rhomer
Member
There is a lot here that we could look at. First I want to say that I think most of your deaths are due to 2 things:
1) not enough water movement
2) too much stock too soon
So lets move on to your equipment:
Your main filtration is a bio wheel that isn't large enough to handle the size tank you have. The primary function of this is provide biological filtration. You will soon be adding an additional 50lbs of rock. The live rock will take place of the biological filtration therefore the biowheel is no longer needed. This item if continued to be used will harbor nitrates and will later on be the source of nitrate probelms and saltcreep.
So that leaves you with no means to remove excess nutrients in the water, and very little water movement. You will get a huge build up of nutrients in the bottom of the tank and in the rock that will lead to all kinds of nuicence algea, and when that can no longer consume the excess nutrients your tank will become polluted to the point of crashing.
That leaves us with looking into placing the correct equipment at the most reasonable price. Had you known prior to purchasing the tank what was available (don't worry we've all done this) you could have bought each piece when you had the money and planned this so that when you started putting water in and cycling the tank you wouldn't need any major equipment changes in the known future. But were not there, my opionion is that you will need to spend some money here to correct some issues.
First you need a skimmer, you need a good skimmer. DON'T SKIMP here.
You need more water flow. I'm not familiar with hang-on-back skimmers and if there are good enough ones for this, but you could look into this. I would look at skimmers rated at 150 gallons - 300 gallons.
Water flow can be solved with adding more powerheads or adding a sump with a good sized return pump. If you go the sump route you can get an in sump skimmer, you can put all you equipment in the sump and hide everything in the cabinet. These choices are all up to you.
Rob
1) not enough water movement
2) too much stock too soon
So lets move on to your equipment:
Your main filtration is a bio wheel that isn't large enough to handle the size tank you have. The primary function of this is provide biological filtration. You will soon be adding an additional 50lbs of rock. The live rock will take place of the biological filtration therefore the biowheel is no longer needed. This item if continued to be used will harbor nitrates and will later on be the source of nitrate probelms and saltcreep.
So that leaves you with no means to remove excess nutrients in the water, and very little water movement. You will get a huge build up of nutrients in the bottom of the tank and in the rock that will lead to all kinds of nuicence algea, and when that can no longer consume the excess nutrients your tank will become polluted to the point of crashing.
That leaves us with looking into placing the correct equipment at the most reasonable price. Had you known prior to purchasing the tank what was available (don't worry we've all done this) you could have bought each piece when you had the money and planned this so that when you started putting water in and cycling the tank you wouldn't need any major equipment changes in the known future. But were not there, my opionion is that you will need to spend some money here to correct some issues.
First you need a skimmer, you need a good skimmer. DON'T SKIMP here.
You need more water flow. I'm not familiar with hang-on-back skimmers and if there are good enough ones for this, but you could look into this. I would look at skimmers rated at 150 gallons - 300 gallons.
Water flow can be solved with adding more powerheads or adding a sump with a good sized return pump. If you go the sump route you can get an in sump skimmer, you can put all you equipment in the sump and hide everything in the cabinet. These choices are all up to you.
Rob
