bad tank, don't know what to do, help please.

[six.line]

Nine months ago I set up a 15 gallon nano. It had nothing but a penguin bio-wheel filtration until I decided that was splashing too much salt creep everywhere and I added a powerhead to keep the water circulated.

I've had nothing but problems with it. Over the summer it plain crashed; average temperature was 93F with a fan blowing on the water. I lost everthing but two zoo colonies and my damsel.

Then I moved. I replaced a 10K bulb with an off brand 6500K (home depot) PC bulb replacement, tried to setup a surface skimmer with a bit PVC glued to the intake of the powerhead (running 220 gph), but that hasn't really done much to help circulation through the whole tank. Cyano is rearing its ugly head again, aiptasia is growing like a charm, and the surviving zoos look sickly and have lost quite a bit of color.

I used to be all about testing water parameters, but when everything I died, I lost a bit of desire to try to resurrect the tank. Now that I feel like resurrecting the tank, I don't know what the best course of action is.

I think the best course of action is to empty the tank, drill it, install an overflow, and run a little 10 gallon sump and refugium with a return strong enough to account for needed flow to have any kind of coral. I have a 175W MH ballast, socket, and reflector sitting around, so all I'd need is a decent bulb and I could have quality lights. Of course, then I need to buy/build a stand and canopy.

The universal problem is money. I can make the time the tank needs, but I really can't spend more than $150, and I'd need to raise that much money before anything could happen.

I'm open to suggestions and censures; I'm sure there are tons of rookie mistakes I made. Plus, if I left out any details that don't quite explain what I've done so far, let me know. If I can't reasonably rebuild the tank for $150, then I'm going to need to sell the tank-- I just can't stand to see the thing die slowly.

any help is seriously appreciated.

 

[chaseracing]

Start with Frequent and large water changes.
Nano's are harder to keep because of such a small water volume. The smallest changes in the water can be dangerous to the tank.

I do a 50% water change weekly whiel adding "Cycle". I also dose some NANO Reef part 1 and 2 by Kent Marine.

Hope that helps.

-=E=-

 

[six.line]

Yeah, I realized the swings would be tough to deal with. At the time I just ignored the advice. Now it's too late.

Is "cycle" an additive that you purchase?

 

[Sk8r]

Well there are some tupperware solutions. I've seen good sumps made out of rubbermaid and somewhere recently somebody had made a skimmer out of tupperware. It's not the brand name, it's the scientific principle---get into the DIY forum and look at some things people have done on a small budget. FIgure you can bodge what you most need and save your money to restock and maintain.

If I had a tank with problems, step one I'd take is water change, carbon, and skim like crazy. I'd make sure my lighting was proper, and that my flow was adequate. I'd be patient getting the water right. Primary is going to be lighting and adequate skimming: that's where oxygenation happens, among other bennies, and that will help your critters.

 

[xxxbadfishxxx]

for aptasia, get some peppermint shrip or Joes Juice, both work great. Adding a sump/fuge will increase your water volume making it easier to keep in check and benefit the tank. Adding a MH will def. heat your tank even more, good idea for those hot days is to get a couple of 2 liter bottles of water, put them in the freezer and float the frozen ones in your sump to keep the temps down, swap them out as needed.