New Member - 90 Gallon Setup

[ech0sh4y]

Hello all, my name is Brian. I've had my setup for a little over a year now and it's been doing very well so far. I've been trying to get everything in order so I can start adding corals and other exotic creatures. The basic setup:

- 90 gal. All Glass tank (with hood and stand)
- eShopps Sump/refugium with protein skimmer
- 2 x Kessil LED lights
- 1 x Powerhead @ 750 GPH
- 1 x Powerhead @ 400 GPH
- Rena Filstar xp3 with carbon and bio-balls
- Rio 2500 pump (in sump)
- Live sand base with live rock (unsure of total lbs.)

** Temporarily running a UV sterilizer in order to help cure "ich" issues.

Current livestock (1.2.12):
- Maroon Clown
- Powder Brown Tang
- Sail-fin Tang
- Skunk shrimp
- Sally Lightfoot Crab
- Green Bubble Tip Anemone
- 2 x Pajama Cardinals
- 1 x Mystery fish (was adopted from neighbor, can not figure out what it is)
- 3 x Turbo Snails

So far the tank has been running smoothly. I'm looking to upgrade items and gather supplies to make sure I can maintain happy corals. Right now the tangs are getting hit with what I think is "ich". I've lost my blue hippo tang recently and now it's after the powder brown tang.

Also the mystery fish seems to be very aggressive and likes to dig all the sand from under the rocks. I feel like this is a bad thing as it could be releasing all the nitrates and phosphates trapped in the sand bed.

I'm looking into setting up and auto top-off / reserve tank. I plan on buying a RO/DI water set up and storing 30 gallons of water for future water changes. Up until this point I was using straight tap water and changing about 1 every other week (20 gallons per change). I feed the fish 2-3 times a day some flakes and frozen brine shrimp. They also have a garlic soaked green seaweed at all times.

Lights are on for only 10 hours a day. The refugium light is on 24/7 for the plants. I currently (as 1.2.12) have cut the DT lights and put a blanket over the tank. This is done to help relieve the tangs of 'stress' which I hope will help cure the ich. I've added the UV sterilizer as well to possibly aid the process.

At this point in time, I'm trying to figure out what my next moves, best upgrades, and proper maintenance I should be doing. This is why I have come to your online community to get some much needed feedback on my setup as well as my maintenance techniques. So please, fire away! =)

~ Brian

Here are a few pictures of the setup:

 

[ech0sh4y]

 

[Agu]

[welcome]

Until your "ick issues" are resolved I'd just run the tank as it is. Sorry to say but odds are the ick will probably take out your fish population unless you move them to quarantine and use hyposalinity or copper to eradicate the pest. There are links to information about treating ick throughout the site.

Good Luck ....

 

[IamFowlrThanYou]

Too get rid of the ick I would recommend just getting the inverts out and hypo-ing the main display, and soak their food in garlic to boost their immune system. When my tang got ich I personally just let it ride out and just soak its food in garlic. It was clear from ich in 2 weeks and was very fat.

 

[ech0sh4y]

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

Until your "ick issues" are resolved I'd just run the tank as it is. Sorry to say but odds are the ick will probably take out your fish population unless you move them to quarantine and use hyposalinity or copper to eradicate the pest. There are links to information about treating ick throughout the site.

Good Luck ....

When you say hypo salinity you mean lower to 1.010 or such correct? This would be only in the QT (if I had to set one up). Fish can handle this but the inverts could not, correct? I have already lost one fish to "ich" (or "ick").

Also thank you for the information and welcome!

Too get rid of the ick I would recommend just getting the inverts out and hypo-ing the main display, and soak their food in garlic to boost their immune system. When my tang got ich I personally just let it ride out and just soak its food in garlic. It was clear from ich in 2 weeks and was very fat.

I guess I asked the same question in the above response about hypo-ing the tank. Would the garlic enriched seaweed subsitute for soaking the food? Do you increase there feeding as garlic incase their appetite?

Thanks again for the information!

~ Brian

 

[Dustin1300]

I would not hypo the DT. Move the fish out to QT with hypo instead of disturbing your whole system.

 

[ech0sh4y]

I would not hypo the DT. Move the fish out to QT with hypo instead of disturbing your whole system.

I was thinking the same thoughts. I've never have done done hypoing or a QT so I will have to do some research on that.

 

[ech0sh4y]

Well the ich has seemed to vanish.

I'm trying to figure out how to plum the RO/DI in my apartment with being able to return to "stock". I've read that you can get an adapter for the sink. But first if I were to cheap out and get a 30 GPD unit... well i'd be with out a kitchen sink for a day! I've also read that it's bad to leave the unit sit with out water for more than a week. It supposedly ruins the membrane?

Another quick question, do you guys think that I need to keep the XP-3 filter installed? I've added another few large "live" rocks to the mix. I'd like to remove from under my tank so I can setup and ATO system.

Thanks again!

~ Brian

 

[Musing.Dog]

The lifecycle of ich is complex and comes in stages. It appears to have vanished because the cysts have dropped off the fish to multiply in the sand. As the fish lay asleep at night during the next few hours, they will be reinfected with many more ich parasites than they had before. This process will continue until the fish succumbs or the parasite is eliminated through treatment. The Ich treatment sticky in this forum outlines the appropriate treatments for ich.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1985626

The RO unit will have water trapped inside of it after you turn the flow off so it never sits without water. This is the reason why it is suggested to let it run for a gallon or so when you start it up after having sat for a period of time. The membrane lets impurities seep back into the water trapped in the unit. I do not believe letting the unit sit will hurt it.

It is possible to phase the canister filter out. However, be aware that a portion (a large portion possibly) of your beneficial bacteria are living in the filter. You must move over to just live rock and skimmer slowly. The recommended amount of live rock is 1 to 1.5 lbs per gallon of water. The less rock you have, the less surface area for bacteria. Just don't pull the rena filter all in one go. Remove media from the filter over a course of weeks and allow the bacteria to colonize the rocks instead.

 

[ech0sh4y]

Thank you all for the welcomes! I decided to try the SpectraPure MaxCap RO/DI 90 GPD unit. I also purchased a faucet hook up for temp. use until I figure out the plumbing. Based on your opinions a RO/DI unit was much needed! I am getting closer to my complete setup for corals!

I also decided to add to the livestock for tank maintenance and bought the "reef cleaner package".

My fiancé also bought a new addition to the tank. She said we needed some more color in the tank! So we've now added a colony of Green Star polyps! here is a few pictures:

The mystery fish... I'm starting to think it's a wrasse. It's super hard to get a picture of it. He is very aggressive and move all the sand from under the rocks! He looks like the mystery wrasse but more grey/brown. He does have a black dot with blue outline on his tail fin. Here is the best I could do:

So for the next upgrades I was thinking of looking into the all-in-one monitor systems. I was wanting some better testing equipment and also would like to control the lights and add a wave maker. What do you guys think about this unit Reef Keeper?

Thanks again for all of the help!

Current live rock formations:

 

[ech0sh4y]

Current livestock (1.28.12):
- Maroon Clown
- Sail-fin Tang
- Sally Lightfoot Crab
- Green Bubble Tip Anemone
- Green Star Polyp Colony
- 2 x Pajama Cardinals
- 1 x Mystery fish (was adopted from neighbor, can not figure out what it is)
- 23 x Turbo Snails
- 20 x Dwarf White Leg Hermit Crabs
- 20 x Blue Leg Hermit Crab
- 3 x Emerald Crabs
- Reef Safe Starfish
- Peppermint Shrimp
- 2 x Cleaner Clam
- 10 x Nassarius Snail

 

[MrTuskfish]

Well the ich has seemed to vanish.

I'm trying to figure out how to plum the RO/DI in my apartment with being able to return to "stock". I've read that you can get an adapter for the sink. But first if I were to cheap out and get a 30 GPD unit... well i'd be with out a kitchen sink for a day! I've also read that it's bad to leave the unit sit with out water for more than a week. It supposedly ruins the membrane?

Another quick question, do you guys think that I need to keep the XP-3 filter installed? I've added another few large "live" rocks to the mix. I'd like to remove from under my tank so I can setup and ATO system.

Thanks again!

~ Brian

This is a normal phase of the ich cycle. Ich will almost certainly reappear X1000. If you've already lost fish to ich, its serious, and your UV will not cure it. I really don't think you're taking the above comments about ich seriously enough. If you don't get a QT and treat these fish; all of your other questions won't matter much. I'd post your ich problem in the disease section of the forum and get some help before you worry about anything else.

 

[ech0sh4y]

This is a normal phase of the ich cycle. Ich will almost certainly reappear X1000. If you've already lost fish to ich, its serious, and your UV will not cure it. I really don't think you're taking the above comments about ich seriously enough. If you don't get a QT and treat these fish; all of your other questions won't matter much. I'd post your ich problem in the disease section of the forum and get some help before you worry about anything else.

I've got everything needed so far to set up a QT. So I do realize what you all have said about ICH and I'm working on getting a tank set up and treating the remaining fish.

 

[MrTuskfish]

I've got everything needed so far to set up a QT. So I do realize what you all have said about ICH and I'm working on getting a tank set up and treating the remaining fish.

Good move! If this is your 1st run-in with ich; I'd still post on the disease forum. You'll get some excellent help there. Eliminating ich isn't difficult; but precisely following procedures is essential. The disease forum, and the ich stickies at the top of it, will really help eliminate common mistakes.

 

[Orlandomedic]

How is that Rio 2500 pump working for you? Thinking of buying one for my 65?