
     
  15. blackx-runner Administrator Website Team Leadership Team

    Cedar Rapids, IA
    Ratings:
    +738 / 5 / -0
    Can you fit them in a small 10 or 20 gallon? Just something temporary you can set up while you restart the big tank?
     
  16. MadManMadrid Well-Known ReefKeeper

    440
    Iowa City
    Ratings:
    +158 / 4 / -0
    Yea i got 2 tens i could use. I also have a 40 breeder thats up and running i just didnt know if it could transfer them without transfering the ich too.
     
  17. Bud Loves Bacon Website Team Board of Directors Leadership Team GIRS Member Vendor

    West Des Moines, IA
    Ratings:
    +1,814 / 14 / -0
    A few things to consider:

    Correct me if I'm wrong but "cooking with LC" isn't really a thing. LC precipitates phosphate out of the water column, so if you don't have any P in the water, LC is not going to do much of anything except "grab" and P coming out of the rockwork. I'm not sure how long LC remains active in the water column without some P to bond to? I think most people use GFO while cooking because it's not required that it be immediately used - it picks up the P as it gets drawn out in the cooking process, but with no light there is no algae to take up that P so LC isn't really "needed" per se. I may have that completely wrong so feel free to correct me!!

    If you powerwash, that will get rid of loosely bound organics but not hard-bound phosphate. Phos bonds with calcium to form a crystalline matrix on the rock that needs pH below 7 to be chemically removed - hence the acid bath idea. But that kills the rock and you have to then cook/cure it, your tank will go through the 6-12 month maturing cycle, etc. I've also heard from people that it doesn't necessarily solve the problem....I consider this a bit of a last resort.

    Personally I would try cooking it in a tub with a skimmer and a whole bunch of GFO, do the dunk thing 2x/week and let bacteria do the work, you will be left with cured rock. FWIW the part of the bacterial process that is theorized to happen during cooking as it relates to bound phos is called bacterial cleaving, where PSBs (phosphate solublizing bacteria) create momentary low pH zones that release the bound phosphate. The theory is that when you have zero phos in your water but you rocks are growing algae like nuts, this is the process that is occurring and algae is working symbiotically with the PSBs and taking in the phos and that's why you're getting it.

    A lot of this is anecdotal because to my knowledge no one has studied and conclusively proved that PSBs exist in reef tanks, but it positively happens in the ocean. I come across this precise issue (no P but algae on rocks) in scrubber Q&A quite often - sometimes when someone adds a scrubber and their P drops way down after being elevated for a while, you get an algae explosion in the tank. That's (theoretically) because while previously phosphate has been depositing on the rock, now it's leeching. I don't know if this is what is happening in your tank but it sure sounds that way to me.
     
  18. MadManMadrid Well-Known ReefKeeper

    440
    Iowa City
    Ratings:
    +158 / 4 / -0
    Yea i agree on the acid bath and plus i heard marco rock takes a real beating from the acid.
    The reason i was going to powerwash the rick was to remove the outside layer of algae and whatever on the rock itself. Then the water wouldnt be so gunked up from stuff falling off the rock while cooking the rock. And what did you mean by dunk x2 a week? @Turbo's Aquatics@Turbo's Aquatics
     
  19. Bud Loves Bacon Website Team Board of Directors Leadership Team GIRS Member Vendor

    West Des Moines, IA
    Ratings:
    +1,814 / 14 / -0
    That's part of the cooking process. 2x a week, you set up 2 buckets of water and dunk in bucket 1 a few times, then dunk in bucket 2 a few times, then return to cooking bin. The gunk that comes off will surprise you.
     
  20. jeremy Acro Addict

    Davenport, IA
    Ratings:
    +836 / 4 / -0
    I would put the corals in another tank if possible. And I would do a hard reset on your tank. Acid bath and clean sand. That's just what I would do.

    Anyway you choose is gonna take a lot of time anyway. Whatever you choose to do.

    You should look into an algae scrubber when you get everything up and going again. I got one of the Turbo algae scrubbers. I think it's money well spent.
     

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