white substance help please.

[stevo]

ok i got my aquarium all setup past sat. for 2 days it was kind of cloudy i think it was from the sand. after it cleared up enough for me to see the back i put in the LR (fully cured) and just a little cleaner shrimp. Well yesterday and today there is a white almost transparent snot looking substance with a air bubble caught in some of it. it was all over my pumps, skimmer, sand, and started to get on my rock some. it seriously looked like somebody has been sneezing in my tank over and over again. does anybody know what this could be? i tried to get a pic but its to fuzzy to see anything clear enough for somebody to see what it is other then just some white blob. my readings are all good so far.

[berkdog]

congrats on setting up the new tank! I don't know what it might be,... but am trying to rule things out that I guess it might be...

How large is your tank? What types of filters, skimmers, etc do you have (basically, I'm trying to guage the rate of flow)?

What type of sand is this? Did you buy it? Then what brand? Did you get it from a friend? A beach?

And finally, where did you get your fully cured LR? How did the source of the LR cure it? And what was the LR stored in and transported in?

Any other information might help too. Did you keep a light on the tank this whole time? Etc...

[stevo]

Thanks!

Its a 55g tank with a reef octopus skimmer im new to aquariums so I didnt want to go all out and buy some amazing LR and sand for me to screw up and kill it, but I got some decent little stuff from a guy that manages the local petco aquariums. He said his tanks and the tanks at the store are pretty much ran the same. I transported it in a plastic bag so they were unsumberged for 10 minutes (maybe?). The sand is just regular arganite live sand that i bought from petco it was in a 20lb bag and i bought 2 bags. lighting is on for 15 hours a day (2 54w T5 10ks). temp is around 78-79... i'm still playing with the heater setting to get it a bit more stable. salinity is 1.023ish. I used conditioned tap water with instant ocean for my water as I dont plan to keep corals until i feel comfortable with keeping the fish healthy, at that point i'll switch to a more pure source. I dont currently have a sump system but plan to get one sometime soonish. Oh I have one reading on my indicators called hardness which is very high in my tank. I read that it wont harm your tank it just has to do with clarity. My tank isnt totally totally clear but you can see from longside to longside just fine.

I've read that a salt water tank doesnt need an actual filter, your skimmer, cleaning crew, and plants in your aquarium take the place of it. is this true?

Any replies as to what it would be would be great. Any tips for keeping everything healthy would be nice to even though i've probably been reading for 3 months or so before i finally went and bought everything everything is helpful!

[berkdog]

Thanks!

Its a 55g tank with a reef octopus skimmer im new to aquariums so I didnt want to go all out and buy some amazing LR and sand for me to screw up and kill it, but I got some decent little stuff from a guy that manages the local petco aquariums. He said his tanks and the tanks at the store are pretty much ran the same. I transported it in a plastic bag so they were unsumberged for 10 minutes (maybe?). The sand is just regular arganite live sand that i bought from petco it was in a 20lb bag and i bought 2 bags. lighting is on for 15 hours a day (2 54w T5 10ks). temp is around 78-79... i'm still playing with the heater setting to get it a bit more stable. salinity is 1.023ish. I used conditioned tap water with instant ocean for my water as I dont plan to keep corals until i feel comfortable with keeping the fish healthy, at that point i'll switch to a more pure source. I dont currently have a sump system but plan to get one sometime soonish. Oh I have one reading on my indicators called hardness which is very high in my tank. I read that it wont harm your tank it just has to do with clarity. My tank isnt totally totally clear but you can see from longside to longside just fine.

I've read that a salt water tank doesnt need an actual filter, your skimmer, cleaning crew, and plants in your aquarium take the place of it. is this true?

Any replies as to what it would be would be great. Any tips for keeping everything healthy would be nice to even though i've probably been reading for 3 months or so before i finally went and bought everything everything is helpful!

My guesses are that it might be due to:

water quality. follow Lee's guidelines about water quality (RODI): What is Water Quality

source: I would do more research and be cautious about Petco. Make sure to quarantine things you get from there...

lastly, I might try to keep the lights on for a maximum of 10-12 hours per day. If it's algae, it might be thriving on your light source. If the only thing in there is the substrate, rock, and a shrimp, you can go for a few days without any lights on at all even.

Others, please chime in because I'm not an expert here, but those are my suggestions.

[leebca]

The best process/procedure to follow for setting up a new marine aquarium is given here, stevo:
Setting Up a FOWLR Aquarium

The results you first got -- the cloudiness -- is probably due to the new substrate. However I don't know what you mean by 'conditioned tap water.' This is usually to be avoided. We don't begin with the lesser quality of water promising to improve it, we begin and use the best. What kind of conditioning did you do?

Money was wasted with 'live sand.' The bacteria in the sand is free. They are on land, sea, and air, (like the US Marines). Nothing replaces careful and accurate water testing. The post above goes through the testing kits you need and what and when to test. Again, from what you've described, you've tried to be cost effective in your choices, but that isn't how we do the hobby. It's best to read through a post like the above and decide if you can afford the time, effort, and expense of starting off correctly. ;)

Regarding the live rock being cured. . .How do you know it was cured? Did you cure it yourself?

What you've been told or read about filtration is way off. Best to get into and read the above post.

I'd guess the live rock is releasing some organics, but depending on its age and cure stage, it may be a few other things, too. If you want to narrow this down, tell me everything about the live rock -- where it came from, how was it chosen, what "decent little stuff' means, etc.

Additional info like the following is needed, too:

How old is your tank? When did it originally cycle?
What is the size (dimensions and gallonage) of your aquarium? Does the gallonage include the volume from the sump and any refugium?
Do you use carbon, skimmer, mechanical or other chemical filtration? List all along with their maintenance.
Do you have live rock in the system? How many pounds or amount and where is it put?
Other than live rock hitchhikers, list all marine life & sizes in the tank (fish, inverts, corals, clams, snails, crabs, shrimp, etc.).
Do you use a quarantine tank and procedure?
Foods you use and feeding schedules.
How long have you had this fish? If the fish was recently acquired (6 weeks or less), two more questions: Did you treat it or give it a dip before it went into the aquarium? How did you acclimate it – what procedure?
Do you use any vitamins? Fat additives? Any elemental or other additives? Please list all.
Chemistries – Do you test for Phosphate, alkalinity, calcium and magnesium? Please give actual current numbers for everything. I would like test kit test results, not dip stick results and actual numbers even if you think all is fine/okay. Have these numbers been changing lately?
Water parameters – please give actual numbers (pH and your pH range, salinity or sp. gr. & range, temperature range)
Do you see any of the following in your system: hair algae; micro algae; cyanobacteria growths (red slime algae); dinoflagellate (zooxanthellae) growths; brown algae; diatom growth; slimes; off-colored patches on rock or substrate that are not coralline; etc.?
Water changes (how much and how often).
What is your source water? (Tap water, RO water, DI water, RO/DI, distilled, etc.)
List what you added or taken out of your aquarium system (living, decorations, and equipment) during the past 6 weeks.
Maintenance schedule. What have you done lately?

If you've answered the above questions in previous posts, just skip them. But, leave no details out.