aegiale
Member
Hello, I'm new to this board... this will be slightly long and I apologize, but I want to get things straight with my aquarium. I inherited a 75 gallon tank last year that was in poor condition, covered with green algae. I cleaned it up, and months later added some live rock, a 2" live sand bed, and some corals. It has been running seemingly well since and coralline is growing slowly, but surely. I've had a few things die (but that seems somewhat normal). Overall I've never had a major problem with it except when I moved from Miami to NC and experienced some retardation and lost a few things. It's 75 gallons and I have a haitian anemone, some flower anemones, some ricordia, two feather dusters, colt coral, mushrooms, brown buttons, yellow polyps, various zos and star polyps. I believe my one SPS is a hairy pavona, which I assume needs the most light, so it was placed near the top. There's a yellow tang, bicolor blenny, a serpant star, another kind of star fish, and a couple of damsels (they leave the tang alone). There are many turbo snails, blue hermits, and a few emerald crabs. I try to keep some plantlife in the tank as well to help with levels. I have a percula clown coming next week.
As for equipment, there is a wet/dry filter with bioballs with a pre-filter, an additional powerhead in the tank for water movement (low/heavy current areas), two 48" long VHOs (one super actinic and one white) with a ballast. The lights are on 10-11 hours a day and are about 6" from the top of the water.
As for care, I do about a 20 gallon per month water change, I add calcium and iodine once a week for the coral. They're fed algae, brine shrimp, formula one, and flakes. I also add invert food weekly. I test the water biweekly and usually it reads okay. Sometimes the pH is high or low, so I add buffer and that usually fixes it. I clean the filters (not the balls, though) about every other week. I also have a heater and keep the temperature around 78 degrees.
I'm concerned because my "reef", though relatively new, doesn't seem to be thriving as much as I think it should. Whenever I add something, it looks worse in my tank - doesn't usually die - just isn't as brilliant or gets smaller and stays that way. I've noticed that when I add zos or polyps there are fewer of them every month. Why is that?
Two of my main concerns are that I don't have a skimmer or a refuge (or know what that truly is even). I also don't have a UV sterilizer. I've been given conflicting information and I'm worried about my livestock. Most people I've asked say these aren't necessary for my set up, but I wanted the opinions of people on this board. I was also told that I don't need carbon in my filter, is this correct?
My second concern is that, no matter how often I perform water changes, my water is never completely clear. It always has the slightest yellowish or brownish tint to it and you can tell this when you look down the length of the tank, not at it from the front. What could this be from?
I'm including a picture (I hope it works), but the the lighting is off. It's brighter in person and the water is not foggy as it looks in the picture.
I would really appreciate any help you could offer. There is not a single decent aquarium store around here and I would like a healthier tank.
Thanks very much, Aimee "aegiale"
As for equipment, there is a wet/dry filter with bioballs with a pre-filter, an additional powerhead in the tank for water movement (low/heavy current areas), two 48" long VHOs (one super actinic and one white) with a ballast. The lights are on 10-11 hours a day and are about 6" from the top of the water.
As for care, I do about a 20 gallon per month water change, I add calcium and iodine once a week for the coral. They're fed algae, brine shrimp, formula one, and flakes. I also add invert food weekly. I test the water biweekly and usually it reads okay. Sometimes the pH is high or low, so I add buffer and that usually fixes it. I clean the filters (not the balls, though) about every other week. I also have a heater and keep the temperature around 78 degrees.
I'm concerned because my "reef", though relatively new, doesn't seem to be thriving as much as I think it should. Whenever I add something, it looks worse in my tank - doesn't usually die - just isn't as brilliant or gets smaller and stays that way. I've noticed that when I add zos or polyps there are fewer of them every month. Why is that?
Two of my main concerns are that I don't have a skimmer or a refuge (or know what that truly is even). I also don't have a UV sterilizer. I've been given conflicting information and I'm worried about my livestock. Most people I've asked say these aren't necessary for my set up, but I wanted the opinions of people on this board. I was also told that I don't need carbon in my filter, is this correct?
My second concern is that, no matter how often I perform water changes, my water is never completely clear. It always has the slightest yellowish or brownish tint to it and you can tell this when you look down the length of the tank, not at it from the front. What could this be from?
I'm including a picture (I hope it works), but the the lighting is off. It's brighter in person and the water is not foggy as it looks in the picture.
I would really appreciate any help you could offer. There is not a single decent aquarium store around here and I would like a healthier tank.
Thanks very much, Aimee "aegiale"
