My tank is too perfect

ClaptonsGhost

ClaptonsGhost

Active Member
Yes, I'm sure you all wish you had this problem, but it is so perfect right now it concerns me. Let me explain. My fish are all doing great, even the Yellow Tang that was almost beaten to death by another Yellow Tang. Everyone is eating and swimming happy. My crabs and Fire Shrimp are all still alive and finding stuff to eat. And here's the freaky part; I have ZERO algae in the tank. No brown algae (I know, they're actually diatoms), not even on my out flow pipes, which used to be encrusted, or in the corners, or on the glass below the surface of my substrate, which is immaculate, and my water is crystal clear. The tank literally looks like it was set up yesterday with brand new everything

I have a 180 gallon FOWLR, with 200 lbs of live rock, only 2 1/2 lb's of which was actually live and was put in to re-seed the rest of my rock which lay dead for 7 years until I recently resurrected the tank with new plumbing, filtration etc. You can see it at the top of the pile of rocks) I have 13 fish (including 6 small fish like humbug damsels and chromis).

Should I be concerned? All my readings are perfect except nitrates which went up to 40ppm due to the addition of 3 large fish over the past 5 days (I'll be testing the water again later today. I expect, as before, that it will have gone down again). Everything is so perfect I'm afraid of breaking that old rule, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" by doing a water change (the tank has been running for only 3 weeks and cycled after 2). I'm topping off with RO/DI water and adding trace elements.

Here's video I shot the other day, which unfortunately picked a video transition frame to use as the thumbnail (a portent of things to come!?!!! ;-) )


Opinions, please.
 
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ClaptonsGhost

ClaptonsGhost

Active Member
Um, what I meant is, opinions on what I should do. Not opinions on how great I am. I realize this is a freak situation. I usually screw up everything I touch.
 
ClaptonsGhost

ClaptonsGhost

Active Member
Duuuuude, those are fake corals. By sliced up you mean video transitions? That's because I was making a video featuring the newest additon, the Naso Tang, and he wasn't in the shot at all times. But I'm touched that you think those corals were real. Another notch to add to my initial post :rolleyes:
 
ClaptonsGhost

ClaptonsGhost

Active Member
That's odd. No problem here and my brother doesn't have a problem on his phone either. Are you talking the actual image or the storyline? Because there isn't a storyline, it's just short clips shot while my Naso was in camera range.
 
ClaptonsGhost

ClaptonsGhost

Active Member
Thanks. Wonder why I didn't get an email notification for your latest response. Anyway, as suspected my water test today showed that nitrates went back down, so I bought a gorgeous Flame Angel and a Cleaner Wrasse. That's definitely it for the next 2-3 weeks.

Back to my original point, let me explain again that I'm not asking people to tell me how "great" I am, I'm asking what you would do in my situation. Would you do a water change even though all parameters are perfect and the tank is looking amazing, or would you leave well enough alone and maybe do a larger water change down the road if brown algae starts popping up or the fish start acting sluggish? Remember, I'm adding trace elements as well.
 
ClaptonsGhost

ClaptonsGhost

Active Member
So you do nothing? No water changes? I had success with that before, the reason this tank crapped out 7 years ago was the heater exploded and shorted out and electrocuted everything, otherwise it was doing fine. OK, thanks for your input. Much appreciated. Anyone else?
 
ClaptonsGhost

ClaptonsGhost

Active Member
I gotta say, I'm shocked. I thought for sure I'd be berated for not adhering to a "proper maintenance schedule". I'm pleasantly surprised. Thanks for the support.
 
trigger40

trigger40

Well-Known Member
ClaptonsGhost said:
So you do nothing? No water changes? I had success with that before, the reason this tank crapped out 7 years ago was the heater exploded and shorted out and electrocuted everything, otherwise it was doing fine. OK, thanks for your input. Much appreciated. Anyone else?
Click to expand...
yep i think i had to do one water change in the 8 months ive had my tank up and it was only like 10% too.
 
tonysi

tonysi

Member
Ya, your tank is too good....you need to add some ammonia and some aiptasia to it. But seriously just sit back and enjoy the beauty of the tank.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Hi,

LOL...there 4 basic are stages to having a Saltwater tank.
Stage 1: I can't wait for the thing to cycle, this is going to be great!
Stage 2. The fish are in! Now they are fighting, or the fish are sick, or your asking yourself, what is this weird stuff that's growing?
Stage 3. My tank is perfect, everything is healthy, the tank looks great, and all the parameters on the water tests are in range...YAYYYYY!
Stage 4. WTF happened? Stuff is dying, or the tank broke/leaking, or the parameters are off the chart...etc...etc...
Note: return to stage 1
 
ClaptonsGhost

ClaptonsGhost

Active Member
Some of you are kind of thick. I've been doing saltwater tanks for 40 years. I know what I'm doing. The point of my original post is, seeing as how I've never had things run this smoothly before, and I've never had stuff like protein skimmers, UV sterilizers, phosban reactors, etc., should I just leave well enough alone until some signs start to show that it's time for a water change, or should I do one anyway because the BOOK says to do one every two weeks (not gonna happen). I know which fish are aggressive, which fish not to mix together, what cycling a tank is. So, I appreciate your response, but it doesn't answer my question. As for tonysi, I had aptasia before, I liked them because I knew I was never gonna do a reef tank and they're as close to anemone's as I'm ever gonna get, but as you may or may not know, Angels will destroy aptasia in two days or less.
 
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