Hello - Good to be finally here
- Thread starter Pugsly
- Start date
Yip the stuff they sell in bags for Kids !
Just wash it very well with RO (to save water I used my "old water" from doing WC)
I removed a few handfulls at a time and replaced it with playsand ...waited a few days & repeated the process....took a while but was worth it
Just another 300kg's of LR (thats a lot) look at your aquascaping it might be impairing your flow
Pugsly,
Your calculation is correct.
Placement of the pumps should be done so as to create a chaotic type of flow, i.e. not only in one direction.
Best way to do this is to place pumps on opposite sides of the tank and angle them slightly upwards and towards each other . In this way you will have good surface agitation and also create a nice chaotic type of flow.
Your pumps can be fixed to the glass by means of magnet mounts or suction cups.
I personally prefer to use magnet mounts. Much less chance of the pumps coming loose and causing havoc with your substrate or LR.
The crushed coral substrate needs to be removed and replaced with playsand.
Like I have said before : Do this slowly over a period of a week or two.
ok thanks - a question - how the hell am I going to get to 21600l per hour in my tank - i only have around 6000l/hour now. won't all those power heads take up all the space inside the tank? How many powerheads do you suggest using for my setup and at what power should they be putting out then?
Hi Dude and welcome to MASA
!
I also had some problems with GHA and Red slime algae (Still not 100% gone). There are a number of things that you can do to rid your tank of all of these nuisance algae's and get a nice healthy system going with no nuisance algae's.
1st off, you need to use RO water for any water changes, topping up. If you have your own RO unit great, If not then buy it from the LFS. Get them to use a TDS (Total Disolved solids) meter to show you how pure it is. The closer to zero the better. Dont let them tell you that a reading of 50 is fine...its not!!
The guys above said switch to playsand or aragonite (did someone win the lotto?!?!?!)
I recently switched to play sand (R40 for a 20kg bag) and it works great! Just wash it really well before adding it to your tank and do it slowly over a week or two. Slowly remove the course coral and replace with the playsand!
I would get rid of the canister filter as this would be PO4 Factory for your tank. The reason you will be getting a low reading is very possibly because the huge amounts of PO4 is being consumed by the GHA and making it fat and well fed!
Try to get a PO4 remover like Pirugen (I see you have Phosguard) in your canister filter. The sera stuff and all the rest can go. This is just a nitrate factory. Basically all the detritus is just getting trapped in there. Canister filters are really no good in a marine set up!
Do you test your Alkalinity? dKH is very important for maintaining PH and also to low dKH will lead to nuisance algae taking over your tank. Somewhere between 8 and 12 is fine. dKH above 12 with corals is not recomended.
Some photos of your system would be great. Your tank is also gonna go through a mini cycle when you add your DSB with the other sump!
!I also had some problems with GHA and Red slime algae (Still not 100% gone). There are a number of things that you can do to rid your tank of all of these nuisance algae's and get a nice healthy system going with no nuisance algae's.
1st off, you need to use RO water for any water changes, topping up. If you have your own RO unit great, If not then buy it from the LFS. Get them to use a TDS (Total Disolved solids) meter to show you how pure it is. The closer to zero the better. Dont let them tell you that a reading of 50 is fine...its not!!
The guys above said switch to playsand or aragonite (did someone win the lotto?!?!?!)
I recently switched to play sand (R40 for a 20kg bag) and it works great! Just wash it really well before adding it to your tank and do it slowly over a week or two. Slowly remove the course coral and replace with the playsand!
I would get rid of the canister filter as this would be PO4 Factory for your tank. The reason you will be getting a low reading is very possibly because the huge amounts of PO4 is being consumed by the GHA and making it fat and well fed
!Try to get a PO4 remover like Pirugen (I see you have Phosguard) in your canister filter. The sera stuff and all the rest can go. This is just a nitrate factory. Basically all the detritus is just getting trapped in there. Canister filters are really no good in a marine set up!
Do you test your Alkalinity? dKH is very important for maintaining PH and also to low dKH will lead to nuisance algae taking over your tank. Somewhere between 8 and 12 is fine. dKH above 12 with corals is not recomended.
Some photos of your system would be great. Your tank is also gonna go through a mini cycle when you add your DSB with the other sump!
thanks yet again for more info. So what I will do is start replacing the crushed coral with this play sand. By the way, how deep should it be when it is all done and replaced?
Any idea about flow and how I should get that amount of flow in my tank as discussedd earlier?
Oh, and once my customised 2nd sump comes in I will re-do the plumbing to exclude the canister filter? I can not believe I fell for that one you know how much that eheim filter cost me?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! I get so upset when people take advantage of you when they see you are new and "dumb" to the hobby!!!
Thanks again -
Any idea about flow and how I should get that amount of flow in my tank as discussedd earlier?
Oh, and once my customised 2nd sump comes in I will re-do the plumbing to exclude the canister filter? I can not believe I fell for that one you know how much that eheim filter cost me?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! I get so upset when people take advantage of you when they see you are new and "dumb" to the hobby!!!
Thanks again -
Pugsly,
Check out the sponsor's forums as suggested by Frans.
Rather than going for one very large pump, I would suggest that you look at 4 - 5 smaller pumps which are evenly spaced / placed around the tank.
Just remember to take into account the rating of your return pump from the sump.
Subtract this flow from the total flow required . (e.g. if your return pump is rated for 2000lph you need to subtract this from the 21600lph flow).
If you now buy say 5 smaller pumps each rated at approx 4000lph , you will have achieved your flow rate of 21600 lph.
Pugsly i think you are going to hit information overload soon, lots of questions and possibilities in this thread, all of which are very valid but i think there are better ways to digest the info given.
thats a big tank you have. Big tanks need big pumps cause they have big waste issues that need big skimmers (easy mudshark, easy fella) to get the stuff out the water , and then lots of biological filtration to convert it all down again. I think youve got almost all you need (you sure of that 300kg LR??? sounds way too much) but i def agree that the substrate could be a big problem (aslo you dont really want to use a gravel suction in a marine tank as you sucking out lots of good micro critters that do a great job in cleaning the sand up for you).
but in truth i really think you need to start a new thread with a few pics for us so that we can see exactly whats happening.
try get a FTS (full tank shot)
a close up of the LR
A shot of the algae
and a full shot of the sump.
PS great news that its GHA and not briopsis do those YT (yellow tangs) graze on it alot?
weapons of mass destruction can also include biological warfare in the form of aglae scrubbers, lawnmower blennies, hemitt crabs, turbo snails etc
thats a big tank you have. Big tanks need big pumps cause they have big waste issues that need big skimmers (easy mudshark, easy fella
) to get the stuff out the water , and then lots of biological filtration to convert it all down again. I think youve got almost all you need (you sure of that 300kg LR??? sounds way too much) but i def agree that the substrate could be a big problem (aslo you dont really want to use a gravel suction in a marine tank as you sucking out lots of good micro critters that do a great job in cleaning the sand up for you).but in truth i really think you need to start a new thread with a few pics for us so that we can see exactly whats happening.
try get a FTS (full tank shot)
a close up of the LR
A shot of the algae
and a full shot of the sump.
PS great news that its GHA and not briopsis
do those YT (yellow tangs) graze on it alot?weapons of mass destruction can also include biological warfare in the form of aglae scrubbers, lawnmower blennies, hemitt crabs, turbo snails etc
Hello and Welcome Pugsly
Where in Pretoria are you? I'm in Moreleta Park.
Do not replace the crushed coral BEFORE your sump and DSB is up. Then when your DSB is working, like a month or two, then you can remove your Rice Crispies.
For your sump DSB you can use play sand. I bought mine from Newlands Garden Center R40 for a bag you can not carry. But you must wash it properly, like 100 times. Its dirty like hell and make a foam head a Cream Cappuchino will be envious off.
Also - for me - a scrubber solved my PO4 problems.
Will you making the custom sump. Note that the DSB must have the BIGGEST footprint you have space for. The bigger the better. If it is too small, it is almost a waste of time.
Do you have Cheato?
Where in Pretoria are you? I'm in Moreleta Park.
Do not replace the crushed coral BEFORE your sump and DSB is up. Then when your DSB is working, like a month or two, then you can remove your Rice Crispies.
For your sump DSB you can use play sand. I bought mine from Newlands Garden Center R40 for a bag you can not carry. But you must wash it properly, like 100 times. Its dirty like hell and make a foam head a Cream Cappuchino will be envious off.
Also - for me - a scrubber solved my PO4 problems.
Will you making the custom sump. Note that the DSB must have the BIGGEST footprint you have space for. The bigger the better. If it is too small, it is almost a waste of time.
Do you have Cheato?
Riaan i agree with most of that, but i dont think a dsb will solve all problems, nor will the inclusion of a scrubber, i think we need to find the cause rather than treat the symptoms
i would hazard a guess that incorrectly placed LR and impropper flow has lead to the settling of detitis in the sand bed and between dead spots in the LR causing nutrient issues, which will always be there, scrubber or dsb aside
i would hazard a guess that incorrectly placed LR and impropper flow has lead to the settling of detitis in the sand bed and between dead spots in the LR causing nutrient issues, which will always be there, scrubber or dsb aside
Will you be running a DSB in the sump ? If so 3 - 5 cm should be enough in the DT.
The cannister can still be used, put your pohos remover / carbon etc in that, just adjust the flow to slow in order to give you maximum absorption
Agreed with what you are saying Apollo, the only reason for mentioning it , it is a alternative if you dont want lots of hardware insitde the tank. But I am also going the CLS route with the polario
Yip...good old kiddies play sand...just wash it well!!! will turn white..The substrate only needs to be 1cm - 2cm in your DT. You can go a little deeper if you want! I got 2 sun sun pumps. rated at 5000ltr/h each. were around R175 each. The seio's are a little more expensive, but worth the cash (so I have been told!!) I agree with the calculation! I would aim for four 4000 - 5000 ltr/h pumps!
and i would say that spending on Tunze's is def worth the investment, but will certainly dent a credit card. You get what you pay for i guess.
Pugsly when we say well washed, it means very very well washed
if you are going to have substrate in the tank i would go for a little thicker than 1-2cm...more around the 5 cm mark as this gives you a better option of placing sand burrowing creatchure (many of the wrasses for example sleep in the sand) or nasariums snails etc and gives you a better environment for micro critters to live in.
Personally i think that aragonite is worth the cost, especially if you are not using it as a dsb, but reggies does work
thats a fairly large tank, and i feel that the TS2 might be underated as a skimmer for that system, especially if you plan on having a number of fish. That skimmer is a great upgrade to the first one you had, but i think that you would do well looking for additional skimming.
Else you need to get the DOC out the system to the skimmer better (read in creased flow, better aquascaping) and improve the biological filtration of the system. (go read up on biological filtration in the forum on it)
I am leaning to the following after reading all this and think this is what I need to do - in no specific order really.
1) Need to increase the flow within my tank - think it is VERY "un-flowing like" (only have around 6000l/hour at the mo.) I feel there is dead spots in the tank where all this "gunk" is settling causing problems
2) Get more water to and from tank to sump and back to tank
3) carry out some work with that canister filter. ie. only use phosguard etc in there and nothing else
4) Get that second sump in and possibly then put my old skimmer in there so as to run two skimmers at the mo (due to the costs of skimmer will use what I have for now)
5) replace the crushed coral with play sand / aragonite depending on costs here. (Can I mix the two?)
OH and please last one (I think) What should the flow be from sump to tank and back to sump again? 4000l/hour? or more or less?
1) Need to increase the flow within my tank - think it is VERY "un-flowing like" (only have around 6000l/hour at the mo.) I feel there is dead spots in the tank where all this "gunk" is settling causing problems
2) Get more water to and from tank to sump and back to tank
3) carry out some work with that canister filter. ie. only use phosguard etc in there and nothing else
4) Get that second sump in and possibly then put my old skimmer in there so as to run two skimmers at the mo (due to the costs of skimmer will use what I have for now)
5) replace the crushed coral with play sand / aragonite depending on costs here. (Can I mix the two?)
OH and please last one (I think) What should the flow be from sump to tank and back to sump again? 4000l/hour? or more or less?
Sounds good to me...in no order!
Flow fom DT to sump and back again does not need to be huge. I only have a 2000ltr/h pump doing that. Generally you want the flow to be on the slower side...gets the water to "sit" in your sump for longer where all the nasties are taken out and the DBS can do its job! so I would go for the "less" side of yoru 4000! Lets see the pics tomorrow!
Flow fom DT to sump and back again does not need to be huge. I only have a 2000ltr/h pump doing that. Generally you want the flow to be on the slower side...gets the water to "sit" in your sump for longer where all the nasties are taken out and the DBS can do its job! so I would go for the "less" side of yoru 4000! Lets see the pics tomorrow!
Pugsly, Welcome.....
I am not going to launch into a whole bunch of advice here as you have some of the best guys in the business helping you out.
One word of caution however ...... watch the turnover rate in the sump, In my experience less is more here...... with pics we will be able to help you more...... this custom sump...... perhaps post some design pics that we can comment on, rather than trusting your LFS and possibly wasting good cash ...... If you get the sump filtration right then you will be well on your way to a very successful marine tank ! I personally have about 2 to 3 times my DT volume go through the sump every hour, not more than that ......
I am not going to launch into a whole bunch of advice here as you have some of the best guys in the business helping you out.
One word of caution however ...... watch the turnover rate in the sump, In my experience less is more here...... with pics we will be able to help you more...... this custom sump...... perhaps post some design pics that we can comment on, rather than trusting your LFS and possibly wasting good cash ...... If you get the sump filtration right then you will be well on your way to a very successful marine tank ! I personally have about 2 to 3 times my DT volume go through the sump every hour, not more than that ......
Welcome PUgsly. The guys are right with the skimmer, substrate and flow. Tunzes are great but pricey like Crispin said. You could get those sun sun pumps that do 13000 lph each which will bring your flow up nicely and cost about R400-00. Like Neil H said watch your flow through your sump, you don't want 26000lph going through it. Your 4000LPH is more than adequate but remember that you lose flow depending on how high your tube runs to your tank and how many joins you have.