Opinions from others on improving my setup PLEASE :)

[Miamireefer]

Hey folks,

Well after receiving my salifert kits and conducting tests on ph, alk, calcium, nitrates, on phosphates I can definitely vouch for red sea kits blowing chunks.

My levels were as followed:

ph:8.0
alk: 9 dkh
nitrates: 10-15 ppm
calcium:350
phosphates:0 (but even with salifert kits it can be questionable)

My setup is a 90g rr
about 1" sand bed
90-100lb of live rock
mag 5 for return
2 tunze nano streams 6025 model

my sump is a 20 gallon long...biggest i could fit below unfortunately,

in the 20g long I have a flex hose draining directly into it. (no filter sock) should i get one?

Skimmer: euro reef cs6-2+ w/ sedra 5000

I initially never thought of adding a fuge so I had siliconed 3 baffles in the middle of the sump giving a fairly sized return area.
Well I had a change of mind later and placed some 3 smaller pieces of live rock and a ball of chaeto in the return chamber and placed a piece of egg crate against the return pump to not allow the chaeto to get sucked in.

My bioload in the tank consists of

2' snowflake eel
2" flame angel
3" hamlet
2" falco hawkfish

Mixed corals consisting of a couple nice sized monti caps, a small acro piece, and mostly lps and zoas.

I do a 16 gallon water change every 2 weeks and I dose the tank with 2 part solution from b-ionic.
How can I bring my trates down? I have seen tanks much worse than mine accomplishing larger tasks with better numbers. I want to add one more fish but not until I get these numbers in check.

Thanks for your input!!

Nick

 

[pedromatic]

IMO a Mag 5 is too small for a 90. You should run at least a Mag 9.5 for your return. I'm not running any filter material, just let the skimmer do most of the work. Any other particulate matter settles in the fuge and feeds the critter in there. The water in the display is not crystal clear, but neither has it been on any dive I've ever been on. There's a lot of stuff suspended in ocean water.

 

[gasman059]

sock it baby!

 

[Ludwigia73]

Let's give the guy the knowledge to make his own choice. Socks are evil, if used improperly. Socks require changing regularly. The biggest most informed opinion I can offer is to buy like 10 of them, and every 3 or 4 days change it and drop the dirty one in a 5 gal bucket with a mild solution of bleach and water. When you get to 7 or 8 in the bucket, squeeze the crap out of it (literally) to get the most stuff out, and wash it in the washer twice to clean the bleach out. Then smell it. Any smell, wash again. Does this sound like too much work? Then don't use them at all. If you think it's too much work, you'll end up letting the sock stay in the system too long, catching crud, and polluting the system more. Personally, I think they catch too many pods I want em to stay in my systems!

 

[pedromatic]

I don't even like doing my laundry, much less nasty, disgusting-smelling filter socks. Too much work. Automate everything, then sit back and TRY to keep your hands out of the tank every 5 minutes.

 

[gasman059]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=#post target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Ludwigia73
Let's give the guy the knowledge to make his own choice. Socks are evil, if used improperly. Socks require changing regularly. The biggest most informed opinion I can offer is to buy like 10 of them, and every 3 or 4 days change it and drop the dirty one in a 5 gal bucket with a mild solution of bleach and water. When you get to 7 or 8 in the bucket, squeeze the crap out of it (literally) to get the most stuff out, and wash it in the washer twice to clean the bleach out. Then smell it. Any smell, wash again. Does this sound like too much work? Then don't use them at all. If you think it's too much work, you'll end up letting the sock stay in the system too long, catching crud, and polluting the system more. Personally, I think they catch too many pods I want em to stay in my systems!

The first part is correct the second well/if u think the sock is keeping the pods out something is going on. Socks are great additions to any system for many reasons. ie: bubbles/detritus etc. and yes they do need to be changed.

 

[gasman059]

There's not such a thing as a fully automated TRUE REEF!

 

[Ding2daDong]

I would add more b-ionic. I know it says to add 1ml per 4 gallons but I personally have alot of corals that eat all the nutrients up.

I add 35ml of bionic part a and then 35ml of part b everyday and I have a 75g tank.

Like gasman said sock it! Just make sure you clean them or you will have more nitrates.

-Matthew

 

[pedromatic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10666627#post10666627 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by gasman059
There's not such a thing as a fully automated TRUE REEF!

Ah, gasman always sparring with me. OK...
1) Maybe I exaggerated when I said "automate everything". Automate whatever you can, e.g. wavemakers, top off, dosing. There's always going to be manual cleanup and maintenance involved. Just make your life easier wherever you can.

2) The only TRUE REEF is in the ocean. What you have there, gassie, is a FAKE REEF.

 

[db_triggerfish]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10665525#post10665525 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by pedromatic
IMO a Mag 5 is too small for a 90. You should run at least a Mag 9.5 for your return. I'm not running any filter material, just let the skimmer do most of the work. Any other particulate matter settles in the fuge and feeds the critter in there. The water in the display is not crystal clear, but neither has it been on any dive I've ever been on. There's a lot of stuff suspended in ocean water.

Higher than Mag 7 will increase bubbles, noise, and heat and without a filter sock how would you reduce micro bubbles? I am setting up a 90g i can't imagine having a tank full of micro bubbles. rr overflow are rated at around 600gph but so many threads were people are force to put a T or a gate valve to reduce flow.

 

[macawmagic]

i had a 55 with a mag 9.5 and ur standard hang on the back overflow. I had no problem running it full throttle. In fact I wish I had a mag 12 instead so I could get that little extra flow! I've got a whole new setup now as I've upgraded tanks, but it worked for me perfectly for like a year

 

[Miamireefer]

Wow thanks for the responses folks..

1. I am fully aware of definitely having more than one sock on hand but was rather interested in should it be added or not...definitely pros and cons to it all from what i have read from you guys and my research. I am considering it more so the crap doesn't stay on my sump floor. I had to clean the hell out of it the other day from **** building up in it.

2. The reason for the mag5 return is I have a corner overflow. I know the max on flow rating is 400 gph so a mag 5 can pretty much nail it i think but would adding a 3rd tunze nano stream help possibly in the dt?

3. Am I going to be obligated to have to do more frequent water changes? say like 10 gallons a week?

pedromatic.. I noticed you have a fuge on top of your sump that drains down if I am not mistaken? I have been thinking of this for a while but wasn't sure if it was worth doing. Are your nitrate levels at nil? or do you have any that appear? and what is your livestock?

My whole concenr is wanting to add a valentini puffer but I want to try and keep the environment as clean as I can make it that is doable.

thanks again everyone. definitely helpful so far

Nick

 

[pedromatic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10667565#post10667565 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Miamireefer
Wow thanks for the responses folks..

pedromatic.. I noticed you have a fuge on top of your sump that drains down if I am not mistaken? I have been thinking of this for a while but wasn't sure if it was worth doing. Are your nitrate levels at nil? or do you have any that appear? and what is your livestock?

My whole concenr is wanting to add a valentini puffer but I want to try and keep the environment as clean as I can make it that is doable.

Nick

Both my tanks have external overflows leading to a sump.

On my 90, I have a typical refugium from Big Al's.
1st chamber - water splashes down on skimmer pump and some bio-balls to break up the bubbles.

2nd chamber - mud, LR, various macroalgae, mangrove sprouts, clams, shrimp, pods... oh, and a Neon Dottyback in exile. This section overflows onto more macroalgae and gutter screen

3rd chamber - return area, Mag 9.5 (no microbubbles)

On my 55, I have a Frankenstein (made up of various spare parts) sump/fuge.

External overflow leads to 2 modded passive bio-wheel filters. These splash into a 10g tank (all I could get into the stand due to a center partition). The splash area contains cheato and some bio-balls to break up the bubbles. A piece of gutter screen keeps this stuff away from the return (Mag 5) and skimmer (Mag 7) pumps in the 2nd half of the sump.

I run phosphate reactors in both setups. To keep nitrates at zero despite the heavy bioload, I dose with vodka daily (the tanks, not me) I dose with Scotch. I typically do a water change every 2-3 weeks. I get 50 gallons and replace 30g in the 90 and 20g in the 55.

I have a Valentini in my 55, but I've never even seen it poop. It's a very well mannered fish that doesn't seem to bother anybody. And they don't get very big. Click the red house to see some of my other inhabitants.

A lot of folks have a more elaborate setup, mine is pretty modest (not me, the setup) IMHO.

 

[gasman059]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=#post target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by pedromatic
Ah, gasman always sparring with me. OK...
1) Maybe I exaggerated when I said "automate everything". Automate whatever you can, e.g. wavemakers, top off, dosing. There's always going to be manual cleanup and maintenance involved. Just make your life easier wherever you can.

2) The only TRUE REEF is in the ocean. What you have there, gassie, is a FAKE REEF.

YES I DO HAVE A REEF I SAID LMAO

 

[Rogger Castells]

Nick, you seem to have the right equipment for your tank, your nitrates are high and you need to work hard on bringing them down by finding the source and water changes.
Finding the source could be tricky but with patience you should be able to find it, first place I would look is the foam in your Euro reef skimmer outlet pipe, this could be replace with a gate valve mod.
second place will be your sediments in the sump and tank, try to suck as much as you can when you do water changes.
next I will check the sand and live rock, usually you can check this by getting a sample of each and placing it separately in a ziplock bag with some of your tank water that you have previously checked for nitrates, next you want to shake the bag hard and let the sediment settle and re-check the water, you should not see any major increase in the nitrates but if you do, this means that they have accumulated in your sand and rock

 

[db_triggerfish]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10672251#post10672251 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Rogger Castells
next I will check the sand and live rock, usually you can check this by getting a sample of each and placing it separately in a ziplock bag with some of your tank water that you have previously checked for nitrates, next you want to shake the bag hard and let the sediment settle and re-check the water, you should not see any major increase in the nitrates but if you do, this means that they have accumulated in your sand and rock

Thanks, learned something new, nice idea.