davelin315 November 13, 2012 Share November 13, 2012 Take a picture of the tank so we can see what ails. Also, put a filter sock on there or show us what a mechanical filter looks like. If it's a particulate then you'll have to source it - perhaps a bad piece of rock, or perhaps a top off is dumping too much kale in, or phosphates are precipitating fom your water due to some funky chemistry... Does it smell bad? Are you going through a massive multiple day spawn? I wouldn't add more bacteria - if it's a bloom you'll only make things worse by adding more bacteria to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 November 13, 2012 Share November 13, 2012 What's in the media reactors? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pettyrd November 13, 2012 Author Share November 13, 2012 What's in the media reactors? Purigen in one of them. And the other has a combo of carbon and phosguard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pettyrd November 13, 2012 Author Share November 13, 2012 Take a picture of the tank so we can see what ails. Also, put a filter sock on there or show us what a mechanical filter looks like. If it's a particulate then you'll have to source it - perhaps a bad piece of rock, or perhaps a top off is dumping too much kale in, or phosphates are precipitating fom your water due to some funky chemistry... Does it smell bad? Are you going through a massive multiple day spawn? I wouldn't add more bacteria - if it's a bloom you'll only make things worse by adding more bacteria to it. It does have a smell to it... But it's not rotten. It smells like fresh fragged lps. Like a raw coral smell. It was really bad the other day, that was when I found my strawberry shortcake acro totally bleached white and rapidly dying. I removed it and the smell went away, now I am getting little hints of that same smell again. Also, the skimmate that the skimmer is picking up looks really chalky and grey. The tank glass has white/light grey powdery buildup on it as do my mp40s... I am not dosing anything, I am only running the media reactors and the skimmer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yauger November 13, 2012 Share November 13, 2012 dude I'd run some carbon in a reactor and use a 200 micron filter sock on the drain. after that I'd do a 30% water change 2 times 3 days apart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yauger November 13, 2012 Share November 13, 2012 oh and what type of skimmer are you using? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pettyrd November 13, 2012 Author Share November 13, 2012 oh and what type of skimmer are you using? It's made by SWC. It's a hand-me-down... But seems to be doing a good job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind November 13, 2012 Share November 13, 2012 white powder makes it sound like something might have precipitated out or the salt mix wasn't mixed properly before adding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Integral9 November 13, 2012 Share November 13, 2012 +1 to what Coral Hind said. The last time I got some gray stuff in my skimmer (also a SWC) was right after I added the sand to my tank. So it sounds like you may have overdosed on kalk or alk. The bio-bloom is also a possibility. There is a clarifier that typically comes with bags of sand that acts as a binding agent to group together the smaller particles so that they can filtered out w/ a mechanical filter like a sock or sponge. The skimmer will also pick them up. fwiw: The new "low tide" smell is probably something else dying off. Sorry. (could be the bacteria though...) My adivice, go slowly. Good things come to those who are careful and methodical and don't just "throw things on the wall (tank) to see what sticks". Do water changes, maybe dial back your dosing (since that's a potential cause), and have your tank tested by someone else. Take some water to LFS and ask them to test. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraffitiSpotCorals November 14, 2012 Share November 14, 2012 I had grey stuff like he is describing all over my skimmer after adding live figi pink sand or whatever, and adding some bacteria to a cycle a tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pettyrd November 14, 2012 Author Share November 14, 2012 Piper27 is coming over to my place tomorrow to help assess the problem... hopefully i am overlooking somthing simple and he will point it out... i will post what we find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trockafella November 14, 2012 Share November 14, 2012 Purigen in one of them. And the other has a combo of carbon and phosguard. I would advise against mixing carbon and phosgaurd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind November 14, 2012 Share November 14, 2012 Why do you suggest not placing the two in the same chamber? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trockafella November 14, 2012 Share November 14, 2012 I use both carbon and phosguard, I wouldnt mix them for 2 main reasons. The phosguard usually needs to be changed much more frequently, at least in my case it does. It changes color from white to brownish as its used up. Which is my other reason, it would be much more diffucult to tell when its used up.. I just hang a bag of carbon in the sump and run the phosguard in a small reactor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pettyrd November 15, 2012 Author Share November 15, 2012 (edited) Ok, so I added two bags of carbon and put in place several particle filters. It has been about 9 hours sense and the tank is clearing. I also added a little sachem tank clearer. Found another dead fish today, doing a small water change. Edited November 15, 2012 by pettyrd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sen5241b November 16, 2012 Share November 16, 2012 Had a 20G cloudy as H-E-double hockey sticks with a tint of green. Put a HOB filter (30G capacity) with a big bag of carbon -cloudiness gone in 24 hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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