Help with establishing an aquarium I picked up second hand

[danelam]

Hi Everyone,

After deciding I wanted to start my own reef I bought a complete set up (55g/back protein skimmer/Orbit power compact light/80 pounds of fiji, tonga and tonga branch live rock/rio jets +extras) from a local hobbyist who was upgrading as this was much cheaper. However, due to it all happening so quickly I was unable to read any of the literature before 'diving in' and setting it all up. Plus, the tank came with a maroon clown so I had to set it all up quick smart if he was gonna have a chance to survive.

Anyway, since then (about a week ago) I've researched alot on the net and just finished reading "The New Marine Aquarium" which was really useful...but since finishing I've realized I've made alot of boo boos! I'll describe what I've done and hope you guys have some pointers so that I can salvage the situation.

1) The glass has become quite scummy (I think it's algae.) I think it's because I had to fill about a third of the tank with tap water (the rest was from the previous tank.) Is there any way I can fix this?
2) I'm unsure if the protein skimmer is working correctly. The water level in the skimmer column has risen so high that the collection keep is floating very high also.
3) I set up the live rock straight on top of the substrate which I left in the tank while moving. I've read now that this can create pockets of toxic gas. Should I completely redo the tank setup?

As you can see, I'm fairly bewildered by it all. I'm trying to find out as much as possible and I know I've broken some golden rules but I really want to make sure everything goes well.

The cycling of the tank seems to be going ok. Ammonia levels are not too high, but nitrite and nitrate are still not registering. Also, the clownfish seems to be doing fine (I don't know how.) In fact, if anything, he's perked up alot as times goes on.

Sorry for the long post, I hope some of you might have the time to give me a bit of advice and help me into the hobby!

MANY THANKS!
Dane
PS I've got pictures of the tank if that helps

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Everyone,

:welcome:

1) The glass has become quite scummy (I think it's algae.) I think it's because I had to fill about a third of the tank with tap water (the rest was from the previous tank.) Is there any way I can fix this?

That's a normal thing, go to your local fish store (LFS) and get an algae scraper to take the stuff off the glass. Or, it you don't mind getting your arm wet an old credit card will do nicely.

2) I'm unsure if the protein skimmer is working correctly. The water level in the skimmer column has risen so high that the collection keep is floating very high also.

What type of skimmer? I'd adjust the level down. Below all this I posted a link to a thread that I responded in (that had similar issues) with all kinds of links and good info I suggest you read.

3) I set up the live rock straight on top of the substrate which I left in the tank while moving. I've read now that this can create pockets of toxic gas. Should I completely redo the tank setup?

I wouldn't worry too much about it. Do a search here on aquascaping for ideas if you wanted to redo the tank.

As you can see, I'm fairly bewildered by it all. I'm trying to find out as much as possible and I know I've broken some golden rules but I really want to make sure everything goes well.

Reading and posting on forums is a great start

The cycling of the tank seems to be going ok. Ammonia levels are not too high, but nitrite and nitrate are still not registering. Also, the clownfish seems to be doing fine (I don't know how.) In fact, if anything, he's perked up alot as times goes on.

Okay, read my post in the link below, it's about 3/4 of the way down the page for some good reading (disregard the polite fighting -it's not relevant to your issues and we do tend to drift off topic here). There arelinks to articles regarding cycling. Any level of ammonia is toxic! Your tank will continue to cycle, and you first and foremost need to drop that level by water changes, or you will in all probability loose your fish.

http://www.reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=114754

Now using tapwater is going to in all liklihood cause you problems down the road (due to excess organics in the water which translates to bad alage and other issues) so I would pronto explore getting an RO/DI unit (reverse osmosis...search the forum and tons of info will come up) or buying RO water (the grocery stores have water in bulk) and be prepared to do some water changes. As a rule of thumb, the fresh made saltwater should be allowed to age 24 hrs or so with some type of aeriation before you do the changes. That water should also be about the same temperature, PH and specific gravity (SG) as the tank or else you risk shocking the inhabitants-a bad thing


HTH...

 

[danelam]

Thanks for your tips!!! The tank already looks better and the skimmer seems to be working alot better too.

As for the water issues, I do have a RO/DI unit, but it won't screw onto my tap. So I guess I'm gonna have to buy the RO water from the grocery store. Is it called anything particular? What should I ask for?

Thanks again

 

[Anonymous]

Just read the label, be sure it is RO water (some people don't like distilled due to the off chance there may be minute traces of copper left over from the process-copper being toxic to marine animals).

They sell 5 gallon jugs most everyplace. But I'd start a new thread and post up pics of the RO unit and see if someone can't point out a way to make it work with your taps. A 55 gallon will take lots of trips to the grocery store and carrying all those jugs home isn't fun at all.

 

[cindre2000]

You can pretty easily hook your RO unit inline if you want to, if it is your house. Or you can go to lowes and possibly get the right set of adapters to hook up the RO. Since you have the unit, I would use it. Much cheaper than the LFS or grocery store (usually).

Though I will say that I have kept tanks no problem with plain old tap- they just don't look as nice as tanks that use RO. So don't be afraid to use dechlorinated tap in a pinch (unless your water is like mine and is discolored no matter how long the water runs .)

 

[danelam]

thanks for your help, also for the community advice. I've had my tank running now for over 2 weeks. Only thing that's registered is ammonia at about 0.25 getting closer to 0 past few days. At first I thought the tank was cycling, but I think maybe the cycle was preserved from the move (it was a second hand running for 4 years with 80lbs live rock.)

When I moved it I kept the substrate and a little water at the bottom and then moved 2 thirds of the of water in other containers with live rocks in those containers. So in the end, I only topped up with about 1/3 tap water. Do you think then that I won't have to cycle. I was hoping to get rid of the ammonia today with a water change and a vacuum of the substrate.

 

[cindre2000]

If the tank was established and all you did was move the tank and the rock and re-fill the tank, then you are probably just getting a mini-cycle. An event that will happen anytime you get some die off from the rock. Depending on the length of time the rock was out of water and the amount of die off, the cycle can be negligible or quite noticeable.

For example, I have a fairly well established nano. This past october, the tank overheated, killing all of my fish and half my coral. As a result from all of this die off, the tank spent the next month re-cycling.

This is what your tank is doing. Just remember, take your time and you will have a better tank.

 

[IslandCrow]

Remember ammonia is the first part of the cycle. If you have detectable levels of ammonia in your tank, the tank doesn't have a sufficient supply of nitrifying bacteria to break the ammonia down into less toxic nitrites and nitrates. As Lawdawg already said, frequent water changes are the only way you'll keep this under control at this point. Eventually your system will be able to handle the bio load by itself with a normal schedule of weekly or monthly water changes. I'm not sure how often you're feeding, but reducing that to only every other day or very small amounts once a day may help as well. The less the fish eats, the less waste it produces.

Best of luck.