wet dry problems

[tarponiser]

my skimmer seems to overflow water and empty my wetdry. any suggestions on how to fix this would be great. also cant seem to keep any corals alive. a check my water weekly and change water monthly. but cant seem to keep corals alive. help!!!!

 

[talath]

Have you got any Caulerpa going sexual? Also, can you adjust your skimmer so that the water level is a bit lower in it? As for the corals dying off, what sort of water chemistry has your aquarium got? Lighting acclimation? Sufficient current? Any more info you can provide will only help the forum folk to help you. :joy:

 

[tropicalreefs]

How long has your tank been up and running?
When you say that your protein skimmer sucks your sump dry where is the water going? On to the floor?
If your tank is newer like under a year old you should probably be doing more water changes more frequently. My 90 reef tank has been going for over 7 years and I probably only do a water change once a month.
We need more info to help you out.

 

[tarponiser]

i dont have any caulerpa at all. i adjust the valve on the skimmer but then it doesnt even skim like it used to. my ph level is 8.3. nitrite and nitrate levels are perfect, the salt level is 1.026 i think a little high not sure. current is more than enough i have a rio 8100 in the wet dry and two powerflo 402's in the tank. as far as lighting all i have are two 48" 50/50 and actinic bulbs. i want to upgrade my light but dont what to use. i realy need help because i always spend alot of money on corals and the only last a few days.

 

[tropicalreefs]

You need better lighting. What size tank do you have? A good rule of thumb is about 5 watts per gallon of lighting. You need VHO or Power PCs at least. Metal Halides IMO are best but seeing as you live in Miami they might run too hot. I can definitely say it is the lighting that is causing your problems.

 

[tarponiser]

its a 55 gal. its been up for about three years. when it runs dry i have a gallon jug that catches the water. how often should i change water?

 

[tarponiser]

if i use metal halides could i use a small fan to remove some heat? or should i use pc's