Water quality

[mitch24]

For the longest time, the water quality in my tank has been excellent! All of my levels still appear to be good, but the water just looks different! It seems like there is a lot of debris floating around... Not all the time, but just when the fish swim by the corals
Debris never came off of it like this and got all over the place, taking a while to settle back down...
I have two fluval 404s on a FO 75 and I just cleaned one of them out. It was really bad in there That was last night, but the debris still looks pretty bad! Do you guys know what this could be from or how I can stop it?
Or maybe I just need to wait a few more days after the cleaning of the filter, so it can get everything
Sorry for this burst of a post, but it bothered me and I'm in a rush
thanks in advance...

 

[krazzydart]

what do they look like???? how much rock do you have??? I think you need a skimmer....how often do you feed them and how much??? I feed mine every other day. Do you do freq. water changes??? (every 2-3 wks)what type of fish do you have??????

 

[mitch24]

I have 3 pieces of dead coral (before I knew about any issues
only 3 fish right now, a yellow Tang, Picasso trigger, and a domino damsel...
All of which look very healthy.
I have two fluval 404s, and a UV. I have a protein skimmer, but I didn't put it on yet. I don't really change the water much, cause my tank is so underpopulated that the nitrates never build up. but, as I add fish, I will have to start...
The debris really looks like dead algae floating around. I have very little algae in the tank, but a lot of brown algae on the coral and rocks... Is it possible that this stuff is dying and coming off the rocks and corals?
I've had this setup for about a year now and haven't had any problems.
thanks for the help

 

[mr . salty]

I would highly reccomend a water change. This should be done regardless of population. It is the single most effective way to ensure good water quality. It could very well be algae die off, or just an accumulation of debris from the dirty filter. Give it a couple of days with the clean filter, and do a 20-50%WATER CHANGE ........STEVE
[This message has been edited by MR . SALTY (edited 08-31-2000).]

 

[mitch24]

Thanks a million Steve!
I was under the impression that if nitrates were low, water changes weren't important!
But, I see that I am probably wrong, so I'll start doing them!!!
Thanks again!!!

 

[jimi]

Water changes are important to replenish depleted nutriants fish do absorb and drink water into their systems. The debris happens anyway from fish waste, food, dead algae or other dead organisms settling. When you change you water stir the water a little around your coral or rocks to vaccum the debris off. Many people use turkey basters or smaller squirt tubes to clear debris off live rock and live corals.