new guy with some ?

[wallie03]

Hi
So I have a few general ?, but first I would like to explain my situation I have had a few FOWLR tanks a 55 and a 29 I sold both of them a few years ago and had recently bought the 55 back for 100 bucks. Ok so Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve been reading a ton of articles on line and Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢m wondering if I might have old tank syndrome. I got some more info on this tank I bought this tank in 04 and the guy I bought it from had it up and running for 2 years. I sold it in 06 due to student loans (lol) and bought it back from the guy a week ago it had a few fish in it which I gave to my local store for credit. They wonââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t take the damsels though. It has been going throw a cycle since moving it the sand bed seems to be made up of various grain sizes it seems to be crushed coral sand mix. Itââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s about 3 inches deep. I donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t no how much live rock is in it exactly but Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢d have to say at least 50lbs. the tank is having an outbreak of cyno I think (rust covering everything) threes also allot of ditris in the tank and my phosphates are high. I replaced two of the power heads so far with koalas 2,3 .do you think it would be worth it to break this tank down add a new sand bed and start over with new live sand? And use the live rock that in there .and there isnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t as much coralline as there was a few years ago. Lots of hair algae
here is a list of what it has.


1.Nova extreme T-5 w/lunar lights 432 watts
2.2 penguin bio-wheels 350 model(which I ditched) hoping to just run a skimmer and use lr/sand for filtration dont no yet
3.Sea clone protein skimmer
4.5 power heads witch donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t work to well slowly buying new ones bought a koralia 3 and a 2
5. Heater and some other stuff i.e. test kits.
Livestock
2 Anemone
A brittle star
Some snails and hermitââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s blue leg red leg and some others
2 emerald crabs
3 yellow tail damsels.
Lots of live rock

So I would like to start a reef tank I would like to keep a few easy corals like zoos and mushrooms polyps Can you have too much lr?

ph. 8.3
nitrate 20
nitrite 0
calcium 460
carbonate hardness 196.9
phosphate .5
salinity 1.023 (Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢m slowly raising this)

im going to do a 15 gal water change tomorrow
thanks for all the help and sorry for the long post

 

[drummereef]

<img src="/images/welcome.gif" width="500" height="62"><br><b><i><big><big>To Reef Central</b></i></big></big>


Tank is looking OK so far. You have plenty of live rock and I see no need to break it down and start over. Here's my suggestions though... You can get rid of the HOB filters. I'd remove one at a time over the course of a couple weeks to allow the natural filtration to catch up. Your live rock and skimmer will be fine for filtration. It's what most of us do. And, the HOB's are most likely adding to your nitrate and phosphate issue. Before you start adding corals I'd address that issue and see if you can get those levels down. The Koralias were a good upgrade, you'll be happy with those.

Are you using tap or RO/DI water at the moment?

 

[1602reefer]

Don't start over at this point. To lower your nitrate and po4 levels continue to do water changes. This will also help with the green hair and the cyano. To get rid of the cyano you can turn off your lights for a while or a least shorten it a lot. Use a turkey baster or scrub it off with a toothbrush. I agree with drummer get rid of the bio-wheels, you don't need them with what looks like over 50+ lbs of live rock, but take them off one at a time like drummer said. Just stick with the koralia 2 & 3, you really don't need more than that. If you can, upgrade your protein skimmer though. If you can get rid of those damsels. Try to pawn them off on one of your friends. They are nasty little suckers especially when the are the first ones in the tank for a while. They are pretty territorial and will attack other fish you try to add. And you can never have too much live rock. Like drummer said use RO/ DI water for top offs and water changes, you'll lower your phosphate levels and your algae production. Good luck.

 

[wallie03]

I’ve been using ro/di water from culligan but the guy that had it before me was using tap water (bad idea) I’m going to do 15 gal water changes once a week until I can get this under control. I also have another 30lbs of lr/base rock that I’m curing right now definitely going to rearrange the lr and maybe take some out/add some. Do you think it would be worth it to buy a hang on refuge?

 

[wallie03]

also will i have enough water flow with the 2 power heads i was planing on buying another one. so i could have two #3 on each side and a #2 in the middle. i have two skimmers both are Sea clones should i run them both untill i can buy a nice one

 

[Aquarist007]

I would get rid of the existing sand bed and replace it with new medium argonite. If it has been up since 2002 its probably lost its buffering capabilities and become plugged with nitrates and phosphates. I would suggest it is probably where the high nitrate levels are coming from.

 

[wallie03]

even tho it seems to be full of little critters (worm trals against the glass)

 

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14865776#post14865776 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by wallie03
also will i have enough water flow with the 2 power heads i was planing on buying another one. so i could have two #3 on each side and a #2 in the middle. i have two skimmers both are Sea clones should i run them both untill i can buy a nice one

the prefered level of flow for your 55 gal would be between 1100 and 2200 gph.
You'll have 2200 with that arrange which is great.
You might want to mount the #2 close to the bottom of the tank and point it upwards. This will create a suction across the bottom without a sand storm.

 

[wallie03]

i have a 30 gal that has nothing in it mabe ill transfer everthing over to that - the sand and clean the 55 out and add new sand

 

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14865736#post14865736 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by wallie03
I’ve been using ro/di water from culligan but the guy that had it before me was using tap water (bad idea) I’m going to do 15 gal water changes once a week until I can get this under control. I also have another 30lbs of lr/base rock that I’m curing right now definitely going to rearrange the lr and maybe take some out/add some. Do you think it would be worth it to buy a hang on refuge?

Here are two fuge ideas for a buck===and they will reduce your nitrates and phosphates

 

[wallie03]

nice lol and i was about to spend $200 bucks lol

 

[1602reefer]

If you can afford a refugium, then by all means buy one. That will definitely cut down on your algae in the tank, and your nitrates. Just get two #3's instead of a #2 & #3. I have two #3's on my 55 and they work great. The protein skimmer provides a little flow across the surface too. Yeah and if your substrate has been there since 2002 I would change it. If the substrate has been the same for more than a couple of years it probably contains so much waste that it's just polluting your water now. One sea clone should be good as long as you keep up on your water changes.

 

[wallie03]

so for the sand should i buy the stuff in a bag with water. im thinking around 100lbs can i mix this with some of the sand out of my tank

 

[1602reefer]

If your talking about live sand, it's pretty much up to you. I have crushed coral/ argonite in my tank. Just research on both and see which you like more. And 100lbs is a bit to much unless you want a really deep sand bed, I only used a 50lb bag and it's probably a 3" sand bed. If you want to mix it do it, but I would just start fresh with the new stuff, it will get seeded by the live rock after a while.

 

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14866027#post14866027 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by wallie03
so for the sand should i buy the stuff in a bag with water. im thinking around 100lbs can i mix this with some of the sand out of my tank

buy a medium grade argonite and seed it with one cup from your old sand bed---that's all you need to do.

IMO --I would not go with crush coral--too easy for nitrates phophates and other organics to get caught up in it---it then browns and is difficult to clean up.