squid row
01/30/2018, 10:03 AM
This is kind of long but I set up a 72 gallon tank from scratch two weeks ago.
Somewhere in the water making process a chemical was introduced. it was either from an exterminator or house cleaning, I have no way to determine which.
The result is a film coating everything and causing my protein skimmer to go absolutely nuts with foam.
There is no live stock in the tank, just sand and "Life Rock" from Caribsea.
I tried doing massive water changes with no luck in getting the skimmer to calm down then started noticing much larger affects. The skimmer, tank glass and hoses are all coated in a slime like blueish gray substance, this accelerated after trying to use carbon to help remove whatever it is.
So, after much deliberation I drained all the water, removed the rocks and all the equipment and gave everything a vinegar bath which helped a lot but not 100%
Right now the rocks and equipment are soaking in the bath tub in fresh water after their vinegar bath. Pics attached show what a clear pvc hose looked like after I removed it from the return pump compared to new and some of the bubbling that is still occurring in the fresh water flush/bath
So my question is what else can I do besides throwing everything away?
My goal was to set up a FOWLR tank initially and then after it was established, add in some coral and eventually become a mixed reef tank
Somewhere in the water making process a chemical was introduced. it was either from an exterminator or house cleaning, I have no way to determine which.
The result is a film coating everything and causing my protein skimmer to go absolutely nuts with foam.
There is no live stock in the tank, just sand and "Life Rock" from Caribsea.
I tried doing massive water changes with no luck in getting the skimmer to calm down then started noticing much larger affects. The skimmer, tank glass and hoses are all coated in a slime like blueish gray substance, this accelerated after trying to use carbon to help remove whatever it is.
So, after much deliberation I drained all the water, removed the rocks and all the equipment and gave everything a vinegar bath which helped a lot but not 100%
Right now the rocks and equipment are soaking in the bath tub in fresh water after their vinegar bath. Pics attached show what a clear pvc hose looked like after I removed it from the return pump compared to new and some of the bubbling that is still occurring in the fresh water flush/bath
So my question is what else can I do besides throwing everything away?
My goal was to set up a FOWLR tank initially and then after it was established, add in some coral and eventually become a mixed reef tank