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Professional maintenance

S

sc18702

Does anyone know or use a very very knowledgeable maintenance person who can help with my tank. I need an evaluation, someone to help set up a phosban reactor, calcium reactor or whatever my tank might need.

I live in the middlesex county area and want to take my exisitng tank to the next level.

Any recommendations would be appreciated.
 
Phyl

Phyl

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Then you're in the right place. Stick with us and you'll be clamoring to do it you self! :)

Seriously, with a little info, some tank shots, some parameters, your dosing schedule, etc... we should be able to get you moving in the right direction.

Our meeting is in Marlboro this month (which, all things considered, isn't too far from you). There's always plenty of information to be had at them and I'm sure you can find someone's ear to bend to get you to that next step.
 
S

sc18702

Thanks for the vote of confidence. Also, I very much want to learn as much as possible for myself as well but figured a professional who sees many different tanks and set ups can more quickly move me in the right direction.

It is very apparent that there are many knowledgeable people on this site with great information and experience. I will listen intently.
 
Phyl

Phyl

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Tell us what fish you have in the tank, what types of corals you're keeping, what kind you'd like to keep that you're not keeping, ca/alk/mg numbers... Total system volume.

A full tank should would be great.

What skimmer are you running? What lights do you have? Current light cycle?

How long has the tank been running? How much rock do you have?

Where's your sump? How big is it? How much room is under your stand (or in your fish room, if that applies)? Have you drilled through the floor into the basement yet (of course I say yet because we all know that if it is an option, it is only a matter of time, lol)?
 
C

Carlo

I'm with Phyl. You can get all the help you need in these forums and you'll learn a lot in the process and be much better off in the long run.

Phyl asked all the key questions but I've got a couple more for you:
How much sand do you have in the tank (weight or in inches)?
What test kits do you presently have?
What is your water temperature?
What is your pH if you know?
Do you already have the Phosban & Calcium reactors or just thinking you might need them?
If not running a sump what type of filtration system do you have and do you presently have sponges and/or bio balls in any of the filtration devices?

How does the tank look to you? Does the water look clear or slightly cloudy? Do you see algae growing on the sand or rocks?
Do you have to clean the inside of the glass a lot? About how often and what color tint does the glass get when it needs cleaning (i.e. brownish, greenish)?

Yep lots of questions :) Just answer as many of them as you can so we can get a feel for your tank. If you don't know what something is that was asked, just say so. Remember the only "dumb" question is the one that's never asked!

Carlo

PS Welcome to the site.
 
M

mladencovic

sc18702 said:
It is a 70 gallon tank. It's not a size or time issue but knowledge.
Click to expand...

:) Well, I thought that might be the case and would strongly suggest that you rely more on cumulative knowledge of this forum as well as others (Reef Central, Wet Web Media etc).
Because we:

a) DO KNOW MORE because there is more of the various experiences of each of us. We have all learned from our mistakes and mistakes that others have made and then posted here or somewhere on the web. Also, if you have followed postings here, you could have seen that few of the people here have actual professionally worked in aquaria business. Furthermore, cumulatively, people here, have tried, used or discarded far more products that any professional has.

b) will not try to SELL you anything or any idea. In this business/hobby there are so many ideas, reasoning's, views and practices and they constantly change with the time. Hot topics like glass bottom or sand bottom, DSB or shallow sand, skimmer or no skimmer, wet-dry or no wet-dry, MH or T5 or PC, chiller or not, glass or acrylic, ozone or no ozone, wether or not shrimps are reef safe or should you or shouldn't you have macro algae, kalk in drip or Nielsen or should you go with Ca reactor. Waves or no waves, active carbon or no filtering at all, feed or not, etc, etc, etc. ad infinitum. So every single person will present and advocate or sell only one single view or approach that that person either liked or worked for him/her. To go back on a selling point, more then once did it happen to me that such professional has tried to sell me a product that was really bad.

So, while I DO encourage you to seek the advice from a professional, I also strongly urge you not to stick to it until you have a good feeling of what is a general understanding of the issue, and what are the experiences with particular products/methods that are suggested.
 
S

sc18702

OK, let me start to share.

70 gall oceanic (3ft wide) tank.
1 inch sandbed.
approx 100lbs of live rock.
outer orbit lighting 346 total watts (150 MH)
sump - overflow, no bioballs, filter pad, another sponge before return pump
Coralife needle wheel skimmer - 125 gal

chemistry - don't kno woff the top of my head.

Ammonia - zero
Nitrite zero
Nitrate - 20
PH - 8.4 not sure but always in the correct range on existing test kit
alkalinity - not sure
Calcium - tests high 500ppm - not sure why

inhabitants
2 false perculas
Long tenacle anemone - does great (even with nitrate level)
mandarin
orange shoulder tang
pygmy blue angel
firefish
3 cleaner shrimp
1 cleaner wrasse
1 peppermint shrimp
clean up crue
3 clams - medium
assorted zoos
assorted mushrooms
brittle star
green star polyps
yellow polys
toadstool leather
DEAD XENIA

I'll get the name of my test kits. Also, I have recently started adding a few drops a week of lugols iodine. I bought a test kit and it is below the .06 (i think tha tis the scale) that is indicated which exists in natural sea water.

I feed flake, mysis, cyclopeeze, liquid phytoplankton drops. I only direct feed the Long tenacle.

I don"t currently have a phosban or calcium reactor. I have put carbon in my sump and also tried phosguard. Not sure how well it worked.

Water seems very clear. Not alot of algea growth on rocks. No real coraline algea either. I clean the glass daily not that it fully needs to be cleaned that often. A dusting in spots of a very light brown/ tan algea.

1 more thing. return from sump has 2 flextubes and I recently added an additional seio 820 powerhead and a much smaller one on th eother side. I have to believe that flow is adequate and just a matter of adjsting direction for full coverage.

Thank you all in advance for your support.
 
M

mladencovic

Are you using RO/DI water? I had high Ca before I started using RO water only. That is first MUST step.

Second, how much do you feed? And does your skimmer produce a lot of skimate (dry/wet)?
 
D

DaveK

To me, it looks like you are doing most things right. I think the lighting is a bit on the low side, but ok, unless you want SPS corals or clams. I'd say the skimmer is a little small, but not enough to do anything about it.

You do have a problem with your nitrates, and possibly with phosphates, since you didn't give this reading.

I think once you get the nitrates down you'll be fine. Just a thought, did you cure your LR in the tank, and could the nitrate be left from then?

In addition to using RO/DI water, look at your feeding schedule. Also make sure the sandbed is clean. You may need to vacuum that.

Test the next batch of SW you mix. It should should read 0 nitrates. If it doesn't and you are using RO/DI water, you are either using a bad salt or have a bad test kit. You may need to make 5 or 6 large partial water changes to reduce nitrates.

I would also consider using a refugium, with a light, a deep sand bed and macro algae. This should go a long way to contoling your nitrate problem.
 
C

Carlo

It's possible to have a high pH, alk and calcium all at the same time especially if the salinity is high. If the alk is on the high side there would be plenty of buffers in the water and combined with low CO2 you get a pH on the high side.

So while it's possible, it's not likely since he has a xenia problem which normally indicated pH or alk problems. The xenia could be having problems with the high nitrates and possible a phosphate problem.

A few more questions:
How old is the tank or more specifically, how long has the live rock been in the tank?

What is your salinity/specific gravity of your salt water? What type of device are you using to measure your specific gravity/salinity? Has it been calibrates? How?

What brand of salt are you using?

What brand of test kits are you using for each test?

Do you know or can you get a test kit for phosphates?

What is your alkalinity?

Is your Coralife needle wheel skimmer pulling anything from the water? How often do you need to empty the cup? Can you adjust it to skim a little more to help remove more organics from the water to help with your nitrate problem?

How long has it been since your last water change? How much do you change at one time (ie 25%, 33%)?

Based on the fact that your nitrates are on the high side, try doing a 33% water change followed by another 33% water change 2 or 3 days later. This will roughly drop your nitrates down in half or close to it.

Since you have high nitrates you have a decent amount of organics in the water. Because of this drop the amount of phyto AND cyclopeeze you are feeding in half or space out the feeding by 2. If your organics are high you don't need to feed these two foods as much or at all. Try feeding about 1/3 less flake and frozen food for a little while (won't hurt your fish). This will help reduce the buildup of nitrates.
 
S

sc18702

Thanks for the focus everyone.

I ran some tests lastnight. PH is in fact 8.4 (Aquarium Pharm test kit). I also ran a test on alkalinity and appears a little high. It was a reading of 3 mq/l based on a seachem test kit. The kit indicates that 2.1 - 2.5 is an appropriate range. It discusses a more complicate dtest of aerating 1/2 gall of water separately and then testing that too much carbon dioxide can be building in the tank. Sounds a little complicated. Does anyone aerate their tank ?

To answer another question - protein skimmer seems to be operating OK. The only problem is that it needs alot of adjusting. If I dial to produce wet skimmate, sometimes when I come home the cup is full and not brownish enough in color. It just gets a surge occassionally and fills the cup. If I keep it more dry, I get thick buildup in the cone and takes awhile to build up in the cup. Any suggestions for upgrading ? Doe sit really matter that much ?

I am using RO water. I have tested the prepared water and nitrates and phosphates are zero both before an dafter mixing salt so I am assuming the water i am using for water changes is not the problem.

Cured rock. The original 50lbs was purchased from Planet pets and Hobby and was told it was fully cured. The second batch was purchased partially from absolutely fish and ocean aquarium. i was also told that it was cured. I can only assume it is cured. I don notice alot of debris coming off when I occassionally move it. Some hobbyists mentioned to take a powerhead and blow all of the debris off. Do people here agree. Will that help my nitrates ?

Refugium - this is on of the reasons I wanted a professional. Not sure how to set up properly, what are the benefits, draw backs etc. Is it a whole learning experience like the tank itself ?

Thanks everyone for making me the poster-child for reef problems this week.
 
S

sc18702

Carlo - Missed a few of your question.

salinity is 1.025 - 026
Instant ocean salt
Hydrometer

My phosphates have tested a little high but I will re-test today as I can"t recall the exact number.

I typically perform 10 gal water changes every week which equats to 40 gal a month...seems adequate (annoying but adequate)
 
M

mladencovic

The benifits of refugium are several:

First, and the reason why it is called refugium, is that is a place that small life can grow in peace, not disturbed by the fish. We are here talking about the copepods (pods), cyclops etc - microflora, as well as various worms, microstars, snails etc. When they reproduce, their eggs, larvas, cysts and adults as well, will form live zooplankton in the water column, which will be then exported to your main tank to be consumed by your corals (your primary concern) and fish as well.

Second, this is a best place to put macroalgae. Benefits of the macroalgae are that they are the best scrubbers of nitrates from your water. With a healthy growth and nice quantity of macroalgae, your nitrates will compeletely dissapear. This algae can then be discarded or used to feed your herbivores in the tank which would reduce your need for feeding them (adding more bio matter to the tank) and providing them with the nutrients tht er not present in the dried food (think of it as fresh veggies vs dried cerial in your diet :) ). Finelly, these plants will help help oxigenate water in more "natural" way. While skimmers are the best way to balance the O2/CO2 levels in your tank, they will balnce it only with the surrounding air. If your tank is in not so well aire area (enclosed room, closet etc) that might result in higher levels of CO2. Finally, the reason why you would put macroalgae in the refugium and not in your ain tank is that you will not have to worry about them spreading all around and encrouching on your corals and fighting with them for space and light. And corals will definitively loose!!! if left just on their own, without you harvesting or some fish eating them like a big cow. Also, some of macroalgae (caulerpa for example) will release toxins in such fight that will impede coral growth.

Thrird, dedicated rfugium is the prefect place to utilize deep sand bed (>3"). Many people do not like deep sand beds in their main tanks. Many even prefer bare bottoms. Benefits of DSB are without question - it helps a lot in a nitrogen cycle, and is a good breeding ground for microfauna that will build your zooplankton. However, many people don't like DSB in the main tank for several reasons - aesthetic and it will acumulate deutrius which will be decrimental to the water clarity. Refuguim is the therefore perfect place to put the DSB and forget about it, and let the sh... acumulate on it. The more, the merrier for the worms in it.
 
S

sc18702

OK, thx. Would you say that a refugium is the preferred method for most successful reefers ?

Now I need to figure out how to convert from regular sump to a refugium.
 
M

mladencovic

sc18702 said:
OK, thx. Would you say that a refugium is the preferred method for most successful reefers ?

Now I need to figure out how to convert from regular sump to a refugium.
Click to expand...

:) if you recall my previous post there is not a single thing in this hobby preferred by ALL for really successful reef. However, from my point of view, the most successfull reef is not the one with most colors or the most clear water. For me, it is the one the mimics the real reef most closely and captures their complexity to the utmost. The refugium with DSB is for me an integral part of that ecosystem. That is why I like it in its all messines. Now, my refugium is completely separated from the sump (sits atop of my main tank). You convert the sump into the one with refugium by adding baffles (walls) and sectioning it several parts. In that case, most people, I believe, avoid DSB, and only go with macroalgae (chaeto usually) and some LR or bioballs type of things" for pods to hide and live in.

I have seen here several threads about converting sump into fuge, so the best way would be for you to search it here and maybe contact people who have done it so that you can see their experiences. Things to consider are the sequence of chambers (skimmer, fuge, bubble eliminator), flow intensity through fuge (should be smaller then normal sump), type of lighting and when to light (in sync with main tank lights or alternating), type and size of baffles (fixed or removeable, glass or acrylic) etc. I am sure that there are plenty of people here that have a lots of experience in this particular area and will be able to give you some practical advices.
 
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