[Caesar Augustus]

I ran a poly filter for a few days and nothing helped. I always run chemi-pure in the fuge and some carbon on the skilter still nothing? Everything seems to be doing ok but what can be causing this? It seems to be getting worse. I stoped dosing the tank with combo vital at night to see if that was it but I don't know. Anyone seen this before?
Augustus

[Poseidon]

I would advise MORE water changes, if you are doing weekly small ones, increase the volume, if you are doing monthly increase the frequency. Also a skilter is NOT very effective as far as protein skimmers go, I would suggest an upgrade as soon as it is possible.

[Caesar Augustus]

Poseidon thanks for the input. My problem is EVERY other skimmer I have tried has released massive amounts of micro bubbles into the tank pissing off the corals. Which is why I have put the skilter back on the tank. I've had a prizim and an Excalibur and both have made the tank a bubblefest. Do you have a recommendation?
Augustus

[optical]

if you have an in sump skimmer,
put a polyfilter bag over the outtake water pipe(not sure tech name) on the skimmer. that should eliminate the micro bubbles. i had the same prob and that worked for me.

[Caesar Augustus]

no sump, my fuge is a hang on and so is the crap skilter.

[Poseidon]

My favorite HOB skimmers are AquaC Remora Pro, and CPR BakPak with the Maxijet upgrade.

I also like the "Super Skimmer" from Corallife, but it does release some bubbles back into the tank. As far as producing skimmate though, it does that VERY well!

[dave00gt]

firts of all , what water are you using? i did a water change on my brothers tank and his water had a yellowish tint to the water and tank, and i accused him of using tap water , but he said no.. yeah right! .. im pretty sure its the dang tap water.. i used water from the watermill where it costs 30 cents per gallon and i dont use a skimmer , but i use a HOB filter and i add bacteria to the filters and my water is clear.

so what water are you using?

[Caesar Augustus]

I use filtered water. Now you may have a point. maybe its time to change the filter. I do think that a better skimmer might help. I have plenty of rock and the inhabitants of the tank are still ok. I'm probably gonna do some water changes and shop around for a skimmer.
Augustus

[dave00gt]

Originally Posted by Caesar Augustus

I use filtered water. Now you may have a point. maybe its time to change the filter. I do think that a better skimmer might help. I have plenty of rock and the inhabitants of the tank are still ok. I'm probably gonna do some water changes and shop around for a skimmer.
Augustus

what type of filtered water, or from what source is your filtered water coming from, i also reccommend cleaning the substrate in case you havent done it for a while.I use stability from Seachem, its good stuff, i added to my filters like every week, it keeps the filters clean, and leaves my water clean..

[Caesar Augustus]

I'm not sure of the name it connects to the tap and runs through about a foot and a half of sand looking stuff and volia. It works pretty well I test the water comming out of it every once in a while. Cleaning the substrate is out of the question, I have a DSB. All I can really do is skimm the top during a water change. I'm about to make a new post about that damn bed anyway.
Augustus

PS I changed the filter and did a good water change and the water is clearing but not clear yet!

[fishgeeksrus]

We are using ozone now and it seems that between that and the carbon we run our water has gotten crystal clear. I couldn't tell you how much we paid for it, Andrea bought it :P, but it has helped.

Dennis

[Poseidon]

UV has definatlely helped clear my water, but it wasn't yellow to begin with. I still think you need a bigger skimmer and more water changes. Don't bother with any "water clear" chemicals, or magic potions, they don't work long term. (Carbon does not fall into the magic potion category, it works!)

[BubbaWPB]

The yellow stuff is usually organic waste products. The technical term that will get you results on an internet search is the German term "gelbstoff" (literally, "yellow stuff"). The only two ways I know of for getting rid of yellow stuff is activated charcoal (if you're using it now, try more) and ozone (which usually requires use of activated charcoal in addition to prevent any ozone from killing the critters.

I run ozone and charcoal and the water is crystal clear... even with a high bioload.

According to http://envisat.esa.int/dataproducts/meris/CNTR5-2-6.htm
GELBSTOFF: Dissolved material in sea water that is resistant to bacterial attack. Its name comes from the yellow colour it imparts to the water. Brown algae, the principal algae group growing in coastal waters of temperature and higher latitudes, excrete phenolic compounds. These polyphenols are converted into a brown polymer by secondary reactions with carbohydrates and proteins of algal origin. The properties of the resulting substance are identical with Gelbstoff. Its concentration in sea water is around 1 mg/l and it is removed mainly by precipitation since its phenolic nature renders it resistant to bacterial attack. This is also known as yellow substance or gilvin.

[Caesar Augustus]

Well I though some fresh carbon on her, cranked up the air pressure on that POS skilter, removed the kalkwasser drip for a day, and did a big fat 15% water change and volia! It really clearing up. Hell I'm almost scared to walk to close to the thing for fear of screwing something up. I think I'm just gonna let here alone for a few days and watch. Thanks for all the feedback gents, it was helpful.
Augustus

[jollopee]

Hope the carbon clears it up for you. I noticed a huge difference with my tank when I started doing 20% water changes weekly and started running a uv 24/7

Todd