WHY OH WHY DID I LISTEN??? (LONG)

I may just have managed to crash my tank in one fell swoop...

My Setup:

45uk gal
27Kg LR
Chrushed shell Substrate (GOD HOW I WISH I'D NEVER PUT IT IN!)
2 Mushroom Corals
1 Pulse Coral
1 Koko Worm
1 Feather Duster
1 Copperband Butterfly
2 Maron Clowns
1 DEAD Lipstick Tang (ok ok I've taken it out)

This past 2 weeks my Nitrates have been climbing fast. No other reading
are out of spec, nitrites are 0 and Ammonia is .25.

So needless to say I was concerned. I asked the advice of a friend of
mine who has been keeping marine MUCH longer than I and he said I
should consider taking my rock out and cleaning the debris off in a
bucket of salt water and then putting it back in. He said that if I
have rotting debris accumulating in my tank it would get rid and my
levels would drop.

I was skeptical but last night I did it. How STUPID could I have been??
My tank quickly clouded over (from moning the rock and substrate) and
was soon so full of floating particles couldnt even see in it!! My
fish were freaked! I changed as much water as I had (25% ish) and had
to leave it.

This morning my Tang is dead, my clowns are NOT happy and my Butterfly
is breathing out the top of the tank.

Worst thing is I have had to go away for work today and it will be
another 12 hours before I can do any more work on it.

any ideas of what I can do? I think I'll hoover out the substrate over
the next few changes (providing my tank doesn't crash today) and let it
all settle...

any thoughts?

Dan

"Mr-Moonlight" wrote in message
ups.com...
I may just have managed to crash my tank in one fell swoop...

My Setup:

45uk gal
27Kg LR
Chrushed shell Substrate (GOD HOW I WISH I'D NEVER PUT IT IN!)
2 Mushroom Corals
1 Pulse Coral
1 Koko Worm
1 Feather Duster
1 Copperband Butterfly
2 Maron Clowns
1 DEAD Lipstick Tang (ok ok I've taken it out)

This past 2 weeks my Nitrates have been climbing fast. No other reading
are out of spec, nitrites are 0 and Ammonia is .25.

So needless to say I was concerned. I asked the advice of a friend of
mine who has been keeping marine MUCH longer than I and he said I
should consider taking my rock out and cleaning the debris off in a
bucket of salt water and then putting it back in. He said that if I
have rotting debris accumulating in my tank it would get rid and my
levels would drop.

I was skeptical but last night I did it. How STUPID could I have been??
My tank quickly clouded over (from moning the rock and substrate) and
was soon so full of floating particles couldnt even see in it!! My
fish were freaked! I changed as much water as I had (25% ish) and had
to leave it.

This morning my Tang is dead, my clowns are NOT happy and my Butterfly
is breathing out the top of the tank.

Worst thing is I have had to go away for work today and it will be
another 12 hours before I can do any more work on it.

any ideas of what I can do? I think I'll hoover out the substrate over
the next few changes (providing my tank doesn't crash today) and let it
all settle...

any thoughts?

Dan



If your tank is established....you should have 0 Ammonia.

If your tank is newish......it may have trouble dealing with the
disturbance.
If is is say......4 months+ old.....you may be right.

Either way JUST LEAVE IT ALONE!

It will clear.

I have only crushed coral and live rock. I have 0,0,0 of the three( A, N,
N )

I do run a de nitrator. Home made.....good stuff.

Beats the hell out of water changes.

I treat Phosphates with small balls of steel wool every two weeks.

I have fish, coral and inverts in a 160lt (40gal) tank

If you want to know any more......

pls advise

lg

I do run a de nitrator. Home made.....good stuff.


Could you elaborate more on this?

Thanks!

Mr-Moonlight wrote:

any thoughts?

I would run 100% water change immediately. Unseasoned water is better than the
poisonous stuff you have now. That will buy you time for a permanent fix.

George Patterson
Why do men's hearts beat faster, knees get weak, throats become dry,
and they think irrationally when a woman wears leather clothing?
Because she smells like a new truck.

lg wrote:

I do run a de nitrator. Home made.....good stuff.

Please provide more details. I like the idea.

George Patterson
Why do men's hearts beat faster, knees get weak, throats become dry,
and they think irrationally when a woman wears leather clothing?
Because she smells like a new truck.

got any plans for the homemade denitrator that you are running?
"lg" wrote in message
u...

"Mr-Moonlight" wrote in message
ups.com...
I may just have managed to crash my tank in one fell swoop...

My Setup:

45uk gal
27Kg LR
Chrushed shell Substrate (GOD HOW I WISH I'D NEVER PUT IT IN!)
2 Mushroom Corals
1 Pulse Coral
1 Koko Worm
1 Feather Duster
1 Copperband Butterfly
2 Maron Clowns
1 DEAD Lipstick Tang (ok ok I've taken it out)

This past 2 weeks my Nitrates have been climbing fast. No other reading
are out of spec, nitrites are 0 and Ammonia is .25.

So needless to say I was concerned. I asked the advice of a friend of
mine who has been keeping marine MUCH longer than I and he said I
should consider taking my rock out and cleaning the debris off in a
bucket of salt water and then putting it back in. He said that if I
have rotting debris accumulating in my tank it would get rid and my
levels would drop.

I was skeptical but last night I did it. How STUPID could I have been??
My tank quickly clouded over (from moning the rock and substrate) and
was soon so full of floating particles couldnt even see in it!! My
fish were freaked! I changed as much water as I had (25% ish) and had
to leave it.

This morning my Tang is dead, my clowns are NOT happy and my Butterfly
is breathing out the top of the tank.

Worst thing is I have had to go away for work today and it will be
another 12 hours before I can do any more work on it.

any ideas of what I can do? I think I'll hoover out the substrate over
the next few changes (providing my tank doesn't crash today) and let it
all settle...

any thoughts?

Dan



If your tank is established....you should have 0 Ammonia.

If your tank is newish......it may have trouble dealing with the
disturbance.
If is is say......4 months+ old.....you may be right.

Either way JUST LEAVE IT ALONE!

It will clear.

I have only crushed coral and live rock. I have 0,0,0 of the three( A, N,
N )

I do run a de nitrator. Home made.....good stuff.

Beats the hell out of water changes.

I treat Phosphates with small balls of steel wool every two weeks.

I have fish, coral and inverts in a 160lt (40gal) tank

If you want to know any more......

pls advise

lg

wouldn't a 100% water change cause the tank to cycle again?
"George Patterson" wrote in message
news:EzFpe.12581$MX2.2547@trndny03...
Mr-Moonlight wrote:

any thoughts?

I would run 100% water change immediately. Unseasoned water is better than
the
poisonous stuff you have now. That will buy you time for a permanent fix.

George Patterson
Why do men's hearts beat faster, knees get weak, throats become dry,
and they think irrationally when a woman wears leather clothing?
Because she smells like a new truck.

I decided to take this advice...

I've left it alone and things seem ok.

My clowns are feeding, My butterfly is too....

Tank has steadied out...

my chemical readings are the same...

Ammonia= 0.25
Nitrite= 0
Nitrate= 20

There HAS to be something I can do here...

I will do another water change tonight (20% at most) and see how it
goes...

More thoughts?

How I made my de-nitrator.......

Cut a 3" length of 4 or 5 inch PVC pipe.

Using PVC glue.....glue a cap on on end. Then glue something to make a base
for it to stand on. e.g. use silicone to stick a square piece of 3/4 " ply.
Anything will do. Just make the tube stand up-right.

Fill the tube 1/2 full with Bioballs, smashed up floor tiles, anything with
a large surface area. Put any bio balls at the bottom and use the smashed
tile to hold them down as they float.

Cut the plug off a very small power head ( near the plug but leaving about
6" of lead).....and put the power head into the tube.

Fill the remainder of the tube with more smashed tiles.

Drill 3 holes in another end cap. One big enough for the power lead to pass
through and the other two for som 10mm PVC tubing.

Secure the end cap to the tube and pass the power cord out through the
tube. Join the plug back on. ( get a friend to doit if you can't solder and
re-insulate properly )

Now finally......

Get 50' of 10mm PVC tubing and wrap all but 8 feet around the outside of the
PVC tubing. Stick on end into one of the holes in the top of the 5 inch tube
filled with the tiles etc. Stick the other end into the outlets of one of
your power heads. ( not at this stage though. this is actually the final
step)

Get 8' of 10mm PVC tubing and stick it into the last hole in the 5 " tube
and the other end into the tank.

Suck or syphyn tank water into our de-nitrator then block off the tubes,
plug it into the wall and run it for 3 weeks. You can prime your new
de-nitrator with NITRATREDUKTOR. This makes bulk Nitrate for the bacteria to
grow and consume.

NOW..... un block the two tubes.

Put the one leading to the 'coil' into a power head and the other into the
tank. Use a small tap on this one to get ONE drop per second. No lees and no
more.

Within 3 weeks you will NEVER have to worry about Nitrates again.

If you would like to know more....I can get pics or diagrams for you

ta

lg
"BigMike" iyam@whatiyam wrote in message
...
got any plans for the homemade denitrator that you are running?
"lg" wrote in message
u...

"Mr-Moonlight" wrote in message
ups.com...
I may just have managed to crash my tank in one fell swoop...

My Setup:

45uk gal
27Kg LR
Chrushed shell Substrate (GOD HOW I WISH I'D NEVER PUT IT IN!)
2 Mushroom Corals
1 Pulse Coral
1 Koko Worm
1 Feather Duster
1 Copperband Butterfly
2 Maron Clowns
1 DEAD Lipstick Tang (ok ok I've taken it out)

This past 2 weeks my Nitrates have been climbing fast. No other
reading
are out of spec, nitrites are 0 and Ammonia is .25.

So needless to say I was concerned. I asked the advice of a friend of
mine who has been keeping marine MUCH longer than I and he said I
should consider taking my rock out and cleaning the debris off in a
bucket of salt water and then putting it back in. He said that if I
have rotting debris accumulating in my tank it would get rid and my
levels would drop.

I was skeptical but last night I did it. How STUPID could I have
been??
My tank quickly clouded over (from moning the rock and substrate) and
was soon so full of floating particles couldnt even see in it!! My
fish were freaked! I changed as much water as I had (25% ish) and had
to leave it.

This morning my Tang is dead, my clowns are NOT happy and my Butterfly
is breathing out the top of the tank.

Worst thing is I have had to go away for work today and it will be
another 12 hours before I can do any more work on it.

any ideas of what I can do? I think I'll hoover out the substrate over
the next few changes (providing my tank doesn't crash today) and let
it
all settle...

any thoughts?

Dan



If your tank is established....you should have 0 Ammonia.

If your tank is newish......it may have trouble dealing with the
disturbance.
If is is say......4 months+ old.....you may be right.

Either way JUST LEAVE IT ALONE!

It will clear.

I have only crushed coral and live rock. I have 0,0,0 of the three( A,
N,
N )

I do run a de nitrator. Home made.....good stuff.

Beats the hell out of water changes.

I treat Phosphates with small balls of steel wool every two weeks.

I have fish, coral and inverts in a 160lt (40gal) tank

If you want to know any more......

pls advise

lg

I treat Phosphates with small balls of steel wool every two weeks.

Could you elaborate this?
Are you using just plain steel wool used for scrubbing? Did you see any
downsides to using it? Do you measure phosphates before you put steel wool
and after? How long do you keep it in tank?

Mislav