How do I stop the gunk coming out of the live rock?

[rbdesigns]

My tank has been set up for 7 months and my live rock has colored up nicely. But how do I get all the gunk out of the live rock without cooking the live rock? I blow the rocks with the power head to a corner where there is no flow. I let it settle and siphon it out. But next thing you know there is more coming out. This is how bad it is:

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/92771IMG_1971.jpg

I tried adding more flow to the tank, but it makes my water cloudy. Will buying a better protein skimmer make a difference, I use a seaclone 100. It's not affecting my parameters at all, my Nitrates are barely detectible, it just looks nasty. Only bad thing was that when I kept blowing the live rock with powerheads my nitrites went up to .25.

[rbdesigns]

The gunk is clinging to some of my corals.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/92771IMG_1934.jpg

[rbdesigns]

Last question, how do I clean the coraline off the acrylic without scratching it? I tried using a credit card, but it was a pain and I scratched most of the tank.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/92771IMG_1968.jpg

I am actually thinking of cooking the live rock and taking down the tank to scrape of all the coraline and get rid of all the scratches. I can't get a clear view of my tank anymore.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/92771IMG_1924.jpg

[Badmort]

Too many things we don't know about to make a educated guess..
Size of tank, parameters.. what you are using for flow etc...

7 months is a young system.. , your going to go through alot of algae blooms etc for the first year

[drake66]

when i got my tank from tigahboy, i scrubbed the crap out of the tank with a credit card it had a bunch of corraline algae, and i cant see any scratches :o, btw that angel looks hungry it might eat your candy canes :p

[rbdesigns]

The tank is a 50 gallon seaclear system. Specific gravity 1.025, ammonia 0 nitrite where at 0 til this morning when I checked and it was 0.25. Nitrates are below 5. I use IO with RO water. For flow the stock pump I think rates 400 gallons, then I have on maxijet 600, used to have three of them, but I was having heat issues.

[rbdesigns]

Since it was hard to get off, I started scrapping it off with the edges.

[Badmort]

Well your second post helps abit....

Does Your Magnet have a Nylon acrylic friendly net on it?(scratches)

To remove the Coraline a credit card works fine but a Kent Scraper is easier...
http://www.marinedepot.com/md_searchitem.asp


Seaclone skimmer is okay but much better modified...

Run some carbon to clear up the water....

[rbdesigns]

I bought an acrylic mag float cleaner, but it scratched the tank. So I cut up a piece of my filter and placed it on top of it and it reduced the scratches. I don't try to get close to the sand cuz it has gotten stuck to the mag float and scratched my tank. My girlfriend thought it would be nice to clean it, but when she was done, there was a scratch across the entire tank. I have chemi-pure carbon in the tank, but I might have exhausted it. I leave it in everyday, but I dont remember when I replaced it. I also have purigen too.

[Badmort]

Originally posted by rbdesigns
The tank is a 50 gallon seaclear system. Specific gravity 1.025, ammonia 0 nitrite where at 0 til this morning when I checked and it was 0.25. Nitrates are below 5. I use IO with RO water. For flow the stock pump I think rates 400 gallons, then I have on maxijet 600, used to have three of them, but I was having heat issues.

Wait your Nitrite was at .25...? Umm there should never ever be any of that... You need to do a waterchange.. 5 gallons of clean water.
And a little more maintenance as well... the corraline growth is a couple weeks at least Im guestimating..

More liverock imo would help keep things more stable as well

[rbdesigns]

Badmort:

How do you suggest I modify the Seaclone? The modifications I had to make was cutting the plastic tubing and adding another a longer tube to fit the tank. It was close the powerhead was close to the surface and wasnt doing anything.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/92771IMG_0658_2.jpg

[rbdesigns]

In the last week I think I've done about 10-15 gallons. But I ran out of salt mix. I might have siphoned out too much sand and messed with the bacteria. Yeah the coraline is older than that. It's about a month old. I left the country the beginning of september and came back the last week of september. Since I don't have an ATO I had my girlfriend putting in fresh water daily and feeding the fish once a day while I was gone. She didn't clean off the sides and I've been trying for the past two weeks to get rid of it, but I gave up when I scratched it.

[Badmort]

Well looking at the pic.. you already modded it by cutting down the interior tube...
Your next mod is replacing it with a decent insump skimmer ...
ASM G2 isnt a bad choice for a tank that size.... It would be a big upgrade.. Or find someone selling a used Euroreef....

[Badmort]

Originally posted by rbdesigns
In the last week I think I've done about 10-15 gallons. But I ran out of salt mix. I might have siphoned out too much sand and messed with the bacteria. Yeah the coraline is older than that. It's about a month old. I left the country the beginning of september and came back the last week of september. Since I don't have an ATO I had my girlfriend putting in fresh water daily and feeding the fish once a day while I was gone. She didn't clean off the sides and I've been trying for the past two weeks to get rid of it, but I gave up when I scratched it.

And she was topping off with RO/DI Water?
A month is a Looooong time to leave a tank alone....

Check out that Kent Scraper with the red blade... for acrylic.. works well..

[rbdesigns]

I bought a golden angel on monday, and I set up a 10 gallon QT for him, and took out a bunch of rock, maybe 10-15 lbs, that could've got my nitrites up. I don't know. Since I haven't been able to buy the salt mix, I added some amquel to neutralize the nitrites and I am going to test the water again tomorrow.

[rbdesigns]

Crap, she used tap water. I don't have a sump and I think the seaclone is the only thing that fits. It was a tight fit also. The opening is about 2-1/2 - 3inches. I had to practically force the powerhead in the chamber.

[Badmort]

Dude.... Amquel is a no no.... really bad idea on a reef .. Thats to kill ammonia out of tapwater..... Which you should never be using...

[rbdesigns]

I think it was about a gallon and a half total that she topped off.

I am going to try the kent scraper.

[rbdesigns]

I thought it was reef safe!? I didn't even bother reading that it only gets rid of ammonia. chlorine and chloramin. Hopefully it doesn't cause any problems.

[flyhigh123]

it looks like there is direct sunlight in the pic... maybe some of the algae growth is from too much light....

[rbdesigns]

Yeah, I've been spending so much money on the tank that I haven't been able to afford to buy blinds. It gets about 2 hours a day of direct sunlight.

[SirLight1337]

he said his GF topped the tank off with Tap water. that will cause the craziest algae bloom of all time, not to mention probably isnt the greatest idea. Use RO water for top offs from now on. Scrape off the algae with the kent scraper, it works wonders. Get off your lazy butt and go buy some salt mix and mix up some fresh RO/saltmix for a water change. Dont say " Guys help me my tank looks like poop but im to lazy to go buy some salt mix so ill just dump some chemical in my tank "

[rbdesigns]

When I ran out of salt mix all the stores where closed. So I didn't have ne other option. But how do I stop the crap coming out of the rocks? Will it go away over time? Or should I take the rocks out of the tank and cook the rock to get all the crap out? I know I've been lazy, that's y I'm asking if I should go the extra mile, cook the rock, take the tank down, scrape off all the algae, then take advantage that it's empty and sand the entire tank down to get rid of all the scratches, or if I don't have to do all that and just do a water change every week and live with the scratches?

[gtrestoration]

The stuff coming "out" of the rocks is a sign of life "inside" the rocks and IMO is a good thing. From the looks of the tank I see no need to cook your rock. That process is most often used to eliminate built-up nutrients in older rock from high nutrient systems.

As for the scratches you have to decide if you want to live with them. It will only get worse.

SteveU

[flyhigh123]

maybe take a tub of SW and take each rock and give it a swirl.... i'm thinking the gunk is probably from the algae that is consumed or dies or gets scrapped off the glass.... what will really help your problem is to get some blinds or put some newspaper up.... direct sunlight creates a crazy algae bloom... all that alagea has to go somewhere in the tank since when you clean the tank the algae stays in the water, just not on the glass....

[luisprado]

I've had tremendous success cleaning my acrylic with "The dawn power dish brush". This amazing tool cleans the heck out of your tank and leaves it pretty clean and polished. You can pick one up at any major supermarket, but VONS has it the cheapest right now, for like 3.99 or 5.99. Oh ya, and it doesn't scratch your acrylic. Great little tool, just can't say enough about it.

[BMitch]

Is this "Dawn power dish brush" safe to use underwater or while water is removed from the tank for waterchanges?

Sounds like a great idea if its waterproof!

[laverda]

They are suppose to be water proof but are not really 100% sealed. I have killed one so far but they do work well. I wish the had a on off switch not a button you have to hold in. My fingers get sore long before all my acrylic is clean.

[drake66]

very nice, i never thought of using that spin brush thing....i can steal em for you guys i work at vons :D

[BMitch]

You mean to tell me the Vons you work at doesn't have billions of cameras waiting to capture you?

When I worked for them, felt like I had a loss prevention person shadowing me everywhere I went.

[drake66]

psh nah, i steal stuff all the time, mainly Rockstar energy drinks :D and sandwhiches haha. I never go hungry :D its pretty laid back, its in a good area, so there arent sensors and they only have cameras at the cash registers. so yea SHHHH! :rollface:

[DANNY G2004]

Drake I manage that store.........LoL

[drake66]

hahaha....you didnt read this *whistles*

[Badmort]

ROFL :lol:

[drake66]

:lol: shush

[DANNY G2004]

:lol:

[gtrestoration]

Rule # 1

The internet only "appears" to keep you anonymous.

I want to ask where you draw the line... but I wont.

SteveU