Hey all. New guy, old tank.

[tulkas71]

Hello everyone,

Found this place about a month ago and have lurked untill now. Thought id jump with a little back history and a few pics.

The Tank was actually my ex-wifes and is about 5 years. we divorced 2 years ago and she asked me if I want to just sell everything because she obviously wasnt going to keep it. I told her that I would keep it and learn the hobby myself. (looking back now she didnt konw very much in the 1st palce :rolleyes: ) The whole thing has really started to grow on me.

Once i put myself back together I started on getting this thing cleaned up. It was VERY over run with cyno. several fished died, etc. I started boneing up learning the basics the cycle, over feeding, skimmers. just basic stuff. Ive finally got it to a point where it looks ALOT better. The water parameters are descent for fish. It had about 1/2 the live rock it should have had I replaced some of the fish that died and am going to try to make it a Nice mixed reef/fish.

I am going to wait untill i get home from work and post the water parameters so theyll be up to date. I plan to put more time and effort and make this thing nice. (try not to laugh at the current state in the pics:rolleyes:

Im going to wait about asking questions incase after you guys read this and see the pics and reply with some "Om my god you better get that under controll"

Alright on to the goodies:

Size: 55 gal (pretty scratched up because she used to keep a turtle in it)
Has a Crushed Coral bed, not sure how many lbs of like rock but i think its close to 1:1 now
An Unknown filter,
An odyssa p75 protien skimmer i just bought (wow the gunk it gets out)
A maxi-jet 1200 PH
I had 4 65watt PC lights 2 of witch are the black lights.
I dont have any RO filter thing since all my stuff is hang on. Ive just been topping it off with Distilled water jugs.

Critters:
1 Salifin Tang
1 Regal Tang
1 Maroon Clown
2 blk/white stripe damsels
1 hawkfish
3-4 mexican turbo snails

Heres 1st pics ( I took 2 pics and put them together)

http://webpages.charter.net/aburnett3/tank/Fullview_small.jpg

Corals and misc:
the next one is closeup of my 2 only healthy pieces of coral. The button poloyps have been the tank since the beginning. They look 100 times better than they did. I would like to nominate it as the strongest coral on planet earth. Trust me, if you had seen how bad this tank was before you'd give it a purple heart. The other piece to the left,I dont know the name. I got it 2 weeks ago out of sheer optimism because the tank is looking so much better now. So far it still looks good
http://webpages.charter.net/aburnett3/tank/button.jpg

Now for the causuality-in-progress. This is some sort of grass poloyp. I still have a cyno problem and the LFS told me to try to keep the alge off it with a soft toothbrush. Ive been real careful but I think its going to puch up the daisies and become another pice of live rock :(
http://webpages.charter.net/aburnett3/tank/casuality.jpg

Next is just a closeup of the origional live rock. I guess thats all cyno. not really sure if its a 'getting better' or status quo.
http://webpages.charter.net/aburnett3/tank/liverock.jpg

This one is a hitchhiker of some kind. NO IDEA. my luck its something bad.
http://webpages.charter.net/aburnett3/tank/unknown.jpg

Thanks basically it. I feed them shrimp pellets and the occasionaly pice of dried seaweed. I just got a calicum tester and found iy to be at 360ppm. Ive got some of the Kent A and B and have been adding it daily untill i have it at 400 now.

Im going to do another water change and clean the CC today. last time i cleaned too deep and had a amonia spike. so i learned my lesson there. other than that. a WORKING skimmer. and trying to keep my feedings as minimal as possible. I guess thats the best I can do for the alge. It bums me I cant save the grass poylp from "the green"

Sorry for the long post. I appreciate any and all advice and would love for some input. Ill get my parameters tommorow. phosphates are the main thin i need to get a tester for.

[Andrew]

[welcome]

Tank looks good. One thing I would point out is that I would get more flow in your tank. 1 max-jet isn't enough.

[tulkas71]

Wow, fast reply. I have another 1200 maxijet from that junk skimmer. I can add it to the opposite side. Will that get me up to speed?

[Jeremy Blaze]

Where you located?

[TippyToeX]

The hitchhiker on the last picture are hydroids. Yes they are bad. You can make a paste of kalkwasser and cover them. That is a good way of nuking them. :)

[tulkas71]

I just filled out my profile. Sorry I left it blank, didnt think about that.

Hydroids? Well I guess thats my luck. Ill do that this weekend. I have never had or used any kalkwasser so ill have to pick some up. Thanks big time for that. I figured I had some ticking timebombs.

I have major gaps in what i know and what i don't konw. So bear with me. :)

[staticfishmonger]

kalkwasser or kalk is used to maintain your calcium and alk (a search will give you more info than you could ever need on the stuff), and yes a concentrated solution will indeed kill the hydroids (and probably just about anything you subject to it), however if you dont use or plan to use it as your source of calcium and alk then i wouldnt recommend buying some just for the hydroids. you may want to do some research on the subject first, there are plenty of methods to get rid of the little buggers.
i will say the tank is looking pretty good and i do agree more flow is always a good thing.

good luck and keep up the research

[Joshthenosh]

i think u could do with maybe another 2 Mj 1200s to add to the 2 you already have.

I thgink them black n white fish are humbugs.

I think you should get more clean up crew get a few shrimps in there, and hermit crabs, few more soft courls would be nice

Oh and one thing would make your tank look much nicer, either paint the back of our tank (outside) a blue or put a type of visuly pleasing backing on it, will improve the appreance a lot!

[colettem]

One thing you might want to think about doing (although it will be a bit of a job) is removing the crushed coral (CC) and replacing it with sand. CC is thought to trap a lot of detritus and generally not be a good idea.

[Fast Fred]

Looks good so far!

One thing that I will point out- Most people here will tell you to steer clear of a crushed coral substrate. I agree with that also.

Most people here either use a fine oolitic sand, or go bare bottom. I prefer bare bottom. When I had sand, I had endless hair algae problems.

The crushed coral will collect detritus, and will need a complete vacuuming every time you change water, which should be weekly.

Good luck. And welcome to RC.

[Andrew]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6757416#post6757416 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Joshthenosh
i think u could do with maybe another 2 Mj 1200s to add to the 2 you already have.

I thgink them black n white fish are humbugs.

I think you should get more clean up crew get a few shrimps in there, and hermit crabs, few more soft courls would be nice

Oh and one thing would make your tank look much nicer, either paint the back of our tank (outside) a blue or put a type of visuly pleasing backing on it, will improve the appreance a lot!

I only see 1 maxi-jet ( not counting the pump to the skimmer because its not direct flow ) I would aim for a turnover rate of 30 or more.

[Joshthenosh]

he said had one in tank and another not in tank

[tulkas71]

Alright Im back.
heres what i could test.
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate... umm i need to get new kit for that couldnt find it.. ops.
calcium 388 ( It was higher but after cleaning the CC and adding some more saltwater it dropped, it was just over 400, ill keep adding the A&B liquid untill i get get it back up)
Alk is 15dkh (from what i read this is kinda high)
Temp 78-79
Ph is on the high side of 8.5

I added that 2nd MJ 1200 and i think thats good enough. It almost looks like I have too much flow. but i do admit its better than just the one.

I also added 2 more snails so im up to 5.
I wanted to get a cleaner shrimp, but the ach-eyed hawkfish i have would kill it. next week im going to trade the fish at the LFS for a needlenose hawhkfish

I cant believe how much crud the new skimmer is getting in just a matter of days. guess that old one was never working

Yeah im in a bit of denial over replacing the CC with sand. I know i should. but dear lord what an undertaking!

I do plan to add some soft cora,l but I want make sure i have my ducks in a row 1st. Tthat one soft coral in the pics seem to be doing good for the 2 weeks ive had it. My button polyps are doing very good, in facte id almost say they've grown some. Yet that grass polyp is dying on me??

As for the hitchhiker, thats the only thing in the tank like that at is probably less thay 1/4 inch. If it looks like its growing then ill try to remove it.

I guess questions i have would be.
1.Can i save my grass poylp?
2.Should i be worried about the Alk ( my concepts of the A&B calcium and buffer is somewhat limited)
3. On the closeup pick of just a large piece of LR does that look ok, or do i still have a bad cyno problem. Its ALOT better than it was but its kinda leveled off.
4. ...and if its bad and its becasue or the CC bed. Id like to hear some experiences of replaceing it with sand. (I really dont like the look of a bare bottom glass)

well guess that about covers it. See you soon.

[PatMayo]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6772481#post6772481 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tulkas71
Alright Im back.
heres what i could test.
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate... umm i need to get new kit for that couldnt find it.. ops.
calcium 388 ( It was higher but after cleaning the CC and adding some more saltwater it dropped, it was just over 400, ill keep adding the A&B liquid untill i get get it back up)
Alk is 15dkh (from what i read this is kinda high)
Temp 78-79
Ph is on the high side of 8.5

I added that 2nd MJ 1200 and i think thats good enough. It almost looks like I have too much flow. but i do admit its better than just the one.

I also added 2 more snails so im up to 5.
I wanted to get a cleaner shrimp, but the ach-eyed hawkfish i have would kill it. next week im going to trade the fish at the LFS for a needlenose hawhkfish

I cant believe how much crud the new skimmer is getting in just a matter of days. guess that old one was never working

Yeah im in a bit of denial over replacing the CC with sand. I know i should. but dear lord what an undertaking!

I do plan to add some soft cora,l but I want make sure i have my ducks in a row 1st. Tthat one soft coral in the pics seem to be doing good for the 2 weeks ive had it. My button polyps are doing very good, in facte id almost say they've grown some. Yet that grass polyp is dying on me??

As for the hitchhiker, thats the only thing in the tank like that at is probably less thay 1/4 inch. If it looks like its growing then ill try to remove it.

I guess questions i have would be.
1.Can i save my grass poylp?
I would get more flow, do frequent H2o changes and the poylp may come back.

2.Should i be worried about the Alk ( my concepts of the A&B calcium and buffer is somewhat limited)

I would not worry about this right now. You have more pressing problems. Frequent water changes, much more flow and this will be ok for now. Spend some time in the chemistry forum and you will get educated quickly on Alk, Calcium and Magnesium. Those are really the only things you will eventually need to monitor IMHO.
3. On the closeup pick of just a large piece of LR does that look ok, or do i still have a bad cyno problem. Its ALOT better than it was but its kinda leveled off.

Work on the flow, feed very little if you can. The tangs are going to complicate the renewel of the tank.

4. ...and if its bad and its becasue or the CC bed. Id like to hear some experiences of replaceing it with sand. (I really dont like the look of a bare bottom glass)

You don't need to go barebottom. But If you coud get a quarantine tank and move the fish to the qt tank, you could then take out the CC pretty easily and then replace with sand. you only need a couple of inches.

I had a CC substrate in my 46 gallon tank and always had zero nitrates, but I set it up from new and had very careful husbandry methods, didnt overfeed etc. However when I set up the 90 I want sand just because no matter how hard you try eventually the CC substrate will get polluted.

I would work on flow, frequent water changes, feed as little as possible and try to get the CC substrate out.

Regards,

Pat

well guess that about covers it. See you soon.

[tulkas71]

Thanks pat!

I guess ill have to setup a QT in the near future.:(

I honestly cant believe I need more flow than the 2 1200MJ.
Fish are being blown around enough as it is. Ive tried to angle them as best I could. when I add the B of the A&B I can really see how much the water is flying around. Surely its adquate now.

Im sure on a more fundamental level things would have been easier if everything was not all hangon components and was an overflow/sump kind of setup. but these were the cards delt for now.

Maybe i can use a 10gl or so QT tank and then later on down the road re-use it as a sump.

As far as the Sand. I really dont want want a DSB maybe 2" max.
I do know alot of my filtration right now is in the CC substrate (traped deurtus(sp) not witrhstanding). 1st time I cleaned it, I cleaned too deep and had a serious ammonia spike. So fish may have to stay in the QT for a while.

[tulkas71]

Actually after some more reading ill need at least 3" for minimal filtration.
I really dont want to do 4". That would cut down alot of room in a tank as small as mine, andwouldnt look very good.

Not to say ill be replacing the CC soon, I need to do some major planning


....ack. Im slipping in denial. :rolleyes:

[tulkas71]

If I remove all the CC ( I imaging just scooping it out) and put in a sand bed, I would have such a ammonia spike Id almost be starting over. I would litleraly need to have a competle setup in the QT Tank untill the old tank goes full cycle (several weeks)

Maybe try to leave as much of the "dirt" as possible when scooping it out to lessen the impact.

On the QT....maybe move as much of the live rock as needed for the size of the QT tank. Hmm, on the note I might as well move the skimmer and powerheads untill the sand settles.

Sound like a plan?

[tulkas71]

Alright Im going to try to replace the CC this weekend.
Kinda making this up as I go.

I went to Wal-Mart and picked up 2 10gl tanks and rubbermaid stacking shelves. After this is all over Ill keep one as a qt tank and maybe a sump later on and get the hangon components moved.

Anyway Ive mixed of 6gl of fresh saltwater (used jugged distilled)a couple of days ago in one tank and ran a small PH in it.

Today Ive used one of the empty jugs and took 6gl out of my main tank and put tin the other empty 10gl and replace it with the frsh made.

I then moved a descent amount of LR to the 10gl I filled with my origional tank(my thinking completely cycled for a good while still)

Ill do the same thing again of the 2nd tank so I have a majority of the RL and fish( for the very last) in the 2nd tank. Move the skimmer to the one with the fish and also of the main PH's

This should leave me plenty of room to scoop out the CC. I think I should take my time try to leave as much of the "dirt" int he bottom as possibe. Thoughts?

How long will it take for the sand to settle enough so I can put everything back?

Im know im probably doing this the hard way, but oh well
:D
Ill try and post some pics tommorow.

[misguided]

Hey if you get the Aragalive sand that is "live" the bio film is on the sand so it settles faster if you just get regular sand it took me like 2-3 for everything to settle in my old 75.

[tulkas71]

I think im going to go with 50/50 LS and the Home depot stuff.
according to the calc tool on this site ill need 90lbs total.

IM excited yet scared as hell, lol.

Just waiting for the one nasty "thing" to pop up, when Im past that point of no return, lol

Tommorow is D-day. Ill take some, pics.
I just dread my fish and 2 coral pieces waiting in out in a couple of 10 gals for the 3-5 days its going to take for the sand to settle.:eek:

[Im14abeer]

I'm not sure that's cyano in the fourth pic. I think it may be coraline or possibly a boring sponge. Does it blow off with a turkey baster? If not, it's not cyano. One other thing, try to get RO at the grocery store instead of distilled. Look on the jugs of "purified drinking water". This is usually RO and will probably say "processed by Reverse Osmosis" or something similar. I'm also not sure of what the coral on the left in the second pic is, but it looks like it needs a lot of light. I'd move it up in the tank and watch it carefully.

[tulkas71]

Thanks bud! Ill look for that in the store next time im there. I do plan to get a RO/DI in the new few months, but im blew my buget on the CC to LS swapout (pics and new thread on that later today) it doesnt blow off at all(very deep in the rock)

As far as Coraline. I thought that was a light pink. I do have lots of little white sponges.

That soft coral is going to a month now and seems just as healthy as when I got it.

The tank looks alot different now since the LS. Ill but a link to the new thread when i get it done. Im getting a greenish-grey 'bushy" kind of coat growing in places.
http://webpages.charter.net/aburnett3/tank/grassy.jpg
I did get a new Nitrate tester and it is at 0.

Anyway Ill put a link to the new thread when I get it done

On the subject of new things. that the heck are these things!
http://webpages.charter.net/aburnett3/tank/critters.jpg

[PatMayo]

You mentioned that you thought the MJ1200 created too much flow. Don't forget that those units throw the water out just about in the shape of a fire hose. They don't spread the flow out. They have that little diffuser on the output but it's not that great.

I think there are some modification's that you can do to the MJ to dispurse the flow more but I don't have that link.

You could also probably go to 1 ea. 1100 Seio but that unit has other limitations. (As I have found out.)

You just have to work with it and try different approches. There are really no "wrong" solutions and the same things work a little differently for everyone.

Regards.

Pat

[tulkas71]

I hadnt thought of in that way. Makes perfect sense.
Yeah, Im picking up what your putting down.
I remember seeing a DIY post on something like that. Ill see if I can find it again

[Im14abeer]

Personally, I think you're off to a great start. You whipped the cyano and have no lingering nitrates, to me that's amazing. So with that said, I've got two things for you today. I'm no member of the tang police, I'm a newbie too, but that sailfin tang is going to get WAYYYYYYYYY too big for that tank, and so is the blue tang. I understand this is no fault of your own. And second, how old are the bulbs? If they're working on a year, or if they're already older than that, they should be your next "upgrade". Might I suggest 2 10k and 2 50/50 with the 50/50's in front. Only change one bulb a week. I hope you know, you're in deep now my man!

BTW, unless it's the shipment of a fish or coral: "Only bad things happen overnight." The most sage reefkeeping advice ever.

[tulkas71]

I got the lights/balast back in December.
There 65w x 4 (2 are blacklights) I assume the lacklights provide more of an overall sprectrum.
There not MH but way better than the old regular florescent that was in there...maybe one day ill upgrade but not anytime soon.

Tangs.
Right now they seem very happy. Heh, they are quite good buddies and are hardly ever far apart. there about 10 months old.
They've grown a little. If they really get big Ill do something about them.
I made a nice little cave when I put the LR back in the tank after the substrate swappout. The love the cave and hardly ever leave it. So far at present they dont need anymore elbow room.
Those, and the maroon clown are my only fish now.

[Im14abeer]

I'm sorry if my post came off as critical, it wasn't meant to be. When I said the lights should be the next upgrade, I really meant to make sure the bulbs were fresh, considering the previous lack of care. I personally like PCs for the light they throw compared to the heat they generate. I also wasn't implying that you should rush out and trade the tangs, just that there's really no question that they'll outgrow a 55. By that time you'll be ready for the 500 gal in wall ;).

[tulkas71]

Oh no not at all:D

Update on the new substrate...wow the fish poo really stands out on the new sand. My snails hardly ever stay on the sand. and I doubt the 1 cleaner and 1 peppermint shrimp i added will help that much.


What kind of clean up crew should I add. More shrimp? Hermit crab? I hear about 1/2 good and bad about them. Killing snails when they outgrow their shells. Will the pick on some corals?

Dont goobie fish sift the sand?

[Im14abeer]

Yeah, tangs are good for that. Siphon it out if you can. Mine as well get those nutrients out of the tank. Your shrimp will likely end up eating whatever you feed the fish. My cleaners love Formula Two.

As for the clean up crew, don't go too crazy, You might find you don't like the look of dozens of snails. Maybe half a dozen Trochus snails, and a dozen or two Nassarius and/or Cerith snails. Turbos are good, but they have a tendency to knock stuff over. Larger Hermit crabs will kill snails and may/may not use the shells. Two dozen Dwarf hemit crabs (I especially like the zebra, but all are cool.) If you didn't throw away that crushed coral, there's probably a bunch of small intact shells in it. Or buy a bag of them on ebay. I think they're safe with corals. They'll mostly eat the little bits of nori the the tangs don't catch. Gobies move the sand around, but they also eat a lot of the life in it. So do Sand sifting sea stars.

You don't have to add them all at once, but if you're ordering online, the shipping may not be worth holding off. One last thing, make sure you acclimate all invertabrates properly. They're sensitive to changes in salinity.

>Jamie

[Opiy]

since your in birmingham .. head up to aquarium designs and get some Nassarius snails and some of the small hermits think they have blue legs atm. I put some in my tank on the 5th of this month and they went right to work. When you get a chance grab a cleaner shrimp or some cerith snails. Not sure if they have any of the cerith snails in atm. Didn't see any while I was there.

[tulkas71]

Well my crew now consists of
6 Turbos
1 cleaner shrimp
1 Peppermint shrimp
and
1 diamond Goby.

Im going to see how that goes. So far the goby hasn't settled in yet and other than digging a huge cave to hideout in (which unfortately knocked down 1/2 my house of cards LR :eek2: ) has kept a low prfile.

I dont plan to put any more critters in there untill the tangs outgrow the tank.
Going to start on some more corals in about a month.