Hello all! About 2 weeks ago I rescued a 5+year old Fluval EVO V setup that the previous owner had let slide and was ready to flush and toss.
Equipment:
It has been setup as a reef tank with the stock AIO equipment and filtration, and what looks to be an aqueon 50w heater
Current inhabitants based on what I was told and have tried to ID:
-Humbug/three stripe Damsel
-Several blue leg hermits (I have seen at least 4 different ones)
-2 nassarious snails
-2 turbo snails
-Hammer coral
-Frogspawn coral
-Mystery coral #1 (see photos)
-Mystery coral #2 (see photos)
-Mystery coral #3 (see photos)
-numerous limpet looking creatures
The tank had a significant amount of hair algea all over the rockscape, brown/green algea on the glass and under the sand line, and coralline algea that has taken over the back wall to the filters, and a section of glass.
I checked parameters when I got the tank home, and there were a few issues:
Calcium was low at 300
Phosphate was elevated at 0.25
Nitrate was elevated at 20
Everything else was ok- used both the reef master kit and Ammonia tests from API as well as tetras easy strip (6 in 1 and ammonia).
I have been doing a 1 gallon water change weekly (2x so far) to try to get levels lower without adding a ton of chemicals, etc.
1 week recheck parameters showed slight improvement to Calcium (360) and Nitrate (10), with Phosphate the same. Still all could be better, but at least not worsening!
Currently trying to run blue lights for 7-8 hours, whites for 4-5, and 12 off. Dosing phytoplankton (seachem) 2x weekly- just ordered some from algea barn as the supply she sent with the tank looked super old! Have been dosing stability and pristine weekly with the water change. Am using Instant Ocean Reef Crystals.
Pictures:
Week 1
Week 2
As you can see, still very much a work in progress with the hair algea... stay tuned for updates as I hopefully get this tank rehabbed! I LOVE those nassarious snails though- remind me of narwhals!
Any tips/tricks, thoughts/ideas welcome! I have been a freshwater keep for years, but this is my first saltwater experience.
Mystery Coral #1
Mystery Coral #2
Mystery Coral #3
Equipment:
It has been setup as a reef tank with the stock AIO equipment and filtration, and what looks to be an aqueon 50w heater
Current inhabitants based on what I was told and have tried to ID:
-Humbug/three stripe Damsel
-Several blue leg hermits (I have seen at least 4 different ones)
-2 nassarious snails
-2 turbo snails
-Hammer coral
-Frogspawn coral
-Mystery coral #1 (see photos)
-Mystery coral #2 (see photos)
-Mystery coral #3 (see photos)
-numerous limpet looking creatures
The tank had a significant amount of hair algea all over the rockscape, brown/green algea on the glass and under the sand line, and coralline algea that has taken over the back wall to the filters, and a section of glass.
I checked parameters when I got the tank home, and there were a few issues:
Calcium was low at 300
Phosphate was elevated at 0.25
Nitrate was elevated at 20
Everything else was ok- used both the reef master kit and Ammonia tests from API as well as tetras easy strip (6 in 1 and ammonia).
I have been doing a 1 gallon water change weekly (2x so far) to try to get levels lower without adding a ton of chemicals, etc.
1 week recheck parameters showed slight improvement to Calcium (360) and Nitrate (10), with Phosphate the same. Still all could be better, but at least not worsening!
Currently trying to run blue lights for 7-8 hours, whites for 4-5, and 12 off. Dosing phytoplankton (seachem) 2x weekly- just ordered some from algea barn as the supply she sent with the tank looked super old! Have been dosing stability and pristine weekly with the water change. Am using Instant Ocean Reef Crystals.
Pictures:
Week 1
Week 2
As you can see, still very much a work in progress with the hair algea... stay tuned for updates as I hopefully get this tank rehabbed! I LOVE those nassarious snails though- remind me of narwhals!
Any tips/tricks, thoughts/ideas welcome! I have been a freshwater keep for years, but this is my first saltwater experience.
Mystery Coral #1
Mystery Coral #2
Mystery Coral #3