need some help

[lablabablah]

I have a 29 biocube, have had it running for 3-4 months now. It is always dirty, i have to replace filters weekly and there is always debris floating around and i have to clean the glass every 2-3 days. I bought a skimmer to see if it helped 2 weeks ago, and that was a total waste of money. I have a decent amount of hair algea, but the coraline is slowly taking over. I have a firegoby, bought a dragon goby today hopefully he will help with the sand, 4 hermits, 5 turbos, 5 nassa snails, and 1 banded shrimp. I am getting pretty frustrated with it and need some input form you guys. Thanks in advance

 

[mtbenino]

I have a 29 biocube as well, I removed the filter and use filterfloss in the first chamber with my heater, and I use 100 micron filter pad in the second chamber. I change these every 2 days and I have to clean the glass often as well. I have 3 turbo snails 8-9 margarita snails and 3 cerith and 3 nassiurus snails, and like 6-7 blue leg hermits. no floaties at all. I do like 3-4 gallon ater change every week. No need for a skimmer really. I used a lawn mower blenny for the hair algae and he took care of it. This takes time though its not going to happen over night.
Not sure how often you do water changes, but I would increase the water changes and try to pull off as much of the algae as possible
I hope this helps you can look for my thread as well.

 

[mtbenino]

too cut cost you can use the polyester filling like 3 bucks for a big bag and you can also use like a felt padding like 3 bucks a yard both from walmart and easy to do.

 

[jackri]

Why was the skimmer a total waste of money?
What kind did you get?
How much do you feed and how often?
What kind of water are you using -- tap? RO? RO/DI?

 

[nissan577]

well if you mean you bought the dragonet mandarin then you have no luck with him cleaning the sand. they need pods to live. so take it back and get like a diamond watchman goby or such. also blenny will also help with hair algae. bicolor are amazing. you dont want coraline then scrap it off. and the rest should help. why dont you buy ceriths snails?

 

[mtbenino]

If you do regular water changes, you dont need a skimmer in such a small tank. I only have the lawn mower blenny in my tank and he gets algae sheets every third day and my corals get cyclops and mysis chop everythird day. My peppermint shrimp eats the left overs, I also target feed as not to waste and just have stuff blowing every where.

 

[mtbenino]

RO/DI from the LFS. I used tap water to start my tank, what a mistake

 

[lablabablah]

thanks for the input fellas. The skimmer didnt do much of anything in help removing the waste I emptied it a few days ago after alomst 2 weeks and there was nothing. I do 5 gallon water changes every 2 weeks, i will do them every week now i guess until i get it looking good. I use the water the drinking water taht comes in the 5 gallon bottles. The LFS's are over 45 min away for me so im not real sure they are local lol. I feed once a day (flakes and just a little bit at at time until hes finished) I also spot feed my hermits dried krill every 2-3 days. I didnt get the mandrin but i really do like them, i think they are my favorite. I wanted a diamond but the last one they had decieded to take the leap of faith last night and died so i had to settle for the dragon (i didnt see a picture on here of one) but the guy said it does the same job. I will also try the poly filters and see how that goes for me. Thanks again guys.

 

[mtbenino]

make sure you get the white felt so there are no dyes in the felt and its just polesyter fill big bag and cheap no need to spend all the money when its the same stuff just cheaper on your wallet. I do like 3-4 gallons every week, what ever works for you just keep it consistant.

 

[jackri]

Depends on your type of skimmer but a lot of them have a break in period where AFTER a couple of weeks they start running effieciently.
Also your 29g cube isn't large enough for a mandarin unless you buy one knowing it eats prepared foods otherwise it will just starve.
I would try a lawnmower blenny to try and take care of the hair algae personally -- one other thing though, what are your water parameters?

 

[lablabablah]

salt-1.023
ph is at 7.8 (I put a buffer in yesterday)
everything else is at 0
I will leave the skimmer in i guess and see how that goes, it wont hurt anything.
I was thinking about a mandarin and just supplementing it with pods, but i am in the process of building a 90 gallon, so ill probably just wait.
mtbenino- i will try the poly, but the main problem i have is that alot of the debris that i can see doesnt go through the filter it just stays in the tank. I have a koralia #1 and alot of it just keeps going through that instead of the filter. Ive tried everything i can think of left lights off for 2 days, left off the koralia, moved it to the other side, protien skimmer, its just driving me crazy.
Thanks again for everything.