1 year and now some problems

I am also still going to take my water in on Monday just to make sure that if anything else is wrong I can get that cleared up to. I will let you know what I find out from the LFS.

I didnt read all the post so I opilogise if I doubled up with some one elses opinions!!

Any way just to start..

I remember a long time ago when I got started into this hobby, nearly killed everything!!

More then once!!

Had some realy cool things going on , had more copepods and peds then ya can imagine ,,didnt even know what they were just knew some of the fish would eat them!!, had,,and still have ,,, hang on the back and canister filters ,,,,, I must have looked like a financial investor to those guys who sold me everything , found out most of it was more for me to look at then it was for the inhabitants of the aquarium.
My first 55 gallon tank turned so dark green you couldnt see through it!!


It was runing for several months beofr this happend !!

Stayed that way for 2 weeks , was about to throw it all out the door and one day it just cleard up .

But,,,, I had to stop doing water changes, everytime I did a WC it made it worse because the new water was keeping the tank from completing its cycle!!



Still look back on that as a learning curve!!

Like everyone else here ,,,,you will experience many forms of algae that will come and go , it is part of the cycle of life,,,especialy in a smaller system ,,,, However one thing that allways happens regardless of what you do ,,,,,,will be the growth of some sort of algae some where in your tank,,,,more so in a over crowded tank with or a tank with a heavy bio load.

If you ever go to the lake you will find algae on everything!!

If you have too many fish ,,,,or a few fish that are good size,,or over feed,,, then you realy have to keep up on the maintnance, If a HOB filter media is nasty when ya take it out start changing it befor it gets that nasty.
As well as maybe add another one or a biger one.

I learnt that one the hard way!!
I still use HOB filters like the one you had a issue with,swear by them,,,, have had them for many years trohble free, however they need to be cleand regularly..

Its better to flush a few peds and pods then let the tank crash!!

I also did away with the OEM media and filter pads.

They were nitrate nitrite factories.

Any way,,,,,, I am wondering,,,,, if your new sump isnt trying to cycle on ya ,, do you have a lot of light on over the sump?

You increased the water quantity but it sounds like you also increased the lighting for the macro ??

You will need to clean the sump regularly now as well as vacume the sand bed and the rocks in the sump can be cleand as well, it dont hurt anything at all.

IMO I would wait for a few months to start doing it unless it gets realy bad!!
That will give it time to cycle or break in so to speak!!

If it has been runing for a few months then it is probaly time to put it on a schedlue.


A old timer told me once unless there is a good coating of slime on the glass it isnt cycled ,use your finger and wipe it across the inside of the glass , you should feel a slime coating or slipery feeling., I know that sounds off the wall but it does have it merits.

I was wondering also if you have ever had your basment checked for ozone ?

Or maybe a leak in the flue gasses from any furnace or HWT ,,you did mention Co2, do you have a fresh air sorce in the basment?

I notice when I run my ventless natural gass heaters I get some alge growth.

If you run one in the basment then that may be a issue.
Some times air can become stagnet just like water.
What about any signs of any molds growing in the basment?
that can be a sign of stagnet air or Co2 leaks.
If no to those questions then I would also consider the water changes and how the new water has to come up to the parameters of the tank, if there is a big issue with the time it takes to gain stability and stablise then like Chris has said you may have a build up of detris in the substrate, also every few months it doesnt hurt to take a few rocks out and scrub them with a tooth brush ,,, you may be surprised as to what may be trying to grow.

Just a few things to think of in your quest to find the corective procedure.


Some where there will be a end point to the amount of rise in the N03 N04 , you may need to find that end point or eliminate the trouble befor it gets too far.

If you have a QT you may also be able to shift a few things around to it while you sort this out.


Good luck

Originally Posted by ErikTiegs

The reason I think that I have a Co2 problem is because I always have high KH but my PH is always on the low side. From what I read the only explanation for that is high Co2. I found this on reefkeeping.com. I am not an expert but I think this may be what is wrong. I am going to try and run a air line from my skimmer to an outside window and see if it helps. If it does I am going to get a whole house air exchanger and just fix the problem.

High pH: Causes and Cures by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

Before you run the air line to your skimmer there is an easy test you can do to see if thats a problem. Get a small air pump, air line and air stone. Test the PH of your tank water and then take a glass of tank water outside and place the air stone in the glass of tank water and run it for a while (20 to 30 minutes) Now retest the PH of the water in the glass. If the PH in the glass is a lot higher then in the tank you have elevated CO2 in the house.

And I said Co2 not Co

My bad!!

Erik, hows it going?