Live Rock Questions

rachekc

rachekc

Reefing newb
Hello,

I have recently took over our aquarium from my wife. She was frustrated with the algae that kept coming back and finally just gave up. She was going to toss everything and stop, so I told her I would take over the care of the tank so I am having to learn from basically ground zero.

My first 2 of many questions to come is about the live rock. First question is, are they dead? Second question is are there too many rocks in the tank? Seems like it to me. I have already done one major cleaning, I know more are needed. :)

 
Your live rock is not dead, in your pic I see some ciano bacteria growth and hair algae, as well as coralline algae. Coralline is a good algae, hair algae is a sign of high nitrate and phosphate levels, ciano or red slime is usually eliminated with increased flow in the area, siphoning it out of the tank and water changes.

We will need more info about your setup,
What is your water source, what are your water parameters, what are you testing for, is there any livestock, how are you filtering the water, what are you running for lighting?
 
To keep the answers fairly short:
The rocks themselves are not alive the term live rock refers to the micro fauna that is living within and on the rock as well as the binafical bacteria which keep the nitrogen cycle in our tanks in check.

The amount of rock your looking for is around 1-2 pounds per gallon some people put large amounts in their sump which leaves more space inf the Display Tank (DT). The amount you have looks good to me. But if you want to get rid of any you can send it my way ;)
 
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Do you have a test kit to test your water parameters? if not, you should buy one I recommend API test kits to start with. If you don't know what to test for you should test Nitrates, Nitrites, Ammonia and PH. If you have a hydrometer or a refractometer measure the salinity of the tank too, just to make sure is not to low or to high.
Do you have fish, corals, inverts in the tank? I will also take the powerhead out of the tank and clean it up too, you can put in some water with a bit of vinegar and let it run there for a while, then clean it with fresh water and put it back in the tank.

Welcome to the hobby and the forum! :)
 
from what i can it looks like a hob filter witch will work if you keep your filters clean. clean them every 2-3 day replace every 7-10 days. what do you have as far as clean up crew?
 
Thanks guys for your responses. I did a water test yesterday using our API 5 in 1 test strips.

My results (not that good):
KH = 120ppm
NH3 = 0
NO3 = 160ppm
temp = 77.4°F
pH = 7.7
NO2 = 0
S = 1.024sg

Inhabitants is 1 clown fish and 1 blue fish, I don't know what it is but here is a picture of it, and a couple of hermit crabs. Most everything else had died off over the years. These 2 fish are very resilient. Nothing seems to kill them.

Equipment is a Rena Fillstar XP filter which I completely cleaned out yesterday.
Lighting is 2 T5 florescents ( 1 blue and 1 white) they come on @ 2pm and turn off @ 10pm.

Funny thing about that power head. That picture was after I had already taken everything out and cleaned it. I should have taken a before picture, you would have had a good laugh, although the wife probably would not have appreciated it. I am confident that once I start getting life back into the tank she will regain interest in it.

 
ok first thing you nitrates are thru the roof you want them as close to 0 as you can get them i suggest 30% water change every other day for a week and i your ph is on the low side u try and get it up to 8. and once you get the nitrates down under 20 get your self some clean up crew. go to reefcleaners.com the can help you get what you need to help with your algae problem.
 
That is a Blue Sapphire Damselfish very hardy and very mean. The down side of a canister filter like Emmett said you have make sure they are always clean even the hoses and tubes, or they become nitrate factories.

Where are you getting your water from?
 
I wouldn't worry about the PH is a little low but not that low, it could be only a ventilation problem, just make sure to open your windows at let fresh air coming it, that would help to raise the PH. I wouldn't do a 30% water change every other day I think that's too much but that's MHO. I would do only a 20% every two days. What kind of water are you using for your water changes tap water or RODI? Also, take in count that those test strips are not very accurate so you better get a liquid API test kit, they are not too expensive.
 
on top of the water changes i cut back to feeding once every other day and keep the lights off for 3 days and if your tank can get sunlight put towels over your tank to block it
 
with fish in there and nitrates at 160ppm that is toxic for everything in the tank they need to come down fast and 30% water change isnt going to hurt anything it going to help get his tank clean
 
Test strips are notoriously inaccurate at 160 ppm the fish would be huddled in a corner waiting for death. I would say the 160 is a bad color. You should get a liquid test kit they are much more accurate. 30% water change every other day is not going to hurt anything but you can take it slower if you need to (not everyone can get that much rodi water that fast). If you can take a water sample to a local fish store and ask them to test it for you. Blocking the sunlight from your tank will help slow the algae growth, decreasing the feeding will help reduce the nitrate. Also check you food for phosphate if you are using flake foods you are probably adding phosphates to your system. Algae need both nitrates and phosphates to grow.
Don't get suckered into quick fix additives, they don't work well and can cause other problems. Water changes is the best way to get nitrate out of your system.
 
30% water change on a 55gal tank would be about 16 gals of water. as far as the 160 i say on the side of caution and say that is what is and deal with it im not saying that is not a false reading. but if as has slowly goten that high over time the clown and damsel both very hardy and can deal with high levels. but none the less the liquid test kits are better as aquarian said. about 30 bucks can get you ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph good luck and keep us posted
 
We have been using regular tap water but everything I have read in these forums say to use ro/di water, so I will be going to get some tomorrow. Good thing is I can get it from work because we have our own di water generator from Culligan for some of the machines we run. I did notice that the tubes for the filter also have algae on the walls so I will be cleaning them out as well or replacing them.

How about the sand? I have read that the sand is another breeding ground for nitrates. Should I replace it, or clean it?

The clown fish stays hidden in the back corner behind the rocks, maybe he is huddling in the corner waiting for death. :)
 
do you know anyone that has a saltwater tank with a sump you take your fish for a short time while you get your tank back in order? as far as the sand you can take it out and clean it or replace it depending on your budget for your tank but cleaning it will be fine. just put it in a bucket and run a hose in the bucket while stirring it up till the water runs clean but if you are on city water you cant really do it because of the chlorine in the water.
 

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