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Wow, ok thanks guys! Yes I had wondered why my clownfish were hanging out so much toward the water surface... the bacteria is sopping up the oxygen and they’re having a hard time breathing. I kept testing my water for amomia and nitrite because I had assumed my tank was undergoing some sort of crash from the new lights. Corals appear to be irritated, but fine otherwise. I’ll get on the bubble thing right away!
Yes I assumed my skimmer was strong enough to keep up with my dosing. The 1.5 hob by aquamaxx is supposedly rated for tanks up to 75 gallons if lightly stocked. It’s the “latest generation” of the big blue hang on slimmer aquamaxx makes. My entire system is 45 gallons, lightly stocked. My skimmate is very wet and watery, sort of the shade of sweet tea. Reappears every 6-8 hours from thick white foam. If I try to adjust the skimmer to collect dry skimmate only, I wouldn’t have any skimmate in the collection cup at all.
Should I worry about this bacteria colony in my water surface having an impact on my colony of beneficial bacteria? I think my problem was that I was dosing for the amount of vodka recommended for 40 gallons of water, but I never took into account that my tank doesn’t actually hold 40 gallons of water, I have 42 pounds of San Marcos dry rock displacing the mass of water, so my actual amount is probably like 20 something gallons.
Thank you all so much!
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