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My 20-Gallon (Tall) Softie/lps Nano-Reef!


Fishgirl2393

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  • 1 month later...

OK. Please do NOT gum up this thread with useless chatter. My 20-gallon reef seems to be doing well. The parameters are as follows.

Ammonia: 0

Nitrite: 0

Nitrate: 15ppm (doing a water change today)

Calcium: 400ppm

dKH: 9.0

Magnesium: 1400

Working on the filtration to improve it. Probably going to add a sump/refugium as soon as I can build an overflow box (or find one). After that, the skimmer and other equipment will be in the sump instead of the tank (will make the tank look much better). Anyway, as soon as I can do so, I'm going to post pictures. Still trying to get rid of a bit of hair algae that I've had on my rocks for months. It is slowly going away.

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Tank is looking good but at the end of the cycle, the nitrates were pretty high (typical). I did a water change and will do another today hopefully. The tank has diatoms right now and I'm about to DIY a media reactor for GFO.

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So, just had my phosphate tested (a liquid test so not so accurate but still) and it showed about 0.15-0.25 phosphate. I need to get this low I understand. Tips?

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I did a large (25%-30%) water change last night with distilled water. What kind of media should I use? I have seen the little pads that you cut to the size you want that supposedly remove phosphates (though I'm not sure how well they work). GFO is always an option though I don't want to buy a pound (the size my LFS has). Any other suggestions? I thought about that liquid stuff that binds the phosphate but that seems drastic.

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jedimasterben

Well, there's pretty much two options, GFO or aluminum oxide (Phosguard). All GFO products should perform relatively the same.

 

The liquid, called lanthanum chloride, will only bind phosphate together (like a flocculent) and will need to be manually removed.

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OK thanks. So do those phosphate removing pads do anything (do they have either phos remover in them?)? Also, I'm still planning a sump for this system and I was wondering if it would be possible to make an overflow box with two specimen containers. Drill a hole in the bottom and fit a bulkhead fitting for the plumbing. Thanks for the info.

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Oh, and I have a question about flow. My powerhead (a Koralia 425) I know is close to that GPH but how much flow (estimate) do most people lose with a power filter with media? I'm trying to decide if I need more flow or not.

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So cut by half or more? I'm just trying to get an idea. I have the two power filters (one is 100GPH rated, the other 80GPH rated) and the Koralia 425 for flow. Thinking of using a Marineland MaxiJet 400 as a sump pump (it can be used that way, correct?) which would add enough flow (I think). How does that sound? And like I said, would it be possible to make an overflow box with two specimen containers? Thanks for the help!

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Fishgirl2393

OK. The tank is still doing good. I'm doing a water change tomorrow (to lower nitrates/phosphates even more) and then am getting a Kenya tree (the one I want is on hold at my LFS) tomorrow or Saturday. Has anyone used the "DeNitrate" stuff by SeaChem? I saw it today and was wondering if it worked pretty well.

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Fishgirl2393

Got a kenya tree today. Will post pics once things are open tomorrow hopefully. Still battling algae but I think I'm getting a hold on it now. If not, I'll try ChemiClean. First priority is getting phosphates low and keeping nitrates low. Maybe then, the algae will go away.

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Fishgirl2393

Quick question. My clownfish (had it several weeks) has come down with ich again (it got a mild case right after I got it but it seemed to go away). It is still eating and swimming around. I would rather not move it to a tank to treat it but I was wondering if any of those "reef safe" treatments work. My LFS has "Ick Attack" and "Kick-Ick" for sure. Do either of those work? I've been feeding garlic (I know it does nothing to get rid of ick but it makes the fish eat more which I figure is good) and just did a water change yesterday (ironically, the spots showed up AFTER the water change and AFTER I added the new Kenya tree). Any advice would be helpful. The reason I don't want to move it is because last time I moved fish for treatment, the fish died (two clownfish being treated with formalin/malachite green medication).

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Fishgirl2393

I've been testing a sump (mostly overflow and return is being tested) on a spare tank and have the overflow figured out. My return SEEMS to be almost right but it is pumping a little bit too much water back too fast. Would a ball valve help? How could I check this to make sure it is right (as in, how long must it be tested to be proven to be the right input/output?)? Thanks in advance! I've designed a sump to incorporate media, a refugium with sand and algae (chaeto, etc) and POSSIBLY my skimmer (the water level would have to be high for the skimmer so I'm not positive on that). I'm also going to DIY a media reactor (I found directions for it) because it seems pretty easy. But anyway, tips for the return pump greatly appreciated!

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Fishgirl2393

OK. Well, I'll be posting pictures soon. I've got to take some because my LFS is holding a reef club meeting tomorrow (and everyone always wants to see pics of everyone's tanks). I am watching the clown closely. It is still very bright and eating. It has been hanging around the back of the aquarium though so I'm watching closely. I think I'll get a ball valve for the return pump (they're cheap anyway) and try it.

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Quick question. My clownfish (had it several weeks) has come down with ich again (it got a mild case right after I got it but it seemed to go away). It is still eating and swimming around. I would rather not move it to a tank to treat it but I was wondering if any of those "reef safe" treatments work. My LFS has "Ick Attack" and "Kick-Ick" for sure. Do either of those work? I've been feeding garlic (I know it does nothing to get rid of ick but it makes the fish eat more which I figure is good) and just did a water change yesterday (ironically, the spots showed up AFTER the water change and AFTER I added the new Kenya tree). Any advice would be helpful. The reason I don't want to move it is because last time I moved fish for treatment, the fish died (two clownfish being treated with formalin/malachite green medication).

 

The only treatments that work are copper or hypo-salinity in a quarantine tank. I tried that Kick-Ich crap in hopes of not having to rip my 80 lbs of rock apart to catch my fish. Long story short.....spent more money on a jug of kick-ich than I ultimately did on my quarantine system, and lost all but two of my fish.

Set up a qt, treat your fish with Cupramine per directions and leave your display without fish for a couple of months. I left mine empty for 12 weeks and just put the fish back in a couple weeks ago.....all doing great.

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Fishgirl2393

OK thanks. I'm headed to the reef club meeting tonight so I'll ask the member's what they've had good luck with (I know some have battled ich in their tanks before) too. The fish really looks pretty good right now but I know the ich could (and probably will) come back until/if the fish develops immunity. The last reef club meeting we had, we discussed ich at it (had an expert on parasites come and talk about the life cycle and what they have seen that works). They said that yes, copper, hyposalinity, and formalin were the best treatments but that they had seen some "promise" with the reef safe treatments. They did say that they worked slower but that they sometimes do work. They work in a parasite lab at a local university so I guess they have run scientific experiments.
But thanks for the advice! I may use copper because I really don't like dumping "reef safe" chemicals into my tank.

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Fishgirl2393

OK. I have a question. My mushrooms (hairy, not the other) are whitish (except one) around the edges, slightly in the middle area too. This is a recent happening. I know that there are a few aiptasia around them (could aiptasia cause that?) and my SG got up kinda high (1.027) and I brought it back down to my normal (1.023.5-1.024) for the tank. This has happened before but I don't know the cause.

Ammonia: 0

Nitrite: 0

Nitrate: 40 but it has been this for a while (yes, I know it is very high but I really doubt that MUSHROOMS would react to that)

PH: 8.1

Please help!

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I read you use distilled water with your wc's...that is bad. Surprised no one has told you this here yet. In theory distiller water is "pure" h2o, but the issue is it will result in a buildup(white crusty)on the magnets of all your impellers inside the pumps. One day they will get stuck. I used it when I first started reef tanks too since I didn't have rodi filter. If that issue hasn't already happened to you, I would discontinue before the equipment starts failing.

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