Do I have everything I need??? This is kinda long.

[rkm]

I have just started a salt water tank 6 weeks ago. Here is a list of what I have.
74g bow front
Mag 350 canister filter
2-bio wheels
1-coralife actinic 03 blue bulb 48 in 40 watt
1-coralife 10,000 high int. purified sup.,daylight lamp 48 in. 40 watt.
both bulbs are on for about 10 hrs a day.
300watt heater set to 80
prizum skimmer for up to 100g
1 power head power sweep 212 (this does not look like it is doing much)
coral bed it looks a little bigger than crushed coral. Lots of shells whole ones.
live rock about 20 lbs
After 1 week of operation I bought 6 Damsels. I lost 2 within 2 weeks.
The tank has been runing for around 6 weeks. I have watched the brown algie come and die off a little. I bought about 1 dozen red hermit crabs and 3 scarlets. They seem to take hold of the brown algie. Now I am seeing a good bit of green algie forming. Tube worms are growing from the rocks. I see a few that are white in color that hang. I think they are tube worms at least. I have noticed that the live rock has been changing color. It seems to have more red color. I have done no water changes yet. I have checked the amonia level and it is low almost non existant.
Does everything seem to be going correctly?
This past weeked I bought 2 clown fish 1 male 1 female we hope. They are the small ones. 3 white stripes with some black in them. They are on their 3rd day and dont seem to be eating any brine shrimp ar flake food. I hope they will start tomorrow. Also I bought a leopard looking star fish this thing looks awsome. It just hides in my live rock. I do see its legs every now and then.
I do have a question on my skimmer. As I listed above It is a prizum. It hangs on the back of the tank. I'm not quite sure if it is working properly. It seems that I have my intake valve almots all the way off. If I open it too much more I will get small bubbles in the water and the holders fill with water quicker. Does any of this sound rite?
I also question the bio wheels. I have 2 of them. They realy put a hurting on my mag 350. the out put is a lot lower now. So I added the power sweep. Do I realy need these bio wheels? I am building a reef tank wont the live rock take care of most of everything. Or is this just my way of geting air in the tank? I do see little bubbles comming out the water off the biowheels.
And I also seem to have an oily residue on the top of the water. I mostly notice it when I feed my fish the flake food. when the food hits the water it seems to clear up a small area. I thout the skimmer would take care of that. Ihe skimmer has been running for about 4 weeks I guess. I has gotten nasty at times. but rite now it seems to be slightly discolored water in the holding tanks.
I know this is kinda long. If you could answer any of this it would be great. THank you Thank you Thank you.
Every time I go to the fish store I forget to ask alot of these questions. The store is about a hour and a half away from my home and it is usualy closing when I'm there.

 

[mpgt]

If the clowns decide they're compatible, one will change --- and you'll have a pair. You've asked a lot of questions. I'll let some of the experts answer them. It sounds to me like your tank's coming along. I think you can certainly live without the bio-wheels. You will need something to agitate and break the water surface though.

 

[dhbrk]

yea it sounds to me that u have everything. I'll also let some expert sharks answer. They are really good at this sort of thing! lol

 

[rkm]

Thanks for your replys. My clowns did not eat now for the 3rd day. One is looking a little scary to me. Swims in the same spot by itself They both look great but the action of one is slow. I know they change ---, but if I got 2 females I'm stuck. I thought they only go female once. I just found a new life form in my tank. I freaked. This thing looks like a millipede of some sort. lots of legs and a red head. It found a little hole in a flat rock and went in. Hope it is not harmful.
I do have the flow of the water from the mag 350 somewhat breaking the serface. Is that what you mean. Should I ditch the bio wheels so the flow is much greater and hits the serface more? Or should I get a strong power head?

 

[new]

my understanding is that with enough live rock you will have enough bio-filtration, enough LR being a #1-#1.5 per gallon, but until this level is reach i think you need some other filtration, i have a sump and skimmer running on my 75 with #44 of LR, adding to that number as i can afford. someday i hope these will be just a powerhead. i also have 2 of the powersweeps in my tank 228's plus a spray bar from my sump return and i have been thinking about adding another powerhead with a spray bar low in the tank but i have a high tank.

 

[j21kickster]

Ok, I'll try to hit all of your questions.
-I would suggest putting more liverock in (20lbs. for 75 isnt much)
- Prisms arent the best skimmers for the money some people like them some hate them and say they get loud over time. The CPR bac-pac2 is a good skimmer for the money and it also has bio filteration.
- Your skimmer can only remove the DOM (dissolved organic matter) from the water it has contact with since you dont seem to have siginificant aggitation it is not pulling that water in.
- Using RO/DI (reverse osmosis/ deionized) water dosent contain the sillicates that tap water has and will reduce the brown algea blooms
-that oily substance isnt anything serious some foods put that off in the water, just make sure not to overfeed.
- as mentioned before clowns have the ability to commit a --- change so you are bound to have a pair.
I hope this wasnt too technical and i hope it helps, good luck to you

 

[cap'n pete]

If you are showing any ammonia or nitrite levels in the tank it is not safe to add any fish other than the damsels for cycling. You should have a test kit for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. When you show no ammonia or nitrite levels and start to show small amount of nitrate, the tank has cycled and it is safe to slowly add new fish and invertebrates.
---
The Prizm skimmer will not work properly unless the flow is reduced to almost off as you stated. It will also take a good 10 days to break in and may be affected by any additives you may be adding.
---
You need to get more flow into the tank. You need to achieve a good current. This will reduce most trouble algea and maintain good oxygen exchange. The 212 and 350 are rated for 50 gallon tanks, not 75. If adding flow doesn't clear up the surface you might want to consider getting a sump with an overflow.
---
You don't have enough light to have a reef tank. You need approx. 220 watts in a tank that size to even consider growing low light coral. I would suggest looking into power compact or VHO lighting.
---
You also need approx. 75 to 100 lbs. of quality live rock to begin a reef setup.
---
Perhaps, you should start with a fish only with live rock setup first and wait until you are a more knowledgable before starting a reef tank. It will save you a lot of money and headaches.

 

[rkm]

Wow,
Thanks for all the info. I will have to go back on the net to look up a few things I think I will need now. Power Compact, and some power heads.
By the way does anyone know about this millipede looking thing I found running along my live rock. Is it safe? It had a white color body with a red head.
I also have some red vein looking things growing on the back glass. They seem to move ever so slowly and change form. Should I be concerned?
Thanks again for all the info...

 

[jake22]

My gold striped maroon did not start eating till the 5 th day i had him. Now he eats more than any of my other fish.

 

[bluemarlin]

Millipede looking thing? I thought that this may be a mantis shrimp until you said it was white with a red head. (sounds like those darn grubs I got in my lawn! )
If it is a mantis shrimp it probably arrived on your live rock(LR). The mantis will hide in a hole in the LR and wait for a fish to come too close and then nab it. It is a killer for a reef tank and a fish tank and needs to be removed. Some people house these mantis in separate tanks. Do you hear a clicking sound coming from the tank from time to time? That would be the mantis. DO NOT GRAB IT WITH YOUR HAND. Mantis have very powerful pinchers and are strong enough to crack glass! The best way to get rid of one of these is to identify which hole it is hiding in. Take that rock out and place it into a bucket filled with hypo solution (high salt content saltwater) The little bugger will come running out and you won't kill the LR.

 

[rkm]

Sounds like I need to get rid of him. It does not look like a shrimp at all It had a lot of legs like a milipede. But like you said it went in a small hole in my live rock. HA HA I know exactly where. I did some water testing. my amonia is .25 and my nitrite is 0. Is it safe for me to do my first water change yet? I am still getting brown algie blooms on the crushed coral. I figured I could vac some of it out. I still have green algie growing too. But that is ok.
On my power heads. Should I place one low in the tank to maybe didturb the brown algie on the crushed coral?

 

[clarkiiboi]

The millipede looking critter could be a bristle (brissle) worm. These hide in the LR in the holes and such also. Its up to you if you keep it or not (and there are probably more). Its debated if good or bad for the tank. I havent seen any problems with the ones I have. If you decide to get it out, please ask questions on how, it can get tricky. HTH

 

[j21kickster]

It most likley is a bristle worm i would see how they might thought to be millipedes the small ones are ok it is the ones that are large that you have to watch out for. there are traps for thoes worms or if you like getting activaly involved you can lok around your tank at night to fing them you can remove them with tweezers if thats what it is than try not to touch it b/c they can sting

this is a bristle worm. is this what it is? possiply smaller?

 

[rkm]

That sounds more reasonable than a shrimp. It looks more like a worm w/legs.
How about the red lines/veins on the back of my tank. these things are crazy. They show no signs of life but they move constantly. I don't see them move it just seems to happen over a period to time. Again they look like veins and the have branches sometime and are red in color.
Update on clowns. My smaller one seems to be breathing kinda hard and is close to the bottom of the tank. Still not eating. THe bigger one is at the top of the tank. Seems like it wants to eat from the top of the tank, but it too still has not eaten.

 

[cap'n pete]

Ryan,
Your fish are sufficating from the ammonia and nitrites in the tank. You need to do water changes. The damage may have already be done. When these fish die, and they probably will, don't get any more until the tank cycles!

 

[rkm]

Figured it out. I lost a clown this morning. Called the LPS and they told me to bring my other clown up to them. They tested the water. The reason was my PH was too low. I tested it many times before in the 6 weeks I had the tank up and it was a little above where I was supposed to be. By well water is high in ph and I also have crushed coral which makes it even higher. I guess I assumed it would not go down. Well that assumption cost me a 15$ fish at the moment and about 2.5hrs of travel time. The LFS is at 8.3 on the PH and I was at around 7.8 The guy told me the clowns were in a state of shock going from a drastic change. He said my damsels are alive because they have been slowly taken down. I guess learning is sometimes cost mistakes. I feel bad I lost a fish. But I guess it could have been worse..

 

[rkm]

Ohh and I bought some PH buffer. I put a little over 2 tsp in a glass of water and added it to the tank. I guess I will check the ph in 24 hrs and adjust from there.