newb from DC with questions and pictures!

[monkiboy]

hi guys/gals,

my name is marco. i'm from the washington, dc area.

i've had my 46 gallon bow-front tank for about two years now. it's been a FOWLR setup for a while and then i got an anemone and a clean up crew and things haven't really changed.

i'm a total newb sans the basic knowledge for maintaining the tank and basic components. i'd like to learn more about the various inverts, coral, fishies, and setups (specifically water flow and lighting) and believe strongly in the use of forums. i'm a huge car enthusiast and am really into motorsports and have relied heavily in the past for support from a community online and want to do the same with this hobby i've recently grow more serious about.

when setting up my tank, i unfortunately relied a lot on my local fish store that has a good reputation but i think also didn't have my best interests at heart. i wish i found this place sooner. as such, i don't really know too much about my fish except that they have well suited temperaments to live together, basic diet, stressors, etc. so if i dont call them by their appropriate species or name, please let me know - i'm here to learn! iv'e already learned that i have fish that should be in MUCH bigger tanks, and it makes me consider giving them away to someone with a larger system in place.

the following pictures are all piss poor as they were taken with a bad cell phone. i promise to start using the dslr soon!

i have a small setup, a 46 gallon bow front tank. i'm pretty creative and when i moved into the new house, i wanted a neat mounting solution for my tank. so, i took the front outside radius of the bowfront and matched the exterior wall to it and built a partition between my kitchen and living room that allowed for one to see through the tank for optimal viewing appreciation, haha.

the front:

the back:

my clown that hosts my feeding clip most of the day and all night:

i used to have an anemone that he (bob) hosted:

but after about eight months, the anemone moved for the first time towards the top of the tank and began dying and its innards infecting the water so she had to be removed. it was really quite sad.

i learned and believe it was due to lack of lighting. any thoughts on this? at the moment, i have two t5s (one is 10,000k the other is actinic). it's a very cheap basic setup that came with my tank and by corallife. i think they are only 26 watts each, not sure. so better lighting is my next move, unless you guys have other suggestions, as i'd like to get an anemone for bob (percula clown) and the tank.

my goals are to have a nice tank with more inverts and maybe coral so lighting as i understand it will have to get better.

i'm also concerned with water flow. i have a fluval 360 canister filter and don't know if it is enough for my tank. i definitely see current in most places of the tank but is more better in this sense? i saw people talking about a powerhead for increased circulation?

i also have a UV sterilizer that seemingly helped tremendously earlier on with ich and clarity of the tank. so that aids in some flow, too. but that is it.

the tank has a good bit of live rock, it has live sand, and then some sort of marine shell package was on top of it that is supposedly intended for salt water tanks.

here are some more pics:
my shrimpie guy:

he's molted six times and usually once a month and half or so and continues to grow, is this good/normal?


one of my crabs:

one day i saw this under one of my rocks:

had no idea where it came from but some kind of star fish?

it's huge, though and i don't know how it hid with or in one of the live rock purchases.

about ten inches from one end to another and a center diameter of it's mouth about 1.25". one night she came out and i caught this photo of her. she is 95% under the rocks and has made her borrowing path from one of the tank to the other under the live rocks, pretty impressive and she moves every day from one end to the other.

any other info needed, please ask. i'm here to learn and eager to hear all your suggestions to make the tank better!

thanks!

 

[marcah]

first howdy and welcome to the site..:D
sorry to hear about the nem but I have a feeling you are right that it was probably due to not enough light and flow( which they require both of..the cannister filter I would definately get rid of( becomes a nitrate factory in our tanks and causes nothing but headaches if not cleaned every couple days).. get yourself a nice skimmer, bubble magus and reef octopus make good ones.. as far as flow goes you will want to turn your tank over around 40 times per hour especially if you wanted to start keeping coral and nems.. lighting not sure what length your tank is so cant really reccomend which way to go.. not sure if its 36 inch but going to assume it is( not smart of me).. but I would look into a light like this Aquarium Lighting for Reef Systems: Current Nova Extreme Pro T-5 Fixtures
your star looks like this to me if so its safe
Saltwater Aquarium Inverts for Marine Reef Aquariums: Brittle Sea Star, Fancy Starfish
but I really like the setup in the wall..:D not sure if this answered all but ask more

 

[little_fish]

Hello and Welcome!

I would up your lights, up your flow and get rid of the filter like marcah said.

Nems are some of the hardest animals to keep in this hobby, and its going to be awhile before your tank is ready for one. They need super high lighting conditions and pristine water conditions to thrive.

Other than the clown, i cant see what fish you have, but if you have any tangs they for sure need to be in a larger home. I too have a 46 bow, so dont get discouraged, there are lots of great fish that can fit in our tanks.

 

[sen5241b]

welcome -nice pics

 

[Smitty]

Hello and welcome to the site...glad to have you aboard. Marcah and lil fish has you covered.

 

[JustinsReefTank]

Hello and welcome. x2 Marcah and Lil Fish

 

[fastrd400]

Hello and welcome. Love the in wall look, and the contour you added to match the tank, very slick.

 

[monkiboy]

thank you all for the welcome and information!! i spent about four hours last night reading a bunch of build threads and what would likely seem to most of you basic and common knowledge. i learned i am doing A LOT wrong, unfortunately. this is why i am here to fix those mistakes but here they are, please don't harp on me too badly - i will fix this. just can't believe i've gone two+ years like this, sigh.

1) i have always used tap water and conditioner for tap-offs.
2) i did a 25% water change, once, when dealing with a small bit of ich and never more. i always simply have been adding "conditioned tap water" as the water evaporates.
3) i have a fluval canister style filter which is apparently not a great idea
4) i have a blue-hippo tang that needs a much larger area
5) i need better lighting.
6) i need more flow.
7) because my test results have always been spot on since the first cycle and after adding live rock, i grew lazy i guess, and only test once every two months, if that.

these are the major items i want to address.

do most of you have an RODI unit? if so, which one do you have?

is testing once a week sufficient for a FOWLR setup? how is it that despite my apparent reckless behavior, things have seemingly gone pretty well. perhaps there is room for things to be much better? i have had the same fish for almost three years now, the anemone was the only loss, and i rarely have algae or "purple slime" problems (once every seven months or so).

what should i do with my hippo tang? should i give her to my fish store or perhaps try to find someone local to adopt her out to? she has almost like gashes on her body from what i believe is swimming very rapidly thought the live rock and hitting against the edges. she doesn't do any flashing or rubbing against rock, but will very quickly maze her way through all the rock from end to end and sleeps contorted flat and on her side under a rock every night - weird. i think maybe with more room she would have space to swim and not hurt her body in the rock perhaps.

here are some pics of the tanks inhabitants...a blue hippo tang, a clown, and heidi who is a yellow tailed blue damsel that is too shy to come out, hence the name.

i like the idea of ditching the fluval.

problem is spacing clearance is a hassle with anything on the tank as i only have the sides and bottom of the tank for use given how it is inside a wall and both sides are exposed so i couldn't run an overhang the glass type skimmer. what kind of skimmer could i use? is there one that could go underneath the tank like my fluval is and pump the same way with the return and inlet on the side like it is now? or does that require a sump? that might be possible if i remove the shelf the fluval sits on now under the tank.

the lighting options above you guys provided are a bit large from my space. i was thinking maybe an LED solution. the marineland LED looks about right and is slim and narrow. i do have a 36" wide tank, correct assumption! is this a good election and sufficient wattage?

above the tank there is a flip up panel that provides access to the top of the tank. this is the space i am working with up top left and right sides.

lastly, just tested my water and i have an ATI master test kit:

results were:
water salinity = 1.022 specific gravity
ammonia, nitrate, nitrite = 0ppm
pH = 8.4
temperature = 75°F

is the ATI master tech sufficient? do i need to test for ALK or calcium?

marcah, thanks for figuring out what kind of star fish she is, that's definitely her and i'm glad she's a goodie.

little* that's awesome you have the same tank. do you have a build thread? i'd love to see what fish you have and your setup.

thanks for ALL the help and compliments. getting it built and installed the way the tank is surely wasn't easy but now comes learning to properly care for my awesome lil creatures appropriately to have them THRIVE!

 

[beeguiles]

Hello and welcome. I am so happy to see someone so willing to learn and fix their mistakes! :) I have the marineland reef ready led lighting on my 29 gallon reef tank. It's proved good for me so far, its been about 7 to 8 months I've had it. I also have pretty forgiving corals that don't need very high lighting. I am going to be adding an sps coral (need high lighting coral) and see how it does. Your tank looks great. I love how its set up. I think everyone has you covered. Skimmer, powerheads, and lighting. I do weekly water changes of about 15%. This keeps all the parameters in check and everyone is happy. I would deff find the tang a new home. If you know anyone with a bigger tank that's great or you could bring it to your lfs. Keep up the determination and you will have a wonderful reef tank!

 

[BL1]

Welcome to the site!

No one here will give you a hard time, you're here asking questions and learning more. There's nothing wrong with that, no one on this site knows everything and doesn't make mistakes.

Most of the people here either use RO/DI units or distilled water. The Filter Guys, Filter Direct, and Bulk Reef Supply all have nice units.
As for testing, that's totally up to you. When you get to know your tank you'll be able to test less often or when you think something is wrong. I only test my tank once a month (I tested once a week when I first started out though).
Is your test kit 2 years old? They do go bad after a while, there's a chance that it went bad and why you're tests aren't showing anything.
If you do want to get rid of the hippo, you could see if your LFS would give you a credit for him or you could try selling him on craigslist or local reef forum.

 

[little_fish]

Im so glad to see you are here to learn and improve your tank! It makes my heart so happy!

I would see if you can find someone to take your hippo that you know will have a tank big enough for her whole life.

Also, if you want to stay FOWLR using tap water really isnt a problem, its when you have more sensitive inverts, like nems or corals, that using tap water can become a problem. You have pretty low lighting so im sure that is helping with keeping the algae and cyano under control as well. If you want to keep with the FOWLR then you can continue to use tap, but if you want to switch to a reef it might take a long time to get all the stuff that the tap water leaves behind out. I would start doing water changes with RO/DI water right away and probably run some nitrate/phosphate removing media in your filter for about 6 months to try and pick up what has leached into your rocks. Then i would get new lights. Getting the new lights will probably cause a massive algae outbreak because they will finally have enough light to use up the nutrients left behind by the lack of water changes and tap water. So give yourself plenty of time to remove those nutrients and hopefully avoid a big head ache. Plus then you have plenty of time to research where you want your tank to go and get all the equipment together.

Like BL1 said, those are some great places to get an RO/DI filter. You can also see if your lfs sells it for cheap.

And here is my build thread:https://www.livingreefs.com/little-fishs-46-a-t28553.html
It doesnt get good until page 8, took me awhile to figure out what i really wanted from my tank. And now I have the tank I always dream of :)

 

[monkiboy]

Hello and welcome. I am so happy to see someone so willing to learn and fix their mistakes! :) I have the marineland reef ready led lighting on my 29 gallon reef tank. It's proved good for me so far, its been about 7 to 8 months I've had it. I also have pretty forgiving corals that don't need very high lighting. I am going to be adding an sps coral (need high lighting coral) and see how it does. Your tank looks great. I love how its set up. I think everyone has you covered. Skimmer, powerheads, and lighting. I do weekly water changes of about 15%. This keeps all the parameters in check and everyone is happy. I would deff find the tang a new home. If you know anyone with a bigger tank that's great or you could bring it to your lfs. Keep up the determination and you will have a wonderful reef tank!

Welcome to the site!

No one here will give you a hard time, you're here asking questions and learning more. There's nothing wrong with that, no one on this site knows everything and doesn't make mistakes.

Most of the people here either use RO/DI units or distilled water. The Filter Guys, Filter Direct, and Bulk Reef Supply all have nice units.
As for testing, that's totally up to you. When you get to know your tank you'll be able to test less often or when you think something is wrong. I only test my tank once a month (I tested once a week when I first started out though).
Is your test kit 2 years old? They do go bad after a while, there's a chance that it went bad and why you're tests aren't showing anything.
If you do want to get rid of the hippo, you could see if your LFS would give you a credit for him or you could try selling him on craigslist or local reef forum.

Im so glad to see you are here to learn and improve your tank! It makes my heart so happy!

I would see if you can find someone to take your hippo that you know will have a tank big enough for her whole life.

Also, if you want to stay FOWLR using tap water really isnt a problem, its when you have more sensitive inverts, like nems or corals, that using tap water can become a problem. You have pretty low lighting so im sure that is helping with keeping the algae and cyano under control as well. If you want to keep with the FOWLR then you can continue to use tap, but if you want to switch to a reef it might take a long time to get all the stuff that the tap water leaves behind out. I would start doing water changes with RO/DI water right away and probably run some nitrate/phosphate removing media in your filter for about 6 months to try and pick up what has leached into your rocks. Then i would get new lights. Getting the new lights will probably cause a massive algae outbreak because they will finally have enough light to use up the nutrients left behind by the lack of water changes and tap water. So give yourself plenty of time to remove those nutrients and hopefully avoid a big head ache. Plus then you have plenty of time to research where you want your tank to go and get all the equipment together.

Like BL1 said, those are some great places to get an RO/DI filter. You can also see if your lfs sells it for cheap.

And here is my build thread:https://www.livingreefs.com/little-fishs-46-a-t28553.html
It doesnt get good until page 8, took me awhile to figure out what i really wanted from my tank. And now I have the tank I always dream of :)

thank you for the replies and yes i'm very eager to step out of my so newb'ish ways. a little about me, i'm incredibly meticulous, research endlessly once i'm passionate about something (like this now), must do things right the first time with the best possible solution and product, and i look to inspire through example.

i'm glad the LED marineland solution has worked out so far for you and others bee*! that is likely the way i'll go as it is a slim form factor and lots of light.

in regards to the skimmer, i went to the LFS (local fish store, i'm guessing?) and looked at what is available. per my photos above, i dont have the real estate on the sides of my tank for what seemed like ever the least wide skimmer at the store. i dont yet understand fully how they work other than creating bubbles that attach themselves to gunk i don't want. is there no way to have a skimmer that works similarly to my fluval with a small form factor siphon on one side and an outlet on the other? with the skimmer below or must it be in a sump or hanging?

now, powerheads, i'm reading a lot of info about different brands about it seems there's no middle ground. the people that know what they are doing, and don't care about wavemaker compatibility, just want two power heads (medium size) to move about 35x my 46gallon tank, that use a magnet base, what brand or model do you suggest?

lighting, got that figured out.

water supply, will be ordering ro/di unit from filter guys, thanks!

if there is no skimmer solution for my setup, what can i do to maximize the utility and effectiveness of my fluval 305? i currently only have bio cubes/blocks in two trays with some phosguard and charcoal in the last tray. do i need to clean it? swap charcoal? i was told to leave the bio cubes in there for the life of it, is this proper?

my test kit is not 2 years old. i buy a replacement about every six months or when i see it on sale. this one is 2 months old and provided the results i posted above.

are there digital meters or ways to take measurements that are perhaps more precise and faster to use, perhaps that log the data for you for download and reference with date, sounds like a useful instrument if one does exist?

i didn't think about getting out all the crud that is in the rocks from the conditioned tap water and how that would take time, thanks! as soon as the ro/di unit arrives, i will begin the changes like you indicated.

is there any specific nitrate/phosphate removing media that i should run with my fluval or is the same 'ish the same 'ish and you just drop it in one of the spaces available in the fluval tray?

i really like your build thread little* fish. i have a seahorse tank in my future, for sure, as they seem so fantasy-like like a unicorn and so pull of personality, haha.

my LFS does not issue credit for the tang and i dont know if they would have any luck selling her because as i mentioned she has battle scars from swimming so fast through my rock structure and no one would really pay for her, unfortunately. i would really like to find someone local on these forums that could care for her. i will look around and see what i can do to provide a better home for her permanently. her name is cassandra, in case i reference her in the future.

thanks again for the help and i look forward to the replies!

i'll be posting a build thread soon but figure i might as well get these high-level questions answered here while i have the eyes and then move into my build thread with solid direction thanks for all of you!

thank you, thank you, thank you!

 

[little_fish]

The difference between a skimmer and filter is that the skimmer totally remove the particles from your water. With the filter the little particles are trapped in the filter media, but because the water continues to flow through the media they can break down into smaller particles and be washed right back out into your tank. So you need to change the media pretty frequently to deal with that.

Also, i would never get a skimmer from your LFS. they only sell what they can get the best markup on, and those are cheap crappy skimmers you end up going home with after paying waaay more than they are worth. I would find something online, and then check back with us about the brand, because there are lots of crappy skimmer out there.

For powerheads i have really like the koralia brand, but the maxijets are cheap and work well too. You want the volume of tank turned over about 40x per hour. Its also better to have a few smaller power heads so you can get more even flow around the tank. Dead spots tend to grow algae because things are allowed to settle out there.

There are some automated testers out there but they are well out of my budget so i really dont know much about them. I also dont run a canister filter so I cant really tell you more about what you could put in it in the mean time to help you out.

And i loved my seahorses, but they are not a beginner fish. I would be sure you can commit and totally understand their needs before you go down that route. In hindsight, i never should have started with them. But i do have tank im waiting to use as seahorse tank as soon as I can.

 

[beeguiles]

I also like the koralia powerheads. They aren't too big and bulky looking and they have the magnet. Mine are silent, don't make a sound. I have two koralia 425's in my tank but you'll prlly want something a little more than that since your tank is bigger. Maybe getting a few of them and putting them in various spots? I agree with little fish about the skimmer. I ended up getting one from my lfs and they only had two to choose from. Mine isn't bad but I could have gotten a way better one online. So check em put online and buy a qaulity one. Looking forward to seeing your build thread.

 

[monkiboy]

thank you for the information on the powerheads and the koralia brand. that is the way i will go in attempt to cycle my system 40x per hour.

i'll make sure to look online and here for advice on a decent skimmer.

i guess the only question i have left is in reference to my options as posted above...

"in regards to the skimmer, i went to look at what is available. per my photos above, i dont have the real estate on the sides of my tank for what seemed like ever the least wide skimmer at the store.

is there no way to have a skimmer that works similarly to my fluval with a small form factor siphon on one side and an outlet on the other? with the skimmer below or must it be in a sump or hanging?"

thanks for any final tips on a skimmer for my space as photographed above.

if i can't run a skimmer, is it so bad to run the fluval with hopes of having coral and an anemone once i get the stability in the tank i need?

thanks!

 

[beeguiles]

Hmmm...no room to hang a skimmer on the back and no sump? Well i guess that makes it hard for you to use a skimmer. Your tank isn't huge, its a 47g. So maybe you can get away with doing weekly water changes and having lots of live rock for great biological filtration. Maybe this would work and you wouldn't need a skimmer? That's what I think but I hope someone else chimes in bc I'm not exactally sure if that would be enough. You could run the filter but you have to be on top of it all the time making sure its clean...and crap builds up in there quick...hmm idk maybe someone else will help with this situation.

 

[monkiboy]

so the space i have available is on the sides (my tank is in wall - both front and rear are exposed) and even the sides, i am limited to about seven inches length and four of five inches of depth of whatever is hanging there.

all the skimmers i've been seeing for my tank of ~50g are too large to fit this area.

i believe it was you in another post that enlightened me to the use of HOB overflows that could be used to bring water to a small sump under my tank where i have my fluval (photos above). it wouldn't be the largest sump, and would be custom built to fit the space under there, but definitely sufficient for a skimmer, and other things (still reading and researching sumps/top offs/and whatever else is in a sump).

so i guess what are some GREAT HOB overflow brands? people seem to really harp of CPR, so that's out the window and lifereef seems popular, is this a solid choice? since they only need to be about 3-4x the flow of the tank size, it will be small and likely fit my space requirements!

 

[BL1]

IMO lifereef is the best option out there for HOB overflows. I'm using the CPR one and the only reason I'm using it is because I picked it up for $25.

 

[beeguiles]

Yea if you can put a little sump under there for the skimmer that would work great for ya. It doesn't have to be huge just to fit your skimmer in and maybe a refugium. I was just talking about a HOB skimmer. The whole thing sits on the back or side of the tank but you should go the sump route so you can get one rated for your tank.

 

[monkiboy]

great. i'll go with the lifereef HOB overflow. it looks like they offer a "slim" variety of their regular (single) setup, as well which is great.

this one flows up to 900 gph. i think i read that for an HOB overflow all that is required is 3-4x the volume of the tank. so this seems a bit too much.

they have a "nano" see here: prefilter box, siphon box, overflow box, siphon overflow, Eurobrace, Euro-brace, Euro-tank, middle of page which is rated up to 400gph. this sounds more suitable for my application, correct?

the nice thing is that the nano is even smaller and will likely fit much better on the small area i have available on the side of my tank.

lastly, what are some excellent skimmer choices for sump use, for a 47g tank such as mine? and what are some that are perhaps of a smaller form factor for sump use, since i won't have a ton of room for my sump underneath my tank?

thanks!