Help with FO and no sump...

[PaintGuru]

Ok so my dad's FO tank has finally crashed entirely (he lost 2 of his 3 fish in the last couple days for some unknown reason) and he is ready to tear it down and restart. His 90 gal FO w/ LR and no sump has always seemed to been marred by problems. Lets start with the setup and go from there. Skimmers are 2-CPR backpacks, which we both agreed were horrible, but we did not know what out there was really better for a hang-on skimmer trying to support a 90 gal tank. He never really had a large fish load. 1 Majestic Angel, 1 Niger Trigger, and 1 spotted hawkfish. Angel was at least 2-3 years old before it passed in this last weekend. Lighting was 4-24" VHOs. Beyond that, RO water was used and the system had a 3-4" sand bed. No cleanup crew because the hawkfish would eat all of that. Some live rock, not much, along with a Tunze Stream and a few other powerheads for circulation. Anyways, that is what he has now....now the question is, how should he reset things up? I'm not a big fan of FO/aggressive tanks, so I'm of no use to him. What are your suggestions for setup and equipment? He'd like to keep away from a sump if possible, and his budget is not extensive (he does know he needs a better skimmer). What are the tricks of the trade for FO tanks? Thanks.

 

[Monkeyfish]

Some suggestions:

1. Either add another couple of inches to the sand bed or get rid of a couple of inches. You're better off with either a deep sand bed (5-6 inches) or a shallow sand bed (an inch or less); otherwise you're just making it harder to keep the tank clean.

2. Coralife Superskimmer 125 is a relatively cheap and effective HOB skimmer. I'd also run an Aquaclear 110 with chemi-pure and whatever additional chemical media you may need. Just make sure you rinse the filter sponge weekly.

3. Stay away from fish that will outgrow the tank. A Niger will eventually need a 6 foot tank (they can grow to be over a foot long).

4. Increase the amount of live rock in the tank to at least a pound per gallon (90 lbs or more). This will provide beneficial bacteria to help with filtration, possible food source for some fish and a more natural setting which helps the fish to be at ease.

5. For the stocking I'd consider a group of colorful semi-aggressive fish of varying sizes and shapes, but that is strictly a matter of personal taste.

 

[prugs]

Use RO/DI water. In my case, I have a well & the RO unit alone is not enough.
If you don't want to get a new skimmer, get some bigger pumps for what you have. Take the bio-bail out of the skimmers & replace them with bags of activated carbon & change them every 2-4 weeks.
Grow cheato in your display tank. I did that in a reef tank I had, but didn't have a sump. It works great to keep nitrates down. It will also help get a pod collection going in your tank. You have enough light, but should change the lamps every 6-9 months max. I write the date of the lamp install on the very end of the lamp. Otherwise I forget.
You should have more liverock like monkeyfish said.
The best piece of equipment I ever bought was a tunze osmolator. It keeps the water level very precise, adding small amount of water throughout the day. It pumps the water through a home made kalkwasser reactor & then into the tank. This keep the PH up in the tank.
Most tank crashes are caused by low PH.

 

[Ironsheikh]

first off your skimmers are absolute garbage and you should've had a better skimmer and/or a canister or powerfilter w/ carbon.

I want to upgrade my 125 to a 220 if you're interested in mine pm me. I'd have a little intank refugium for the tank--can be anything, specimen container drilled, or strawberry crate w/ chaeto.
Id have at least 1/3 the tank of live rock for a fish only.


so, I would say on the next set up dump the skimmers and use the cash to buy a skimmer and some cheap liverock, invest in a emperor 400 or rena xp2/3 canister w/ carbon/phosphate media

 

[XtrmCHoPZ]

By the way 2 CPR BakPaks set up and maintained properly should be fine for a 90 g with only 3 fish....mine work great

 

[vikubz]

Re: Help with FO and no sump...

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7630736#post7630736 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by PaintGuru
Ok so my dad's FO tank has finally crashed entirely (he lost 2 of his 3 fish in the last couple days for some unknown reason) and he is ready to tear it down and restart. His 90 gal FO w/ LR and no sump has always seemed to been marred by problems. Lets start with the setup and go from there. Skimmers are 2-CPR backpacks, which we both agreed were horrible, but we did not know what out there was really better for a hang-on skimmer trying to support a 90 gal tank. He never really had a large fish load. 1 Majestic Angel, 1 Niger Trigger, and 1 spotted hawkfish. Angel was at least 2-3 years old before it passed in this last weekend. Lighting was 4-24" VHOs. Beyond that, RO water was used and the system had a 3-4" sand bed. No cleanup crew because the hawkfish would eat all of that. Some live rock, not much, along with a Tunze Stream and a few other powerheads for circulation.

I think the bakpak is not that bad a skimmer. You mention a little lr, which sounds like not enough. How much and how often did he feed? How often did he do water changes? Without a cleaner crew, he'd really have to watch it on the feedings.

 

[I like Triggers]

i had a CPR bakpak on my 80 and my water quality was horrible. i also ran 2 millineum 3000 HOB filters. needless to say i ditched it all, added 2 hang on back overflows, and added a sump (no drilling). my water is crystal clear thanks to an ASM G3 skimmer and a 15 watt UV sterolizer. i also recently added a phosban reactor (two little fishes) and filled it with nitrate sponge since its a FO and i have some nitrates. plumbed into the system is a 15 gallon fuge, with chaeto and caulerpa, running 2-55 watt PC's (1 10k, 1 ACT) , 16 hours both on 8 hours ACT only. the 15 is plumbed in via hang on back overflow. both tanks feed into the sump where my heaters, UV, and skimmer are located. i will upgrading to a 225 i just bought this summer and this tank will definatly get drilled.

 

[sunfishh]

I agree with what has already been said, get an in tank refuguim or grow cheato in your tank