ion's 29 gallon

[irogers]

I have been lurking here since November and have been slowly collecting all the equipment for my reef tank. And by thursday I will have the last few pieces. (order from Dr.s F&S) So here are the specs and pictures.

 

Equipment:

29 AGA aquarium

Large CPR HOB Aquafuge w/ Via Aqua 820

AquaC Remora skimmer w/ MJ1200

Coralife 150 watt MH

Hydor 150 watt heater (in fuge)

 

Coming from the drs I have a Koralia 1 and Nano, test kit, chemi-pure elite, and caribsea oolite live sand

 

here are some pics:

 

 

 

I like the setup but I have a problem with the power heads for the skimmer and aquafuge. they just look cluttered. I ordered the pre-skimmer for the fuge so I am hoping that will hide that power head. What do you guys think about getting the pre-skimmer for the remora too? would that look weird?

 

 

 

I have a friend who has several tanks full of cured live rock and I am going to pick up about 40lbs from him this weekend after I get the rest of my equipment.

[neuwave]

Can't see pics

[Lalani]

Use the IMG code from photobucket.

[irogers]

thanks lalani

 

pictures are fixed

[irogers]

I received my shipment yesterday so here are a few updated pictures. The sand is almost completely settled, but it is still a little cloudy.

 

 

 

sorry the pictures are so bad, took them with my phone. hopefully my girlfriend will take some with her SLR this weekend when i pick up my LR

[Countryreef]

I notice that you set up a separate skimmer instead of getting an Aquafuge with skimmer in it. I am assuming the Remora will do a better job. Please keep us up on your progress. I am very interested.

[irogers]

I notice that you set up a separate skimmer instead of getting an Aquafuge with skimmer in it. I am assuming the Remora will do a better job. Please keep us up on your progress. I am very interested.

 

yeah i read up on the aquafuge w/ the skimmer and a lot of people i found didn't like it as much as the separate bak pak or different skimmer entirely. they said they had a lot of problems with micro bubbles, which i am too at the moment but that is just because the remora isn't totally broken in yet.

 

added live rock last night and have already found a bunch of hitchhikers. i have one bright, entirely yellow zoo, a bright orange feather duster, some sort of leather i think but i am not positive on that one. i also think i have about three little aptaisia, nothing that a pep shrimp can't handle. overall i am very impressed with the rock, it already has green, pink, purple, and red coraline all over it. here are some pictures, again with my phone (sorry )

 

here is the left side. the rock in the middle has the yellow zoo on it, you can kind of tell it is there. you can also see the thing i think is a leather over on the right. it is like a brownish tan color and has little finger things coming out the top.

 

here is the middle

 

here is the right.

 

FTS:

 

 

also did my first test.

SG 1.023

pH 8.0

Ammonia between .25 and .5 ppm

Nitrite 0 ppm

Nitrate 0 ppm

[irogers]

ok so i haven't updated in a while, but i am having a few issues and need some advice/help. I am having a bit of an algae outbreak. I have had a diatom bloom, about a week and a half ago, and most of it has gone away but there are still some large areas of sand that are covered. should i be concerned about this?I also have been experiencing rather fast GHA growth that my CUC has not been able to get under control. Today i noticed a tiny bit of dark green/black bubble algae (which i removed very carefully with a turkey baster), and a very small patch of sand is starting to turn pinkish red (cyano?). I want to get the jump on these before i am fighting an uphill battle.

 

my CUC currently consists of about 15 blue leg hermits, 5 nerite snails, 5 nassarus snails, and two emerald crabs. I just tested my water parameters and we are all good. pH: 8.2 ammonia: 0 nitrite: 0 nitrate: 0

i am running with 40 lbs of LR in the display with another 4 lbs in the fuge along with some chaeto and chemi-pure elite.

 

Help? Would turning off my lights for a few days help? I need some suggestions here before i end up with a tank full of crap.

[irogers]

nobody has any suggestions?

[Tron]

nobody has any suggestions?

Are you using tap water and how old is this tank? My first guess would be that you have excess nitrates, phosphates and silicates which explains the green hair algae. The diatoms being still present is also a indicator. I wouldn't worry about diatoms just yet. They should eventually pass. Most people will experience a cyano bloom something in the first year of having their tank. The other 2 could be there indefinitely. You need to remove the excess nutrients. If you're tank is completely cycled I would...

 

a.) manually remove as much gha and cyano as possible

b.) up your water changes dramatically with ro/di water

 

When I had my cyano outbreak. I took a month of siphoning the red slime out and 1-2 partial water changes per week to get rid of the cyano.

[irogers]

the tank is about a month old but the rock was curing in buckets in my friends garage for several months. I have been using tap water dosed with amquel plus. apparently it isn't working very well. most of the gha and cyno is concentrated on one rock so i will take that out and scrub it and do a large water change with ro water and see if that makes a difference. thank you for the advice

[Ryan_H]

the tank is about a month old but the rock was curing in buckets in my friends garage for several months. I have been using tap water dosed with amquel plus. apparently it isn't working very well. most of the gha and cyno is concentrated on one rock so i will take that out and scrub it and do a large water change with ro water and see if that makes a difference. thank you for the advice

 

amquel is a dechlorinator, which removes toxic chlorine and chloramine from tapwater making it safe for fish. no chemical is going to remove the phosphates, silicates, and metals that fuel algae from tapwater, however. you need to be using RO/DI water or distilled water for your tank to eliminate the introduction of nutrients.

[Tron]

No problemo.

 

You tank is still pretty young so I think that your tank may still be cycling. Diatoms is a sign of that. I'd definitely pull out the lone rock with hair algae and give it a good scrub down. Make sure you rinse it well outside of the tank. You don't want to spread any spores.

 

Amquel will de-chlorinate your water, but it won't do anything for your phosphate and silicates. Those are a main food source for algae. Hopefully your fuge will kick in soon and start sucking up those nutrients. But in the meantime you could try a phosphate removing product and switch to RO/DI water as a permanent water source.

[irogers]

amquel is a dechlorinator, which removes toxic chlorine and chloramine from tapwater making it safe for fish. no chemical is going to remove the phosphates, silicates, and metals that fuel algae from tapwater, however. you need to be using RO/DI water or distilled water for your tank to eliminate the introduction of nutrients.

 

oh looks like i didn't do enough research. the fish store by my place sells ro/di water so i will go pickup enough after work to do a substantial water change. do you have your own ro/di water filter and if so what kind or what kind would you recommend?

[Tron]

amquel is a dechlorinator, which removes toxic chlorine and chloramine from tapwater making it safe for fish. no chemical is going to remove the phosphates, silicates, and metals that fuel algae from tapwater, however. you need to be using RO/DI water or distilled water for your tank to eliminate the introduction of nutrients.

Actually I know of some people who rave about Brightwell Aquatics Phosphat-E. I haven't used it personally, so who knows.

 

oh looks like i didn't do enough research. the fish store by my place sells ro/di water so i will go pickup enough after work to do a substantial water change. do you have your own ro/di water filter and if so what kind or what kind would you recommend?

That's kind of up to you whether you want to invest in your own unit. It will pay for itself over time and you'll have the convenience of making your water on your own schedule. I personally don't have one and get along just fine. But I also have a small tank, live less than a mile from the LFS that sell ro/di water and they sell it for less than a buck per gallon. That being said, a 4 or 5 stage RO/DI unit with a TDS meter would be a good start.

[irogers]

yeah i am in the same boat, fish store is about ten minutes away and i think it is about 40 cents a gallon. i think i will see if changing the water solves my problem before i go out an purchase a whole unit.

[Ryan_H]

oh looks like i didn't do enough research. the fish store by my place sells ro/di water so i will go pickup enough after work to do a substantial water change. do you have your own ro/di water filter and if so what kind or what kind would you recommend?

 

i only have a 20 gallon reef, get RO/DI water for free from work, and STILL shelled out the $$ for an RO/DI unit. hauling water is a major pain in the butt, and that RO/DI unit was worth every penny. i own a dervich unit, but they only sell to hospitals and fish stores directly. i would recommend either a water general or pure water club RO/DI unit off ebay, as i've heard excellent things about them. the good thing about having a small tank, though, is that your membranes and cartridges will last a lot longer since you won't be using it as often.

[irogers]

thanks for the tip i will check those out

[irogers]

ok so i did a 100% water change with ro/di water and sucked up the few spots of pink sand where i thought the cyano was potentially developing. while the water was out i took out the rocks that had the most GHA algae and scrubbed them clean. i changed the rock scape a little bit when i put them back in but everything looks much cleaner. i also threw in 10 more blue leg hermits to see if that expedites the clean up process. we will see what happens.

[Tron]

ok so i did a 100% water change with ro/di water and sucked up the few spots of pink sand where i thought the cyano was potentially developing. while the water was out i took out the rocks that had the most GHA algae and scrubbed them clean. i changed the rock scape a little bit when i put them back in but everything looks much cleaner. i also threw in 10 more blue leg hermits to see if that expedites the clean up process. we will see what happens.

 

Good luck.

[irogers]

Good luck.

 

thank you Tron you have been very helpful.

 

i will try and get some pictures this weekend of the new rock scape and hopefully algae free rocks

[irogers]

it has been three days since my 100% water change with ro/di water and it made a huge difference. the algae had been spreading like wildfire through the whole tank, but now the growth has slowed enough that the CUC has been able to keep the tank clean. I did another 20% water change and tested and all the parameters again, which were 0, pH was 8.0, sg was 1.024. i felt confident in adding some living organisms. so i added these guys.

this is my true perc i got at about the reef

and these are two mushroom frags i got at aquatouch

this is the tank during the height of the algae bloom

this is the tank today:

[under the sea]

tank looks good. just take your time and enjoy learning.i have a smaller tank and have always got my water from Glacier water vending machines which does RO, micron, carbonx2, UV light for 35 cents/gallon which has worked out fine. i drink the water as well so another 3 gallons a week for the tank is no biggie. with your set up you should be fine with 3 gallons changes weekly or even less. i don't know about AZ water but st. pete FL is pretty nasty, and tampa is even worse. if you have to drink it after being used to the vending water, makes you think whats in the water!!!!!

[irogers]

yeah i have to assume my tap water is not that great. the difference in water clarity and lack of algae after moving to ro/di water is outrageous. i wanted to do a couple big water changes to make sure i got all the tap water out i could, but i will move to smaller weekly water changes as things move on. do you live in st. pete? my dad lives in naples.

[Tron]

Small world. I'm in Largo, FL.