I've had a 40breeder fish tank over 4 years with little to no success. I only use ro/di water, my ammonia nitrate, nitrite, are all undetectable. Salinity at 1.225 and Temp siting at 78 currently. But I'm always having issues.
If you don't want the full story; my problems consist of maintaining ph which is always low, and growing/keeping alive coral and fish, plus algae blooms occasionally.
Goals out of this post:
Maintain ph as a permanent solution instead of constantly dosing, reduce algae, fish and coral growth and longevity. All this with relatively affordable methods and 1 time fixes. ( if I have to constantly dose, I'd rather look for other methods before settling)
After about 2 years of not having any fish I felt like it was time. So I had moved my one orange spotted watchman goby over to my 40 gallon tank. He has been to hell and back and has survived in this tank for months. About a week ago I bought 2 clowns thinking they were hardy enough to survive. 1 died after 3 days of heavy breathing and the other I just found dead 7 days later (my guess is from a ph problem because is read 7.4 this morning). So I'm super ****ed and looking for solutions.
On the coral side of things. I have a thriving mushroom colony which started with 2 head and now has around 7 after maybe 4 months. A orange chalice coral which seems to just survive, no signs of dying or growth. But I did lose a 2 mushroom colonies and a favia all bought at the same time 4 months ago. Lastly a torch about 2 weeks old which shows full extention.
After all these deaths and money spent bring up my main concern of being able to have coral and fish thrive. I don't want to put things in my tank knowing they won't last long just to have a fully decorated tank like many people do. I want to be successful so I am open to suggestions. My biggest problem is that I'm a college student who has his dad looking after the main tank till I'm our of college in 2 years.
Other possible helpful info:
2 coralife dual t5 36" with 4 month old bulbs. 2 actinic 2 10 daylights
800gph power head,
Coralife super skimmer hob 65
Emperor 400 filter with phosphate floss
Water changes don't have a set schedule but usually atleast once every week and a half. (More if algae bloom starts)
Glass cover because my dad won't allow it to be uncovered
Tank is located in a area about 20 ft from a wall with doors and windows but they are always covered and unless I am home no one goes to on a regular basis ( I'm skeptical that this might be the ph problem)
So for the cluttered mess called my post, I went back and forth editing to make sure I include as much info as you may need.
Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk
If you don't want the full story; my problems consist of maintaining ph which is always low, and growing/keeping alive coral and fish, plus algae blooms occasionally.
Goals out of this post:
Maintain ph as a permanent solution instead of constantly dosing, reduce algae, fish and coral growth and longevity. All this with relatively affordable methods and 1 time fixes. ( if I have to constantly dose, I'd rather look for other methods before settling)
After about 2 years of not having any fish I felt like it was time. So I had moved my one orange spotted watchman goby over to my 40 gallon tank. He has been to hell and back and has survived in this tank for months. About a week ago I bought 2 clowns thinking they were hardy enough to survive. 1 died after 3 days of heavy breathing and the other I just found dead 7 days later (my guess is from a ph problem because is read 7.4 this morning). So I'm super ****ed and looking for solutions.
On the coral side of things. I have a thriving mushroom colony which started with 2 head and now has around 7 after maybe 4 months. A orange chalice coral which seems to just survive, no signs of dying or growth. But I did lose a 2 mushroom colonies and a favia all bought at the same time 4 months ago. Lastly a torch about 2 weeks old which shows full extention.
After all these deaths and money spent bring up my main concern of being able to have coral and fish thrive. I don't want to put things in my tank knowing they won't last long just to have a fully decorated tank like many people do. I want to be successful so I am open to suggestions. My biggest problem is that I'm a college student who has his dad looking after the main tank till I'm our of college in 2 years.
Other possible helpful info:
2 coralife dual t5 36" with 4 month old bulbs. 2 actinic 2 10 daylights
800gph power head,
Coralife super skimmer hob 65
Emperor 400 filter with phosphate floss
Water changes don't have a set schedule but usually atleast once every week and a half. (More if algae bloom starts)
Glass cover because my dad won't allow it to be uncovered
Tank is located in a area about 20 ft from a wall with doors and windows but they are always covered and unless I am home no one goes to on a regular basis ( I'm skeptical that this might be the ph problem)
So for the cluttered mess called my post, I went back and forth editing to make sure I include as much info as you may need.
Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk
