I need a bigger tank!

[Turbovr3six]

i have a 125 long reef tank for about a year. i got the tank thru a trade for a 45 gallon corner tank. the 125 is acrylic and has the sump built into the back wall of it. this was going to be my first reef tank, so i figured having the sump in the back would be a good thing. turns out i now hate the tank design cuz my return pump constantly stirred up my deep sand bed. the sump was full of bio balls and filter media when i got it and so i left it there for months thinking it was a god thing. had a buddy of mine come over and take a look at my set up once and also tested my water...i had 160ppm nitrate, 3.0 phosphate. at this point i only had soft corals, common mushrooms, zoos and green star polyps. everything was living and opening but nothing was growing. after having my water tested, i removed all bioballs and filter media out of the sump and filled it with live rock rubble, added LOTS of rock to display tank, and lowered my feeding. to make long story short ive gotten way too many frags thru trading to the point where my tank is FULL. water perameters now are nitrate: 40ppm, and is still dropping thru water changes, phosphate: .03, calcium: 450, alk: 10dkh, ph: 7.9, temp is 81, salinity: 1.022. equiptment currently on tank, 6 ft current mh fixture (3x150w 12K reeflux, 4x96W pc), seaclone 150 that does absloutly nothing (junk i know), 2xkoralia 4, 1 modded maxijet hidden in the rocks, 2xrio1700 ( one is return pump, one is powerhead), 250 lbs of live rock. i have a 180 gal that i am setting up wth a 60 gal sump, a 45 gal fuge, asm g4, 6ft halide light off 125, and am going to add more rock. my concern now is, ive never had any dramatic coral growth, mostly everything has lived, just never grown. any ideas of how to up my coraline? faster coral growth? coral placement in new tank?.....................basiclly i need lots of help. heres some pics of the 125 and of the 180 being set up. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


what the tank originally looked like

bedside ocean view, in the middle of the desert

C:\Documents and Settings\Valued Customer\My Documents\My Pictures\iphone

 

[Turbovr3six]

 

[Turbovr3six]

ok if someone knows how to make these pics show up, and let me know how, that would be awesome, im a computer idiot.

 

[demonboy369]

upload them to photobucket.com or imageshack.us then you copy the link it gives you and it works.

 

[Henry Bowman]

Turbo,

you have to post your photos to a hosting site like photobucket or picassa. You are using the appropriate process by hitting the img button BUT after hitting the IMG button and the little window comes up, you need to paste the location of the photo on the "host site"

I know, probably clear as mud...Hope it helps though.

 

[Turbovr3six]

 

[Turbovr3six]

 

[robot2222]

welcome to rc dirrerent corals require different conditions some like low light low flow some like hgh flow ect . for coraline growth on the rock its nice to start with a rock that has some nice purple coraline growth on and put in high flow area it will spread to the other rocks with proper light and calcium levels. water conditions and proper light cycle should equal coral growth . my light cycle was too long a whie back my corals were retracting before the lights went off . so i turned the lights off earlier and had better growth . pc lights are only good for about 6 to 8 months so and mh about 1 year too 1 year 6 months. keep track of that and the flow with the power heads you have could be ok as long as they are positioned correctly and not too much rock in the tank. it seems like you are doing good your corals are staying alive .patience is the key get one tank going bwell before you switch to another. go slow good luck

 

[Turbovr3six]

can i vodka dose with a crappy skimmer?

 

[tipmoff]

Simple answer is no. You need to be able to export the excess nutrients out to make dosing any carbon base work. See the dosing vodka thread in the forum, lots of info there. If you Phos and Nitrate are in order there is no need to fose. If you are looking to feed the fish and corals heavily to bring out color then it will help with with the excess, nutrients.

 

[Turbovr3six]

i had really high nitrates and phosphates and theyve lowered but i cant get my nitrate to drop past 40ppm... anything?

 

[Turbovr3six]

bumphttp://s101.photobucket.com/albums/m52/TURBOVR3SIX/?albumview=grid&fullsize=iphone116.jpg

 

[Turbovr3six]

After work bump.... Anybody help on advice to lower nitrates?

 

[redfishsc]

Lots of ways.


First, I'm not a deep sand bed fan. While many folks have them work wonders, I have seen them actually produce nitrate, especially if they become a septic tank (ie, full of fish poo and leftover food).

My personal recommendation is to fully research the DSB and find out if yours is really set up for optimal performance-- they tend to work better as "remote" in a refugium. Personally I'd remove it slowly (SLOWLY!) and get your sand down to an inch or less. I have about 1/2" in both of my tanks and I export nitrates in other ways.



Now, another issue you may be facing is residual nitrates in your tank. Coming down from 160ppm is a long road, which you may be coming to the end of (hopefully)--- it's possible that your rock and sand have absorbed the nitrates. I've had it explained to me that the rock will stay at "equilibrium" with the tank water regarding nitrate and phosphate. Once you start lowering them, the rocks begin to leach nitrates back into the water. In time (not necessarily a long time) they will reach equilibrium with your tank's lower nitrate amount. Patience is the key here. Weekly 20-30% water changes are good too.



Now, for ways to seriously put a dent in nitrate:

1) Make sure your refugium is full of algae (I prefer chaetomorphic algae) and brightly lit with "daylight spectrum" light--- anything around 5,000K to 6,500K spectrum should work great. I recommend you use the cheapest 6500K "daylight" bulbs you can find and replace them every 6 months (1 year if you use T5)-- this can make a big difference. Also, keep the lights on 24/7--- never turn them off. Macroalgae DOES NOT need a dark period like coral. Remove algae as it begins to grow huge. Plan on dosing iron (Randy's Fergon tablet recipe is dirt dirt cheap and very effective). The algae, and possibly your soft corals, can deplete your iron content. It doesn't take much.

2) Reduce your feeding. A hungry fish is a happy fish. Most of your corals do not need feeding, and with all the nitrate and phosphate in your water, they have PLENTY of nutrients. In your case I'd switch to one light feeding per day.

3) Do what you can to beef up your skimmer. If it's not producing enough bubbles, try to modify it to be a "recirculating skimmer" or just add in a wooden air diffuser on an air pump to produce extra bubbles. I make wooden air stones and if you want one for free to try this, send me a PM. Get your skimmer beefed up and consider dosing vodka/sugar/vinegar (all 3, or just one, or two, probably doesn't matter). MOVE SLOWLY ON THIS CARBON DOSING!!! It can cause rapid changes in your tank if you overdo it--- I've seen some BEAUTIFUL tanks have massive coral die-offs from overdoing the carbon dosing (the water clarity can become so clear, so fast, that the corals begin to bleach from the higher-intensity light reaching them, so I've read).


4) Once you have beefed up your skimmer---- or just before your next water change------ find yourself a nice, powerful powerhead/pump and use it to start blasting your rocks free of goop, crap, and detritus. Use one hand to point the pump and another hand to lift up your stones---- leave no stone unturned if you can. This will make your tank look hideously murky for a while--- use this time for a water change. Your skimmer will also (maybe) go crazy. Get as much junk out as you can. After some of it settles to the bottom, you can use a hose to siphon out as much as you can. This junk will continuously deteriorate in your tank and cause residual nitrate/phosphate issues.


Hope this helps!