Take Two Questions

[fishytim]

Hey Guys..
I had a 46 Gallon fish and live rock tank. I bought the tank and it was already established. I had the tank for two months with no problems. I bought a new house and when I moved I decided it was time to upgrade.
I bought a nice 90 gallon tank with a corner overflow. However, something went wrong when I did the upgrade and the algea growth went crazy, the fish seemed to get sick and everything went to hell. Out of frustration I shut the whole thing down.
Right now I have dry sand and about 60 pounds of dry live rock (now base rock - completly white).
I have got the itch and I'm ready to start my tank over again.
My plan right now is to fill up the tank.....
-Use existing sand
-Fill up tank
-Use the 65 pounds of the base rock I have
-buy about 35 pounds of live rock to see the base rock with
-but a few pounds of live sand to seed the sand
-sit back and let the tank cycle
-add a clean up crew
-wait for it to clean up to make it nice
-add some fish and enjoy!
sound good?

 

[robertmathern]

sounds like a plan. However you must figure out what caused the alge the first time or you will repeat the process. Do you have power heads what kind of filtration do you have. Do you use rodi water your feeding habits and what do you want in the tank. lights and so on. I know its alot to ask but people here give really good advice and can let you know how to advoid the same mistake again. But this is the info they will need to know. Good luck

 

[fishytim]

Mag18 running the sump (Upgraded - was running 800gph)
2 x Hydor Koralia 850ghp powerheads (New)
2x 96W Compact Fluorescent Quad Bulbs (New Bulbs)
RODI (Added)
Feeding habits were good
Originally Posted by robertmathern
http:///forum/post/2845516
sounds like a plan. However you must figure out what caused the alge the first time or you will repeat the process. Do you have power heads what kind of filtration do you have. Do you use rodi water your feeding habits and what do you want in the tank. lights and so on. I know its alot to ask but people here give really good advice and can let you know how to advoid the same mistake again. But this is the info they will need to know. Good luck

 

[robertmathern]

Well looks good your off to a great start. If you want some corals I would upgrade the lights but for a few softys there fine. Sounds great you said the korilla 3 are new did you power heads in the tank before. And you added rodi if you did not use that or power heads before. I think you have cured your problem. Good luck

 

[morval]

in a brand new tank you will almost always have algae growth and diatoms its part of the new tank process. just be patient and dont go crazy trying to fix it. the first few monts a freshly set up tank will not look great, this is where many mistakes are made adding animals and chemicals trying to fix what you think is a problem will just cause more. set up the tank let it cycle for a few weeks then diatoms come and make it look ugly they will go away on there own eventually. take your time

 

[errattiq]

When you say Ro/Di added, do you mean you weren't using ro/di when the algae bloom occurred?? If so I can almost guarantee at was a cause of a large part of your problem. Also, did you place the tank anywhere where it got hit by direct sunlight? That can wreack havoc as well, especially with green hair algae

!!! Believe me I know lol. But yes, if you bought the tank from someone who was using ro/d water then the tank would have had nutrient free/ phosphate free water at around the 46 gallon mark. When you bought it and started doing water changes with tap overtime, 2 months seems about right to get a decent amount of tap water in your system, algae can start fueling itself off of the stuff in the tap. Hope this helps!
-Josh

 

[dennis210]

Initial tank was bought from someone already running, you tore it down and reset it, then two months later you moved, bought the 90, tore down the 46,
and used the sand and rock in the 90, and the algae started like crazy. If that is correct -= then you simply over disturbed the tank and freed up trapped nutrients as well as starting a tank with a complete cycle. Of coarse you got algae problems.
Stick with your new plan and you should do okay! Read Read Read - you will go through a cycle and a progression of algae before tank totally stabilizes.

Dennis

 

[fishytim]

When I had my 46, I was using tap water...
When I upgraded to the 90, I bought a RODI. Im really think the alge was a flow problem and that the new power heads will take care of it.
Originally Posted by errattiq
http:///forum/post/2846114
When you say Ro/Di added, do you mean you weren't using ro/di when the algae bloom occurred?? If so I can almost guarantee at was a cause of a large part of your problem. Also, did you place the tank anywhere where it got hit by direct sunlight? That can wreack havoc as well, especially with green hair algae

!!! Believe me I know lol. But yes, if you bought the tank from someone who was using ro/d water then the tank would have had nutrient free/ phosphate free water at around the 46 gallon mark. When you bought it and started doing water changes with tap overtime, 2 months seems about right to get a decent amount of tap water in your system, algae can start fueling itself off of the stuff in the tap. Hope this helps!
-Josh

 

[fishytim]

No..
I bought the established 46....had it for 2 years.....moved it and upgraded at the same time.
Originally Posted by Dennis210
http:///forum/post/2846130
Initial tank was bought from someone already running, you tore it down and reset it, then two months later you moved, bought the 90, tore down the 46,
and used the sand and rock in the 90, and the algae started like crazy. If that is correct -= then you simply over disturbed the tank and freed up trapped nutrients as well as starting a tank with a complete cycle. Of coarse you got algae problems.
Stick with your new plan and you should do okay! Read Read Read - you will go through a cycle and a progression of algae before tank totally stabilizes.

Dennis

 

[fishytim]

No power heads....I did use ro/di, but the established tank was tap water...
Originally Posted by robertmathern
http:///forum/post/2846108
Well looks good your off to a great start. If you want some corals I would upgrade the lights but for a few softys there fine. Sounds great you said the korilla 3 are new did you power heads in the tank before. And you added rodi if you did not use that or power heads before. I think you have cured your problem. Good luck

 

[fishytim]

Thanks for all the help, I appreciate it. I'm really looking forward to getting my tank going again! I think all should go well.

 

[hammerhed7]

I agree with the above posts on the move being the cause. Whenever you disturb rock and sand too much you can cause a nitrate spike, and put excess nutrients into the water column that is the perfect condition for an algae farm.
Stick to your new plan and you will be fine

 

[fishytim]

I was thinking about what fish I'm going to stock the tank with...
I was thinking...
Purpleback Pseudochromis
Achilles Tang
Blonde Naso Tang
Yellow Tang
False Percula Clownfish - Mated Pair
any opinions on the fish or which ones to get first etc...?

 

[robertmathern]

as far as tangs I dont know much about them. Your tank might be a little small for some of them not sure about the ones you picked just research them before buying and add the clowns last. They get mean if the establish there territory