first post

[Manny]

hello all, this is my first post on any forum. I have been reading the posts on here and i am very impressed with all of the knowledge that everybody has.
i have had a salt water tank set up now for about a year and have been going very slowly. i don't make a lot of $$ and everthing that you need seems to cost so much $$.

this is what i have so far...

-60 gal. tank (L48"XW18"XD18")
-Prizm protine skimmer (i think it is to small)
-Magnum 350 Pro canister filter with active carbon
-4 X 50/50 20w Coral Life Compac Florecents
-2" live sand
-about 80lbs of assorted live rock (i got most of it off of a friend at work so i'm not sure where it came from)
-1 yellow tang
-1 lawnmower blenny
-1 yellow prawn goby
-2 cleaner shrimp
-2 pepermint shrimp ( got these because i had about 15-20 aptasias that hitched a ride on some rock, they took care of the problem in a couple of weeks. i have not seen any for quite a while now.)
-about 30 blue leg hermits and 4 red scaelet hermits.

I have been trying to deal with a hair algea problem for ever it seems, just when i think it has gone away it comes back. very frustrating. i am pretty sure that i need a larger skimmer. what kind should i get that wont break my bank acount. i only have 23" of vertical space under my stand. i was thinking about buying the Remora (20-75gal) hang on from J&L , to hang on the side of the over flow i plan on building out of a 10gal tank i have. is this a good skimmer and will work for what i have. i plan on having mayby 5-6 more fish, ihave not desided what kind yet.
for the lighting (which i am not so concerded with at this moment as i have no coarls yet) what more do you think i need to succesfully keep LPS corals.

thank you all in advance for your feedback

manuel

[Aquattro]

Many, welcome to the board. Good to have more Vic people on here.

Hair algae is often caused by too many nutrients. This means too much food going in, not enough water changes, and/or too small of a skimmer. It can also be caused by too many fish, and IMO, you have enough fish now. Adding more will cause more algae problems.
First thing I would do is get rid of the cannister filter. You don't need it with all that rock (which is your filter) and you can put the money towards a better skimmer. The remora pro does get good reviews.
Have you thought of adding a sump? It might make selecting a skimmer easier, it would add water volume and give you more things to play with.

As for lighting, you'll at least need VHO tubes for LPS to thrive (or equivalent PCs). You could also go with 175w MH.
Hair algae is sometimes blamed on old bulbs, how old are yours?

[Gools]

Are you using tap water? Phosphates from tap water can also lead to algae problems. RO systems can help big time too with keeping metals and other nutrients from entering your system.

[Manny]

thanks for the welcome Brad.

the bulbs are only a couple of months old. they should last at least 8 months shouldn't they. i think i my have said in my frist post that i am going to put together a 10 gallon sump. is this to small. i don't have a lot of room under my tank, only 23" of vertical space. the 10 gallon, which is just sitting under the tank at the moment, takes up almost half the space i have under there.
i will take out the canister filter today. know of anyone that needs one.

[Manny]

hi gools...

i filter the tap water with a tap water filtering system. i have tasted the tap water that comes straight out and it reads 0ppm for phosphates. i use it mostly for minerals and chlorine.

[Azilla]

WELCOME TO THE BOARD!!!

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by Manny

i have tasted the tap water that comes straight out and it reads 0ppm for phosphates..

That's pretty sensitive taste buds you got there!!

For the sump, 10g is likely going to be too small. You'll want baffles in there to reduce bubbles, and the chamber returning to the tank will evaporate quickly. I'd try to find something else, even if you need to make an acrylic sump that is short enough to work in. I ran a 10g sump on a fish only tank a few years ago, and it just didn't work well.

As for the bulbs, yes, they should last 8 months.

[kari]

Sounded like a good idea so I taste tested my tank aswell. My alk seems a little low.

[Manny]

lol. i ment tested.

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by Manny

lol. i ment tested.

Yes, we know

Just FYI, testing PO4 isn't as easy as you might think. Depending on the form of phosphate, hobbyist test kits may not read it.