After reading your thread where everyone pretty much kicked your a-- instead of offering constructive advice, let me tell you what I would do in your situation. Just so you know I have had salt water fish and reef tanks since 1991, not to say I didn't kill everything at first. I did. The tech and our knowledge back then sucked. In the last 3 to 4 yrs the tech and knowledge has really made some huge leaps and if you have access to a knowledgeable lfs you can really start off right these days.
1. You don't need to tell anyone here this but it is critical. Did you decide to stock this much on your own and disregard your lfs's advice, or did your lfs say it is ok to stock a new tank the way you have?
If you did it yourself, well live and learn and lets move on, it is done. Some people on this board think that if you kill these creatures, you should die too. They are going to die anyway people. So lighten up.
If your lfs said it was ok, go to their store, call them Fing Aholes to their face and never go back. He screwed you like I and some other people I know were screwed just so they can make a buck. Do google searches for reef boards and surf them. You will get invaluable knowledge just from reading them.
2.Get a heater.
you said you temp fluctuated about 5 deg a day. This is not good. Temp fluctuation in the ocean is less than 1 deg a day, on average. Your fish are being stressed and weakend by this.
3.Get a protein skimmer.
This will oxygenate your tank, and get rid of dissolved organics. Your live rock and sand are not mature enough to handle the bioload you have on them. You said your ammonia is nonexistent but do you check every day? With the die offs, mucus production by your corals, and no skimmer you could be having spikes that are burning your fish's gills and killing them. Bottom line is you need the skimmer while you rock and live sand develop. Some have skimmerless tanks but that is usually after some time has passed with a skimmer, and they are very knowledgeable people. No offence meant but at this point you are not.
4.Get phytoplankon supplements for your corals.
Your corals only get 60%-70% of their food from photosynthesis. The rest comes from feeding just like any other animal. They are animals, they have some plants in them but they need to eat. If they do not eat they will starve, just like you and me. Because they have plants in them it takes them a long time to starve to death, but they will.I use some stuff called bioplankton. Go to liquidlifeusa.com and get some. It has all three sizes of phyto, the other popluar brands are cutting out one of the sizes so IMHO this one is the best. My corals look pumped up when i have this stuff in the water.
5.Get a live sand starter kit.
Do a search and you will find the companies that sell these. It will help your sand mature faster and be able to handle more bioload. The phytoplankon will also feed these creatures, which is another reason to get the phyto.
6.Buy bigger pumps.
Your tank water needs to be turned over at least 20 times an hour. Preferably 30 times.
Your flow is very, very inadequate. For your 120 you need 3600 gallons per hour worth of pumps. I know this sounds like alot but it is only a fraction of what the flow over a reef in the wild is.
7.Feed once a day.
Two to three times is too much. Your fish will eat 10 times a day if you feed them that much. Doesn't mean they need it. Feed them what they can eat in 5 min. Thats it. If you want to feed twice a day feed what they can eat in 2 min each time. You get the idea. For your tangs and other grazers get some seaweed selects sheets and a clip to put it in. They are sheets of seaweed the grazers can munch on all day. Give them enough to last 6 or 7 hrs. I have fed once a day for 10 yrs and my fish are FAT. If you get pygmy angels there is a food for them, get that too. It has trace amounts of things they need. Flake is ok but honestly get rid of it. Get some brine shrimp plus or some similar smorgasborg type frozen food. IMO the flake is not varied enough. Plus with the frozen you get trace elements your corals need.
8.Stop all the suplements except for calcium.
some of the latest research is leaning toward iodine as harmful rather than beneficial. The frozen food has enough of this TRACE element in it. Plus water changes replace many of these other elements. If you need to add more calcium to get it up to 350 to 400, do it. your corals will thank you.
I know this is long and probably comes off as kind of preachy, but this is what I would do if I was dropped into your situation. You may be doing some of it, if so cool. If not do it. I don't think you have anyone around you giving you very good adivce based on what you have done since you got your tank.
When I was having trouble in the beginning all my lfs wanted to do was sell me livestock to replace what died, and sell me supplements. It was all BS. He was fing me all the way. And he is family! With the knowledge to be had for free on the web you will know a hell of a lot real quick.
I've gasbaged enough, hope this helps
Kevin
1. You don't need to tell anyone here this but it is critical. Did you decide to stock this much on your own and disregard your lfs's advice, or did your lfs say it is ok to stock a new tank the way you have?
If you did it yourself, well live and learn and lets move on, it is done. Some people on this board think that if you kill these creatures, you should die too. They are going to die anyway people. So lighten up.
If your lfs said it was ok, go to their store, call them Fing Aholes to their face and never go back. He screwed you like I and some other people I know were screwed just so they can make a buck. Do google searches for reef boards and surf them. You will get invaluable knowledge just from reading them.
2.Get a heater.
you said you temp fluctuated about 5 deg a day. This is not good. Temp fluctuation in the ocean is less than 1 deg a day, on average. Your fish are being stressed and weakend by this.
3.Get a protein skimmer.
This will oxygenate your tank, and get rid of dissolved organics. Your live rock and sand are not mature enough to handle the bioload you have on them. You said your ammonia is nonexistent but do you check every day? With the die offs, mucus production by your corals, and no skimmer you could be having spikes that are burning your fish's gills and killing them. Bottom line is you need the skimmer while you rock and live sand develop. Some have skimmerless tanks but that is usually after some time has passed with a skimmer, and they are very knowledgeable people. No offence meant but at this point you are not.
4.Get phytoplankon supplements for your corals.
Your corals only get 60%-70% of their food from photosynthesis. The rest comes from feeding just like any other animal. They are animals, they have some plants in them but they need to eat. If they do not eat they will starve, just like you and me. Because they have plants in them it takes them a long time to starve to death, but they will.I use some stuff called bioplankton. Go to liquidlifeusa.com and get some. It has all three sizes of phyto, the other popluar brands are cutting out one of the sizes so IMHO this one is the best. My corals look pumped up when i have this stuff in the water.
5.Get a live sand starter kit.
Do a search and you will find the companies that sell these. It will help your sand mature faster and be able to handle more bioload. The phytoplankon will also feed these creatures, which is another reason to get the phyto.
6.Buy bigger pumps.
Your tank water needs to be turned over at least 20 times an hour. Preferably 30 times.
Your flow is very, very inadequate. For your 120 you need 3600 gallons per hour worth of pumps. I know this sounds like alot but it is only a fraction of what the flow over a reef in the wild is.
7.Feed once a day.
Two to three times is too much. Your fish will eat 10 times a day if you feed them that much. Doesn't mean they need it. Feed them what they can eat in 5 min. Thats it. If you want to feed twice a day feed what they can eat in 2 min each time. You get the idea. For your tangs and other grazers get some seaweed selects sheets and a clip to put it in. They are sheets of seaweed the grazers can munch on all day. Give them enough to last 6 or 7 hrs. I have fed once a day for 10 yrs and my fish are FAT. If you get pygmy angels there is a food for them, get that too. It has trace amounts of things they need. Flake is ok but honestly get rid of it. Get some brine shrimp plus or some similar smorgasborg type frozen food. IMO the flake is not varied enough. Plus with the frozen you get trace elements your corals need.
8.Stop all the suplements except for calcium.
some of the latest research is leaning toward iodine as harmful rather than beneficial. The frozen food has enough of this TRACE element in it. Plus water changes replace many of these other elements. If you need to add more calcium to get it up to 350 to 400, do it. your corals will thank you.
I know this is long and probably comes off as kind of preachy, but this is what I would do if I was dropped into your situation. You may be doing some of it, if so cool. If not do it. I don't think you have anyone around you giving you very good adivce based on what you have done since you got your tank.
When I was having trouble in the beginning all my lfs wanted to do was sell me livestock to replace what died, and sell me supplements. It was all BS. He was fing me all the way. And he is family! With the knowledge to be had for free on the web you will know a hell of a lot real quick.
I've gasbaged enough, hope this helps
Kevin
