Red Sea Skimmer

[cam78]

Hi, first of all this is my first post ever, and secondly this is my first Saltwater aquarium. So, Hi. my question is...I have a redsea skimmer, the deluxe model if it matters, and I right now have the Bio-max (I think thats what they are called, the hollow white cylinders) inside the skimmer. Is there something else I should put inside that part rather than the bio? I already have that in the filter canister along with Phosphate remover and Chem-guard or something. I sound retarted right? Any help would be cool, and what the hell does, "bump" mean. ha ha My tank consists of:
46 gallon bow
1 green star poylp
1 Devil's hand
1 Rhodactis
Clean-up crew: snails, cleaner shrimp, crabs
3 Green Damsels
1 Convict Blennie
and a Pajama Cardinal
Tank was started up January 17, all levels have been perfect (thank god) and my Detritus is
there but not "OUT OF CONTROL" THANKS!

 

[joshradio]

no, leave the media as it is, its fine, but I haven't heard too much success with that skimmer...
I hate to say it, but you might be a week or so outside of the system cycling... with THAT much livestock in THAT short period... just watch it.
and 'bump' is something impatient people do when no one answers their posts quick enough in their mind... it puts it back up top.
WELCOME, JUST MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ENOUGH PATIENCE SO YOU DON'T WASTE A LOT OF MONEY!!

 

[cam78]

I have been testing the water and a person who knows a lot more than me (at my LFS) who I have a good repoir with states that my tank cycled very quickly and was ready for these fish and coral. I know it sounds like a pushy sales guy but it really isn't like that. He was really careful with what I was putting in and they seem to be doing really well. I hope!!! Let me know what you think. He states my water is perfect so far

 

[cam78]

Any other suggestions on this?

 

[mandarin w]

I hate to break it to you. I've been in the hobby for about five years, and have set up around 10 tanks, And I have never had a tank cycle in less than two weeks when set up from scratch.
Not ever. And Even if the tank had cycled in less than two weeks, There is not possible way the tank is mature enough to support corals. It is impossible. You say you reading are fine. What exactly are your readings, Amonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Ph, Salinity, Temp? What type of water are you using, Tap water?
We are not trying to bash you by no means, Believe me. It is just that alot of us have been in the hobby for a long time. Other on here have been in the hobby twice as long as I have. And we've also seen a lot of LFS give bad info to new hobbyist, and yes they all believed that the LFS was looking out for them. They were there to help them. Once thing you need to realize, You are giving him money, for everything you get from him. and when it dies, He will just sell you more.
Our advice comes totally free. With no strings attached. We are here to help out other hobbyist figure thing out. We don't get paid, It doesn't benifite us at all to give you bad advice.
You can take it or leave it. But believe me when I and others will say also, You tank is not strong enough to support the corals, I seriously doubt you tank has even cycled yet.
To tell you the truth, it means one of two things, when someone tells us that their levels are fine.
1.) They didn't check them,
2.) The LFS checked them and didn't tell them exactly what the levels are. And the person really has no clue what fine is. They are going by what the LFS told them.
I would suggest going and getting a test kit and test your level in your tank yourself and letting use know what the level are. You should also read through alot of the post here. Learn what all is involved with a cycle, so you understand why it take longer than a week. Why a tank that is only a couple weeks old is not strong enough to support corals. You will also read about other LFS have also told new hobbyist all sorts of stuff that wasn't true.

 

[cam78]

PH: 8.2
Calcium: 380
DKH: 5
Phosphate: 0
Nitrate: 5
Ites I don't know, don't have that kit
Salt: 1.023 almost 4
All water was Poland Spring water, NOT Because I thought that would be better, because my wife and I went on Vacation and forgot to mention that to Poland Spring, so the water kept on coming. All my refills and after a vacuum I used R/O. What do you think I should do with the corals then? Have them hold them for me? Return them? Please let me know.

 

[ophiura]

I'm sorry, I may be missing something...why do you have media in your skimmer?
I agree that you are stocking the tank very very fast...and there are many things that need to stabilize in a tank that you do not test for. I would always be wary when people are out to make money, and encourage you to buy a lot of things.
IMO, your specific gravity is on the low side for invertebrates (1.025-1.026 is preferable).

 

[cam78]

In the deluxe model there is a filter like canister the water passess through before the water gets expelled back into the tank. You can fill this container with diffrent things, mine was filled with biomax. I also forgot to mention that my amonia is 0 and temp is about 74-75. I also have about 40lbs of live rock.

 

[cam78]

Hello Mandarin W? Any suggestion?

 

[ophiura]

Ah, I see with your skimmer...I have a red sea berline skimmer so got a bit confused for a moment. It might be a good place to run carbon or something.
I would suggest bumping your temperature up to around 78 or so.

 

[cam78]

If things were to go bad when would this happen by? Would my corals or fish show signs before they die? Everything seems colorful and healthy for now. Should I do something to prevent a negative outcome? As for right now I have diatom almost everywhere and hair algae sprouts popping up but the snails are eating it. Suggestions would be great, thanks!

 

[cam78]

I'm still open to suggestions.

 

[wrongmove]

First suggestion is to slow down. When you bought the rock was it cured at the store? Did you use live sand? If so it is possible to get a fairly quick cycle. However a quick cycle doesnt mean you should go crazy adding livestock right away. As far as what you have now goes they are all fairly hardy animals. Make sure you keep an eye on your water though and if you need to do some small water changes. Another thing you need to know is that a tank cycling and a tank maturing are two different things. As your tank matures you will notice a lot of things happening. You will get a lot of weird things growing everywhere. In a few weeks you will likely get a cyano outbreak and after about a year (just my opinion) your tank should settle down to a more normal growth rate. When you do things in this hobby always remember there is a hundred ways to do things right and a thousand ways to screw things up each person has their own method that works for them. Ask questions and do as much research as you can before you do anything. The number one hardest aspect of this hobby is patience. Good luck and welcome to the life.

 

[cam78]

Does Cyano look like diatoms? I have been reading alot but never really got a clear understanding of what the diffrence between Diatoms and Cyano is. I should just take a pic of my tank and see where everyone thinks my tank is right now. Oh and yes the rock was cured already. No live sand I used that argonite.

 

[wrongmove]

Cyano is also know as red slime(thats what it looks like). It is a type of bacteria and can grow pretty quickly. There are a lot of threads about it if you get a chance look at some of them. You will likely get an out break of cyano in a few weeks dont go crazy like most people do and start adding stuff to your tank to get rid of it. If you are doing regular water changes and keeping water quality good the cyano and diatoms will eventually go away. One thing that you will want to do since you added the corals a little early is make sure they dont get covered with slime. If the do just reach in there and either shake them off or just wave your hand over them till the slime blows away. I wouldnt normally suggest disturbing coral like that but the cyano will kill it if it cant get light. On a side note what kind of light do you have over your tank?

 

[cam78]

I have PC's. I noticed on the green Polyp there is hair algae on it but you cannot see it until it closes up. When the coral opens you don't even see the algae. hould I pull it off or wait to see if it gets longer before I do so.

 

[cgrant]

i just upgraded to Mh cause my pc's couldnt keep up, if your planning on keeping corals you will prob need metal halide or t5, everything i read said pc's would be ok for shroom, polyps, zoo's but that didnt work out for me but i also have a deep tank, its a 210.
good luck!
edit: forgot to mention to test for phosphate and what is your trates?
If one or both of those are up you will get the nasty algae, it is feeding off something?

 

[ophiura]

I have very good luck with PC's on my 45g keeping several types of LPS and soft corals. I've seen some very nice PC tanks, but I'll admit thinking back, one common thread seems to be they were under 100g. I would say once you want to start keeping large deep coral tanks, that upgrading to t5, and quite possibly metal halides is going to be a good suggestion. But it all depends on what you want to keep for sure.

 

[cam78]

My phisphate level is at zero. Thanks I guess to running phosguard in my canister. What do you think of the algae on the coral leave it alone or pull it off?