Problem Tank

[ifusayso]

Originally Posted by puffer32
Make sure you get afew power heads to move water around. I had those 5 test strips and they kept reading high nitrates in my tank! i switched to aquurium pharmaciticals and found my nitrates were almost 0! So don't trust those test strips even if your lfs uses them, they probably use them cause they are easier, but they are not reliable. Also, double your LR, use what you have, but get at least that much more, it is a good natural filter for your tank. You can use your live sand, also good filtration. I would get some hermit crabs and snails to finish your clean up crew. Do a good water change, (RO is cheaper then LFS, and you can buy it at walmart) clean your LR of algae, and you are set to go! Good luck

Filter system has the water fall type feature on them and I actually use an extra smaller pump/filter to be sure of good circulation. Would this sufice the first sentence above? Yeah doubling the live rock is def. high on my list along with the "clean up crew". Should I add sixline wrasse to that? emerald crab?
Thank you(and everyone) so much for being patient and helpful while I correct wrong information/mistakes from the past.

 

[puffer32]

Bristle worms are benificial scavengers and help keep your tank clean. On the other hand, i wouldn't want to see them in my tank wiggling all over my rock work cause they are ugly. However, thats up to you. I would rinse my rock well before putting it back in the tank and if they are that plentiful as you say, get rid of some, but thats a personal choice, they will disappear eventually without your help.
I have the emperior 400 on my tank also, just for water movement, and to run carbon once a month. In fact i only use one side for carbon, the other is filled with rock rubble to aid in filtration. Power heads are different. I have 2 besides the filter to move water, especially need movement at the top of your tank, so i have 1 pointed at the surface, and i pointed mid tank so that my corals get plenty of movement which they like. The pump in my skimmer also moves water, so i actually have 4 pumps moving water in my 75. 2 power heads, 1 skimmer and my emperior 400. you could use your emperior to fill with rock, and your small whisper for carbon and get a skimmer and at least one power head, that will give you 4 pumps to help move water in your tank. Remember, most of your filtration will be LR, LS and skimmer. Your power heads and HOB filters will mostly be for circulation and carbon.

 

[bunnyl99]

in regards to what puffer32 said---I used the test kit that you dip the strip in the water & my nitrates read high also. Switched to Aquarium Pharm also & now reading 0 compared to the 40 on the strip

 

[ifusayso]

Originally Posted by puffer32
Bristle worms are benificial scavengers and help keep your tank clean. On the other hand, i wouldn't want to see them in my tank wiggling all over my rock work cause they are ugly. However, thats up to you. I would rinse my rock well before putting it back in the tank and if they are that plentiful as you say, get rid of some, but thats a personal choice, they will disappear eventually without your help.
I have the emperior 400 on my tank also, just for water movement, and to run carbon once a month. In fact i only use one side for carbon, the other is filled with rock rubble to aid in filtration. Power heads are different. I have 2 besides the filter to move water, especially need movement at the top of your tank, so i have 1 pointed at the surface, and i pointed mid tank so that my corals get plenty of movement which they like. The pump in my skimmer also moves water, so i actually have 4 pumps moving water in my 75. 2 power heads, 1 skimmer and my emperior 400. you could use your emperior to fill with rock, and your small whisper for carbon and get a skimmer and at least one power head, that will give you 4 pumps to help move water in your tank. Remember, most of your filtration will be LR, LS and skimmer. Your power heads and HOB filters will mostly be for circulation and carbon.
I think would I take out of the Emperor the filters and put the rock there instead with the wheels staying in the front? The smaller one does have the filter and carbon like the big one, just not the wheels.
Skimmer is added to my list, but after $460 yesterday to get my tank going(which it is doing great) it may a little while. We are going one day at a time right now.

 

[snailheave]

a lot of my problems went away 3 months after i added a refugium and started growing some macroalgaes.

 

[ifusayso]

Originally Posted by snailheave
a lot of my problems went away 3 months after i added a refugium and started growing some macroalgaes.
I've been hearing a lot about these over the last few day. I'm not sure how it works, but definitely will research that. What kinds of problems will it help with?

 

[snailheave]

with an established refugium, you should be able to tackle phosphate and nitrate. that doesn't mean you should keep using tap water. most of the time, water conditioner doesn't treat phosphate. macroalgaes take care of that gradually by growth.
with a refugium the excessive nutrients build up slower and if they do accumlate they tend to do so in the refugium, which makes maintaining easier and the main display tank more pleasant looking.
bristleworms are not bad.

 

[ifusayso]

Originally Posted by snailheave
with an established refugium, you should be able to tackle phosphate and nitrate. that doesn't mean you should keep using tap water. most of the time, water conditioner doesn't treat phosphate. macroalgaes take care of that gradually by growth.
with a refugium the excessive nutrients build up slower and if they do accumlate they tend to do so in the refugium, which makes maintaining easier and the main display tank more pleasant looking.
bristleworms are not bad.

Hmm...refugium sounds like a very good idea for me. Tap water will no longer be used in my tank. My lfs sells their water for only 75 cents a gallow so I think that wil be the best way for me to go.
I finally have come to terms with the bristleworms, however in my case I was seeing nearly a hundred of them during the day. And they were just all over the rocks and sand. I think in moderation it would have been ok, plus if I had had my maintenance crew for control it would have been ok.

 

[snailheave]

there was a time when i wished i didn't start my tanks either.
is your frustration coming from the lack of desirable result or the amount of maintenance work associated with it?

 

[ifusayso]

Well I was really frustrated because of the amount of work I was putting into it and not getting the results I thought I should. Also, I was kinda frustrated for not realizing some of what I was doing was wrong.
I am quite happy now at how things are going. As I said I am taking things one day at a time until I feel a bit more confident in how the tank is going. I am eventually going to get a picture up of my tank now.