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Hi Guys, I am very new to reef, been searching for forums, and this seems to be the best one. I have a few questions I hope hobbyist can help me solve.

Info;
Type : Mix Tank
Tank+sump : 1.000L / 260g
Skimmer : Yes
Chiller : Yes
Refugium : Yes (Macro algae)
Temp : 26 D/Celcius / 78
Ph : 8.3
Ammonia : 0
Nitrite : 0
Nitrate 15

I did a two weeks cycle before and ended a disaster with my tank, all my fishes died within a couple of weeks sometimes even sooner, and left with ich with the rest of them. So I decided to take all my fishes out of the DT and into quarantine tank, and they are healthy now with added copper dosage. My DT still have soft corals.

Question : How long do I leave my tank for until the parasites all gone? And do I maintain my temperature? Do I need to dose the tank with anything?

Question 2 : I have a 1HP Chiller for this tank, my LFS and few others recommend me with using 2 pumps. One for the the chiller to the sump, and another from the sump to the tank, for the reason that the pump might break. However I've seen a lot of videos, they only use one pump. Am I doing it wrong? I have a 3.000L/Hr pump 2x.

Question 3 : I am planning to purchase a GFO and Carbon reactor for this tank to eliminate water odor and to clear the water, do I need it now? or later until the tank matures? And do I need to purchase another pump? It seems that my sump will soon be running out of space with all these pumps, 1x for the chiller, 1x for the sump to tank, 1x for the skimmer.

Question 4 : Since this is a big tank and water changes can be troublesome, is it okay for me to change water every 3 months?

Question 5 : Do I need to dose my tank with calcium,magnesium or alkaline right now or later?

Question 6 : After the cycle process, do I only need to change 10% of the water? Is that enough?

Thank You! Sorry for posting so many questions all at once.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CharlesReef (Post 24984093)

Hi Guys, I am very new to reef, been searching for forums, and this seems to be the best one. I have a few questions I hope hobbyist can help me solve.

Info;
Type : Mix Tank
Tank+sump : 1.000L / 260g
Skimmer : Yes
Chiller : Yes
Refugium : Yes (Macro algae)
Temp : 26 D/Celcius / 78
Ph : 8.3
Ammonia : 0
Nitrite : 0
Nitrate 15

I did a two weeks cycle before and ended a disaster with my tank, all my fishes died within a couple of weeks sometimes even sooner, and left with ich with the rest of them. So I decided to take all my fishes out of the DT and into quarantine tank, and they are healthy now with added copper dosage. My DT still have soft corals.

Question : How long do I leave my tank for until the parasites all gone? And do I maintain my temperature? Do I need to dose the tank with anything?

10 weeks minimum without any fish

Question 2 : I have a 1HP Chiller for this tank, my LFS and few others recommend me with using 2 pumps. One for the the chiller to the sump, and another from the sump to the tank, for the reason that the pump might break. However I've seen a lot of videos, they only use one pump. Am I doing it wrong? I have a 3.000L/Hr pump 2x.

I would buy 1 external pump and make a pvc manifold to run accessories of that pump.

Question 3 : I am planning to purchase a GFO and Carbon reactor for this tank to eliminate water odor and to clear the water, do I need it now? or later until the tank matures? And do I need to purchase another pump? It seems that my sump will soon be running out of space with all these pumps, 1x for the chiller, 1x for the sump to tank, 1x for the skimmer.

1 external pump with enough flow will take care of all the accessories.

Question 4 : Since this is a big tank and water changes can be troublesome, is it okay for me to change water every 3 months?

I personally recommend 25% change per month some people never do water change and report good results.

Question 5 : Do I need to dose my tank with calcium,magnesium or alkaline right now or later?

Once you have corals in tank you will need to dose but not without measuring.

Question 6 : After the cycle process, do I only need to change 10% of the water? Is that enough?

Generally 25 to 50 %

Thank You! Sorry for posting so many questions all at once.

That is a huge tank for a beginner. I fear you will become overwhelmed quickly with the amount of work and cost of water changes. I would recommend starting with a 30-55 gallon tank.

I usually change 10% of water on a monthly basis. I don't think dosing is necessary if you are using decent salt and changing the water regularly.

10 weeks is the recommended fallow period following marine ich. I didn't used to use a QT and I learned an expensive lesson. Don't put anything in the tank during that time.

Don't add too many fish when you are cycling your tank.

We have a red-arrow 'setting up' sticky that will help. I find a larger tank actually easier than a little one---until something big goes wrong. Hopefully a rest from fish (inverts and corals are ok) can put this one right re the ich in the sandbed. 72 days with no fish will starve the pests out.

Question : How long do I leave my tank for until the parasites all gone? And do I maintain my temperature? Do I need to dose the tank with anything?

What Sk8r said

Question 2 : I have a 1HP Chiller for this tank, my LFS and few others recommend me with using 2 pumps. One for the the chiller to the sump, and another from the sump to the tank, for the reason that the pump might break. However I've seen a lot of videos, they only use one pump. Am I doing it wrong? I have a 3.000L/Hr pump 2x.

You can use one big pump and manifold to split up the flow

Question 3 : I am planning to purchase a GFO and Carbon reactor for this tank to eliminate water odor and to clear the water, do I need it now? or later until the tank matures? And do I need to purchase another pump? It seems that my sump will soon be running out of space with all these pumps, 1x for the chiller, 1x for the sump to tank, 1x for the skimmer.

What is your phosphate level? Again, you can run reactor off manifold from return pump as well.

Question 4 : Since this is a big tank and water changes can be troublesome, is it okay for me to change water every 3 months?

The key is to keep good parameters, and yes you can do that w/o water change. But that require more vigilant monitoring and dosing etc. WC is just the simplest way to do it.

Question 5 : Do I need to dose my tank with calcium,magnesium or alkaline right now or later?

What is your parameters? Don't dose anything you haven't test for.

Question 6 : After the cycle process, do I only need to change 10% of the water? Is that enough?

Your nitrate is getting a little high. Unless you can ramp up other nutrient export method quickly, you will need bigger water changes.