Inherited a reef tank, need advice.

[zappafoot]

Hi,

About 5 years ago I was working as a mover in the Chicagoland area and was gifted a fully-stocked, 46 gallon reef tank by a family who couldn't take it with them to Georgia. At that point I knew absolutely nothing about maintaining a reef tank whatsoever, on top of being just a couple months away from leaving for college, and the tank ended up primarily in my dad's care for the next several years. He and I did our best to learn about and maintain the tank, perform somewhat regular water changes, deal with issues as they arose, and even paid for a couple professional house calls from nearby pet stores. My dad just didn't have the time and interest back then so, despite our best efforts, the tank deteriorated noticeably and quickly until it was pretty much a fish graveyard. Over the years we've dealt with power failures, contamination, bacteria/algae infestations, you name it. Basically the tank has been completely wiped out then restocked then wiped out again at least a couple times.

That brings us to the present. I'm done with school, back home, and ready to return this tank to its former glory. It seems to be mostly stable right now. We have 2 black & white damselfish, a blue trigger, and a smaller yellow/black/white one whose name I don't know, as well as a couple small plants. The damsels are territorial/mean as heck, the trigger seems indifferent, and the little guy mostly runs for his life. We do 25% water changes every two weeks or so and scrub the glass but that's about it as far as maintenance. Ideally, I'd like to improve the tank's overall appearance, add a sump, and eventually stock it with a variety of corals, fish, and invertebrates.

I have attached pictures of the tank and have many questions. Is the living rock still in good shape? How can I tell? Any recommendations on how to arrange the rock? Do I need more or less? How will I know if the tank is ready for expansion as far as adding coral and/or animals? What are the best kinds to add now and further down the line? What guides/references/reeftank bibles are out there at my disposal? Is it worth it to pay for a professional housecall and consultation?

I know I have a lot a questions, this is the first resource I am consulting and I thank you all in advance for your help. Any comments/questions/recommendations are welcome. I feel like someone gave me a car but didn't tell me how to drive it home.

Pictures:

 

[chbix]

The tank looks like it's in good shape. For corals your gonna need lighting, what do you have now? If you increase your number of fish and coral then your gonna increase your bio load. What other equipment are you running now? A little more info will help the guys (and biff) answer better. I'm just starting out as well there is alot of info here and other places on the Internet.

FYI it's recommended 1-1.5 lbs of live rock per gallon

 

[zappafoot]

More pictures:

 

[Bifferwine]

Hello and welcome! The live rock looks good. It's colorful, and that's a good sign.

I would not bother with paying someone else to do a consult for you. Unlike people at pet stores, no one here is going to be making money off of you, so our advice is unbiased. So many times stores will tell you what they need to tell you to make a sale. And lots of times it's just bad advice. You need to end the cycle of death and restocking once and for all. Getting house calls from pet stores in the past didn't prevent that, apparently. So time to change strategy!

First off, I would get rid of the trigger. They need HUGE tanks. It will not do well long-term in a tank that size. It's just unhealthy for it.

The tank does look to be in good shape. It looks to be a fish only tank, correct? I don't see any corals.

Are you running an undergravel filter? If so, you should remove it. That is for freshwater tanks, and leads to poor water quality in saltwater. You will have a lot of challenges if you continue to use an undergravel filter.

Next, what kind of water do you use? Tap water? If so, switch to RODI water. You can buy it at any grocery store or Walmart, or you can buy an RO unit to make it on your own. Your livestock will thank you. The quality of water you put in the tank can make all the difference.

You say you've had a lot of deaths. Because you have a trigger in the tank, I'm assuming you didn't do much research on the animals you added to the tank, and that's probably one of the reasons why they died. Saltwater fish have different needs, and it's important to know about the animal before you add it. Before you add anything more, do research on it. If you see something you like in a store, don't just buy it and bring it home. Go home and take a day to look it up and find out if your system can support it. If it can, go back the next day and get it. Buying impulsively kills animals and wastes your money.

There are ways to prevent diseases and tank wipe outs. Good water quality is probably #1. Using RODI water (as I said above) is a step in the right direction, but you also need to do regular water changes. It sounds as though you are doing that. 10% to 20% of the tank's volume once a week is good.

You must also learn the stocking limitations of your tank. In a tank that size, you can't keep triggers or tangs, for example. They will get stressed and die. A good rule of thumb is 1 fish per 10 gallons. Never add fish too quickly. If you are adding new fish, leave 3 weeks in between each addition to allow the bacteria in the tank to adjust to the increased bioload. If you add too many fish at once, you can crash the tank.

I think that's about all I've got for now. Your setup doesn't look bad, but it's good that you are coming here to learn more!

Oh one more thing. Do you test your water parameters? You need a thermometer, hydrometer or refractometer (preferably) to test salinity, and the basic test kits that EVERYONE needs are pH, alkalinity, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.

 

[Bifferwine]

Okay I see from the pics you just posted that it doesn't look like you have an undergravel filter after all, so that's good.

If I were you, I would just remove that HOB power filter altogether. They often lead to poor water quality unless they are cleaned often (i.e. weekly) and yours looks really dirty. So just ditch it.

Your lights are PCs, which are not very good, but can allow you to keep low light and medium light corals. How often do you change out the bulbs? That should be done at least once a year. If you want to seriously keep corals, you should consider upgrading lights to a T5 or metal halide system.

That protein skimmer looks to be a Sea Clone (maybe?). It's a pretty crappy brand, sorry. It's about the worst you can get for a skimmer. You could consider upgrading that to something better as well, but that's not urgent. Is the skimmer filled with something? Is that just junk and detritus? If so, it's definitely not doing its job and it needs to be cleaned.

 

[zappafoot]

Couple more:

 

[zappafoot]

Thanks for the advice so far. Upgrading both the lights & skimmer are at the top of my list going forward. I guess I didn't exactly stress that we have made some effort to educate ourselves and are already doing somethings right... we have been using DI water for years, and testing salinity, but not the others listed. I will start with those though.

If I remove the current HOB filter, do I need to replace it with another type? Which is best for my setup? And yes, the skimmer is filthy. This is the state I found it in though, not the state I'd like to see it in. What skimmer would you recommend for this tank?

What I'd like to find out is where to go from here.. If the levels test out ok what should I look to add? And how can I make sure it's progressing nicely as I do continue to add?

 

[Bifferwine]

You don't need to replace the HOB skimmer. Just a protein skimmer and water changes will be more effective than having the HOB skimmer. It's good that you are using RODI water -- that's probably actually saved you a lot of trouble!

The best brand of HOB skimmers out there are Reef Octopus skimmers. You can find them at

Aquarium Supplies, Aquarium Supply, Aquarium Equipment, AquaCave.com offers, discount fish tanks & fish tank supplies for saltwater and freshwater aquarium - AquaCave.com

If you want to stick with the one you've got, give it a good soak in a 50-50 white vinegar/water solution to try and get that crud off of it. If you can take it apart, try to use a stiff bristled brush to break off that stuff inside of it.

If you want to keep nice fish, I'd recommend getting rid of the damsels. I don't know if you've noticed this, but they are very aggressive fish and will usually try to kill any fish that you try to add later on. They're just kinda mean.

You should put together a list of fish that you like or are interested in. Here's a good place to start:

Aquarium Fish: Tropical Freshwater Fish and Saltwater Fish for Home Aquariums

Clowns are usually a staple of reef tanks. Firefish, a sixline wrasse, a flame or coral beauty angel and cardinalfish would all do well in your tank.

 

[Smitty]

Hello and welcome to the site...glad to have you. Biff has you covered. Thus far, your tank is looking good.

 

[bjohanson1234]

Welcome to the site. You are looking good so far. You are actually pretty lucky, Chicago has quite a few decent LFS around.

 

[cageburn]

Welcome to the site!!!!!

 

[yote]

Welcome aboard.
Biffs got you covered.Exceot thats a Corallife Super Skimmer that you have and not a Seaclone.:mrgreen:
Just whatever you do,dont rush it.The only things that happen fast in this hobby are the bad things.

 

[Bifferwine]

Welcome aboard.
Biffs got you covered.Exceot thats a Corallife Super Skimmer that you have and not a Seaclone.:mrgreen:

Yote would know! I think he used to own one!

 

[Northstar24]

Welcome to the site. If you're looking for a good book on the subject of marine systems, go out and pick up a copy of The Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Robert Fenner

That, and listen to everything Biff says ;) and you're tank will get sorted out in no time

 

[reeffreak]

Hi and welcome!

 

[mennazeher04]

welcome to LR...........biff's got ya covered.........tanks looking good.