Is this hobby always so frustrating?

[deejeff442]

i would get rid of the freshwater decrative paper on the back glass. get either solid black or dark blue.it takes away from the stuff you are looking at in the tank.is that a mp40 powerhead?
yea thats alot of algae.the red isnt algae and can be a real pain to get rid of.it takes months to get rid of that stuff.when you do the water change use a syphon to suck it off the rocks.
i have been fighting green hair algae for 6 months now.

 

[flower]

There is a film of hair algae on the first coral....the only thing I see in dire need are power heads....you should have that water moving. The top is hardly moving as well...it should look like it's boiling and churning. So you need surface movement and circulation....deep in the tank, and your coral will wake up...if the algae doesn't sufficate it.

 

[bubblegurl]

Haha re paper...yes its ugly....my boyfriend thinks it's should stay even tho the entire family thinks it should go. More power heads coming, we turned up the one last night, fish had fun with it. How many should we have? My frog looks terrible today. :cry: I'm thinking 20 gl water change, is this enough?

 

[bubblegurl]

Disregard comment about the frog, he's opened up and looks the same...bugger is scaring me. All the corals look ok actually. Wish the skimmer would kick in.....have a great day everyone and thanks for the help, it is much appreciated! So thankful for this forum and the people willing to help!

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bubblegurl http:///t/387494/is-this-hobby-always-so-frustrating/20#post_3410387
Haha re paper...yes its ugly....my boyfriend thinks it's should stay even tho the entire family thinks it should go. More power heads coming, we turned up the one last night, fish had fun with it. How many should we have? My frog looks terrible today.

I'm thinking 20 gl water change, is this enough?
Hi, 20g water change is enough. Run carbon, that little film of algae on the one coral can make it agitated and start a chemical war. The power heads should be enough not allow any dead spots. I take a stick and a plastic ribbon Ilike what you find on a kids bike handle, tie it to the end of the stick and move it around the tank....if the ribbon drops it's a dead spot...adjust the power heads.
Not every area will have the same flow, that's perfectly fine, some corals will want to be under strong flow and some not so much. However no areas in the tank should have a spot where there is no water current.
On my 75g I had three power heads and a spray bar on top to move the surface. I have however found a nifty trick. You can take a $20.00 maxijet...attach a piece of PVC pipe to it...drill a few holes (the fewer holes the stronger the spray) cap it off good and tight and there you go, a great spray bar (I painted mine)...you can put it vertical and eliminate the need for so many power heads. It would make a wall of spray to keep your corals happy and plenty of water movement....one on each side would do. Lots cheaper than purchasing two or three $70.00+ power heads, or give you time to save for some really nice ones like the MP40s.
You still must move the surface water, either rig a spray bar, or point a power head up from the middle of the tank.
Here is a pictuure sowing what I'm talking about..... I placed this one in back of my finger leather coral to keep it clear of hair algae that I'm in the middle of battling. I attached the pipe with a piece of flex hose, and painted it. When I had the power head in the corner it was not seen except for the pipe, I can also twist the pipe to aim the spray where I want it.

 

[jerth6932]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bubblegurl http:///t/387494/is-this-hobby-always-so-frustrating/20#post_3410387
Haha re paper...yes its ugly....my boyfriend thinks it's should stay even tho the entire family thinks it should go. More power heads coming, we turned up the one last night, fish had fun with it. How many should we have? My frog looks terrible today.

I'm thinking 20 gl water change, is this enough?
You do look as if you have an Vortech MP of some sort....... I'm guessing an MP-10. Put that bad boy in yellow mode and crank her up to 2 lights below full, if not all the way too full (If its a MP-40 4 down from full will rock your tank well!) IF it's an MP-20 or MP-40 one more Korialla 750 or 1050 would do ya. If its a MP-10 I would do 2 750 koralia's.
Boy friend over ruled..... The background is awful!!!! BLACK is my color of choice!
20 is a GREAT start at WC. Do that and then re-evaluate your tank!

 

[snakeblitz33]

Yeah, I'm +1 on getting rid of that freshwater background.I personally prefer black, but blue is good too. Freshwater backgrounds do NOT belong on saltwater tanks.

 

[bubblegurl]

Actually the background is not even freshwater, its a log in the grass so more for lizards or something. We had an oscar and at first he would try to swim into it, then he would stare into the opening of the log waiting for something to come out, or just attack it....was ridiculously funny at the time. I like the idea of black on the tank, have seen the blue with waves or ripples. Might just switch it out without saying anything to the bf....
Thanks for the tips Flower, i've seen the piping in other tanks or in LFS and wondered what was going on....I've read about the string on a stick trick before somewhere else and will give that a try. I will also try to get some of that algae off the coral when it closes up, I looked on the back side of it and its got a lot on it. Your tank is beautiful btw (im sure more so without the algae...

.)
20 gl water change in the works - well when I pick up water but this week for sure!
Seriously crank it up that much???? We've had it set fairly low since we put it in! I'm not home at the moment but we have it plugged into something that adjusts the settings for waves, tides, combinations, etc. We did turn it up last night and all of a sudden something changed and it was humming extremely loud so we turned it back down. (I will also check the make of it when I get home later - Vortech sounds right though bf said it cost well over $100 - need to start keeping an equipment list).
correction on the calcium reading - it was 400. Do I need to do anything or will the water change help? Don't want to add chemicals or treatments in at the moment.
Oh and finally figured out the feeding. Fish ate everything I put in this morning, no left overs and gone in a few minutes. Thats with cubes though, my other food I have to break pieces off or cut....

 

[deejeff442]

crank the ph all the way.trust me you wont even make a thousandth of what the ocean does.i have two mp40's and wish i got the mp 60's.i would think one mp40 is plenty for the 75 gallon .if it is a 40 dont know if its a 10 or 20.maybe add a 10 to the other side then it would be perfect.

 

[bubblegurl]

It's the vortech mp10. Which setting is best?
Constant-tidal swell
Eco smart-nutrient transport
Random-reef crest/lagoonal
Short pulse
Long pulse
We can add slave pumps to work with this pump and run off same settings.
And now I have 4 snails squirting white stuff, if it's reproduction then I think they just had an orgy....weird or is there something else going on with them??

 

[kiefers]

Quote:
Originally Posted by SnakeBlitz33 http:///t/387494/is-this-hobby-always-so-frustrating/20#post_3410496
Yeah, I'm +1 on getting rid of that freshwater background.I personally prefer black, but blue is good too. Freshwater backgrounds do NOT belong on saltwater tanks.
totally agree. I like this one, someone posted this to me when I started my Atlantis. I could not locate the background only.... sorry, but this is a good example

 

[flower]

I took a panel for lighting that looked like crushed glass and frosted...I painted it black with swirls of purple. It's 48 X 24...it fit my 90g perfect...I just taped it on back and it looks awesome. There are lots of things you can do for a background besides a plastic picture of swamps or waves. My favorite is the foam rock wall.

 

[jerth6932]

From Ecotech them selves
"The MP10—ideal for tanks from 2.5 to 50 gallons—creates gentle flows of 200 to 1,575 gallons per hour, helping the tanks feel more like the ocean."
I have a MP-40 on my 90 gallon, and I have that up to 2 lights below full on Random Reef crest mode (yellow). I would recomend at least 1 more 10 if not getting a MP-40.
I woke up at 4am the other night and I had white stuff being shot into the tank by my snails and then white little spheres by other snails. So I can only immagine it was them reproducing.
If it vibrates you need to:
Aligning VorTech Pump
• Turn the speed up to the maximum speed by using the
speed control knob on the driver.
• Plug the power supply into the driver. If vibration or noise is
detected, carefully adjust the propeller housing by moving it
VERY slightly left, right, up or down, until the noise/vibration
is eliminated or minimized as much as possible.
• After alignment has been ensured, turn the speed control
knob to achieve the desired flow rate within your aquarium.
• Important: If the VorTech is not properly aligned, a strong
vibration will be heard. If the alignment is not corrected,
this can cause increased electrical consumption, excessive
wear on the components, excessive heat and excessive
noise.
Also go to : http://ecotechmarine.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/FULLMANUAL_Revision1.1.pdf
That is the manual for the mp-10 READ this bad boy. It will be worth it!!!!!

 

[bubblegurl]

Ahh I read through a shorter version of the manual earlier tonight We've had it on the random (yellow) it's now cranked up as suggested! We did adjust for vibration and its rockin! Will add another and use Flower's suggestion for the spray bar. Thank you!
Our snails were doing the same thing, I got pics of one spraying, very cool! Lights on for shorter period today, will try to keep on for only 5 or so hours to help with algae.
That's a great tank kiefers, will get there eventually:rotfl:
Going to a frag swap this weekend, not to buy but to meet other reef keepers in the area! Local forum not so great as not so many users.

 

[deejeff442]

going to a frag swap,,,not to buy... lol good luck
yea mp10 crank it up all the way.i keep my mp's on yellow,if you dont mind spending the cash get the mp40 .your corals will love it.i have hundreds of little snails on the glass all the time so you should too soon.if you dont want to buy the mp40 get a korilia #4 for the other side of the tank.dont read into the gph rates too much these power heads disperse the water in all directions .not like the rios that straight shoot the water ,big difference

 

[bubblegurl]

I'm sure we'll grab another pump this weekend, ours is cranked and corals are fine, bubble looks much better, cleaned him up a bit last night. Not adding anything live until we get things better in the tank, the last couple of weeks have been pretty stressful with it as it is. Last night I found a red crab hiding in the rock, he's got a white stripe down it's legs but it's solid red. Tried to google search to see what it is, maybe a red emerald? I hadn't seen it before but bf said he said he first saw it a month ago.
Yay on baby snails!

 

[jerth6932]

Error on the side of caution with crabs. I had one in my 24g and he was eating my zoas. He was pink with a white rim around him.
I have always felt weird talking to girls about crabs.........

 

[kiefers]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jerth6932 http:///t/387494/is-this-hobby-always-so-frustrating/20#post_3410638
Error on the side of casion with crabs. I had one in my 24g and he was eating my zoas. He was pink with a white rim around him.
I have always felt weird talking to girls about crabs.........

don't stand to close!!

 

[bubblegurl]

haha, i guess crab discusion could be an awkward subject....so many things to say to that, but I hardly know you....

lol. considering this was the first time I've seen him, will try to keep an eye on it. He was just picking at the algae on the rock around him. Will try to get a pic. There's nothing around it at the moment that would be a concern, if it eats all the algae then I'm ok with that!

 

[deejeff442]

i dont know what ph you plan on but i would seriously spend the money on the mp40.i dont bother having my mp's talk to each other they do just fine with out it.plus i am too lazy to read the manual. my colt coral will blow sideways when the mp is at full but it has grown double in the last 5 months since i added the mp's