Quote:
Originally Posted by
mjshealy http:///t/395919/55-gallon-all-fish-dead-with-normal-levels#post_3526382
no, i do not have any live rock. just a few ocean coral-style decorations and a cave. all are pet-store aquarium decorations.
Hi,
Live rock is IMO, essential to keeping a SW tank. The decorations will get good bacteria colonies on them, but the true natural filtration is the live rock. The ocean is a perfectly balanced ecosystem, while our tanks seldom get a perfect balance, it is the goal.
The more you duplicate nature, the greater your chance of keeping natures creatures alive in an artificial environment (our tanks). The tiny creatures that live in the live rock (that's why we call it "live") do many wonderful things to help keep our tanks balanced, they feed on the stuff that is causing the nutrient problem. They prevent the bacterial bloom you seem to have suffered.
So there are a few things that I think will really help you to get things back on track. First, invest in some nice pieces of live rock to add to the fake décor, or replace the fake stuff altogether. Next, macroalgae will really help to stabilize the parameters. It actually feeds on the stuff that kills your sea creatures. Ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and phosphates. It releases oxygen, that your tank desperately needs. Macroalgae can be very decorative depending on what type you decide to add. Go to Golf Coast ecosystems, they have quite a variety of decorative macros to select from, and get what you like best. Macros such as chaeto, are only good in a refugium, Caulerpa prolifera looks like turtle grass, and botryocladia looks like bright red grapes, and add beautiful color to your system.
Last, the top of your tank needs to move, I like the top to look like it's boiling...this creates good gas exchange. Pointing a power head to the bottom won't do much, point one power head toward the rock and décor to clean it off, and the other toward the surface to make it move big time. "Koralia" power heads, or something similar, creates a wave, while the "Maxijet" types, just shoot a jet stream. You need a wave...the wave is the life of the ocean, and your SW tank.
(Just a helpful hint) A 90g tank is what I have as well, a Hippo tang is not suited for it because it's only 48 inches, and tangs need a longer tank. I placed my rock, and any décor in the center of the tank, with a couple of caves to allow the Hippo tang I kept, to be able to swim in perpetual motion around the tank, so instead of just 48 inches back and forth, he could swim on and on. The 48 inches (4 foot) became 8 feet of swim space. By crating caves, it allowed all the smaller more timid fish to zip out of the tangs way. It gave all the fish a way to swim back and forth, all the way around, or in and out of the rock.
Fake stuff in the tank does does only one thing, collect algae that you have to wash off. A few hermit crabs can't keep it clean, and the crabs kill the snails that do clean it off...so getting rid of the hermits would be a good idea.
