New to Hobby, Inherited tank with new house, boy do I need help.

[Fellow]

Hi I am new to this Hobby, I recently bought a House three months ago that came with a established tank the owners did not want to move. I have been scouring internet boards and my local LFS trying to get up to speed as quickly as possible. It has been a frustrating and expensive learning curve. Below are my tank specs. When I got the tank Nitrates were completely off the charts (180) but there was no huge Algae problem.

As I learned, I made some mistakes along the way, mainly I was over feeding. Now I feed once daily either “High Quality” flakes or ½ a cube of rinsed/thawed mysis. As much as I have been able to bring down Nitrates they are still way too high and my algae problem while isn’t exploding is not going away even with all the critters that eat it.
I have brown flakey algae, green hair algae, red fuzzy aglae….
I would like some advice. Do I need a better skimmer (what HOB model would you recommend)? Do I get rid of the filters, if so will I have enough flow(no sump)? Do I change the substrate to sand (I have no secondary tank to help in this process)? What else can I be doing? I love this hobby and I want to have a healthy happy tank.

Tank Specs:
90 Gallon Tank 48x24x18
Lighting – Brand spanking new 48” Aquatic Life T5 HO (10 hours per day)
(2) 48" T5 HO 54W 420/460 Lamps
(2) 48" T5 HO 54W 10,000K Lamps
(4) 1W Lunar LED's
Skimmer:
Red Sea Prizm HOB
Filters:
One Marine Land Penguin 100 w/Bio Wheel HOB
One Unbranded canister Filter HOB
Power Heads x2
Substrate:
Crushed Coral

Livestock:
- Neon Dotty Back
- Powder Blue Tang
- 2 Clowns
- Lawnmower Blenny
- 3 turbo snails
- 3 Urchins (pincushion, Unidentified A black medium with wide flat spines , Unidentified medium sized one that is brown/yellow small spines
- 6 dwarf blue legged hermits
Coral
- One Colt Coral
- A crap ton of mushrooms
- Frogspawn 4 branches
- Toadstools 5 stalks
- Unidentified White tree coral

Parameters:
- PH – 8.4
- Temp 78.5
- Phosphate 2 ppm
- Nitrate 40 ( was 180 three months ago)
- Specific Gravity 1.026
Maintenance Regime:
- 10g water change once a week with a vacuum to clean substrate. I am using instant ocean salt
- I use tap water that has tested zero for Phosphates and Nitrates. I eventually want to get a RO unit but it is not in the budget just yet.
- Twice weekly I clean the protein skimmer
- Once a month I will replace the filter media/floss on one of the filters. The next month the other one.
- API liquid test kits are being used.

[Ron99]

Try a couple larger water changes to help get the nitrates down. Also, ditch the filter floss or change it out weekly as it will collect detritus and become a nitrate factory. HOB and canister filters are really of little use in a reef tank. You could use the canister filter to hold media bags of carbon etc.

[toxic111]

The phosphates are way too high as well.. consider a phosban reactor. I would also buy or borrow a TDS meter & test your tap water. I would use RO bottled water until you can get your own unit.

I will second getting rid of the HOB filters, or just using them to hold carbon or chemi-pure. Also check the model of skimmer to see if it is rated for your size of tank.

Not know the size of your powerheads, you might want to look at somethin better like a vortech for better flow.

I battled bad hair algae for over a year, and I am finally starting to win. I added a sump, better skimmer, a vortec, better lights. Before this time I was scrubbing rock once a week & doing 2-10gal water changes a week. this on a 30gal tank, it was bad.

Spme pictures of the tank & set-up might help us help you as well.

[mseepman]

The Prizm skimmer is unfortunately a real piece of garbage. I had one and ran it for a long time before realizing this.

You didn't mention how much room you have on the back of your tank...but this will influence what type of HOB skimmer you can use. I've had good luck with my Aquamedic Blue1000 which cost me about $199US. I know you probably don't really want to pour more money into this but a decent skimmer is pretty important. You might also look into the Eshopps skimmers for a low cost alternative.

Ditch the filters unless you can just use them for things like carbon and phosphate re-mover.

Otherwise, just keep the faith and make slow steady changes.

[ponokareefer]

I would look at getting a better skimmer for sure. An aqua c remora pro would be an upgrade over what you have. You could keep the filters, but only have filter floss or carbon running in them, and then make sure you keep the filter floss clean. You could also run Purigen and Chemi-pure in them, both of which I use and work good. As for the substrate, that is a matter of great debate. I use a DSB, while others use crushed coral, and still others use nothing. I would do some more reading on which one you prefer. The crushed coral shouldn't be affecting your system a lot unless it is full of food/poop. The phosphates are an issue, and probably getting into your system from tap water. Look to either use bottled water, which I started with, and then went to a RO unit. Without doing something about the phosphate, you will have some sort of algae issues. There are certain chemicals/media you can use to take it out as well.
Finally, do a couple of large water changes with water that has no phosphates in it. Good luck!

[Fellow]

Thank you all for the replies. Ill take some time to read over these tonight and post a few follow up questions with pictures of my setup to provide some additonal contex.

[Fishward]

Your skimmer seems to be a bit under-rated for the system. http://www.redseafish.com/Prod126.asp the website says its good for up to 40 gallons, which means its actually good for 30. +1 to tossing the canisters and upgrading the skimmer. what size powerheads do you have? some more flow may help with the algae problems..

[don.ald]

i would cut the light period down to 5hrs a day or even less to battle the algae problem.
maybe even a day or two of no light to start with. cloudy day never hurts the coral or fish. just hurts the algae

[wickedfrags]

First, welcome to the board and the hobby.

Based on your post this is the main thing that caught my attention:

I eventually want to get a RO unit but it is not in the budget just yet.


Honestly an RO/DI unit should be your first purchase, no salt water tank should be sold without one (despite what testing your potable water may may reveal), assuming you want to have the tank long term. And no need to buy an expensive one - IME, RO/DI is one of the ONLY purchase I have made where you do not get what you pay for.

If one is not in the budget at this time - seriously evaluate if it makes sense to purchase supporting equipment to improve the system (which costs much more).

Otherwise, keep up the maintenance, looks like the tank should continue to improve based on your plan. Cheers.

[Murminator]

How much live rock do you have? It is ok to have HOB filters for flow but remove the sponges (nitrate factories) they are good to have to hide carbon bags in. The 1st way to get rid of high nitrates is to find out where it is coming from. I would say you bio-load sounds ok feeding, sounds ok, so maybe it's big clogged sponges or the substrate.I see you listed crushed coral as substrate which crushed coral i seen some that is like sand and i seen some that is like big chucks...think it called reef bones. If it is the bigger stuff it can really trap junk in it if it is I would S L O W L Y change it out couple scoop fulls a week. But the 1st thing to find out is where it is coming from water changes help but doesn't totally get rid of it. If you have a stinky basement full of garbage opening the window couple times a month will help it but doesn't get rid of it getting the garbage will get rid of it.

Also check see if some had maybe put a plenum or an undergravel filter I seen some oldschool freshwater guys do that that would put nitrates up

[Flash]

Do you prime in your water changes? try doing a few more 30% water changes, and cutting the lights down as suggested! You could try getting a Nudi or two for help with the algea! take some pics!!!!

Welcome to Canreef!

[chris88]

I have and know of tons of others have run very successful reefs with tap water. It can be done but it depends on the water itself. Yes RO water is better but tap water is not always the problem.

[Fellow]

OK a lot of info to sift through I am sure I will continue to add to this post. Thank you all for responding.

My first piece I will be replacing will be my skimmer as recommended by many of you I am looking at the Aquamedic Blue1000.

@ Wickedfrags - what RO/DI unit would you recommend for say around $300 less is good if you know of an adequate unit.

@Murminator - I am not sure how much rock I have in poundage. I am attaching pics though dont laugh I haven't perfected aquarium photography :) Also the substrate is pebble sized crushed coral. Which I know is part of the problem, when I vacuum certain areas I can rarely see the bottom of the bucket.

@bean - Yes I add prime to my water changes.


I am going to give the filter housings a good rinse to make sure no sludge has been building up.

I would really like to move to a sand substrate I like the look of it way more but like all free advice on the internet the details on how to do it are mixed. Some say do it all at once, others say small amounts at a time.

I will also have to research a phosban reactor any advice concerning bio pellets? Are these something that I can run in one of the filters if at all?

http://i854.photobucket.com/albums/ab104/FellowPhoto/th_P1010328.jpg (http://s854.photobucket.com/albums/ab104/FellowPhoto/?action=view&current=P1010328.jpg)

http://i854.photobucket.com/albums/ab104/FellowPhoto/th_P1010337.jpg (http://s854.photobucket.com/albums/ab104/FellowPhoto/?action=view&current=P1010337.jpg)

[RuGlu6]

Good skimmer here
http://www.reefshops.com/bubble-magus-bm-nac6.html

There has been some discussion about it here:
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=59611&page=2

[bvlester]

Hi I am new to this Hobby, I recently bought a House three months ago that came with a established tank the owners did not want to move. I have been scouring internet boards and my local LFS trying to get up to speed as quickly as possible. It has been a frustrating and expensive learning curve. Below are my tank specs. When I got the tank Nitrates were completely off the charts (180) but there was no huge Algae problem.

As I learned, I made some mistakes along the way, mainly I was over feeding. Now I feed once daily either “High Quality” flakes or ½ a cube of rinsed/thawed mysis. As much as I have been able to bring down Nitrates they are still way too high and my algae problem while isn’t exploding is not going away even with all the critters that eat it.
I have brown flakey algae, green hair algae, red fuzzy aglae….
I would like some advice. Do I need a better skimmer (what HOB model would you recommend)? Do I get rid of the filters, if so will I have enough flow(no sump)? Do I change the substrate to sand (I have no secondary tank to help in this process)? What else can I be doing? I love this hobby and I want to have a healthy happy tank.

Tank Specs:
90 Gallon Tank 48x24x18
Lighting – Brand spanking new 48” Aquatic Life T5 HO (10 hours per day)
(2) 48" T5 HO 54W 420/460 Lamps
(2) 48" T5 HO 54W 10,000K Lamps
(4) 1W Lunar LED's
Skimmer:
Red Sea Prizm HOB
Filters:
One Marine Land Penguin 100 w/Bio Wheel HOB
One Unbranded canister Filter HOB
Power Heads x2
Substrate:
Crushed Coral

Livestock:
- Neon Dotty Back
- Powder Blue Tang
- 2 Clowns
- Lawnmower Blenny
- 3 turbo snails
- 3 Urchins (pincushion, Unidentified A black medium with wide flat spines , Unidentified medium sized one that is brown/yellow small spines
- 6 dwarf blue legged hermits
Coral
- One Colt Coral
- A crap ton of mushrooms
- Frogspawn 4 branches
- Toadstools 5 stalks
- Unidentified White tree coral

Parameters:
- PH – 8.4
- Temp 78.5
- Phosphate 2 ppm
- Nitrate 40 ( was 180 three months ago)
- Specific Gravity 1.026
Maintenance Regime:
- 10g water change once a week with a vacuum to clean substrate. I am using instant ocean salt
- I use tap water that has tested zero for Phosphates and Nitrates. I eventually want to get a RO unit but it is not in the budget just yet.
- Twice weekly I clean the protein skimmer
- Once a month I will replace the filter media/floss on one of the filters. The next month the other one.
- API liquid test kits are being used.

I would get rid of the filter and get a new skimmer, I will endorce Aqua Medics T1000 multi as it has served me very well find my 110 build thread and goto the photobucket pic's there is one showing the skimm I get out of the T1000 multi best skimmer I have seen for a while. the skimm is black and thick I am going to take a pic tonight as I have to clean the skimmer it's only been 3 days and it is pritty much full. get a couple of power heads youcan get an over the top overflow like a CPR by the way I will have one for sale soon. there are othersout there closer to where you are but you can have a sump is my point and you will not regret it.

Bill

[wickedfrags]

Aquasafe makes a cost effective unit that will get the job done. Was about the cheapest out there when I bought mine, and less than $300.

@ Wickedfrags - what RO/DI unit would you recommend for say around $300 less is good if you know of an adequate unit.

[spikehs]

Aquasafe makes a cost effective unit that will get the job done. Was about the cheapest out there when I bought mine, and less than $300.

I second this... I think I got mine for MUCh less than $300, closer to $150? But that was a few years ago now.

[Ron99]

You might also consider the Vertex Puratek. It is a bit more than $300 but comes with some nice extras like a built in pressure booster pump (makes it more efficient) and TDS meter. It also does computer controlled back flushing periodically to help prolong the life of the filters. I've been using mine for nearly a year without problem and still getting 0 TDS out of it.

[ponokareefer]

If when you are vacuuming your substrate, and it is so dirty that you can't see the bottom of the bucket, I'd say that is a major problem. As another reefer pointed out, I would start pulling out a handful a week until it is gone.
Also, are your lights only actinic, or 20K? The picture just seems very blue. If you are only running actinic, you will want to get a few different bulbs. With regards to bulbs, how old are they? Old bulbs can cause algae problems in an aquarium. I will let people who have T5's chime in on how often you should change them out, as I have metal halides. If you don't know the age of some of them, I would switch them out.

[mseepman]

In regards to RO systems. Here is one from a vendor many of us use and it's a lot less than $300.

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/75-gpd-ro-di-5-stage-standard-system.html

As for the Blue1000, I would recommend you look at www.aquacave.com to purchase it.

[Fellow]

Question regarding pulling out a handful a week until its gone. Do i replace a handfula week with sand? or wait until it is all gone then fill with sand? Do I add sand all at one or a handful a week?

The picture is blue because I have the actincs running for an hour more than the other lamps. The lights are brand new. T5HOs
(2) 48" T5 HO 54W 420/460 Lamps
(2) 48" T5 HO 54W 10,000K Lamps
(4) 1W Lunar LED's

If when you are vacuuming your substrate, and it is so dirty that you can't see the bottom of the bucket, I'd say that is a major problem. As another reefer pointed out, I would start pulling out a handful a week until it is gone.
Also, are your lights only actinic, or 20K? The picture just seems very blue. If you are only running actinic, you will want to get a few different bulbs. With regards to bulbs, how old are they? Old bulbs can cause algae problems in an aquarium. I will let people who have T5's chime in on how often you should change them out, as I have metal halides. If you don't know the age of some of them, I would switch them out.

[bvlester]

you can run your actincs longer you do need to mimic the suns effect. I would take the sand out and wate till it is all out and then replace it, but that is me. IF you give the old sand a extreemly good washing in boiling water it will kill any algae, you have to keep rinsing it till the water runs clear I'd do a 1/3 of a bucket at a time let it all dry out realy good you can even use a baking sheet and put it in the oven. just leave the house for an hour. It may get smelly but the sand will then be good to reuse, after the oven treatment rinse again and let dry. This method kills everything in the sand you will not have algae growing from your sand. Once you put sand back in your tank get a conch I have a slider he does a great job. I have seen many conches at other peoples places most I have seen just stay on the top they will stur the top layer. The silver slider will bury himself and move along and stur the whole 3inches of sand that is in there, wow he makes a difference. hermitcrabs and 1 tuxeedo urchin clean the rocks snails clean glass and the rest of the tank.

Bill