Where do I go from here?

Nu2Reefs

Reefing newb
Hi two all and thanks in advance for all the help.
Ive been reading here for about a week.

Here's what I have:
2 30" Coralife PC hoods with 10,000k and blue lights
overflw box w/v tube?
sump with bio balls and Eheim pump
(No idea on specs sump is about 24x8x14 two compartments)
1 802 power head
2 smaller power head ( no numbers on them eather)
Aquaruim Systems skimmer (Seaclone?) with Maxi Jet 1200

Tomato Clown
Picasso Trigger
Lunar Wrasse
Bursa Trigger
Dragon Wrasse (juvi)
Lawnmower blenny
Clown Trigger
Sixline Wrasse
Blue leg Hermit (started with 6 saw at least 5 last week)
Nerite snales ( Had 30 but the triggers think they're dessert, maybe 5-6)

So... here come the questions please dont quit on me now!

Is my tank over loaded?

Do I have enought flow/ turn over rate?

With my current livestock can I do anything to get a functioning sand bed?
I cant see any little critters day or night. ( no tunnels in the sand)
Nitrates and Phosphates were off the charts when I started.
Still in the process of bringing those down
currently 20-30 & .4-.6

I put in a nitrate sponge 2 days ago this seemed to help a lot but I removed it this AM in case it was exhausted ( packageing said 2 days to 1 week)
can this be regenerated like adsorption resin or do I just throw it out and repurchase?

Is the resin the same thing?

Oh! There is a shallow sand bottom 1-3" and Live Rock
Im not sure how much by Lb it spans the tank about 51"x12" high with lots of caves and holes.

Ok I think thats enought to put everyone into a comma so I stop here for now
Sorry its so long
 
One more quick question.

My Nitrates test between 10 and 20 with Aquarium systems fasTest and are reading 80+ on my test strip. Can strips really be that far off? Which one do I trust? OK thats 2 but...

Nearest lfs is an hour away (not so local)
 
Test kits (especially nitrate, in my experience) can be tempermental. And the strips are not always accurate. How long has your tank been running, how long before you added all the animals, how long since you added the animals?
 
Tanks been running with the sand for about two years, before that it had a crushed coral bottem. Most of the fish have been in it since then. Heput all the fish and live rock in a 100 gallon cooler when he switched the bottem. We were moving the tank so it went completely empty but I think he saved some of the CC to mix with the sand. Tank has been running for??? 10+years but very poorly maintained. Clown fish 8+ years, Blenny 1yr. Clown Trigger and six line b-day present for my daughter in Sept. Everything else somewhere in between.
 
With the fish you have I would recommend upgrading your skimmer and add more water movement to keep things is suspension. you might also try blowing things around with a small pump to create like a storm to get some of the detritus back into suspension. Boy, where to start. 1st I would recommend a by weekly if not weekly water change of at least 20 percent, good chaotic water movement inside the tank, dont blow off the fishes scales but good currents through out the tank, test for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, as a minimum and if algae problems for phosphates, silica. Test your ph and alkalinity. post all here and Im sure some will weigh in to help. need more information. you probably may be overloaded depending on your equipment and feeding regiment, but, try the water changes, better circulation, and better protein skimming to start and see where you are at then. welcome to the site.
 
The Sea Clone is probably one of the worst quality skimmers out there (sorry). If you want a good one, I would look into the Aqua C Remora. I used to have a Sea Clone but recently upgraded to the Remora, from what everyone said it was one of the best hang-on back skimmers available, and wasn't too expensive compared to other stuff out there. You will be amazed by how much more gunk you get out using the Remora than the Sea Clone.
 
Ok I kind of suspected that. What about the sand bed?
Is there any hope or are the triggers and wrasses just going to eat anything I put in there?
Water movement? more powerheads or something else?
Budget is a big issue as it is Christmas time

Nitrite-0
Am-0
Phosphates-.4-.6
Nitrates ??( see above) 20? or 80?
Ca- 420
Alk 3.0
I dont have a ph test other than the strip seem to be between 7.8-8.0
Have done about 40 gal water change over the past 2 weeks
Scrubbed all rock in fresh salt water
Disconnected the sump and flushed about 10 or15 gal through to try and remove sediment in the bottem

I still have quite a bit of sediment settling on the rocks

How much is too much for that many fish?

I usually give them 1 frozen cube and about the same amount of frozen brine shrimp per day (alternate formula1, 2, and trigger formula.
 
Blow around weekly if you still have detritus accumilation on rocks ect. keep it up until you do not get much then bi weekly and then monthly. eventually this will help with the nitrates. I have no recommendations for you on substrait cleaners/stirrers that would be safe with the triggers. good luck.
 
Last edited:
Thanks everyone!
Water changes seem to be helping
Nitrates and Phosphates coming down
Nitrates at 20
Phosphates at .4
With no life in the sand (so to speak) should I siphone it when I do waterchanges or leave it alone?
It was mentioned earlier to replace my seaclone and add water flow. If I can only do one at at time, which is more critical the new skimmer or more water flow? Thanks again the tankalready looks better.
 
if only one at a time I would recommend skimmer, but, the water movement is just as important. so either way you will not fully benefit until both are completed, but, skimmer 1st.
 
Ok skimmer first! Thanks!! I have some old powerheads from an old tank out in the garage. Will these help for flow or do I need something else. For asthetics I would like to have as few thing hanging around as possible but if this will help for a short term solution where is thebest place to put them? I currently have one big one on the left rear corner, two smaller ones on the rr and one small one down low in the center behind the rocks. Sorry I cant give you specs the only one with any numbers is the bigger one its an 802?
 
Powerheads are perfect for increasing flow. You can put them any number of places, depending on where you want to increase flow. In my 55-gallon, I have a powerhead in each back corner at a 45 degree angle. I think that's how most people do it. If these powerheads that you already have on hand do a good job, you probably wouldn't have to buy anything else for flow (unless you get sick of all the equipment in the tank).
 
Quick question.
I tested the water from the fish store ( I know I should have been doing this all along but...)
anyway, It has no nitrates no phosphates but it tested .25 for Nitrites. If I understand correctly thats just going to turn into more nitrates in my tank so do I use the water or scrap.
My Tank currently
Nitrates 80+
Phosphates-.6
Nitrites- 0
Amonia-0
 
well I personally would not add any water to my system that showed ammonia or nitrites. with your nitrates at 80+ I would recommend a nitrate sponge and a new source for your water. maybe an ro system is needed.
 
It's a type of filter media, you can use it instead of activated carbon in canister filters, power filters, etc. You can also put it in a bag and can put the bag anywhere in the tank where water flows through it (the section where the water flows out of the Remora is where I put stuff like that). There are several brands, Seachem Denitrate, Kent Marine Nitrate Sponge, etc. They supposedly suck up nitrates, I've been using the two brands I mentioned above for about 4 months now, I've found they don't decrease my nitrates, just keep them stable.
 
The nitrate filter pads will only obsorb a certain amount of nitrate and if it is developed faster than the pads can extract it the nitrates will not come down, so you really need to determine what the cause of nitrate is and deal with that 1st, nitrate pads are normally used for emergencies, until you get a skimmer on that system your nitrates will most likely not go down all the way. skimmer next, then see where you are in couple weeks. keep up the water changes though and see if the nitrates continue to decrease. keep us posted on your progress. hope this helps.
 
Did another water change two days ago. 20 gallons
Nitrates 40-50
Phosphates .4-.5
Its hard to tell which but its comming down slowly
Should I be doing bigger changes?
One guy at the fish store recommended 50% to bring them down faster
How fast is too fast?
 
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