Ok... Bigtime newbe mistake...

C

Ctimpson

Reefing newb
So last night after installing my skimmer I added some ammo carb to a media sock and when I woke up this morning my tank was black... I mean the sand had a light dusting of black all over it as well as all my rocks... I have since removed the ammo carb and stirred up the substrate hoping that it would filter out through the overflow... Any other suggestions? Also where do I want the bubble level coming upto in my euroreef? I have heard to about 1" below the rim of the collection cup...
 
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wow that sucks.
as far as the skimmer bubbles it depends on how wet you want to run it. I usually run the bubble level 1/3 to halfway up the tube
 
where did you add the ammo carb? did you rinse it first? Is there any other additives in you tank (meds, water softener, stresscoat)? what kind of water are you using?
 
redline has you covered on the skimmer.
it's allways a good idea to rinse the carbon off with water to remove any dust. this is also a good way to tell the cheap carbon from the good stuff, the good carbon will make a sizzling sound when it gets wet, the cheap stuff won't.
i'm not sure about using the ammonia removing carbon in a saltwater tank. most of that stuff i have seen has been for freshwater. that's the purpose of a good bioligical filter, to turn ammonia into nitrite, then nitrate. maybe someone else will chim in on this.
 
Yes, I rinsed it first... I added my C balance, my trace soft and trace hard last night... Could that have caused any of this... I took the carbon out and it is clearing should I gravel vac the stuff in the sand and brush the rocks off with a toothbrush?
 
hard to say without seeing it but if it will come up with a vac it wouldn't hurt to get what you can and just make a water change out of it while your at it
 
WHY are you using an ammonia remover?

If the tank is set up properly and the biological filter is working, you shouldn't have any ammonia.

So tell us why your using that stuff.
Is the tank new?
Have you had a recent death? Perhaps there is a rotting corpse in the tank?
Have you been neglecting your regular water changes?
Are you using well water?
Some type of really nasty tap water?

WHY are you running a chemical media to remove ammonia? Shouldn't be any ammonia in the tank.

The answer to those questions will help us -- help you.
 
I'm not sure if the dust from the ammo carb will cause any harm.Safe bet is to try to remove as much as possible.I would go ahead and do a water change and siphon as much out as possible.What was the reason for using ammonia remover?

The Euro-reef skimmer is similar in design as mine.When I first installed it,I ran it about an inch below the neck/collection cup and slowly raised it until it skimmed what I was looking for.Mainly a very dark dry skim.
 
Yeah, using an ammonia remover like that should only be necessary in an emergency, like RC said, if something died overnight and you woke up in the morning to sky high levels and the life of everything in your tank was at risk.
 
If I'm thinking right(which rarely happens).Ammo Carb is only supposed to be used in fresh water tanks.

The only chemical media I can see using is something for phosphates.But even then you've got to be careful with it.

And never,I repeat NEVER use carbon without rinsing it good first.
 
Wow... Ok, first I honestly thought that it would not be a concern. first of all, I rinsed it really well before using it... I put it in a week ago as just a means to remove some impurities. My water levels are fine everything at 0... I asked a friend to pick me up some carbon and that is what they brought home... They work at a lfs so I didn't think anything of it... I did a water change of 10 gallons and replaced with RO water and everything is back to normal... I just have never seen anything like that happen before... It was in the sump for over a week without a problem, then I add the skimmer and my c-balance and wakeup to something that look like gunpowder residue all over everything... Needless to say, I will never be doing that again... I have had no deaths since stocking the tank, so everything is now right with the world again.... Thanks for the input everyone...
 
any carbon I use is activated carbon that comes in a media bag so it won't leach out into the tank. Rinse it well and THEN put it into your filter sock. That is how I run my carbon

-Dr Marco :sfish:
 

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