[charlie]

OOPS, forgot your tank is a 54 corner:slap: :slap:
I am pretty sure that they also make an in sump model. Did you check out Marine Depot?

[damigs]

Yes I checked around... I will have to go with an insump good skimmer. Charlie... Last nite I added more inverts and decided to rake up brown algea on sand even thou it will come back. Since then my water has gotten cloudy and hasnt gone away. Is this what they call a bacteria cloud? If so does it subside?

[charlie]

Yep, it will go away, but it has been said before, take your time, what's happening is supposed to happen. The more it is disturbed, the longer it will take to straighten out. Kick back and have about a gallon of coffee over the next couple of weeks, get that skimmer, and then start enjoying your tank.

[damigs]

Good man... You've been alot of help. The LFS that set me up kinda left me out in the cold and its caused me to stress alot. LOL

Im gonna do some more research on a SUMP style skimmer. Got a preference or know of a good one.. AquaC so far doesnt make one or not that i have seen.

[Reefland]

AquaC, and many others make great In Sump skimmers.

[charlie]

http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_...ro.asp?CartId=

I found this one @ Marine Depot.
Stay away from the Rio pumps, but this is just my opinion. The mag 3 will kick butt.

[dave00gt]

i got diatom blooms too, i guess its part of the cycle , but when i got some on my rocks, what i did i let the snails take care of it, and now the rocks are thanking them. i even put some snails where i want them too take care of the brown algae.

[ibjmg]

Originally Posted by charlie

Yep, it will go away, but it has been said before, take your time, what's happening is supposed to happen. The more it is disturbed, the longer it will take to straighten out. Kick back and have about a gallon of coffee over the next couple of weeks, get that skimmer, and then start enjoying your tank.

If he has a gallon of coffee he will probably inside the tank thinking he's a fish

[charlie]

Originally Posted by ibjmg

If he has a gallon of coffee he will probably inside the tank thinking he's a fish

It would be one way to help the cycle along, wouldn't it??????

[damigs]

Originally Posted by dave00gt

i got diatom blooms too, i guess its part of the cycle , but when i got some on my rocks, what i did i let the snails take care of it, and now the rocks are thanking them. i even put some snails where i want them too take care of the brown algae.

Got 15 small blue legged crabs, 2 cleaner shrimps and 5 large mexican turbo snails. My phosphates were high so I added phosban 3 days go. Today I did a 15 gallon water change and must say tank is looking very clear and alot of the brown has died down significantly. I will check water parameters probably tomorrow and see how thing are doing.

Will say this corals overall look gorgeous today!.

[Reefland]

Nice to hear things are looking up! Just remember to take things slowly and to monitor everything closely after making any changes.

[showfish]

Looks like you might be able to get an in-sump skimmer in the first chamber of your refug. Once those bio-balls are gone. This would be the place I would look to put the skimmer. Aqua C makes both the hang-on version and the in-sump version of the Remora. I have the Aqua C Remora Pro with a Mag 3 pump. I have the hang on version on my 120gal. This thing really pulls out some stinky stuff. These skimmers are so thin they don’t need much clearance. And don't worry about those diatoms, soon will pass with time, we all go thru it. Sooner or later your refug. with starve them out.

[damigs]

Originally Posted by showfish

Looks like you might be able to get an in-sump skimmer in the first chamber of your refug. Once those bio-balls are gone. This would be the place I would look to put the skimmer. Aqua C makes both the hang-on version and the in-sump version of the Remora. I have the Aqua C Remora Pro with a Mag 3 pump. I have the hang on version on my 120gal. This thing really pulls out some stinky stuff. These skimmers are so thin they don’t need much clearance. And don't worry about those diatoms, soon will pass with time, we all go thru it. Sooner or later your refug. with starve them out.

Well now Im kinda concerned.. Since posting I have done another water change (Last Monday 12/26) and even thou brown algea has stayed the same I now notice today especially that the water is cloudy. I have checked water parameters and all except for Phosphates are fine. Phoshates are 0.5ppm which is kinda high. Overall I have only added phosban to lower phosphate levels but it seems water is getting cloudier and it has a nasty smell to it. Corals and fish seem fine and healthy thus far but would appreciate help or info as to what this is. Is this normal??

[Reefland]

I would remove any media that you are running and replace it with fresh carbon. Before adding the new carbon, do another water change and make sure that the water you are replacing with is aged, that is mixed for a good 24 hours in advance and oxygenated.

[sihaya]

Damigs-- slow down tiger!

In reality, it takes a reef tank about a year to "fully" cycle. You're going to go through all kinds of algae phases. Daitoms, slime, etc... the tank is going to experience blooms of these things a couple times before everything really starts to stabelize. It's perfectly normal and largely unavoidable. The best you can do is some damage control (i.e. siphon out what you can, try not to over feed, etc...)

I agree that the bioballs should be thrown out and that you should get a good skimmer. Mechanical filtration just isn't the way to go with a reef tank.

If you're tank is on the carpet, you might try wedging something under it so that you can slide it. But I don't know, this might be tricky. In any case, I'd take out as much water as you can before trying to move it.

Just relax and as they say in AA... take it "one day at a time."

[showfish]

You should probably check your source water for Phosphates. Living in South Florida if you are using tap water you can rest assured you have phos in there. I recommend using RO/DI water. You might want to run some Phosban as well.

[charlie]

I will agree with the RO/DI. But why start with chemicals? Let the tank do it's cycle...

[damigs]

This advise has been excellent. Thus far I have gotten my water parameters checked and its as follows.

Trates/Trites are normal
AlK - on the low side of normal
Ph - 8.0
Phosphate - 0.1 ppm
Ammonia is normal

I purchased a phosphate sponge and carbon which I added yesterday to my refuguim. This morning the tank has hardly any brown and its 50 times clearer than it was yesterday before I left to my New Years party.

I agree with everyone about slowing down etc. which I am making a habit to do but when things arent looking right in your tank you have no choice but to try things to eliminate the source.

My PH is low so will be buffering it 2 times a week for the next two weeks and have water checked out again.

[Reefland]

Your pH at 8.0 is not all that low, in fact it is fine. I wouldn't be too quick to try to raise it.

[JohnS_323]

I agree with everything said so far, especially "take it slow" and removing the bioballs. I do have two questions for you: 1) What is the source of your water? Tap/RO/RODI? 2) Have you thought about picking up a cleaning crew? Not that they would necessarily help with the diatoms, but it may help with the potential next phases (like the dreaded hair algae).

********EDIT: Sorry! I'm new to this site and didn't realize there was a page 2 on this thread that addressed my questions! OOOPS!