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Please help

F

feems

I have had my tank running for 6 and a half to 7 months
I am so confused and need help!!!! what am i doing wrong and how can i fix it!!!????? I have a 50 gallon Tank with 50 pounds of Live rock and 50 pounds of live sand as well as

yellow tang (1)
sailfin tang (1)
hippo tang (1)
maroon clown (1)
manderin (1)
yellow watchmen gobby (1)

I have alot of assorted polyps,
I also have 3 kenya trees,
1 elegant,
1 sun coral,
1 rock full of mushrooms,

My torch coral and green star polyps recently died. The fish store said it was due to lack of water movement.

So, I purchased two pumps, a koralia 2-3. I test my levels on the regular. I have a power compact light, I use a pro clear wet dry, I have a remora skimmer, with a pre skimmer, a turbo twist uv sterilizer. I also have a phosban reactor.

The guy at the fish store told me to remove the bio balls, (hand full/per day) until there are none.

I conduct my water changes with ro water bi-weekly. I was using salifert coral calcium. but told to use tech cb (part a) (part b) instead, and not to continue adding various chemicals.
I was told my nitrates are high by the lfs so i have been taking out bioballs one hand full at a time 3 times a week until all gone.
 
C

cathym1078

increase nitrates may be due to over feeding. Try to cut that down too.

Also, many had mentioned to me that tangs need a lot of room to swim and require larger volume tanks. I am no expert, so you might want to look into the size of your tank and the # of tangs you have. If you have too small of a tank, consider trading or selling your fishes and get fishes that fit your tank.

If all fails, have someone house your fishes and start all over again. Keep up with the water change. I agree that you shouldn't add any chemicals. Good luck!
 
R

REEFLECTIONS

better run, the tang police are on their way. way too much tang for a 50 gallon, between feeding all those fish, the waste they produce, and the secondary waste of feeding the sun coral, that poor 50 gallons of water doesn't stand a chance. i'm guessing too much bioload, and if things continue like this, the worst is yet to come
 
adesimone1

adesimone1

Yeah, you definitely need to do a major upgrade or find new homes for your tangs. They won't last long in the 50 gallon tank.
 
F

feems

As much as i hate to say it but you guys are right,
I am new at this and the fish store guy was just rying to sell me everything,
I even asked if the bio load would be too much and they said i was fine!!
So let me put them on Blast!!!!!
Unique pets on central ave in jersey city nj!
also absolutly fish on rt 46!! they fed me bad advice to just make a sale and i am pissed!
Damm can i add a canister filter to the wet dry? or can i add more live rock?
 
J

Jcurry@wesketch

Don't add more liverock because it's probably not cured and will kill everything in the tank.
I would sell either the yellow or sailfin tang and the manderin goby to reduce the bioload. Consider trading the sun polyps because they're not really a good coral for a beginner. They need very good water quality and daily feedings to survive.
You don't need to dose any trace elements or calcium if you're doing bi-weekly water changes on a 50 gallon tank. The regular water changes will keep your water parameters in check.
You might consider putting some activated carbon in the sump, maybe a 1/2 cup to help filter the water. Be sure to rinse the carbon in old tank water thourghly before adding it to your sump to get the dust out.
Just keep doing your water changes and things should be fine. Personally I wouldn't add anything else to the tank for a few months to let the bacteria in the tank increase and let things stabilize.
 
blange3

blange3

So what are your parameters? How much water do you change?

You don't have high calcium/alk demanding corals so if you are changing enough water, you probably don't need to dose the A and B or any coral supplement.

You have a high bioload and need to reduce it, but you can compensate in the short term with water changes.

Ah, Jeff is too quick, so I'll end here!
 
F

feems

I have a phosban reactor that i have not installed yet, is that the same as activated carbon? should i install and how will it help?
 
D

duijver

I see that you are using a wet/dry .. I started this hobby with a wet/dry with bioballs and removing the balls slowly (1/4 to 1/3 a week) was everyones suggestion for mix-reef tanks.

You might want to add some macro-algae to your sump to remove the nits you are seeing as well.
 
MadReefer

MadReefer

Staff member
NJRC Member
Moderator
As Blange stated what are the water params? My guess is the Nitrates are high, personal experience.The tank is small for 3 tangs.
 
B

beerfish

tangpolicefs8.jpg


It was only a matter of time.....

:p

Sorry, couldn't resist.
 
F

feems

lol funny, I am a newbe but i am learning from my mistakes.
is there anyone in the union city area who can pass by and give me advice.
 
H

htkdkid

who told you that you could that many tangs in a 50 gallon? who did you talk to at unique pets. what fish did you buy at absolute fish.
 
blange3

blange3

feems said:
lol funny, I am a newbe but i am learning from my mistakes.
is there anyone in the union city area who can pass by and give me advice.
Click to expand...

Well my advice would be "answer the question that has been asked several times." ;)

What are your parameters?

Temp
salinity
ph
alk
calcium
magnesium
nitrates
nitrites
ammonia

Anything else you may have tested for.
 
C

cathym1078

You should try to call those stores back and tell them to give you your money back. It's horrible that they would give such an advice. But then again, they are trying to make a buck.

I too made the same mistakes as you when I started. Tangs are just so beautiful and hard to resists. To think of it, part of the reason why I wanted a salt water fish tank is because I wanted to have tangs in my tank.
 
R

reeferwanabe

yea. the lfs talked me into a wet/dry when I started. still using it but not for long. the only decent thing is the pad on the top. if you change or clean it every couple days it takes tons of debris out of the tank. do you also have the skimmer that comes with it? also crap. I built my own sump for my newest tank and what a difference it makes. now I have to build another one to replace the wet/dry. have to agree with the bioload. you have more fish in your 50 than I have in my 150. think you would have to do a 20% water change every 2-3 days. your getting good advise from this club. great people here stick with it you will get it right. good luck
 
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