So after I took precautions to eliminate DO to reduce cyano in the tank (filters went and other circumstances) I resorted to chemi clean to take what was left out of the tank… which by the way did absolutely NOTHING.
During which I turned off my skimmer for the recommended period, then left it off 3 more days, yep I forgot. So I figured I’d just fire up the skimmer again, that would take an hour to remove from the sump in case your wondering, forgetting that what water remained in it at this point might as well be toilet water after a good bowl of chili lol!
So now the place smells like a corpse and I’m enjoying a scotch and remorse.
Keep the skimmer running or clean it before you run it again!!!
sounds like you are trying to recover from tank neglect. me too. i have found that after a long time without cleaning, a lot of fluff is trapped in the sand beds, in the rock and im way behind on water changes. so ive been doing more sand syphoning to get the mud out, that really helps. changing, cleaning filters, and media, like poly pads, GFO, carbon and Purigen pouches. followed by larger water changes. it seems to be working. with better attention to magnesium levels, im not adding as much CaCl or bicarbs, just some limee water with vinegar. oh and daily doses of vodka too. it all seems to be bringing the tanks back to life. Ive been bad a long time. and it takes time for it to recover even with cleaning. Dont forget to clean the protein skimmer now and then too. mine get logs of tube worms growing inside, and scum, whick makes it way less efficient at removing crud. now, even the fuges look cleaner and greener.
Sorry to hear that Tim, nothng bunch of water changes wont fix.
Btw, I found that my Redsea c-skim skimmer have need function, I only run skimmer now for 3 hours a day so skimmer feed pump runs all the time, moving water through. Controller turns aeration pump on/off. At first i didn’t like having 2 pumps, but now i find it very flexible.