Best next move for 55 gallon

[longtimefan]

Ok we all have to agree the biggest quality we all have to have in this hobby has to be patience, the one thing I sometime lack. So what would you do if you had only a limited budget. Right now all I have in my tank is a beautiful recovering sun coral, bubble coral frag( I think) a watchman goby I've only seen a few times and a peppermint shrimp I seen less then flash( the goby). So should I
1. Upgrade system: I need 4 replmnt sub compacts bulbs, getting 2 5o/50 and 2 actinic. I also need to start refug. Get a walmart spot light and get some cheoto or caulip and maybe some live sand maybe some Miracle mud. But why? My bioload is so light with only 4 live stock.
2. Water quality: Focus on 25% wc . Tank has been up for 6 weeks w/60 pds live rock and protein skimmer. I'm dripping limewtaer for my top off right now so i cant do a reading. But last one 2 days ago was amonia<25, nitrite 0,ph 8.5, ca 420. alk 2.0. My LFS said this was ok if accurate. I think Ph is too high. Is there not a lot of activity going on to exsperate nutreints to pull ph down?

 

[longtimefan]

Or,
3. Focus on inhabitants feeding: I need to get better food. Frozen Mysis from San Fran bay has only 25% protein zooplanton. But Cyclop_freeze buffet has 60% protein. I soak that w/ Seachem Reef Plus. But what if I soak Cyclop w/Coral vite.

 

[longtimefan]

But Maybe a few piecs of coral could bring out the color of tank.

 

[longtimefan]

or Maybe a 6line wrasse or 2 ocellis tank raised clowns. This pic is my refug

 

[longtimefan]

In my opion I should first focus on what I have. I know when I eat a balance diet and plenty of water I feel and look better. Why shouldnt that be differnt for our pets. Upgrade food and vitamins is benefiticial,and least expensive in comaparsion. Next, IMO all my previous tanks suffer when wkly wc were not preformed. Must get fresh water reguarly

 

[scopus tang]

Not to offend, but if it were me, I would start out by doing a lot more reading on refugiums, cause what you got there ain't one

. It might qualify as a sump, but its definetly not a refugium as pictured. As too why, they are excellent devices for the traping of excessive nutrients, especially nitrates, and also provide a place for pods to grow. Do some thread searches on refugiums and look at some DIY systems, fairly inexpensive to build. If you're going to keep feeding that sun coral you are going to need something to trap the nutrients for the excess food. Additionally, if you ammonia is truly 25ppm, your LFS was big time full of it ~ and I foresee a huge nitrate issue and major algae blooms in your future. Personally though I do have to say that I think your rockwork looks pretty awesome. Good luck

 

[longtimefan]

Thanks for the compliment. As far as the 2nd sump, well by definition a refugium is nothing more than a refuge from predation. Sessile inverts and other delicate species need a place to call their own and the advent of the refugium was just the ticket! Isolated, but connected to the main display tank inetion, the refugium allows for common water filtration while at the same time keeping more aggressive fish from impacting it. What makes it a refugium? Algae, water flow, live sand/rubble live rock, proper lighting?
True refugiums are meant to be SEEN as is the main show tank! Reverse photosynthesis arrangements are meant to be installed beneath the display tank and are a means of primary biological filtration. Not so the refugium! The focus here is to provide a "quiet" zone for, Peppermint Shrimps, Copepods & Amphipods and other denizens that would otherwise not last long at all in a community tank. While benefiting from the improved water quality that most reef systems provide, this isolation allows for spawning in our shrimps or other animals, as well as providing a nice sand bed for beneficial worms and other sifters". Draining the refugium back to the sump allows gravity to do the labor for us. If your system is sump-free, then mounting your refugium above the main tank waterline or behind the tank may be desirable." Synergism--the whole is greater than the sum of the parts!

 

[longtimefan]

well i added some algae and lighting.

 

[longtimefan]

Placing the refugium above the main tank allows for a free flow of the critters back into the main tank without going through a pump and also allows easy viewing. Locating the refugium in your sump or beneath your tank is fine as well. Some critters will get shredded in the pump on thier way to the refugium but something will likely still eat them. Note that "Dynamic Aquaria", 1998, by Walter H. Adey and Karen Loveland, page 27, states "The unfortunate diffculty with most impellor pumps is that their internal turbulence, pressure, and shear forces kill many plankters and the swiiming or floating reproductive states of plants and animals. We have been able to demonstrate a greater than 90% mortality of large zooplankters, such as Artemia salina, on passing through such a pump." The primary problem I foresee with locating a refugium in your sump is that the water flow rate through a typical sump may be too high and could carry away some critters before they can reproduce and become established. An average sump is 20-30 gallons with about 15-20 gallons of actual water. An average return pump puts out 500 to 800 gallons per hour or more. So the turnover rate for a typical sump is ~30-40 turnovers per hour or more. I think that water flow rate is too fast. I think that anything between 3 and 15 turnovers per hour is probably fine.