A few wierd issues tonight

Hey guys,

I have come home from work and my mum, who is home most of the day and watches the tank from time to time told me there was some issues today.

Issue 1: Protein Skimmer Skimming Hecticly:
- I have a hydor 450 protein skimmer that has been going for 2-3 months. It usually skims half a container thing a day, prob 300ml. Today apparantly it was skimming L's. Just churning through and then stopped? Mum freaked cause it caused an over flow and majorly lowered my sump level because I have no ATO.

I am wondering what would cause it to do that and for only a brief period of time as it is running fine now. I was thinking something died? I.e. Possibly one of my green blue chromis that I cant find....

Issue 2: Green BTA floating around the tank:
- It has happened once before when he was new in the tank. Hes been there for about a month. Apparantly mum saw him floating at the surface and using the skills I taught her when it happened before i.e. not grabbing it, moved it back to a protected ledge and it has finally reattached. Apparently it was near my MP10 and about to become soup. Is it possible hes just trying to get to better flow now the MP10 is there?

I did my last 10% waterchange only two days ago. And yesterday I added my new vortech MP10. Which is a significant flow upgrade to what was going on in it before. Its currently running on nutrient transport mode.

I have tested all my parameters and are as follows:
Ammo: 0.25 - Sort of always reads this.
Nitrate: 0
Nitrite: 0
pH: 8-8.2
Phos: 0.1-2 I think. I used to use tap water and have now been using RODI and GFO for about 3-4 weeks.
Calc: 440
Alk: 8.8
Mg: 1200

I have dosed a little bit of alk and mg to bring that up higher.

Does anyone have any ideas of what is going on? I have recently lost a clown to a bladder problem and have lost 1 or 2 snails that have turned over and I havent caught them. But other than that the tanks been going good. I do 10% water changes a week using RODI water. As I mentioned on above I have two blue green chromis and can only find one. The other seems to be missing in action at breakfast and dinner. Not sure where he is.

Any help would be appreciated. I havent put it in ASAP cause its not a true emergency, but its worrying me so I would appreciate any ideas you may have.

Thanks Ryan.

 

It sounds like your skimmer is running pretty "wet" to begin with, so I'd address that and get it skimming a bit "drier".

What additives have you used in the tank recently? Dosing and medications can make a skimmer go apesh!t. Even some foods will affect skimmer performance.

I'd be concerned with your NH3 readings...esp. since you say you're using RODI. NH3 should be ZERO unless you have recently fed the tank, at which point, it should spike a little if your tank is immature.

BTA's can move if they aren't "happy"...this includes temp., flow, water parameters, and most of all the availability of food. They really don't need a ton of flow, so if your PH from hell is blasting it, that's likely the reason. Are you feeding the 'nem?

 

If the air intake gets restricted in any way, 'cause more output to the cup.

May have been the prob., or you now have alot more insoluble proteins in your tank also.

** Are you using a contious drain from the cup? I DON't recommend this if you are. If the cup fills and overflows, shoud go right back into your sump, right? BTW- this won't kill the fish, it's where it came from, right?

If you have an ATO and A Drain from the skimmer cup, you can drasticly and quickly lower your SG that way- and that is bad news by replacing the drain water with OSG water too fast.

 

I am by no means an expert but I'm thinking you may be skimming a bit too wet also. I would also suggest that perhaps your ammonia may indicate that your fish did in fact die. The nem is probably to figure out if it likes the increased flow or not.....everything I've read say they move to find a spot where they are happy so yours moving suggests that it may need time to adjust to the increased flow or doesn't like it?? I mainly responded because your mum should be congratulated that she pays such close attention to your tank!! That is awesome that you have that great of a monitor!

 

Thanks for the suggestion, I have toned down the amount of water going into it.

I have not added anything for approximately a month. I have never dosed any sort of medication into the tank before. The only I do dose is a Ca, Mg and Alk supplement from Red Sea, but I havent added this for ages.

NH3 has always been odd for me. Its actually NEVER reached zero. I think its actually due to the API test I use not being terribly accurate.

My skimmer is external. So I use a continuous drain from the cup into a small cup. I have changed this to a 20L bucket to make sure something doesnt happen like this again.

I have checked the salinity and it was a bit low so I have bought it back up to 1.026.

 

thanks for the advice. My mums fantastic. Shes like the early warning system I dont have enough money for

I also do feed my nems and starfish. I feed them a peice of raw muscle flesh every 2 - 3 days. But he did spit his out last time it was feeding time.

 

+1 Check your entire air intake system for a blockage. I have a Bubble Magus NAC7 and I have to use a drill bit once every two weeks to keep the air intake to the pump free of build up. If I let it go much longer than that, I get overflows.

 

Are the muscles wild caught? Maybe somethin came in on them...chemical or somethin...

 

They are packaged bought ones from the supermarket.

 

do you have any corals? When they spawn (which is usually at night) the skimmers can go crazy