rcdude1990
Active Member
Hey guys, new to the forums, the names victor ill start with a little background first
i have a 125 gallon tank that i had since oct 09. from 09-2013 ive always had it as a FOWLR, however january 2013 wanted to get into the reef game. i love soft corals (leathers, muchrooms, xenias ect.) corals that sway with the water and such.
so i did my research and bought some key things i believed i needed. so ill start with a equipment list.
125 gallon all glass non reef ready tank (using overflow box and u-tube)
~130-140lbs LR in display and ~10 LBS LR in sump
~100lbs Sand
(4) Aqua illumination Vega LED units with controller
ATO system
(2) MP40's
trigger systems Ruby 36s sump
reef octopus int-3000 protein skimmer
RO/DI unit
so in january i purchased the sump, protein skimmer, ATO, and led lighting( from 2009-2013 i was running a wet/dry with a small like DIY prtein skimmer which the fishtstore gave me and i was running t-5's) i did my research and many people said a sump is a must, RO/di and lighting are what you mostly ned.. the rest is all test kits and possibly dosings.
2009 (yes thats a xenia in the center lol friend of mine gave it to me for a "test" obviously i wasn't ready
March 2014
so i did the sump change and all, i have been busy with work since april til now so i havent paid much attention to tank but i did my routine bi-weekly 10 gallon water changes.
but now im back and going to be more focused on tank.
so lets start with the basics i guess on somethings i have noticed from lets say since the change.
#1 i for some reason cant keep chaeto alive, i dont understand why (test parameters will be written on a later post tonight once i get home i will test water)
ive gone through 2 sandwhich bags full of chaeto.. below is the current one in the tank sorry for lame picture lol. it was bigger than it is now. ive gotten people telling me "it needs to tumble and be free in the water to float around" some others have said "try to put it in a basket and leave it close to the light" so first 2 sandwhich bags i have tried to let it tumble and they just disintergrated. this is have left in the basket.. its been "alive" for a good 5 months but its slowly getting smaller and smaller.
#2 about a month ago i started noticing these algae growing on my sand bed. i would usually just comb the sand bed and it would be gone.. however now i comb the sand bed and it comes bad very quickly "within like 2 days". ive asked if its that algae that starts with a "C" (cant remember name right now as i type lol) but people have told me its to light to be that.. people thought it was diatoms but it looks too dark. again parameters coming soon. an help as far as getting rid of this would be great
#3 i see everyones sump and its all nice and clean but mine is dirty lol should i scrape the insides and such? leave the algae on the walls? inside the sump i have 3 large pieces of LR, and those 3 pieces do have a black algae on them (ill try to take a pic).. so this little area has the ball of chaeto.. the flood light right over it... and the heater. to the right is the return pump and i also have a BRS dual media reactor which i currently do not have running. i previously have had it running carbon and gfo but i suddenly saw this algae break out so i said maybe thats whats causing it?
#4 is basically the main thing which is me filling this tank up with soft corals.. easy corals to keep. i love corals that sway with the water. right now my green mushrooms are blooming like crazy they grow and grow. my finger leather has gotten a little bit smaller but i just recently moved it so maybe it needs time to open up. about a month ago i got another green leather and its blooming and open like crazy. i currently dont dose the tank at all.. if i have to i will ill be happ to take some time out of my days and dose if it will look as beautiful as other members reefs on this site.
it just stinks when you hear people say like "yea xenia and GSP are easy to take care of.. and then its like put them in my tank and they die within a month -_-.. AND... it sucks t hear "oh your water might be to clean -_- i feel like i cant win haha
i have a 125 gallon tank that i had since oct 09. from 09-2013 ive always had it as a FOWLR, however january 2013 wanted to get into the reef game. i love soft corals (leathers, muchrooms, xenias ect.) corals that sway with the water and such.
so i did my research and bought some key things i believed i needed. so ill start with a equipment list.
125 gallon all glass non reef ready tank (using overflow box and u-tube)
~130-140lbs LR in display and ~10 LBS LR in sump
~100lbs Sand
(4) Aqua illumination Vega LED units with controller
ATO system
(2) MP40's
trigger systems Ruby 36s sump
reef octopus int-3000 protein skimmer
RO/DI unit
so in january i purchased the sump, protein skimmer, ATO, and led lighting( from 2009-2013 i was running a wet/dry with a small like DIY prtein skimmer which the fishtstore gave me and i was running t-5's) i did my research and many people said a sump is a must, RO/di and lighting are what you mostly ned.. the rest is all test kits and possibly dosings.
2009 (yes thats a xenia in the center lol friend of mine gave it to me for a "test" obviously i wasn't ready
March 2014
so i did the sump change and all, i have been busy with work since april til now so i havent paid much attention to tank but i did my routine bi-weekly 10 gallon water changes.
but now im back and going to be more focused on tank.
so lets start with the basics i guess on somethings i have noticed from lets say since the change.
#1 i for some reason cant keep chaeto alive, i dont understand why (test parameters will be written on a later post tonight once i get home i will test water)
ive gone through 2 sandwhich bags full of chaeto.. below is the current one in the tank sorry for lame picture lol. it was bigger than it is now. ive gotten people telling me "it needs to tumble and be free in the water to float around" some others have said "try to put it in a basket and leave it close to the light" so first 2 sandwhich bags i have tried to let it tumble and they just disintergrated. this is have left in the basket.. its been "alive" for a good 5 months but its slowly getting smaller and smaller.
#2 about a month ago i started noticing these algae growing on my sand bed. i would usually just comb the sand bed and it would be gone.. however now i comb the sand bed and it comes bad very quickly "within like 2 days". ive asked if its that algae that starts with a "C" (cant remember name right now as i type lol) but people have told me its to light to be that.. people thought it was diatoms but it looks too dark. again parameters coming soon. an help as far as getting rid of this would be great
#3 i see everyones sump and its all nice and clean but mine is dirty lol should i scrape the insides and such? leave the algae on the walls? inside the sump i have 3 large pieces of LR, and those 3 pieces do have a black algae on them (ill try to take a pic).. so this little area has the ball of chaeto.. the flood light right over it... and the heater. to the right is the return pump and i also have a BRS dual media reactor which i currently do not have running. i previously have had it running carbon and gfo but i suddenly saw this algae break out so i said maybe thats whats causing it?
#4 is basically the main thing which is me filling this tank up with soft corals.. easy corals to keep. i love corals that sway with the water. right now my green mushrooms are blooming like crazy they grow and grow. my finger leather has gotten a little bit smaller but i just recently moved it so maybe it needs time to open up. about a month ago i got another green leather and its blooming and open like crazy. i currently dont dose the tank at all.. if i have to i will ill be happ to take some time out of my days and dose if it will look as beautiful as other members reefs on this site.
it just stinks when you hear people say like "yea xenia and GSP are easy to take care of.. and then its like put them in my tank and they die within a month -_-.. AND... it sucks t hear "oh your water might be to clean -_- i feel like i cant win haha
. Seriously, I cannot grow chaeto, and have resorted to using algae scrubbers to good effect. I produce tons of disposable algae weekly while my water parameters remain pristine. Depending on how much money you want to throw at the job, you can build a relatively inexpensive scrubber yourself, or you can buy ready-made fairly foolproof units online. For a larger tank like yours a ready-built unit might be less work and risk. I agree with Flower - the reddish algae on the sand is cyanobacteria, which are a symptom of excess nutrients in the water and slow water movement. You can kill cyano with antibiotics, but the wiser way is to be patient and fix the nutrient and flow problems, then sit back and wait for the cyano to go away. It will.