Please Help, Need Input, years of exp help pls

[Mendozasreef]

Ok... I'm helping out a friend by taking care of his reef, he's a quadriplegic from a snowboarding accident when he was 17 But LOVES his reef tank.. , I do the water changes weekly, I'm battling a Cyano attack that just won't go away. Also..this reef has been running for 3 years.. have a look at the pics... 3 YEARS.. No Coraline, no green hair... no Copepods... No nothing like my reef.. my reef is 1 year old and is flourishing in copepods and life.. my corals have grown 6 times their original size and my fish and inverts are great... the only thing he can keep alive in that 90 gallon reef is fish.... now..the things you'll notice in the pics is as follows...
1. Lid, 2. 10k T5's two of them, 2 blue lights, 3 powerful power heads, and yes 4. That's a Canister Filter under there.. thats a fresh water fluval tank his mom got soaked $2200 for. 5. Not enough rock ?? 6. Crushed coral substrate
Please give me some ideas... I think an overhaul.. more rock and remove the lid completely, new lights and most of all a SUMP.... what do you all think

 

[ramseynb]

I think the rock's fine if he has that many fish and no ammonia spikes. I agree with everything you said.

If he's using crushed coral, you might try to siphon a very small section and see how much detritus comes out. I'm thinking the substrate is probably LOADED with detritus. If that's the case, I would siphon a small section with each water change. Don't stir the whole thing or even a sizable portion up. Once you get it cleaned out, add some more rock (to offset the CC removal) and let it settle in. Then SLOWLY remove the crushed coral and replace with something else. Crushed coral is ugly IMO and traps a lot of detritus. You'll get mixed opinions on this but after all that, I would put less sand in and siphon it stir it up some during water changes. Again, I'm thinking there's a ton of detritus just sitting in that sand bed and fueling the cyano. That's what I would do.

Apart from that, what does phosphates and nitrates look like?

 

[AC_Rhino]

WOW ... those lights could bleach the Earth ... manage the lights ... that tanks is like asking for critters to live on the surface of the sun.

 

[Mendozasreef]

Numbers are great, I brought his ph up to 8.2 kh is 8 phos, nits, nitrates all good, this cyano keeps coming back, I even took all the rock out 2 weeks ago and scrubbed off all the cyano.. stirred up the substrate and still back this week again ?

 

[Mendozasreef]

Okay.. I told him..loose the lid completely, and raise the lights..but his mom can't afford to have me change the lights right now,, they are on 1pm to 6pm.

 

[Mendozasreef]

I also told him I would have one of the 90 gallons I have sitting around and give it to him.. set it up and I would build him a sump for it too.. Then let it cycle with new rock seeded with live rock..then move his fish and inverts over and shut down the canister tank

 

[Mendozasreef]

But it comes down to affording lights

 

[ramseynb]

Can they afford to at least change out the bulbs to something like 14k? The cyano could be a result of so much red spectrum in the light. It's certainly not helping. You could try running some GFO as well. Since he has no coral, I don't think it would hurt anything. It might be that phosphates are leeching out of the substrate or rock but being used up by the cyano right away. Maybe test the water after the tank's been dark for a while. There's also chemi-clean and other cyano removal products but it generally comes back if you don't fix the root cause. Cyano is a real PITA. I think cyano and dinos are the two worst things that can happen to your tank. I used to include aipastia in that list, but those two are on another level.

 

[ramseynb]

Also, that's very noble and awesome of you to help your friend out! Kudos to you, man!

 

[Mendozasreef]

Yeah, he has two of those... Cyano and Aiptasia

 

[Mendozasreef]

I think I'm going to give him one of my 90's I have sitting at home.. have it drilled and build him a sump.. start with new rock seeded with live rock...let it cycle and move his fish and inverts over and shut down that Fluval. I think it's best..not like he's got a pile of coral to move

 

[Mendozasreef]

Put a mesh lid..that'll allow more oxygen to cycle in and better lighting

 

[Joe0813]

Fix the light issue and sell the tang since it should be in a way bigger tank than that

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

Worst thing you can have is that Fluval in a reef.
I'd be willing to bet that's most of the problem unless it is just carbon in there.

 

[Dsekula]

Goning to make a suggestion here a tad bit off topic...
What your doing is very kind and I'm sure your friend appreciates it. I spend quite a bit of time volunteering with special needs and disabled individuals. One thing I have found almost universal is that most people appreciate even more if you can help them be self-sufficient. My suggestion is that you help find a way to enable your friend to take care of his own tank instead of relying on you all the time. Then you can enjoy these things more as equals. Maybe check with local reef clubs and stores to get recommendations and maybe even donated or second hand gear when you present the situation. It's not to expensive to grab some small pumps for water changes etc. I don't know the whole situation, I'm sure but if you put yourself in this poor guys situation what would you like more?
Just a suggestion if you can swing it

If possible I'd hold his fish for a short while and rebuild a system together that he can have more control over since he seems to be having so many issues to begin with.

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[Uncle99]

Is your water RODI and do you know the current TDS of it?
Sounds like bad water issue to me...

 

[Dsekula]

I still think it would be awesome to fully voice automate that system (I hope this guys has some sort of home system already?). It would just be sweet to scrap everything and rebuild with pumps plumbed in and hooked to smart outlets or adapters etc. Then he could just say Alexia/google pumpwater out of my tank, then pump water in etc.
Anyway op, if your systems running well after one year you should know the basics of running a reef. Just scrap whats out of place (cc, filter etc) and make it like yours even seed it from your tank if you want. Id really just hold his fish if you can just in case you spike the tank accidentally. Then since these no fish I'd replace everything in one shot and seed with your good tank. then he has a nice new system in case something weird is up with the crushed coral or filter etc.

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[Mendozasreef]

Yeah I'm going to help him start a new one.. but going voice controlled isn't an option right now ... $$$ is short..and i'm giving him most of the equipment he's going to need..i'm building his sump as well..

 

[NO3]

Youre a good friend helping him out.... Kudos.

#1 - you never made mention of a protein skimmer. Lose the canister that will trap waste and cause a NO3 factory.

#2. you never made mention of your water source. Tapwater? Which is loaded with phosphates. Need to make your own RODI water.

#3- how are you testing for salinity? Swingarms are garbage and build up a memory that leads to salinity being waaaaay off. Buy a $50 refractometer from Bulk Reef to dial on your salinity to a steady 1.023-1.025.

#4- are you regularly TOPPING OFF the evaporated water. Over tge week water evaporates leaving behind salt and salinity will climb pretty high quickly. #1 testing tool is a refractometer. You should be testing tge salinity 2-3 times every week

#5- waterchanges. Need to do AT MIN 20% each month. Every 2 weeks even better.

#6- stick with LPS and avoid SPS corals. SPS coral needs ultra great water chemistry and someone who can watch water quality every other day. Too much work. LPS are much more forgiving

Good luck

 

[2_zoa]

So, I've had a bit to drink but. I've skimmed over this a few times and I'm left with the same questions.
What size is the current tank?
What exactly do you think a sump will accomplish?
If the current tank is a 90 like the one your going to give him, how is 4 T-5's too much light?
You mentioned the params are good, yet you failed to list the numbers and the test to acquire them?
10k lighting doesn't grow cyano, a layer of decaying matter grows cyano. Which is why "œflow" is always recommended to rid a tank of cyano. If your doing the water changes, then siphon the crap out. I'm not talking about the cyano either.
Remember, cyano can affix it's own nitrogen and a siphon is a tank owners best friend.
A canister will only cause issue if it's not treated correctly. There are many instances where they are used successfully as there are unsuccessfully. Any form of filtration is a good form when used in it's intended manner. Some require more user input. Bio balls and canisters simply don't get cleaned enough and so their bad reputation.
How many corals are in this tank? What coral are in this tank? The numbers that you list might be the cause of why corals and coralline won't grow. An imbalance of anything is not a good thing.

In the end it's all about balance.
I think, instead of running from the current system. You should all learn and grow from thinking about the system and get it into balance. If you don't, you'll likely end up in the same situation later on only to wonder what's wrong at that time.
If it's worth doing, it's worth fighting for. Rebuilding from the word go, isn't necessarily the right choice. IMO anyway.
I'd evaluate everything going into and already in the tank. It's maintenance, your involvement and anyone else's involvement. The equipment needs, if they are being met or not.
The lid may suppress the PH but that's about it in my mind.
What fish are in the tank? That may be why you don't see any pods in the tank. Example- my Midas blenny found his way to the overflow and I left him there for a day and half. I had a ton of pods show up on the glass. Then, I scooped him up and returned him to the proper side of things..........not really any pods at all to be seen on the glass.

Huge ramblings to say.......think. Just think about the mechanics of what's going on before you change the world.
I can't answer your questions because I don't have enough info simply based on what you've given. You know the most. You've chosen to be involved so...be involved. Don't just throw money and equipment at the issue. It won't solve the root cause. It'll just delay the reoccurrence of it.

Good luck from a pile of drunken ramblings.