What to purchase next?

[damslndsrs]

I bought a used 25 gallon tall saltwater tank fairly cheap, eclipse filter included along with a canister filter. After getting it set up using most of the same water, and the fish survived. I have been testing the water (but not in the last 3weeks) and have had high nitrates thus getting green hair algae and red slime I believe. Cleaned off the rock, reduced the lights, seemed to work for awhile but now it is slowly starting to come back. I was wondering I replaced my cannister filters with live rock gravel, just recently bought a new retro fit sun paq 96 watt light system that i am installing this week.
I have 1 of 2 more things that I want to get, 1. I have about maybe 20 lbs of live rock in their now, and was thinking about replacing it all with the premium fiji, should I wait until I get my water parameters correct, and the other purchase is that I want to get a starter pack of corals. Which one should be my next purchase, to make sure everything will be safe?

 

[airforceb2]

Your next purchase should be a skimmer. It will help reduce nitrates in the tank. Also, how often are you doing water changes? You should be doing about 15% every 10 days or so.

 

[damslndsrs]

I have been doing the water changes with the R/O water roughly every 10 days. I have a red sea air lift skimmer but it seems to be to tall for the 25 gallon tall tank as I wanted to keep the hood closed and also I dont want to have to keep putting things into the aquarium as it would look to cluttery, so I have not hooked it up yet. Any recommendations for a small skimmer? So safe to say after water parameters are good to go then I should be able to purch the live rock?

 

[jdragunas]

If you purchase LR, you have to make sure it's fully cured. If you smell it and it has an "ocean" or "fish" smell, it's not cured, and will therefore kick your tank into another cycle. Please note that if you buy LR online, no matter how much they say it's cured, there will be some die-off from shipping. If this is what you decide to do, you should cure the rock in a bucket with some water, and a power head for 2-4 weeks, or until the smell goes away. This will ensure the tank won't re-cycle.
You definately need to wait to buy the corals, because they need PERFECT water parameters. You really shouldn't add corals for at least 6 months or so, so the tank is completely cycled, and well established. Sorry you won't be able to get them right away.

The 96 watt system will be ok for some corals, but most need at least 4.5-5 watts of light per gallon. Your 96 is only giving 3.84, which is good, but you must remember that with a tall tank like yours, you'll lose wattage as you get deeper in the tank. Since some of your corals will be at the bottom, you need more wattage to make sure they're getting the proper lighting. If you can find a 2x65 watt lighting system, that will be better for your corals in the long run.
Also, once your parameters get better, you can get some critters that will eat the algae, and red slime. Not sure which inverts will do this, but some one else might know.
I hope this helps out a lot. Good luck!

Jenn

 

[scales1]

M.G.
If you add additional Live Rock taking the total amount up to around 65 -70lbs you shouldn't need the skimmer. Your live rock will assist in the filtering process. Also, with the eclipse hood you won't be able to use a skimmer without modifing it. And as mentioned above, be sure that you only purchase cured Live Rock.