Why is my tank filthy?

[boonzarino]

I have a 29G biocube and it has been up and running for a few months with livestock in it. Got 30lbs. LR, some rubble where my bioballs were. Stock lighting, skimmer (which I don't know if it's working....), heater in 3rd chamber of tank back. Have some zoas, star polyps, candy cane frag.

Got a royal gramma, striped fish (forget the name), one baby clown, and an algae blenny. Also had a green hair algae problem that I got a few turbo snails for (and they've taken care of the problem completely).

Did a water change - 5 gal. - and when i was done, it seemed that the tank just became FILTHY. All algae died off or was eaten by snails, but there seems to be a ton of debris in the tank. Water levels are all within normal limits.... just not sure why there is so much debris. How do I get it out? I have no filter - I was under the impression that the LR would do the trick. But I think I might need some filter floss....? Also, protien skimmer is in 1st chamber... but is submersed up to the top of the skimmer... which I am assuming is not right.

So my questions:

How do I get rid of the debris? Is there a specific syphon someone would recommend for my tank?

How far submersed should the protein skimmer be?

After I use turkey baster to get all debris off rock, then what? It seems to just fall back on the rocks.

Should I feel a suction when I put my hand at the bottom intake grate in the BC29? (I don't!)

[L_Spec]

You'll get it out the same way as a FW tank. You can use a good old HOB filter. The LR is only going to be your bio filter...

I use an Aquaclear filter, and I think it's great.

[Zappo]

Doing a water change kicks up all the debris in the tank, as you noticed. It helps if you use the turkey baster to blow off the rocks while doing a water change, and try to suck out as much crud as you can before it settles.

[TjwBlake]

I would definitely add some filter floss to the 2nd chamber. IMO you would need at least some mechanical filtration just to pull out that little bit of crud from the water

[Ron Reefman]

I would definitely add some filter floss to the 2nd chamber. IMO you would need at least some mechanical filtration just to pull out that little bit of crud from the water

+1 You need some kind of mechanical filtration, at least for now. I run mechanical filtration about 35-50% of the time.

[Sk8r]

get one or two (depending on size) true Nassarius snails. They live under the sand and eat debris. Don't clean it up, just get the snails, and wait. You didn't mention your sand depth: if 1" or under, unfortunately, debris happens. If 3-4", you will have more sandbed processing.

[maymania6]

Dont think your protein skimmer should be sumberged that deep. What kind of skimmer is it?

[rovster]

I have a 14 bc, and I run a media rack with floss on top. I have to change it every few days because it picks up a lot of crap. I am skimmerless as well. Water is cloudy after wc, but clears up within a shortbwhile.