My reef tank sucks.

[Anonymous]

I can't stand my 2-year-old reef tank. It sucks. I can't seem to get it back to the point it was a year ago, when everything looked fantastic. A lot of pieces were sold since then due to me moving, and a couple have perished during the move, but overall I'm just not happy with it. Nothing has ever really grown well in my system except Red Sea Pulsing Xenia, and my large colony was just lost during my move. About 30 heads or so. My LT anemone is still the same size it was over a year-and-a-half ago.

I think the answer is money. I need to start getting things that will help me improve the water quality and environment for the animals before I add more livestock.

My caulerpa in the refugium just bottomed out on me, so I need to re-think how I handle that part of the reef. It's a 25 gallon, 3 foot long rubbermaid container lit my a 96-watt 50/50 PC smartlite.

I just purchased a 100gpd RO/DI unit, so that's a start.

What else should I buy for the tank? I dose with B-Ionic, so a Ca reactor really isn't needed.

It's a 75 gallon tank, with 440 watts of VHO lighting. Currently it's one 50/50 and three 03 actinic, which I know is not enough, but before the move I had two 50/50's and things weren't good. I was more concerned with appearances, which was dumb on my part.

Should I go with four 50/50's to give more light? Two daylight and two 50/50's? Should I get a MH setup?

I know they have automatic pH monitors, so I'll order one of those, and I need to get a refractomoter instead of the crappy hydrometer I have, but any other suggestions anyone has would be greatly appreciated.

Current livestock list with length of residence:
Pair of Ocellaris Clownfish (2 years)
Male Banggai Cardinal (1.5 years)
Long-Tentacle Anemone (1.5 years)
Green & Orange Zoanthid Polyps (over a year)
Metallic Green Star Polyps (7 months)
Fiji White Pom-Pom Xenia (housewarming present...two weeks)
Metallic Green Hairy Mushrooms (over 1.5 years)
All live rock is almost totally purple from coralline algae, and it's the same rock I started the tank with. I thinned it out a bit to improve circulation, and now only have about 100 lbs in the tank itself. I have another 50 lbs in the sump/refugium.

Circulation is from the Mag3 return from the sump, and a 200gph powerhead pointed at the front of the glass from the right side of the tank.

So, basically, my rant is that I'm pissed off at myself and I need suggestions on how to improve my tank.

Thanks in advance...

Peace,

Chip

 

[Anonymous]

I'd skip the testing kits and put all of the money into lighting and filtration. The RO will be a big help too.

 

[Reefguide]

I dont know about the rest of the folks here but every 8 months or so I go through the same thing marillion ! Got any pics? I've noticed that ewhen it happens to me all I needed was to put a bit more effort and a bit of TLC into it ! Usually happend to me when I look a critter or coral ,ect...

Good luck !

 

[Chucker]

The first red flag that raised with me was the return pump. Why only a Mag3? Also, why only a single 200gph powerhead? I'd think that your capability to successfully keep a larger variety of livestock would greatly be increased if you'd get some more circulation running through your system.

 

[Anonymous]

I have a 75 also. I had 4 110W's but upgraded to 2-175MH 10K's w/ 2-110 actinics. Stoney corals do grow faster under the halides. I added two fans to keep the temp down.

How many GPH does a Mag3 put out? I seems that you don't have enough circulation. I have a QuiteOne return pump that I think is rated for something like 1250 GPH and I have 3- MJ 1200 on a wavemaker for added flow.

My 2 cents!

Louey

 

[DEADFISH1]

my tank always seems to perk up and look better when I do water changes once every week, you can tell when I get lazy and not do them for a month or so.

I think it's more the addition of trace minerals than the export of nutrience that you get with the changes, but of course you get both, during the weekly changes I'll have an abundance of those spiraling calcium tube worms on the glass, but during times of laziness "no water changes" I seem to get more micro algae on the glass and less tube worms.

 

[Anonymous]

The first red flag that raised with me was the return pump. Why only a Mag3? Also, why only a single 200gph powerhead? I'd think that your capability to successfully keep a larger variety of livestock would greatly be increased if you'd get some more circulation running through your system.

Okay, I used to have a Mag7 as a return, with two Maxijet 1200's, and crap was blowing all over the place. I like the 'gentle swaying' of corals, and it seemed like stuff was blowing like crazy.

How do I get it to look appealing without blowing stuff everywhere? I have the powerheads to do it, so it's just a matter of switching them into the system from my 110 gallon triggerfish tank.

Peace,

Chip

 

[Anonymous]

I have a 75 also. I had 4 110W's but upgraded to 2-175MH 10K's w/ 2-110 actinics. Stoney corals do grow faster under the halides. I added two fans to keep the temp down.

I was thinking of going this route, and getting one of those 'all-in-one' MH/actinic hoods. Now that I'm in a house, I can suspend it from the ceiliing if need be.

How many GPH does a Mag3 put out? I seems that you don't have enough circulation. I have a QuiteOne return pump that I think is rated for something like 1250 GPH and I have 3- MJ 1200 on a wavemaker for added flow.

My 2 cents!

Louey

Mag3 is 350gph. See, what I'd like to know is how you can have all that circulation without everything looking like it's sideways from the strong current.

Do you have pics of your tank, Louey? I've prolly seen it before, but can't place it in my cluttered mind.

How much does a good wavemaker cost, anyway?

Thanks much.

Peace,

Chip

 

[Anonymous]

With more circulation, you're gonna blow stuff around like Xenia. Just don't aim the PH right at them. Your corals will be much better off with increased flow in the tank.

 

[DEADFISH1]

I've got a mag-9.5 in a 58 gal. a mag-3 wouldn't do much even in my 58 Gal., I agree, you should bump up your flow...

 

[ladyballplayer]

my tank sucks worse. I promise....

 

[SPC]

When I had a 58 gallon I ran a Mag 9.5 and a Mag 7.
Steve

 

[danmhippo]

I aim my return flow toward the surface to aid in gas exchange and decreases the turbulence a bit.

When your mag 3 pumps water up 6 feet through several bend and twists, the final flow is definetly much lower than 350GPH.

 

[Anonymous]

I have to sympathise with marrillion on the powerhead thing? I have a CAP2200F for my 125gallon, (692 gph) and I can't help but think it's too much as well. It was fine when I didn't have any fish in it, but now that I have some, it's too hard for them to swim through the current. My hippo tang and flame angel wouldn't come out unless I stopped the powerhead, and my spotted mandarin gets blown downstream when it's on. (Though the ride doesn't seem to bother it.) I'm considering getting a less powerful powerhead as well, since I can't seem to run the one I have until it gets dark and the fish are hiding in the rocks anyway.

I'm still having some issues getting my hippo tang to eat prepared food. He eats the heavy caleurpa foliage I have and picks at the rock. I think he catches the occasional brine shrimp as they dart in and out of the rock, but he won't eat flake food. He won't eat frozen mysis shrimp. He doesn't seem to be interested in anything he can't catch himself. How do you get new fish to get used to your food?

 

[Anonymous]

Circulation is function of volume and speed. 300gph could be viewed as 1 gallon at 300 mph or 300 gallons at 1 mph, or somewhere in between. Practically speaking, diffusing the output of the ph to cover a wider area doesn't decrease circulation but it does slow down the water. I used a MJ 1200 in my 20gallon refugium by getting a small plastic kitchen funnel and sticking the liitle end in the output of the ph. Great flow and it didn't even blow the caulerpa around much. Another thing to try is pointing multiple ph's at the same spot in the tank. Makes for great turbulence, which in this case is slower than laminar flow. Or, point your ph's at each other across the long sides of your tank. Has a similar effect.
HTH

 

[wombat1]

Don't waste your money on a wavemaker. You can spend less on a DIY surge maker and feed it with your return pump, then tee it off to multiple outlets so the current is not so strong. You'll still get that blowing in the breeze look too. Building one for my tank was the most rewarding thing I've built so far-- and I've got tons of circulation in my system w/o a bunch of unnecessary powerheads in my tank. Check out this link :
http://www.krob.com/aquarium/surge2.htm I only have two pumps--one for the skimmer and one for the return and the surger cost about $30 and two hours to build. The R/O is definitely a good investment too.

 

[Anonymous]

Louey wrote:
How many GPH does a Mag3 put out? I seems that you don't have enough circulation. I have a QuiteOne return pump that I think is rated for something like 1250 GPH and I have 3- MJ 1200 on a wavemaker for added flow.

My 2 cents!

Louey


Mag3 is 350gph. See, what I'd like to know is how you can have all that circulation without everything looking like it's sideways from the strong current.

I do like Dan, point 2 PH's towards the surface, to aide in gas exchange, and to provide flow thoughout the tank. My 3rd PH points down hehind then rock. I think it help to keep the detritus from accumulating back there, while still adding some increased flow. My main return pump is teed off the feed my 20G refugium, but most goes to the main tank. I dont have any returns or PH's pointing directly at anything. I would at leat bounce it off the glass, if you don't want to point them towards the surface.

Do you have pics of your tank, Louey? I've prolly seen it before, but can't place it in my cluttered mind.

The only pics I've really taken since the lighting upgrade can be found here: http://reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=17049&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

The pictures are small, but you'll get the idea. Make sure you look at page 2 of the thread, I added a few pictures there.

How much does a good wavemaker cost, anyway?

It can be done under a hundred dollars several different ways, since you already have the PH's. A plug in timer strip is great way to control up to 4 PH at random currents. That's what I had prior to using eLightMaster whick uses X-10 technology. If you are not familiar with eLightMaster see: http://www.mv.com/users/besposito/lightmaster1.html
It was a bit of a pain to set up due to my not being the brightest person on the planet, but I do like it now, and plan to continue to use it.

As you can tell by all of the responses above, you need to increase your flow. Larger return pipes also decrease velocity while still maintaining the flow.

HTH

Louey

 

[Anonymous]

Oh yeah, another thing that I was thinking. While this is not the cheapest idea, it would be the funnest.

Take all of your coral, clams, fish, and inverts, back to the LFS for a store credit. 8O

Give your significant other :!:

Restack your rock in some more appealing way.

Give your significant other :!:

Increase your DSB, if you haven't already.

Give your significant other :!:

Start shopping for new coral, fish, etc, etc.

Give your significant other :!:

It should be just as exciting as the first time for you and yours :!: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Louey

 

[Anonymous]

Louey Behave!



:lol:

 

[Anonymous]

pojohnny Posted: 19 Aug 2002 18:56 Post subject:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Louey Behave!

I am have!

He started the topic with "sucks" so I thought my alternate suggestion was perfectly in line with this thread. :twisted:

Louey