Losing Sand Cleaning To Much Help!!

stingrayman

stingrayman

Member
I had that on my sand bed. stop siphoning your sand bed out.
replace your sand with the argonite sand.
get a blue dot sandsifter or a latticed sandsifter.
they are really cool fish and they sift out your sandbed.
reef safe too.
 
mrinelfrlz

mrinelfrlz

Member
Originally Posted by stingrayman
I had that on my sand bed. stop siphoning your sand bed out.
replace your sand with the argonite sand.
get a blue dot sandsifter or a latticed sandsifter.
they are really cool fish and they sift out your sandbed.
reef safe too.
how big do they get?
also were do i get them?
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
Siphoning the sand is the worst thing you can do, since you are also siphoning off your biofilter with it. How deep is the sandbed now, and post up your water readings. What type of sand did you use initially?
What filters are you using, do you have a skimmer, and where are your powerheads positioned? Do you have any sandbed microphona?
Sorry, you may have posted some of this info in your threads, but, if you can, lets consolidate the info again here.
 
scrapman

scrapman

Member
Originally Posted by Beth
Siphoning the sand is the worst thing you can do, since you are also siphoning off your biofilter with it. How deep is the sandbed now, and post up your water readings. What type of sand did you use initially?
What filters are you using, do you have a skimmer, and where are your powerheads positioned? Do you have any sandbed microphona?
Sorry, you may have posted some of this info in your threads, but, if you can, lets consolidate the info again here.

Beth,
This is a great idea..... pls consolidate the info: siphoning or not.... so confusing, so many conflicting advice.... also a definitive guide as far as sand cleaner crew....
Thank you
 
mrinelfrlz

mrinelfrlz

Member
Originally Posted by Beth
Siphoning the sand is the worst thing you can do, since you are also siphoning off your biofilter with it. How deep is the sandbed now, and post up your water readings. What type of sand did you use initially?
What filters are you using, do you have a skimmer, and where are your powerheads positioned? Do you have any sandbed microphona?
Sorry, you may have posted some of this info in your threads, but, if you can, lets consolidate the info again here.
like i said at the beginning of the thread in places my sand bed is 1/4" for the most part its still over an inch
the sand came with the tank when i bought it from a person
i have of microphona!! lots on the rocks!! but there is still some on the sand bed
up above i tell about the position of my PHs
and i pic to explain
also like i said above im switching from IO salt to OCEANIC from what ive been told its easier to manage cal.,mag.,alk., and so on also heard it helps in keeping bad algae away
my specs
75 gallon
95lbs LR
30lbs started out LS
aqua romaro protein skimmer
hang on refugium with chaeto macro algae
400 watts total MH is x2 150watt 10,000 k,actinic x2 44 watt,x6 2 watt LED moonlights
3 PHs (mentioned above)
also the clean up crew is just under the pic of my tank with the power heads
18watt uv sterilizer
cascade canister filter 350 gph
testing
ph-8.15
salinity-1.025
alk.-13 dkh(its high i know (im dosing it)
calc.-370ppm (its low i know im dosing it)
ammonia- less then 0.25mg/L
magnes.-1290ppm (alittle low still im dosing it)
nitrate-0.2ppm
nitrite-0.1ppm
phosphates-0.03
all tests are SALIFERT
chemicals
"ALL KENT"
coralvite
essential elements
calcium
techM-magnesium
techI -iodine(im not using yet)
i follow the directions to the letter
also about my calc. is why im switching to a better brand of salt like i said i was told it would help with all that i mentioned it would help with
hope this helps
 
mrinelfrlz

mrinelfrlz

Member
but untill i get my new salt im not dosing anymore
also doing atleast a 20% waterchange as soon as i get the salt
i forgot to tell you all i have a RODI water filter system as well
at 1st i only used a facet filter but ive learnt my lesson
 
mrinelfrlz

mrinelfrlz

Member
beth
i saw your homepage man you have a great looking fish tank is that really what you have in it
and i hope i can get mine lookin half as good as yours
excellent

you know what your doing
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
It looks like all the syphoning has resulted in spikes of ammonia and nitrite. I would add a 20lb bag of live sand (very slowly) turning off the PHs while you are adding the new sand. This should kick start your biofilter again.
IMO, hermit crabs are always a bad idea and you have way too many. The reason I bring up the hermits is because they prey on snails (of which you do not have any in your tank). Hermits do nothing to add to the maintenance of a tank, while snails work overtime in keeping things nice and clean in your tank. However, with hermits, you can not have snails, since they kill them for their shells. If it were my tank, I'd find a new home for all those hermits, and then, once your ammonia and nitrites are zero, start adding some snails; the appropriate mix of the right kind of snails, worms, etc., etc., will do the maintenance for your tank that hermits never will.
Stop adding additives, which you said were not doing. Do a small water change with aged salt water (meaning mixed and run thru a PH for at least 2 days prior to doing a water change) each day until your ammonia and nitrites are back in line.
Lower two of your PHs on the sides as close to the bottom as you can without them disrupting your sandbed or live rock. Try using the outlet diverters to shoot the water against stable rocks of even the glass wall so that the water disperses throughout the tank rather then just an unnatural stream.
Thanks for your compliments about my tank. Unfortunately, I moved 2 yrs ago and had to find a new home for that tank. I still miss it!
 
mrinelfrlz

mrinelfrlz

Member
thanks for the help:)
but i do have snails
i have 20 nassairius
20 turbos snails
6 mexican turbos
this is what ive got so far and your right the crabs are killing some of the snails i did have more
i adjusted my power heads down an noticed it does blow more over the sand
also i was told not to add LS only regular sand what about stating a new cycle DANGER?
i did purchase 2 15lb bags of the CaribSea Aragonite Flamingo Reef Sand i have a pic of further back in the thread
but my test results aren't that bad are they?
also i am adding cal to rasie it
i am adding techM to raise my magnesium to safer levels
at least i was untill i decided to switch salt witch im waiting to get in as we speak
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
I thought I saw on the other thread that you said you didn't have snails? In any case, time to make a deal with LFS on the remaining hermits and get rid of them. Nasses are good choices, however, until you stabilize the water conditions and the algae problem you are having, I would not add any new animals.
Dry sand will not have any bio-bacteria, whereas just a small bag (20lbs) of live sand, will give your system the extra boost you need to eliminate the ammonia. Does you LFS have packaged live sand? If so, just get that. Just don't add the sand all at once, do it slowly over the course of an hour or so.
Also you might want to get a mico powerhead. You can use this to off your LR once you add the sand. This is a very small pump that might be used in a desktop aquarium. Its handy for tank "dusting" during maintenance.
The process for recovery is slow, so don't expect miracles overnight. Just do 1 gal water changes daily, add the sand, get rid of the hermits. Keep us posted so we can offer you suggestions as needed, or if needed. Just be patient and let the system heal up.
Thank of your tank as a self contained environment. The things done to it have significant effects---either good effect, or bad effects.
 
mrinelfrlz

mrinelfrlz

Member
Originally Posted by Beth
I thought I saw on the other thread that you said you didn't have snails? In any case, time to make a deal with LFS on the remaining hermits and get rid of them. Nasses are good choices, however, until you stabilize the water conditions and the algae problem you are having, I would not add any new animals.
Dry sand will not have any bio-bacteria, whereas just a small bag (20lbs) of live sand, will give your system the extra boost you need to eliminate the ammonia. Does you LFS have packaged live sand? If so, just get that. Just don't add the sand all at once, do it slowly over the course of an hour or so.
Also you might want to get a mico powerhead. You can use this to off your LR once you add the sand. This is a very small pump that might be used in a desktop aquarium. Its handy for tank "dusting" during maintenance.
The process for recovery is slow, so don't expect miracles overnight. Just do 1 gal water changes daily, add the sand, get rid of the hermits. Keep us posted so we can offer you suggestions as needed, or if needed. Just be patient and let the system heal up.
Thank of your tank as a self contained environment. The things done to it have significant effects---either good effect, or bad effects.
so is the substrate i ordered usless or can i put both in not at the same time but i mean after i put in the LS slowly
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
Its not useless at all, and you can use it, but it has no bacteria. Right now, your biofilter has been depleted, so anything you can do to get that up to speed again is good. How much deeper do you want to make your sand bed? Major increases will mean that your LR will be submerged in sand. I can't imagine that you've syphoned out that much sand during the vacuuming.
 
mrinelfrlz

mrinelfrlz

Member
Originally Posted by Beth
Its not useless at all, and you can use it, but it has no bacteria. Right now, your biofilter has been depleted, so anything you can do to get that up to speed again is good. How much deeper do you want to make your sand bed? Major increases will mean that your LR will be submerged in sand. I can't imagine that you've syphoned out that much sand during the vacuuming.
no i haven't
ok ive spent so much $$$ on this stuff im not about to let it get away from me now!!!

so tomorrow i will go to my LPS and pick up some more LS about 20lbs im thinking
or maybe just 10lbs
also by slowly add you mean
how much per day
and if it will take more than 1 day if i just cut the top off and put the package in a bucket so i can just dip out periodically will it be ok until ive finally added the rest of the sand

once again thanks alot
very much appreciated
 
mrinelfrlz

mrinelfrlz

Member
well i just couldn't wait till tomorrow so i went to ***** "i know!"
i would have went to the LPS but the people there are jack holes
anyways i already put a little in not to much about 2 cups
but i got Nature's Ocean Bio-Activ Live Aragonite Reef Sand
this is all they had so i thought it will be good besides when i still went to the LPS they sold this type too
i got 10lbs thought is was going to be cheaper so i took $40 boy was i wrong i wanted the 20lbs nope 39.99 and the guy wouldnt give me a break(but i tried) anyways i think this will be plenty
i can raise the low spots and top off some of the other spots
then when my CaribSea Aragonite Flamingo Reef Sand gets in in (not live!!) can make the sand bed deeper because i will already have the beneficial sand on the bottom layers
sound right at all???
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
That sand is fine, and I happen to like ***** (for supplies that is). Don't bury the LS!!! in Dry Sand, or live sand will turn into dead sand. Keep the dry sand and add it in a few mos down the road.
One lesson you have to learn in this hobby real quick is PATIENCE. There is not rush here, your tank is not on the verge of crashing.
 
mrinelfrlz

mrinelfrlz

Member
Originally Posted by Beth
That sand is fine, and I happen to like ***** (for supplies that is). Don't bury the LS!!! in Dry Sand, or live sand will turn into dead sand. Keep the dry sand and add it in a few mos down the road.
One lesson you have to learn in this hobby real quick is PATIENCE. There is not rush here, your tank is not on the verge of crashing.
check
but do i need to add like i did today 2 cups a day or whats your opinion
 
mrinelfrlz

mrinelfrlz

Member
ok i just tested the ammonia again and it came out to what i always does less then 0.25mg/L
i know SALIFERT is one of the best test kits but it doesnt tell you how close to 0 it actually is now i do have a API test kit and it reads 0 so im just not sure right now
 
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