jth9507
New Member
Hello Reef2Reef,
My name is Josh and I setup my first Saltwater Tank this January. I have a 90 gallon tank that I found on Marketplace. It came with a small sump and some old equipment that has since been replaced. I even jerry-rigged myself a bigger sump. I've had some bad luck with fish. I want to avoid any preventable more fish casualties and hopefully start reefing. This is a long read so be warned now.
Components -
30 gallon sump tank
Filter mesh
Bioballs (soon to be removed slowly)
6 small life-rocks
2 small bags biopellet
Reef Octopus 152-s with power on delay
Jebao 36 UV sterilizer
Jebao DC 3500 lph return pump
Wave controller
Auto top off
I also have a chiller in the garage
Tank-
90g tank
70lbs Caribsea Liferock
4 Fluval Sea Cp4 powerhead running 2 at a time.
I introduced a small CUC towards the end of February and fish towards the end of March. 2 small damsels and 2 small clownfish from live aquaria (only because all LFS were closed when Covid began). 1 damsel and 1 clown died the same night they arrived. The other damsel would not eat after about a week and died shortly after. I left the tank alone until August when I redid my sump and rearranged my rocks.
I found a LFS at the end of August and was encouraged to buy: 1 Yellow Tang, 1 Sailfin Tang, 1 Damsel, 1 small Clownfish (me hoping to create a pair), and 1 cleaner shrimp to help the tangs stay healthy. The first night I lost the Damsel. A week or so later both Tangs started to lose their color and died while I was at work. All levels were good or non existent the entire time. The clown bought from the LFS managed to get into a powerhead a few weeks later after my clowns appeared to have a break-up. I went back to the store and explained what happened. The guy running the store mentioned they had a new guy running the store alone when I came in and apologized for my experience. He looked at pictures of my tank and said my sand bed was far too deep for the water flow I had at the time. He said with the sand being that deep I would possibly release pockets of ammonia while cleaning. He told me to do a major water change, add flow in the display, remove sand, and look into running a large UV for a few weeks. A customer in the store overheard and sold me: powerheads, chiller, hanna test kits, ph tester, water jugs, wave controller, 2 new bags of biopellets, and a UV setup all for 80 bucks because he was moving.
The LFS called me 2 weeks later and told me to bring in some water and they would give me 3 small hardy fish for close to nothing. I checked all of my levels with the store owner and they sold me 3 Pajama Cardinalfish for 5 bucks. I haven't had any casualties yet.
I want to possibly get a mushroom for my clownfish to host in. It currently hosts in the bottom corner of the tank and often falls asleep in the corner. My clownfish is very odd, but he has survived through everything.
In the last 2 weeks I've noticed my rocks have started to grow what looks like 2 different algae. You can see it in the photos I attached. I'm trying to figure out if I should add to my CUC or add a fish to my tank to help.
I'm very new to all of this but I would love to start reefing. I'm open to any and all feedback from everyone. My fiancé want to have a beautiful tank and healthy fish.
My name is Josh and I setup my first Saltwater Tank this January. I have a 90 gallon tank that I found on Marketplace. It came with a small sump and some old equipment that has since been replaced. I even jerry-rigged myself a bigger sump. I've had some bad luck with fish. I want to avoid any preventable more fish casualties and hopefully start reefing. This is a long read so be warned now.
Components -
30 gallon sump tank
Filter mesh
Bioballs (soon to be removed slowly)
6 small life-rocks
2 small bags biopellet
Reef Octopus 152-s with power on delay
Jebao 36 UV sterilizer
Jebao DC 3500 lph return pump
Wave controller
Auto top off
I also have a chiller in the garage
Tank-
90g tank
70lbs Caribsea Liferock
4 Fluval Sea Cp4 powerhead running 2 at a time.
I introduced a small CUC towards the end of February and fish towards the end of March. 2 small damsels and 2 small clownfish from live aquaria (only because all LFS were closed when Covid began). 1 damsel and 1 clown died the same night they arrived. The other damsel would not eat after about a week and died shortly after. I left the tank alone until August when I redid my sump and rearranged my rocks.
I found a LFS at the end of August and was encouraged to buy: 1 Yellow Tang, 1 Sailfin Tang, 1 Damsel, 1 small Clownfish (me hoping to create a pair), and 1 cleaner shrimp to help the tangs stay healthy. The first night I lost the Damsel. A week or so later both Tangs started to lose their color and died while I was at work. All levels were good or non existent the entire time. The clown bought from the LFS managed to get into a powerhead a few weeks later after my clowns appeared to have a break-up. I went back to the store and explained what happened. The guy running the store mentioned they had a new guy running the store alone when I came in and apologized for my experience. He looked at pictures of my tank and said my sand bed was far too deep for the water flow I had at the time. He said with the sand being that deep I would possibly release pockets of ammonia while cleaning. He told me to do a major water change, add flow in the display, remove sand, and look into running a large UV for a few weeks. A customer in the store overheard and sold me: powerheads, chiller, hanna test kits, ph tester, water jugs, wave controller, 2 new bags of biopellets, and a UV setup all for 80 bucks because he was moving.
The LFS called me 2 weeks later and told me to bring in some water and they would give me 3 small hardy fish for close to nothing. I checked all of my levels with the store owner and they sold me 3 Pajama Cardinalfish for 5 bucks. I haven't had any casualties yet.
I want to possibly get a mushroom for my clownfish to host in. It currently hosts in the bottom corner of the tank and often falls asleep in the corner. My clownfish is very odd, but he has survived through everything.
In the last 2 weeks I've noticed my rocks have started to grow what looks like 2 different algae. You can see it in the photos I attached. I'm trying to figure out if I should add to my CUC or add a fish to my tank to help.
I'm very new to all of this but I would love to start reefing. I'm open to any and all feedback from everyone. My fiancé want to have a beautiful tank and healthy fish.
