Several questions...

adurost

adurost

Member
My 90gal FOLWR tank has been running for about 2 months now. I have a 20 gal sump with a Wet/Dry filter with Bio-Balls that adds about 12-15gal more to the system. I've got about 30lbs LR and probably another 30lbs of base rock.
Temp 80-81 degrees (warm I know, but I don't have a chiller, yet)
Salinity 1.023
pH 8.2
Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 20-40 (was down to 20, then I started adding fish and nitrates have gone up to 40. Doing 20 gal water changes every other week with treated tap water; RO/DI is on order).
Currently in the DT:
2 ocellaris clown
1 yellow tang
4 green chromis
1 royal gramma
1 lawnmower blenny
(1 blue hippo tang & 1 cleaner wrasse in QT)
I feed 2 times a day with Ocean Nutrition Reef Flakes and Formula 2 pellets, and 1 time a week with frozen mysis shrimp.
I'm having a hard time building my CUC... None of the LFS have cerith or narcissus snails, and online retailers won't ship to Hawaii! I've collected a few inverts myself: zebra hermits (10), a Halloween hermit, turbo snails (5), margarita snails (5). My LR came with a couple hitchhikers too: dolabella sea hare (4), sally lightfoot crab (1), and today I think I saw a small black urchin! While these guys are taking care of my rock and glass, they aren't touching the sand... I've had a pretty consistent diatom bloom on the sand for the past three weeks. Some sections of the sand are clear (where the fish swim most) and others (around the LR) are quite brown. Until I find some sand sifting, inverts should I occaisionally rake the surface of the sand to disturb the algea growth?
My LFS suggested PhosGuard; I bought some but I haven't used it yet because I haven't found a phosphate test kit (locally!) to purchase. Should I use it? Would a protein skimmer make a difference? (recommendations for one under $150?)
Thanks in advance for the ideas.
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Diatoms are completely normal. They happen in all tanks and can look pretty gross. Not much will even touch it. The good news is that they go away. Don't kill yourself trying to remove them. You can lightly vacuum the sand when you do water changes and wipe them off of the glass.
 
king_neptune

king_neptune

Active Member
diatom is your tanks way of saying thanks, im happy now to have my cycle over. its actually an accomplishment. it just started showing up lightly on my tank, im thrilled!
however, aside form a CUC, there are other ways to remove/hinder diatom bloom.
read up on scrubbers and GFO/carbon reactors.
the reef section has a long thread about scrubbers. and google bulk reef supply GFO for more on that.
neither are the end all be all, but they definitely are nice.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member

80-82 is not a bad temp, in fact that is perfect. You don’t need a chiller unless you plan on keeping critters that like it cooler, for example, seahorses.
A sand sifting goby will keep your sand looking great..The bloom of algae is normal but the sand will always look gross without it being cleaned up. You can clean it yourself as Sep suggested, but it is easier to get a critter to do the work.
 
king_neptune

king_neptune

Active Member
yellow watchmen gobys are good too. I like them over the diamond becuase they look so bright!
blennies are also really cool bottom dwellers with lots of personality. they will rest on a perch and watch the house outside the tank.
 
adurost

adurost

Member
Thanks everyone for the replies so far. I know that the diatom bloom will eventually pass, but because I ended up using quartz silica sand (again, no argonite sand to be purchased on the island; can you believe it?) my LFS told me I will have a constant battle with diatoms.
Originally Posted by Flower
http:///forum/post/3114364
A sand sifting goby will keep your sand looking great..The bloom of algae is normal but the sand will always look gross without it being cleaned up. You can clean it yourself as Sep suggested, but it is easier to get a critter to do the work.
Do you think that I have the room for another fish? I keep hoping to find some sand sifting snails that will help by eating the diatoms as well... I'm going diving this weekend and plan to bring a collection bag with me.

Originally Posted by King_Neptune
http:///forum/post/3114320
read up on scrubbers and GFO/carbon reactors.
the reef section has a long thread about scrubbers. and google bulk reef supply GFO for more on that.
Is a GFO/Carbon Reactor better than a Protein Skimmer? Or are you using both?
 
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