dajee 1.2 meter tank

dajicorp

dajicorp

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Help! Check my tank Dajicorp

Hi everybody heres my first tank pic! will post more pics later.
sorry was taken with a cellphone.
1012493900c532f17.jpg
 
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my tank has been running for 7.5 months and is doing fine except for the nitrate level which i can't seem to bring down. its a 1.2meter(l)X750(w)X 850(h) reef tank.
the sump has a reef octapus skimmer, a phosphate reactor, live rock and ceremic rings. the lighting is three t8 florecent lamps.

PH- 8.3 - 8.5
NITRITE- 0.1MG/L
NITRATE-OVER 59MG/L
AMMONIA-0MG/L

SO... I need some advice on how to improve my tank. heres the pics of the sump.

101249391545b1243.jpg
 
welcometomasa and I hope you get all the help you need.

I would remove ALL the ceramic rings from the sump, I don't want to say much else because i know it will be said but, the ceramic rings break down ammonia and nitrites but not nitrates. They collect detritus and raise the nitrates, so thats the reason for the high nitrates. Personally I would rebuild the sump but if that cant happen the do what you can with the good advice thats going to follow from other members.

Also what you should do is follow the advice you are given very carefully as that is how you get tanks like Lanzos and Matt(before he broke it down), and I wish all the best for your tank.
 
Ocean is correct, remove those ceramic rings and rubble from the sump slowly over a month or 2 by taking out a handfull or so each week. This is to give the bacteria chance to catch up.
If you can't build another sump, remove the glass pane between the ceramic rings when they are out to make space for a deep sand bed. Use fine sea sand or reggies play sand and make it 15cm deep. Just wash the sand thoroughly.
Then you sit back and watch your dsb mature. You can even put chaetomorpha algae on top of the dsb. Later you can add a few inverts to stirr the sand surface to help get rid of the nitrogen bubbles, as your mature dsb will now convert ammonia to nitrites to nitrates to nitrogen which escapes back to the atmosphere.
 
Welcome to the forum.
You could just leave the rings and add better nitrate removal like an algae scrubber...
If you take the ceramic rings out you are changing your tanks whole filtration layout and may face have other challenges and problems.
The method mentioned by ocean and tobes works ok but would ideally need more live rock and more flow to make sure nothing ever settles,also a much more expensive skimmer ideally.
So in your tank i suggest you think bout a simple thing like nitrate sponge by kent marine in a stocking and your tank will be 100 percent as far as parameters instead of going for a complete makeover.i'm not saying it's the best method in every case but in your case you are already happy with everything else so dont mess with it too much just handle the problem which is nitrates.
 
gud point but i have really been struggling for many A months tried almost everything.lets see what the rest got to say.
 
Hi Falcon I would disagree with you, sorry!;) I would also suggest you remove the ceramic rings as they interfere with the effectivity of your liferock. Just do this over a period of time to give the tank time to adjust like Tobes mentioned. From what I can see from the sump pic your skimmer seems adequate for your tank size, which model is it btw? My sump has the same lay-out and I removed the pane seperating the bio rings in your sump and made it into a deep sand bed. Then additionally to this I would recommend you build a algae screen as promoted by santamonica on this forum, I build one smaller than neseccary two weeks ago and have already seen a big difference in my tank! This will also eliminate the need for Po4 remover, but I would still recommend you run activated carbon to remove any toxins/ chemicals that may get into your tank(naturally or accidently). Oh, welcome and happy reef building!:wave2:

Btw your tank looks great, this shift in filtration method will only be precautionary and have a more balanced approach! I'm also not saying this because of popular believe but this is according to my experience- if only I did it this way since I started!
 
I thing I am going to do the dsb method over a couple of weeks so that to reduce stress ,is that right guys.also wondering are three t8s enough for the tank.
 
If you wanna do a makeover then the not letting detritus settle method will work well,since you'll be changing to dsb then slowly is the way to go.as was said above remove the rings slowly over a few weeks to avoid any system shocks.
what is that colourfull stuff in the last compartment?
That lighting is not adequate i would suggest atleast another 4 t5 54w globes as your tank is as deep as mine and t8's did not do justice to my corals at all.metal halide(MH) is IMO the best but i'm assuming your tank is closed hood type,in which case t5's are your best option.
 
Err why?take that out unless it's for a good reason or else it should be another detritus trap which is not something you want in your new approach.

remember though soft corals use detritus to get food (or heavy feeding with coral liquids like phyto etc) so you need to decide what kind of corals you wanna keep to make your tank more suited to them.
if you want lps then more flow is in order to get rid of most detritus.
i see you already have a few softies though.:whistling:which way are you planning on going?check out a few of the tanks here to decide if you havent already.;)
 
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hi i really wanted a tank with few sps and mostly lps and softies. i currently have 1 yellow tang, 1 regal tang, 2 clowns, 1 royal gramma, three shrimps, 1 red star fish, 1 small spine urchin and two snails. so i also wanted a anemone for the clowns and atleast 1 clam.
 
hmm so you want everything in one...hardly ever has the best results,too much competition and chemical warfare going on in one tank lol prevents the colours from really coming out from what i've seen...


but it can be done,are you running carbon?if not i suggest that you do;) will help with the organics released by your shrooms and softies etc.

netting must go.i think your phos reactor is working very well as you have no algae that i can see in the pic!
 
If you thinking of the SPS/LPS route you may want to rethink the lighting T8's may not cut it.
 
please advice where i can get lighting at a cheaper prices.will i be able to put an anemone now.
 
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