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 State of the Tank: (cont.) |
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phosphates into the water but I think the resolution was 'yeah, but not really enough to case any harm, provided everything else was in good shape'...or something to that effect. But back on point, what does one do in order to deal with THIS type of problem? Well, several things.
The BEST thing you can do is everything you can to prevent this crap in the first place. What some people are doing now (and it's what I'd probably do if I were just setting up the tank and could bribe my family into leaving the house for a few months) is 'cooking' their live rock. Simply put, rock cooking is a technique in which live rock is stored away in darkened containers of constantly changed clean saltwater for the purpose of letting the rocks own bacteria consume as much of its organics as possible. This will thereby substantially reduce the amount of phosphate causing properties inherently stored within that rock. Got it? Well, if this is something you'd like to try (and if you can, you should), here's one of SEVERAL threads that go much deeper into the techniques and philosophies involved:
Click Here
Suffice it to say this takes a lot of time, space and saltwater. In my case, it would also involve dismantling my entire reef structure, which is not a place I'm willing to go just yet. I AM willing to make even more of a commitment to keep what I have |
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even cleaner however so here are the steps that I am following.
1. To skim even more aggressively. This step was relatively easy since I just recently acquired the new MR-7 from MyReef Creations anyway. So what does skimming more aggressively mean? Wet skimming, basically. My goal is to get a 'green tea' colored skimmate instead of the coffee colored stuff I'm getting now. This will mean emptying the collection cup more often and keeping an eye on my salinity since much more 'water' will be removed. But considering the alternative, that's a really small price to pay.
I am also going to utilize and ozonizer for the first time in several years. I've ordered the Red Sea Aquazone 100mg/hr kit with a controller to keep the ozone levels low and constant. In addition to helping to keep the water clear, running ozone through the skimmer also makes it even MORE efficient in getting out the gunk since it breaks down organics that it otherwise might miss...until they break down in the tank...which is bad.
2. To help with any water flow problems, I've decided
to add a pair of Tunze 6100 Streams (also with controller). Each one moves approximately 3175 gallons of water per hour so, hopefully, they will make an impact on some of the dead spots.
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