Urgent: need help w/ 75g: soliciting for people (1 Viewer)

[Andy]

Crap, I wrote this all out & it disappeared somewhere.

Do you have a sump or refugium? OK found your post HOB
Has the Kent PO4 remover you have worked before? I must have missed somewhere your water specs? Did you have PO4? I have tried them all & the only one that worked for me was Seachem & Global has about the best price on that.
Mesh bags Petsmart has best price < 2.00ea
Get a small carton of Ammonia removing substrate & I do not know if you have Nitrate, but if you do get a small container of Seachem NO3 remover & a mesh bag for each. It wouldn't hurt to put a good grade of carbon in a mesh bag also. All of these can help keep water in check until it gets going.


Make sure you buy or borrow a RO DI filter to make all your water. Dont use the water the way you have been. Online you can get one or Global has a good one for less than 200.00.

Get new good sand. I am sure other stores will but I know John will sell you a couple cups of some sand from his refuge that is already seeded

You will need to have saltwater mixing for at least 24hrs. You can get a food grade trash can from restaurant supply for about $ 20.00

New plastic bristle brush like used on dishes or fingernails to scrub off rocks.

HD sells a nice WIDE razorbalde & heavy duty plastic holder for about 6.00 in the walpaper section.

What type & how old are your bulbs? Again found post -Changed in May, VHOs

I did my 200 gal that is FULLY stocked & put all corals & fish back in the same day & had no Ammonia or Nitrite spikes.

Now would be a graet time to drill a hole in your tank & put in a refugium..

my .02
Andy

 

[Andy]

Rick, 40ppm is pretty high. It should be as close to 0 as you can get. Might be water change time.


Andy

 

[Guest]

Well Saturday I have a company picnic and I would have to talk to Stefanie to see if I am free on Sunday.

Nathan

 

[djreef]

I can make it later on in the day - I have a seminar in the Woodlands in the AM.

DJ
= 8-->{I>

 

[PygmyAngel]

Okay guys, I'll keep coordinating with you as Friday and wkd. gets closer.

Andy, I don't have $ right now to buy a $200 RO/DI unit (plus I live on a 3rd floor apt - pain in the rear w/ all that, I guess?)....nor do I have $ and time to do a whole refugium setup, unless some real ambitious people were wanting to help me do that all at same time....or in a few weeks....but I have to pay $273 today for car repair when I go pick up my car this afternoon, and I just sunk almost $600 into some dental care, so I'm a little short for $$$...but I will try to get as much of the other stuff as I can....

I'm also going to get w/ someone tomorrow or Friday to work on a DIY kalk drip setup so that might help w/ my params. and curbing some of the algae growth and hopefully help spur some coralline growth eventually on my rocks again...

 

[PygmyAngel]

Okay, I'm sending PMs to those of you who said that you would be able to help me, to see what your availability is (Andy, Rick, Cbazhaw, DJ Reef, Narkon-u said possibly Sunday, Incysor-u said maybe you could host animals if needed)....

I don't know exactly what all I want to do yet; I know I need to do a major cleaning again, at least. I've determined that I am going to purchase & do some things to help w/ problem:

- more items to move water (sea swirl or powerheads or something)
- more aragonite (I already have some, maybe another bag)
- see if I can remove some of the crappy sand?
- 'cook' some of the live rock, perhaps...after cleaning it off...again.
- start kalk drip
- use RODI water from fish stores
- utilize phosphate/silicate/nitrate reducers

If you guys can come over this Sat/Sun, I would appreciate it. If not, I will try to do the best cleaning I can myself, but I still need to get everything out all over again just to get all the crap off everything. So, please respond to my PMs when you have a chance.

Thanks!!

 

[BrianPlankis]

Good luck this weekend! I have school both days otherwise I could pitch in.

My .02 though would be to remove all the crappy sand, not just some of it. I think it would be better to be without a sandbed for a while or slowly build up to a new DSB rather than leaving some of the crappy sand in there.

B.

 

[PygmyAngel]

Yeah, I'm thinking the same thing....it's just like when I asked people to give me ideas on what computer to get though....people are saying exactly opposite of each other....I just don't know what the right thing to do is....sigh.

My friends are telling me not to remove the DSB. Several are telling me to remove it completely. I need to do something quick, as meanwhile the tank is smothering. I can't do nothing at all. How do I make the right decision quickly?

I don't know anymore.

 

[PygmyAngel]

Ok, I think I'm going to do what Spanky from The Reef Tank suggested to someone else having similar problems....after all, there has to be some kind of experience behind 8,360 posts, right? Who knows....he says:

"...Even if you get new live rock, you need to let it cycle for about the same amount of time that it will take to clean up your old live rock. If you get really "live" live rock, it might even take longer for the dieoff and subsequent phosphate release.

Let's save Rob some money here.
First, remove the DSB. That's where your phosphates are going to be stored (either chemically or biologically).
Clean your rocks (dunk, swish, drain, etc) as good as you can.
Keep them dark until detritus production slows to nada. (phosphates are the driving force for the bacteria, when they run out of fuel, they stop producing detritus).
Keep detritus siphoned out, it contains phosphates that will break down and take you back to square one again.
Keep your rocks blasted to remove detritus, let it settle, and siphon it out.

While you're cleaning the rocks, with NO sand bed. Work on getting your flow down pat. You should be able to easily see when you can keep detritus in suspension this way. You want it up and moving so the skimmer can get to it. You'll also be able to peg any dead spots where you'll need to siphon....."
_____

So, I guess I'll try to 'cook' as much of the rock as I can, that is not holding corals or anemones, and just do this a bit at a time...and also go for broke and take out the old sand and put in a very low level of new aragonite sand, seeded w/ a bit of my old sand/creatures, etc....
Don't know what else to do.....

 

[Guest]

So How did it go, don't leave me floating in the water column, turn a powerhead on and enlighten me.

Did everything go ok?

Nathan

 

[PygmyAngel]

Nathan,

Thanks for showing up yesterday. You were a lifesaver, as you know. But I didn't get it all done last night. There was just no way. As you know, you left at 12 am, and I still had to finish getting the last bit of crud and water off the bottom of the tank. I decided to keep scooping it out, then used a whole roll of paper towels for the rest (I didn't have a clean, new sponge to use)...After that, we took out the trash, and the last buckets of crappy sand/water & threw that out. Then, added the new sand, and all the new saltwater I made thus far. At this point it was 4:30ish and I just couldn't do anymore. So, that's as far as I got. I still have to finish it all. I'm about to get started now.

Nathan, thanks again for coming over - I would still be scrubbing rocks if it hadn't been for you.

I'll let you know how it goes. So, I guess I won't be going to the stores right now. I don't even know if I will make it today at all. I have to try though, so the coris wrasse doesn't die in the rubbermaid tub....unless you want to take it w/ you when you go to Global. I'll split the $ he gives you for it, if you do. Otherwise, I just don't know if I'll make it esp. since I have to deal w/ the 20g too today.

Well, call me later & let me know....

Thanks,
Kim

 

[PygmyAngel]

My fishes died anyway. My 6-line wrasse that was the very 1st fish in the tank. My scopas tang. Dead. My regal and coral beauty are probably dead too. I can't do this anymore. I'm done. I'm so upset. I'm crying right now and I don't want to talk right now. Nathan thanks for your efforts, but this is too hard on me.

 

[djreef]

I'm so sorry to hear about the losses, but don't give up. There's not a single one of us that hasn't gone through what you are going through right now. Since this PM thing isn't working real well with the time lag thing at all, I'm going to PM you my phone number. Call me and we'll get it straightened out so you won't have to go through this again.

DJ
= 8-->{I>

 

[PygmyAngel]

all my fishes died except the maroon clowns and the coris wrasse i can't keep the tank anymore. i need someone to take the maroon clowns and and coris wrasse. i have anemones and rocks and corals. can't keep them in tubs and can't put them in the tank everything left needs a new home

 

[PygmyAngel]

no it's time to give up. i did this a month and a half ago and lost 6 fishes then too. there's no one left. all the fishes i've had for years are gone except the maroons. i have new algae cleaner packages and fishes coming tuesday. i don't need them

 

[PygmyAngel]

why do people say they are going to come over and help and don't mean it

 

[Cakepro]

What time lag are you talking about, Dean? I just sent a PM to myself and it showed up instantly. I think there is a time lag with our mail server, though. Or Roadrunner. RR has been bouncing emails from MARSH again sporadically.

~ Sherri

 

[djreef]

Sherri,

I don't think it's got anything to do with the system per se (unless she isn't getting my PM's), it's just that people have to be on the site to get their messages. For example I sent Kim a PM at 7:30 last nite (my only option given I had no phone #) stating that my seminar had been held over and I wouldn't be able to make it on Saturday, but I could come out Sunday (today). I'm under the assumption that she had already decided to tear the system down, and was well into it when I PM'd her. Well, if she's tearing the tank down, she can't be on the computer, too. That's the problem (lag) I was referring to.

Kim,

all I can say is think about it. I know it hurts now, but this is a painfull part of the process that we all have to overcome. Just walk away from it for a couple of weeks - find homes for the critters and just let the system run empty with the lights off. We can figure something out, I promise. You have my number.

DJ
= 8-->{I>

 

[ChrisB]

My advice is to list an email address in your profile and to list your instant message id too. If I am working I can't always get on the site but my IM is usually always on and I get an alert the minute I get an email. It seems to be alot quicker getting messages back and forth. Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[incysor]

Sorry to hear about your lossses Kim.
I lost 17 of 19 fish when we moved. I had the fish in tubs with airstones and/or powerheads and they still cratered. My wife and I were both pretty torn up about it, but we moved on and have enjoyed being able to try some fish that wouldn't have worked with our original mix. You've put in a lot of work to try to correct the tanks problems. Take a break for a couple weeks, then try again.