Gina and Mark's New 75 Gallon.

[billyr98]

taste like chicken?

[Craig Manoukian]

Whoa, where are those breathmints?

[Gina]

We started our second attempt (after a cyano outbreak last year) on our 75 March 13th.
We used 80lbs of Reef Bones for the base then about 2 weeks later added another 20lbs of cured LR from the LFS.
For the sand we have 100lbs of Live Argonite.

We tested our water parameters every few days. Once the readings were good, we waited a couple more weeks before we added our fish and some Blue Mushrooms we picked up at ILC.

A week later we picked up some star polyps and zoas. (Which opened up one time then stayed closed and have since died).

I have been hitting my head against the wall trying to figure out what the heck we are doing wrong and have thought out about every option.
I still have a couple of mushrooms I picked up a couple of weeks ago but, they refuse to expand all the way. I had also picked up along with them some Xenia which melted immediately.

The fish are all doing great! I just cannot get any corals to thrive.

We use Salifert Test kits, have a pin point monitro for PH.
We use a 6 stage Aqua-Safe RO/DI for all water usage.
I even had Mark check for stray voltage last week and we're good. None.

On April 4th we set up a Refugium with 5lbs of rubble, 2lbs of sand out of Dr. Macs tanks and a large ball of Chaeto.
For lighting on that we use a Daylight 75W Sprial lamp like the one Melev uses on his site.
The Chaeto is not growing that I can tell and when swished in the water breaks apart in tiny pieces.

About a week ago the sand started turning a brownish red (more brown than red). Last Sunday I decided to take some of that out along the front of the tank and found it to be rock hard. The pieces I got were like cement.

Went to the LFS last night and spoke to the guy who is supposed to be the Saltwater expert there.
I told him I thought I had a possible Diatom bloom but, he disagreed because the sand was hard.
He asked about our water params and I told him they were good and then he said they would be because you don't have a water problem, you have a bacteria in your tank.

He said we had to treat it and to use either Malachite Green or this other stuff (don't recall the name, but you would have to take out all the rock for that one).
Then he also told us we needed to buy a UV Sterilizer. Somewhere along the lines we brought that bacteria in.

So, before we do anything, I want your guys opinion. I have a pic attached of our problem.
He also said that the bacteria is the reason why our corals don't do well and die.

Please help solve this. I thought we had done everything right this time (unlike our first tank) but, seems everything is going wrong and I'm getting really frustrated!

Ask whatever questions need to be asked and I will be my best to answer.

[cheeks69]

Gina did you cure the reef bones in a seperate tank ?

Reef Bones are authentic uncured natural ocean rocks. They should be treated before putting into an established aquarium by standard curing methods such as soaking in a bucket of freshwater or seawater for 1-3 weeks changing water frequently. For faster introduction, you may soak in a mild bleach solution (5 tablespoons per gallon) for at least 1 hour, and then expose to the sun for about 3 days or until you cannot smell bleach anymore. For new aquariums set ups, Reef Bones can be put right into the aquarium, and cured during normal cycling process (1-3 weeks).

http://www.mops.ca/cgi-bin/SoftCart.....asp?E+scstore

[cheeks69]

Did he explain how he came to the conclusion that the problem was bacteria ? What would the addition of Malachite Green do for the tank ? It's possible that although your parameters appear to be fine your tank needs to mature a bit before adding any corals. What I find perplexing is the sand turning rock hard Do you have a cleanup crew keeping the top layer of substrate well oxygenated ?

[Gina]

I didn't know or even think about the Reef Bones needing cycling.
Mark says he knew it had to be cycled and thought we went through the cycle in the tank when we saw a rise in numbers and then decline.
Once they declined we waited about 2 weeks then added the fish and corals we had in the 30 back to the 75.
We added all the nassarius snails about 30 to the tank also. I noticed after a couple of weeks, I started seeing empty shells.
I'm not sure at this point how many Nassarius snails we have left.
We just purchased 12 Astreas last night.
I think what we will do is order another batch from e-bay (since they are so expensive from our LFS) and add them on in.

Anything else you can think of we should add?

He came to the conclusion it was bacteria since our readings were ok and because the sand was like cement where it was coated in brown. When I removed it from one area of the tank, I could lift big pieces of it.
The Malachite Green according to him would kill the bacteria we had in the tank and he added we should get a UV Sterilizer.

As far as not having a sufficient clean up crew....that's my bad! I will take care of the situation right away.
I had thought what we had was diatoms like you get from a newly set up aquarium and that's why I went to the store last night to pick up some Cerith Snails but, they don't carry them. That's when the guy and I started talking about my problem.

Robert,
Thank you so much for helping with this. I was just about ready to tear the tank down and call it quits!
Now to get the mess I made cleaned up and hopefully in a couple of months we'll have a nice looking tank.