Nimboli12
Reefee
Ive heard the term "crashed" many times in different threads.
What are the signs that my tank has "crashed". What do youdo next?
What are the signs that my tank has "crashed". What do youdo next?
How can you tell if your tank has "crashed"
- Thread starter Nimboli12
- Start date
Bifferwine
I am a girl
Mostly your livestock dead or dying. Tanks can "crash" for a variety of reasons. Usually there is a presence of ammonia or nitrites when you test your water. What you do depends on what went wrong. Usually immediate large water changes are necessary. But you have to get to the root of the problem and correct that.
Nimboli12
Reefee
My fish and tank are doing fine. There seems to be too much green algae on my walls and on the top of my sand. My corals are all happy too. I took out my canister filter and just have my Protein Skimmer and sump.
Im doing a water change right now so can you answer my UV Sterilizer question asap?
Thank YOu
Im doing a water change right now so can you answer my UV Sterilizer question asap?
Thank YOu
Nimboli12
Reefee
Ok. I just saw an answer to another question about Powerheads. It sounds like I need more flow in my tank to prevent this algae and brown or algae on to of my sand. I have a 60gal. Im going to check my powerheads to see if they are working right.
Nimboli12
Reefee
How can I tell if my powerheads are as strong as they should be? By just sticking my hand in the tank in front of the powerhead to check the flow? That's not gonna work.
Bifferwine
I am a girl
Powerheads are rated for flow, in gallons per hour. You should add up the total amount of flow in your tank -- so if you have two 1,000 gph powerheads, that's 2,000 gph flow total.
You want to the total amount of flow to be at least 10 times, but ideally 20+ times the size of your tank.
So if you have a 60 gallon tank, you want at least 600 to 1,200 gph of flow, or more.
In my old 10 gallon tank, I had 100 times turnover. So more is usually better. In my 90, I had 60 times turnover. They say "If your sand is staying on the bottom, you don't have too much flow."
Most people don't have enough flow in their tanks, IMO. In a 60 gallon I'd want at least two, probably three powerheads total. They should be placed in opposite areas of the tank, facing upwards to the water's surface so that they create a ripple on the surface of the water.
You want to the total amount of flow to be at least 10 times, but ideally 20+ times the size of your tank.
So if you have a 60 gallon tank, you want at least 600 to 1,200 gph of flow, or more.
In my old 10 gallon tank, I had 100 times turnover. So more is usually better. In my 90, I had 60 times turnover. They say "If your sand is staying on the bottom, you don't have too much flow."
Most people don't have enough flow in their tanks, IMO. In a 60 gallon I'd want at least two, probably three powerheads total. They should be placed in opposite areas of the tank, facing upwards to the water's surface so that they create a ripple on the surface of the water.
FishyReef
Broke Reefer!
The presence of nitrates and phosphates can also lead to algae growth. What are your parameters, are you using tap water, and what do you have for a clean up crew?
Nimboli12
Reefee
No. I always use RO water. I didn't have a problem with this stuff until about 3 months ago. I had a nice clean up crew but I only have about 4 smails left. I have a ESlectric Blue crab. I think he killed the other snails as I found allot of empty shells. The snails are just not doing ther job as they are always on my rocks.
Under my sand I see some layers of purple stuff like some of the red slime on my rocks. The purple slime stuff gtrows on my rocks allot now. This didn't happen a few months ago. My water peramaters are on check though. Ph is never out of wack nor my Amon. I have 2 clowns, 1 6 line wrassse, 1 yellow tail damsel, a brittle star and I just got a Coral Beauty. Thats it. They've all done well .
I'll put in another powerhead, and get back to my weekly water changes. I think I let the water changes go too long for a while.
Under my sand I see some layers of purple stuff like some of the red slime on my rocks. The purple slime stuff gtrows on my rocks allot now. This didn't happen a few months ago. My water peramaters are on check though. Ph is never out of wack nor my Amon. I have 2 clowns, 1 6 line wrassse, 1 yellow tail damsel, a brittle star and I just got a Coral Beauty. Thats it. They've all done well .
I'll put in another powerhead, and get back to my weekly water changes. I think I let the water changes go too long for a while.
