My first reef tank

[yusufp]

I posted in the introduction forum about the tank im going to buy. I have it and its now been set up.

3ft tank with 2ft sump.

Sump has a dsb and live rock plus other bio material and skimmer.

Lighting is 2 x t5s one blue and one white

Livestock.

Snowflake eel unfortunately lost during the move.

Various corals not too sure of the types, an id will be appreciated. Please see pics. Looks like kenya tree and a pincushion.

Future plans. Add a clean up crew this weekend and add a fish (clowns) after a week or two.

the water is looking very murky any advice to help clear it up?

 

[yusufp]

 

[CameL]

You can run a filter sock to assist with clearing the water, ideally you want enough flow to keep those particles in suspension until they go down the overflow to the sump.

from what i can see you have a pincushion, some mushrooms, a finger leather coral, some gsp that's not quite opening yet. Looks like a green monti in the one reflection. also looks like some zoas that are not opening.

I would remove the bio balls and ceramic rings and replace it with something like orca bio-cubes. and i would probably look at upgrading that skimmer. you could also put some carbon into a mesh bag and run that passively, also helps clearing the water a bit.

Did you rinse the sand when you moved it?

 

[yusufp]

You can run a filter sock to assist with clearing the water, ideally you want enough flow to keep those particles in suspension until they go down the overflow to the sump.

from what i can see you have a pincushion, some mushrooms, a finger leather coral, some gsp that's not quite opening yet. Looks like a green monti in the one reflection. also looks like some zoas that are not opening.

I would remove the bio balls and ceramic rings and replace it with something like orca bio-cubes. and i would probably look at upgrading that skimmer. you could also put some carbon into a mesh bag and run that passively, also helps clearing the water a bit.

Did you rinse the sand when you moved it?

Thanks for the help and info. Il pick up the filter media tomorrow and then use in the tank. Do you think i can add the CUC this weekend also?

The skimmer does not look that great i could change it but just worrying about the clearance.

For CUC im looking at
2 x hermits
2 x shrimp
1 x bristle starfish
1 x sandsifter starfish
There is 1 snail in the tank.

Species will depend on whats available. Will most likely goto wildon pets.

My local pet shop is ridiculous with price they wanter R295 for 25l of premix saltwater.


The person i bought from said not to rinse the sand but we removed all the mucky water.

 

[TaahirS]

How much clearance do you have? You could just take all that said out of the skimmer chamber if you want.

 

[yusufp]

How much clearance do you have? You could just take all that said out of the skimmer chamber if you want.

Is a DSB not required? Il have to measure it. So bioballs plus skimmer is enough?

The centre chamber has dsb and live rock and skimmer.

 

[yusufp]

My ammonia is sitting at 0.2

 

[TaahirS]

I would wait till that comes diwn to 0 before adding your cuc. Nitrite should also be 0

 

[yusufp]

I would wait till that comes diwn to 0 before adding your cuc. Nitrite should also be 0

Should i test daily? Il do nitrite tonight.

 

[TaahirS]

If you want to you can. Otherwise you can just test every few days until it's 0. Though I don't think it will be too long

 

[yusufp]

If you want to you can. Otherwise you can just test every few days until it's 0. Though I don't think it will be too long

Cool thanks.

 

[CameL]

Okay then majority of your muck is coming from the detritus in the sand. you are going to have to blow off your rocks everynight with a turkey baster to try and prevent algae.

The cleanup crew is okay, i wouldn't add the starfish right now. Shrimp in my experience are much more ornamental than functional in terms of clean up. i would definitely add more snails.

In the long term it will be best to get your own salt and an RO unit to make water, i prefer this although it may not be cheaper i know exactly how my water is made..

 

[yusufp]

Okay then majority of your muck is coming from the detritus in the sand. you are going to have to blow off your rocks everynight with a turkey baster to try and prevent algae.

The cleanup crew is okay, i wouldn't add the starfish right now. Shrimp in my experience are much more ornamental than functional in terms of clean up. i would definitely add more snails.

In the long term it will be best to get your own salt and an RO unit to make water, i prefer this although it may not be cheaper i know exactly how my water is made..

Il try and clean the detritus. Theres some hair algae on the back of the tank.

Im not sure if i have apitasia il post a pic of it soon. Theyr blueish. The finger coral is even getting a blue hue is this normal?

 

[yusufp]

 

[yusufp]

 

[CameL]

Yeah bud aiptasia, aiptasia-x works

 

[yusufp]

Is a DSB not required? Il have to measure it. So bioballs plus skimmer is enough?

The centre chamber has dsb and live rock and skimmer.

Ok so had a better look at the skimmer. Its a dymax xp30 rated at 200l. I dont think this is the right skimmer for the job. The cup is only 1/8th full over the past 5 days.

I looked at clearance and maximum is 45 cm without the sand. Any idea what skimmer could fit in there?

Is a dsb not needed?

So if i change the sump it will be as follows.

1st chamber - filter sock
2nd chamber - biocubes plus heaters
3rd chamber - skimmer only
4th chamber return pump only

Currently it is

1st and 2nd chamber has bio pellets and heaters and bio ball.

3rd chamber is live rock small pieces small skimmer and sand bed

4th chamber is return pump.

Another problem is im getting a lot of air bubbles from the return pump, any idea why?

 

[EFJ]

For a DSB to be effective it needs to be at least 80% of the surface are of your display. So in your setup it would be better to remove it and use that extra space maybe for a better skimmer. Also remove the ceramic rings as they will be a problem later on if not cleaned often. The bio balls will also need a stir now and then to prevent detris build up in them (personally I would remove them as well).

 

[EFJ]

As for the bubbles getting in your return pump, it could be due to your water falling from the last partition glass. I know some guys place a filter sponge just above the pump and this helps to minimize the bubbles.

 

[yusufp]

For a DSB to be effective it needs to be at least 80% of the surface are of your display. So in your setup it would be better to remove it and use that extra space maybe for a better skimmer. Also remove the ceramic rings as they will be a problem later on if not cleaned often. The bio balls will also need a stir now and then to prevent detris build up in them (personally I would remove them as well).

Do you think I should do all this in one go? Will it not affect the bacterial filter too much?

Chamber 1 filter sock.
Chamber 2 heaters and bio cubes.
Chamber 3 skimmer (try to upgrade)
Chamber 4 return pump