Coral help!

[adittam]

If your lights are not programmable, you can get a simple on/off timer from Target or Home Depot to plug them into and set it so they are on for 12 hours every day.

Here’s a link to all of the water tests you would need:

Salifert Master Reef Testing Combo Kit - Saltwater Aquariums Amazon product ASIN B00RW64LMI
Others could speak more intelligently about which tests are most important if you don’t want to spend this much right now.

 

[firmefatboy799]

im no expert but heres some of what i know, and dont take this wrong just typing fast and giving out my $0.02 haha first i would remove all that freshwater tank decor as it has plastics and other materials that the salt water will break down and leech chemicals into the water, second from reading the posts your tank is no where near ready for probably fish and especially coral, the tank might or might not have cycled already which is a big thing, salt water tanks are a giant tank that requires chemistry, those rounded river rocks offer little to no biological help, the porous rock is what bacteria and pods and all the chemistry stuff need to have a successful salt water tank, you need a lot more of actual live rock so that bacteria and stuff can grow and live in them the bacteria act as a cleaning agent and balancing agent in the waters chemistry, as for the sand if it was live sand and came in a bag that was wet and has bacteria in it already then you are ok but if it was dry sand you need to let it cycle and hopefully the fish will survive, to start a successful tank you need to start with water and establish where you want to be with temperature and salinity, then add either live sand and live rock which are already cultured and have bacteria (bacteria is like 90% a good thing in reef talk) or start with dry sand and dry rock which takes longer, so if live sand and live rock you will still have to let the tank sit for about a week or up too 2 months give or take depending on how it cycles which means you have cultured enough bacteria to start the cycles for ammonia which is needed and that means you will have an ammonia spike then levels out same with nitrates and nitrites that cycle has to establish and even out before i would add fish, also while doing this you can add bacteria starters or ghost feed which is put some fish food in the empty tank so it can break down and create the stuff needed to start the bacteria process, some even add a chromie fish cause they can stand the burn of a cycle and they poop and add to the water table to start a cycle, once you fully cycle the tank you add fish and wait for the diatom bloom ( brown sand and stuff) then you will usually go through a GHA ( green hair algae) bloom then once all that is done and you see coraline start growing on rocks or surface thats usually when it is kind of safe to start adding corals and each family of corals requires different parameters' and additives depending on what it is which is called dosing, which involves trace chemicals being added and monitored to maintain a healthy amount of stuff that the corals require and then you need corals (food) amino acids etc to consumes along with other phytoplankton etc etc, as far as the water you get from the ocean to be healthy and have decent minerals and elements you would have to get it away from the shore line as most of the shore water needs to be skimmed heavily for bad stuff in the water so its better to either make your own or buy it, and for toping off as it evaporates you need RODI water to mix back in and keep the salinity level even so you dont have swings which effect fish and corals, and as far as the fish as stated above the trigger is a non coral type of fish they will eat and destroy corals along with the puffer usually also, saltwater isnt something to just jump into for a weekend project and be done, but you got the tank and its full so you have a start hahaha start googling and youtubing how to run a salt water tank and take notes and start buying stuff otherwise you risk loosing the fish, the corals more than likely arent gonna make it, i didnt really look to well at the pictures as i write this so i cant see what are hearty type of corals but if your tank isnt cycled i doubt they will make it through that anyway, just being honest sorry but once you get started this hobby is awesome and can be super rewarding to come home and see a thriving tank look amazing, good luck

 

[laurinamarie]

im no expert but heres some of what i know, and dont take this wrong just typing fast and giving out my $0.02 haha first i would remove all that freshwater tank decor as it has plastics and other materials that the salt water will break down and leech chemicals into the water, second from reading the posts your tank is no where near ready for probably fish and especially coral, the tank might or might not have cycled already which is a big thing, salt water tanks are a giant tank that requires chemistry, those rounded river rocks offer little to no biological help, the porous rock is what bacteria and pods and all the chemistry stuff need to have a successful salt water tank, you need a lot more of actual live rock so that bacteria and stuff can grow and live in them the bacteria act as a cleaning agent and balancing agent in the waters chemistry, as for the sand if it was live sand and came in a bag that was wet and has bacteria in it already then you are ok but if it was dry sand you need to let it cycle and hopefully the fish will survive, to start a successful tank you need to start with water and establish where you want to be with temperature and salinity, then add either live sand and live rock which are already cultured and have bacteria (bacteria is like 90% a good thing in reef talk) or start with dry sand and dry rock which takes longer, so if live sand and live rock you will still have to let the tank sit for about a week or up too 2 months give or take depending on how it cycles which means you have cultured enough bacteria to start the cycles for ammonia which is needed and that means you will have an ammonia spike then levels out same with nitrates and nitrites that cycle has to establish and even out before i would add fish, also while doing this you can add bacteria starters or ghost feed which is put some fish food in the empty tank so it can break down and create the stuff needed to start the bacteria process, some even add a chromie fish cause they can stand the burn of a cycle and they poop and add to the water table to start a cycle, once you fully cycle the tank you add fish and wait for the diatom bloom ( brown sand and stuff) then you will usually go through a GHA ( green hair algae) bloom then once all that is done and you see coraline start growing on rocks or surface thats usually when it is kind of safe to start adding corals and each family of corals requires different parameters' and additives depending on what it is which is called dosing, which involves trace chemicals being added and monitored to maintain a healthy amount of stuff that the corals require and then you need corals (food) amino acids etc to consumes along with other phytoplankton etc etc, as far as the water you get from the ocean to be healthy and have decent minerals and elements you would have to get it away from the shore line as most of the shore water needs to be skimmed heavily for bad stuff in the water so its better to either make your own or buy it, and for toping off as it evaporates you need RODI water to mix back in and keep the salinity level even so you dont have swings which effect fish and corals, and as far as the fish as stated above the trigger is a non coral type of fish they will eat and destroy corals along with the puffer usually also, saltwater isnt something to just jump into for a weekend project and be done, but you got the tank and its full so you have a start hahaha start googling and youtubing how to run a salt water tank and take notes and start buying stuff otherwise you risk loosing the fish, the corals more than likely arent gonna make it, i didnt really look to well at the pictures as i write this so i cant see what are hearty type of corals but if your tank isnt cycled i doubt they will make it through that anyway, just being honest sorry but once you get started this hobby is awesome and can be super rewarding to come home and see a thriving tank look amazing, good luck

Thank you so much! I really appreciate all your advice. This is really helpful!

 

[JPM San Diego]

Hello. I too am in San Diego. What part of town are you in? If you live in the southern end of the county I would be very wary of using ocean water. Too close to Tijuana and pollution. If you live any where near La Jolla you should see if Scripps still offers sea water to aquarist. For many years I would drive to Scripps Pier. They had a tap for filtered and unfiltered sea water that aquarist could use to fill up their containers. I have not used their service for a long time as I now get my seawater from my consultant. If it's a long drive try to find out in advance if they still offer filtered sea water.
There is a local parasite (gill flukes) that can survive in warm water and affect your fish. I used to leave my plastic containers sitting in the sun for a day to heat them up and cook the little buggers. Never had any problem. Once the water cooled I would do my water change.
If you have financial resources consider having a consultant, at least for a short time to get you off on the right foot. I was having a terrible time for about 2 years and then hired David at Reliant Aquarium Design to be my consultant. Now my tank is doing too good and I need to up grade. :)
Short of that consider joining SDReefs.com another forum just for San Diego. Try to locate fellow reefers in your neighborhood and see if one could be your mentor.
Also, nothing good happens quickly in a reef tank. Go slow. Don't make a lot of changes. Slow and steady wins the race. Being impatient equals disaster and your tank ending up on Craigslist.
Finally, in the past I would have said, read, read, read ... to learn more. Now I say YouTube, YouTube, YouTube ...
Start watching how to videos. I like the educational videos offer by Bulk Reef Supply, but there are many other sources as well.
Best Fishes, Joe

 

[laurinamarie]

Hello. I too am in San Diego. What part of town are you in? If you live in the southern end of the county I would be very wary of using ocean water. Too close to Tijuana and pollution. If you live any where near La Jolla you should see if Scripps still offers sea water to aquarist. For many years I would drive to Scripps Pier. They had a tap for filtered and unfiltered sea water that aquarist could use to fill up their containers. I have not used their service for a long time as I now get my seawater from my consultant. If it's a long drive try to find out in advance if they still offer filtered sea water.
There is a local parasite (gill flukes) that can survive in warm water and affect your fish. I used to leave my plastic containers sitting in the sun for a day to heat them up and cook the little buggers. Never had any problem. Once the water cooled I would do my water change.
If you have financial resources consider having a consultant, at least for a short time to get you off on the right foot. I was having a terrible time for about 2 years and then hired David at Reliant Aquarium Design to be my consultant. Now my tank is doing too good and I need to up grade. :)
Short of that consider joining SDReefs.com another forum just for San Diego. Try to locate fellow reefers in your neighborhood and see if one could be your mentor.
Also, nothing good happens quickly in a reef tank. Go slow. Don't make a lot of changes. Slow and steady wins the race. Being impatient equals disaster and your tank ending up on Craigslist.
Finally, in the past I would have said, read, read, read ... to learn more. Now I say YouTube, YouTube, YouTube ...
Start watching how to videos. I like the educational videos offer by Bulk Reef Supply, but there are many other sources as well.
Best Fishes, Joe

Omg, your tank is amazing! Ya we're using the water from Scripps pier. There's a hose over there that someone told us to use so that's where we go. That whole part my husband actually figured out so I didn't even know there was a filtered and unfiltered one. It looked to me like there was only one hose hookup tho so idk. Your advice is very encouraging tho, thank you!

 

[JPM San Diego]

Starting with the basics: I agree ocean water is natural. However, it will change in your aquarium.
The most basic change is water will evaporate and the salinity (saltiness) will increase. You need to add distilled (or RODI) water to make up the difference. Unless you have a way of making RODI water just used distilled for now. The best way to control salinity is to use a device that actually measures it. Short of that, put a small piece of tape on the edge of your tank just at the level of the water surface. As the water level drops, as water evaporates, add distilled water to bring the level back up to the tape.
Another change, which occurs when stony coral is growing, is the calcium, bicarbonate ("alkalinity"), and magnesium will drop. Corals use these elements/compounds to build their skeleton. When the levels drop your corals will stop growing and will eventually die. You have to continuously replace these elements at the rate they are being used up. When your corals are small and frankly not growing, water changes will replenish these elements. However, just when you are being successful and your corals begin to grow, they will consume these elements too fast for water changes to keep up. You will need to begin dosing these elements. You can learn about this subject watching videos.
Another change, due to having fish and feeding them is that waste products (pee and poo), often called "nutrients" will build up. The main culprits are nitrogen (ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate) and phosphorus (or phosphate). Too much food equals too much waste products. Especially when your tank is young, go easy on the food. Fish more often die from overfeeding than underfeeding. Controlling these nutrients are what everyone is talking about when they refer to cycling. Again, look for YouTube videos on this subject.

 

[schuby]

If your fish have stayed alive more than two days, then your tank is cycled. This means the nitrogen cycle is established enough to covert toxic ammonia from food and fish poo into non-toxic nitrite/nitrate.

 

[laurinamarie]

If your lights are not programmable, you can get a simple on/off timer from Target or Home Depot to plug them into and set it so they are on for 12 hours every day.

Here’s a link to all of the water tests you would need:

Salifert Master Reef Testing Combo Kit - Saltwater Aquariums Amazon product ASIN B00RW64LMI
Others could speak more intelligently about which tests are most important if you don’t want to spend this much right now.

Thank you for that link! Ya I can program my lights so I have to do that. I just can't program it to fade in or out tho

 

[schuby]

Can you post a pic of the screen used to program lights? It may help us identify which lights you have.

 

[schuby]

Are your lights on a timer? How long are lights on each day?

 

[laurinamarie]

im no expert but heres some of what i know, and dont take this wrong just typing fast and giving out my $0.02 haha first i would remove all that freshwater tank decor as it has plastics and other materials that the salt water will break down and leech chemicals into the water, second from reading the posts your tank is no where near ready for probably fish and especially coral, the tank might or might not have cycled already which is a big thing, salt water tanks are a giant tank that requires chemistry, those rounded river rocks offer little to no biological help, the porous rock is what bacteria and pods and all the chemistry stuff need to have a successful salt water tank, you need a lot more of actual live rock so that bacteria and stuff can grow and live in them the bacteria act as a cleaning agent and balancing agent in the waters chemistry, as for the sand if it was live sand and came in a bag that was wet and has bacteria in it already then you are ok but if it was dry sand you need to let it cycle and hopefully the fish will survive, to start a successful tank you need to start with water and establish where you want to be with temperature and salinity, then add either live sand and live rock which are already cultured and have bacteria (bacteria is like 90% a good thing in reef talk) or start with dry sand and dry rock which takes longer, so if live sand and live rock you will still have to let the tank sit for about a week or up too 2 months give or take depending on how it cycles which means you have cultured enough bacteria to start the cycles for ammonia which is needed and that means you will have an ammonia spike then levels out same with nitrates and nitrites that cycle has to establish and even out before i would add fish, also while doing this you can add bacteria starters or ghost feed which is put some fish food in the empty tank so it can break down and create the stuff needed to start the bacteria process, some even add a chromie fish cause they can stand the burn of a cycle and they poop and add to the water table to start a cycle, once you fully cycle the tank you add fish and wait for the diatom bloom ( brown sand and stuff) then you will usually go through a GHA ( green hair algae) bloom then once all that is done and you see coraline start growing on rocks or surface thats usually when it is kind of safe to start adding corals and each family of corals requires different parameters' and additives depending on what it is which is called dosing, which involves trace chemicals being added and monitored to maintain a healthy amount of stuff that the corals require and then you need corals (food) amino acids etc to consumes along with other phytoplankton etc etc, as far as the water you get from the ocean to be healthy and have decent minerals and elements you would have to get it away from the shore line as most of the shore water needs to be skimmed heavily for bad stuff in the water so its better to either make your own or buy it, and for toping off as it evaporates you need RODI water to mix back in and keep the salinity level even so you dont have swings which effect fish and corals, and as far as the fish as stated above the trigger is a non coral type of fish they will eat and destroy corals along with the puffer usually also, saltwater isnt something to just jump into for a weekend project and be done, but you got the tank and its full so you have a start hahaha start googling and youtubing how to run a salt water tank and take notes and start buying stuff otherwise you risk loosing the fish, the corals more than likely arent gonna make it, i didnt really look to well at the pictures as i write this so i cant see what are hearty type of corals but if your tank isnt cycled i doubt they will make it through that anyway, just being honest sorry but once you get started this hobby is awesome and can be super rewarding to come home and see a thriving tank look amazing, good luck

Ok so when you mention the coralline are you talking about the red algae? I just noticed some of that growing in my tank today. The GHA is starting to become a lot and I'm not sure if that's good. It's even starting to grow across the sand.

 

[laurinamarie]

Can you post a pic of the screen used to program lights? It may help us identify which lights you have.

These are the lights I have. We have two of them.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B088LP186V/ref=sspa_mw_detail_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2OJ909Q564T4G
Hopefully that link works. We're keeping them on for about 12 hrs a day. I can't program them to automatically dim which is a bummer and now I wish I had lights that did do that.

 

[laurinamarie]

Ok so my kids finally went to bed (did I mention I'm trying to do this while also taking care of 4 young kids?) and I was able to use one of my not very accurate test strips. These are the readings i
Nitrate at 25 which is says is good
Nitrite says it's supposed to be 0 but is at 5
Totally alkalinity is at 40 when it should be at 120-180
Carbonate is between the 0 and 40 when it says it's supposed to be 80-120
PH is 6.8 when it says to be 7.6-8.2

 

[laurinamarie]

Everyone has been so helpful, thank you! I'm concerned about my puffer now tho. I noticed his tummy looks almost dirty and black. I don't remember it looking like that before. I thought it was just all white. Maybe I'm wrong tho, I dunno. Can anyone tell me if this is normal?

 

[DonTavo27]

Puffer looks fine.
Look into an Auto Top System for Saltwater aquariums, JBJ makes a pretty Reliable one you’ll just need to purchase a Tom aqua lifter pump to go along with it.
Like previous post Salifert test kits are ideal in helping you get your water chemistry in check,
Calcium, Magnesium, alkalinity, nitrate, and PO4 will be test kits you’ll need to order to get you going along with an Ammonia test kit as well. I’m sure you can watch a couple of videos on how to use the test kits.
Finally, you’ll need some Top off water like mentioned above, So either have Distilled water delivered, or buy a few 5 gallon water jugs and find a reputable aquarium shop for RO/DI water.

 

[DonTavo27]

Oh and don’t forget a protein skimmer,
But Most importantly get the 4 little ones involved.

 

[JPM San Diego]

Are you feeling overwhelmed yet? o_O
The advice is coming in so fast it must be like drinking from a fire hose.
Let's stick with the basics for now.
If your test kit is showing nitrite you tank is not "cycled". Fish excrete nitrogen waste as ammonia (very toxic). Bacteria convert ammonia to nitrite (toxic, but not as bad). Another group of bacteria convert nitrite to nitrate. (Not toxic if the level aren't too high). Once your tank is cycled, meaning you have sufficient bacteria, ammonia and nitrite should read 0. Since your tank is not fully cycled your inhabitants are at risk. Reduce food for now, to lower ammonia coming into the system, and increase water changes to export ammonia and nitrite out of the system. Once nitrite reads 0 you can reduce the frequency of water changes.
Don't over focus on the lights. Again, corals like stability more than anything else. As long as your lights are in the ball park, I would leave them alone. One caveat: make sure they are not too bright. Corals die slowly from insufficient light, but very quickly if they are getting too much light. If you plan to adjust the setting, focus on the blue end of the spectrum and minimize the red end of the spectrum. An over simplification is that corals like blue light and nuisance algae likes red light.
If you corals are looking stressed it is much more likely due to water chemistry than your lights. Your chemistry parameters are pretty far off what is recommended. Another reason for water changes. Part of "chemistry" is water flow. Corals need water flow to move oxygen and chemicals they do need to them and water flow to move waste products away from them. The experts often say "flow is more important than light". Looking at your picture it appears your corals are more the stony type and less the large polyp fleshy type. Short of blowing up a snowstorm, or tearing coral flesh off of the colonies, I would recommend more versus less flow. If you stir up some dust from the sand bed, you should see it moving nicely around the tank confirming good flow.
In summary; for now reduce food and increase water changes. Think stability when it comes to lights. Keep the flow rate up. Don't add ANY more corals until what you have is doing well. I would avoid any more fish until nitrite reads zero and then only consider an herbivore to help control algae.
Or, yes. You asked about green hair algae. Is it good or bad. It is good only in that it is soaking up some of the nitrogen waste from your fish. And, it might be providing some food for your inhabitants. It's BAD in that it is ugly and typically grows out of control. Your tank is entering the "ugly phase". Most of us have gone through it. Hang tough and don't give up. We can help you get past the ugly phase once we get your tank stable and safe for your babies.
Last, but not least, I agree with DonTavo27 ... "get the 4 little ones involved."

 

[laurinamarie]

Haha yes, I am feeling a bit overwhelmed! I've gotten a lot of great advice here tho and am heading to the LFS tomorrow with a list of stuff I need thanks to everyone here! Also going to do a big water change tomorrow. Unfortunately my little black baby clown fish was missing this morning. Found his skeleton later on. I'm guessing either the puffer or trigger got to him. Weird tho cause neither one really ever cared about him. My puffer will even sleep right next to my seahorse and has never once tried to eat him. Maybe he died and they just helped themselves.

 

[laurinamarie]

Oh and yes my 4 are pretty involved in the tank! They feeding and watching the fish and going to LFS.

 

[adittam]

Are you feeling overwhelmed yet? o_O
The advice is coming in so fast it must be like drinking from a fire hose.
Let's stick with the basics for now.
If your test kit is showing nitrite you tank is not "cycled". Fish excrete nitrogen waste as ammonia (very toxic). Bacteria convert ammonia to nitrite (toxic, but not as bad). Another group of bacteria convert nitrite to nitrate. (Not toxic if the level aren't too high). Once your tank is cycled, meaning you have sufficient bacteria, ammonia and nitrite should read 0. Since your tank is not fully cycled your inhabitants are at risk. Reduce food for now, to lower ammonia coming into the system, and increase water changes to export ammonia and nitrite out of the system. Once nitrite reads 0 you can reduce the frequency of water changes.
Don't over focus on the lights. Again, corals like stability more than anything else. As long as your lights are in the ball park, I would leave them alone. One caveat: make sure they are not too bright. Corals die slowly from insufficient light, but very quickly if they are getting too much light. If you plan to adjust the setting, focus on the blue end of the spectrum and minimize the red end of the spectrum. An over simplification is that corals like blue light and nuisance algae likes red light.
If you corals are looking stressed it is much more likely due to water chemistry than your lights. Your chemistry parameters are pretty far off what is recommended. Another reason for water changes. Part of "chemistry" is water flow. Corals need water flow to move oxygen and chemicals they do need to them and water flow to move waste products away from them. The experts often say "flow is more important than light". Looking at your picture it appears your corals are more the stony type and less the large polyp fleshy type. Short of blowing up a snowstorm, or tearing coral flesh off of the colonies, I would recommend more versus less flow. If you stir up some dust from the sand bed, you should see it moving nicely around the tank confirming good flow.
In summary; for now reduce food and increase water changes. Think stability when it comes to lights. Keep the flow rate up. Don't add ANY more corals until what you have is doing well. I would avoid any more fish until nitrite reads zero and then only consider an herbivore to help control algae.
Or, yes. You asked about green hair algae. Is it good or bad. It is good only in that it is soaking up some of the nitrogen waste from your fish. And, it might be providing some food for your inhabitants. It's BAD in that it is ugly and typically grows out of control. Your tank is entering the "ugly phase". Most of us have gone through it. Hang tough and don't give up. We can help you get past the ugly phase once we get your tank stable and safe for your babies.
Last, but not least, I agree with DonTavo27 ... "get the 4 little ones involved."

Agree with most of this, but nitrites are not toxic (at all) to saltwater fish like they are to freshwater fish.