questions on at tank and diatom blooms

[blennyluv]

ok,
i am confused. my qt tank held my clownfish for 2 mos with no problems. no real filtration cuz of the meds i was using. just a phosphate thing in my hob filter and a sponge on my powerhead. downsized to a 10 gallon with a powerhead and the same hob filter. all was well, clowns got better, moved them to the main tank. put my blue tang in cuz she got stressed during our big storm and broke out with ick. all seemed well, added fish that got shipped and the water parameters got screwy. ammo up to 1.0 and trites up to .25 all else was ok, so took the other fish that were well and put them in thier new homes after about a week, the tank too small and water parameters really scaring me. but yesterday my blue tang died, my fault, ignored her for about 4 days, no water changes in that crappy water. my question. i musta taken out 7 gallons yesterday and added from my good tanks. cant seem to get this stupid tank level. put a carbon filter in my hob. what else shoudl i do, want to get it solved before i add anymore fish to it. how do you balance a qt tank anyway

2nd. my main tank has diatom on the sand, how do i get rid of it?? i have not been feeding much, and mostly frozen when i do. have a uv and a canister and a hob and a skilter, and 2 powerheads?? rocks are fine, mostly just the sand, you all said it would cause diatom (quartz) but my othe rtank is just fine. maybe difference in lighting???
thanks again for help!!

[gman0526]

The problem you have in the qt is that there's maybe too many fish in it and the bioload is too high, rememebr all you have in there is a HOB and a sponge on your PH, other than the aquarium walls themselves as surface for bacterial growth, your biofilter is very limited. In this situation I would have to reccomend daily waterchanges of at least 50% to try to dillute as much of the amm. and trites as possible.

Diatoms are gonna subside once the fuel is gone, there's many people that use various kinds of sands w/o any problems. Try pointing the powerheads as much as you can in the sand's direction. Make sure that whatever frozen food you feed has been rinsed with FW pref. RO/DI, those juices that the food comes frozen into are loaded with phosphates. And the other matter would be your canister, just make sure you clean it at least every other day. Sorry about your tang, HTH

[blennyluv]

you have to clean that canister every other day???? or just until the problem is gone???
i kinda figured that was the problem with the 10 gallon qt. so with no fish in it, will it balance out?? or should i continue to do water changes. will be getting a fish next week, maybe 2. so want to get it balanced by then.
thanks george! miss my tang, she was so dang cute. really ticks me off when i kill a fish out of pure stupidity. sheesh, i knew too

[gman0526]

I would clean it evry other day with SW for as long as you're using the QT, just rinse the cartridge. To keep the parameters in check you'll need to do the water changes. If there's no fish in right now jsut set it up the day b4 the fish arrive with some water from one of your tanks. Don't worry i'm here to help.. :D

[blennyluv]

oh sheesh, i thought you meant the canister in the tank i am struggling with diatom. i did clean that canister, but that is a rena xp2 in my 55 and pumps alot of water, it should not need cleaned every day should it?? ok, there is no fish in the qt, but it is up and running with bad water. so will change out the water this weekend again. need to get it better by next week. thanks for being there!!

[gman0526]

Okey dokey :D . The canister just give it a good swoosh evry couple of days, the only way that it will become a problem is if it's left unatended and the detritus builds up and "rots" in there. :thumbsup:

[blennyluv]

so, i think i will take all the water out of the qt tank and start over, the only thing i have coming is my blue tang (how do you tell the grandkids dory died, and grandma killed her?????) told them she was playing hide and seek from them. hmmm, i am losing it. and a royal gramma. which i got free from being a repeat customer. so far i have gottn 2 crabs, a lawnmower blenny and now a rg. so cool, just have all your friends order through you and you get free stuff and they are happy you are willing to sit around all day and wait on the fishes. good system. but soon i will have no room for the free stuff.... should i sell it or be nice and give it away? suppose it depends on the mood ha ha. anyway, the tank had a ton of uneaten food in the bottom and got cloudy, so i think it best to empty out and start over.
well, chat later george!

[gman0526]

Cool. I would do that too. Like I said b4, a day or 2 b4 the fishes get there set up the tank with water from your main tank and while QT'ing do regular water changes about every 2 days, just keep a look on the ammonia.