stlcard
New member
I need opinions from those who have been in the hobby longer. Me, only 6 months.
Heres my current setup:
33gal Reef Tank - (probably overstocked by everyones standards here)
2 clowns
1 royal gamma
1 six line
1 chromis
1 sleeper goby
CUC
about 25# live rock
use clean RO/DI water - no tds
2x39w t5 + 2x24w t5 - runs for 8 hours
Penguin HOB power filter -330 model- has Chaeto and rubble
-i run a small bag of purigen constant until it needs a recharge, no mech media unless alot of particulate - i remove within a day.
two powerheads - opposite sides & good flow (500 gph & 700 Gph)
Kent Reef Salt
SG- 1.024
Calcium - 440
Alk- 9
amonia - 0
nitrite - 0
nitrate - current 20ppm (WC coming tomorrow)
Mag - unknown
Trace - unknown
Should i go to a sump? with a protein skimmer? my LFS said not to bother with a skimmer and jsut do routine WC. Because it may pull too much good stuff from the water as well as bad?
Would switching to a sump help bump my water to that next level? My corals are okay, but not flourishing. they are grumpy and retracted about 4 days the week, content the other days.
I battle high nitrates (10-30ppm's) each week, probably overfeeding and from my bioload? and started to get hair algae. (i have reduced my feeding habits to every other day, and smaller amount - ie no leftovers)
Would a sump & skimmer solve this issue, or just create a headache?
Ive read alot and it seems its a toss up for tanks my size. Some say yay, others nay. What are your thoughts, advice to get my water pristine and corals happy?
Heres my current setup:
33gal Reef Tank - (probably overstocked by everyones standards here)
2 clowns
1 royal gamma
1 six line
1 chromis
1 sleeper goby
CUC
about 25# live rock
use clean RO/DI water - no tds
2x39w t5 + 2x24w t5 - runs for 8 hours
Penguin HOB power filter -330 model- has Chaeto and rubble
-i run a small bag of purigen constant until it needs a recharge, no mech media unless alot of particulate - i remove within a day.
two powerheads - opposite sides & good flow (500 gph & 700 Gph)
Kent Reef Salt
SG- 1.024
Calcium - 440
Alk- 9
amonia - 0
nitrite - 0
nitrate - current 20ppm (WC coming tomorrow)
Mag - unknown
Trace - unknown
Should i go to a sump? with a protein skimmer? my LFS said not to bother with a skimmer and jsut do routine WC. Because it may pull too much good stuff from the water as well as bad?
Would switching to a sump help bump my water to that next level? My corals are okay, but not flourishing. they are grumpy and retracted about 4 days the week, content the other days.
I battle high nitrates (10-30ppm's) each week, probably overfeeding and from my bioload? and started to get hair algae. (i have reduced my feeding habits to every other day, and smaller amount - ie no leftovers)
Would a sump & skimmer solve this issue, or just create a headache?
Ive read alot and it seems its a toss up for tanks my size. Some say yay, others nay. What are your thoughts, advice to get my water pristine and corals happy?