Getting started and need some help

[kasala]

So - long story short - I can give more details if needed. And sorry for advance for the length of the post. I was really anticipating more guidance and have been kind of left in the lurch having to learn the hard way.

A friend of mine that I take care of his IT needs on the side was downsizing his office. He knew how much I loved his tank and insisted that I take it because he wanted it to go to someone he knew would appreciate it. He had a guy that does marine tank stuff move it to my house and here I am. I asked a ton of questions of the guy when they brought it along with its contents here and I'm now kind of in a lurch as he's effectively gone ghost (he's still in business - I think I'm just too small for him to even bother dealing with at this point) and I want to make sure I'm doing it right. I'm also trying to make sure I'm not going to blow up my tank with adding things.

So first - here's what I've got:
210 Gallon All-Glass Aquarium customized tank. It's had holes drilled in the bottom for plumbing to keep it flush to the wall.
3 x Radion XR30W (2 x G2 and 1 x G4) controlled via ReefLink.
1 x unknown brand or size return pump. It does have a controller on the side of the sump to allow between 1 and 6 levels of flow and a feed button.
1 x ESHOPPS X-160 Protein Skimmer - This seems to need somewhat regular adjusting.
1 x Unknown brand or size of heater.
2 x JVP-102 Powerheads (cheap chinese junk - I know - an Icecap Gyre Flow is on my list and will be bought shortly)
1 x Carbon reactor with "Exchange media" according to the guy that installed it. He said it's "good for 2 more months" which means a couple weeks from now needs replacing. This has a small pump on it. It shares the chamber with the Skimmer.
1 x ESHOPPS Sump of unknown model. It's not any of the current models but has 4 chambers - One for the flow from the tank with two inlets. This is on the back left. In front of that is a chamber with 2 square holes water flows through from the drain chamber. There are no socks although I'd like to get the hangers (they aren't there) and socks for this. There's also no filters on the inlets which I think it would have come with? There is a sock with a "Bio media" that "doesn't need to be replaced". Next chamber (middle) which is largest is where the Sump and Reactor are. Last chamber to the right is the return chamber.
1 x ESHOPPS 5 gallon ATO. It's draining into the last chamber of the sump with the return pump and uses a mechanical float switch. I'm looking to replace this with a TUNEZ ATO with a pump so I can place this under the tank instead of next to it outside in the open.

As for fish I've got:
1. Humu Picasso Triggerfish
2. 2 x Clown Fish
3. Yellow Tang
4. Two-Tone Wrasse (there's some question here. I've included a picture for anyone that wants to correct me. The guy indicated it was a banana wrasse but I don't think so.)
5. Pajama Cardinalfish
6. Unknown - It's either an Angel or Damsel. I've included a picture as well.

We made it through our first water change without issue. Water change was exactly 50 gallons. We now have a process for how far to drain, where to mix new water, etc. to make it much easier. We shoved the siphon into the sand to pull out dirt but were told not to swirl around. Tank looked really good after water change.

Here's where I'm trying to make sure we're doing it right:

1. He indicated salinity of 1.024. We've maintained that with zero issue. Fish seem to be happy. Is this correct?
2. Temperature is set to about 81. I'm going to get a controller for the heater and add a second one in the future to better balance the heating a little bit. Is this too warm? Too cool?
3. We were told to test for the following and that's it: Nitrate, Phosphate, and PH. PH should be between 7.8 and 8.4. Anything else here I'm missing or we should really be watching? I picked up a couple of red sea test kits. Not strips.
4. We rinsed the filter media between the skimmer chamber and return chamber on the tank with cool water during the water change. That's all we were told to do. Am I missing anything?
5. We took out the powerheads and disassembled and cleaned as one stopped working because it was super gummed up. Is this bad? We cleaned using only brushes and water. No solvents. They're working fine. Should we be regularly cleaning these? What about the return pump, skimmer, reactor pump, etc. etc? Is this all stuff we should be cleaning on a regular basis?
6. We've been emptying the skimmer every couple of days. This seems to need constant tuning. One minute my bubble column is at the top and I'll check it later to find the bubble column too low and then other times it's just right. It does seem once it's tuned it's good but then something will happen that it needs to be re-tuned. Is there a certain time I should look? When feeding? After feeding? Before?

What am I missing? I feel like we've got this alright and with alot of the reading I've been doing I think we're OK but I wanted to draw on the wealth of knowledge here in case we're totally screwing something up.

Things on my radar:
1. New return pump - likely a Neptune as I intend to invest into the Apex system. I know - I've read all the mega threads on Apex vs. GHL and I'm still in the Apex camp.
2. Icecap Gyre Flow - Probably ordering this in the next day or so.
3. New heater and heater controller. Ideally one that can send me temp alerts, etc. in the event that heating systems have failed.
4. I'm considering a newer sump but at minimum would like to get the sock holders and appropriate filters for the one I have if I can determine the model and get parts.
5. I'm planning to replace the ATO with a TUNEZ 3155 so I can move the ATO tank to inside the stand.
6. I'm going to add a light to the lower section for only convenience purposes. Every time I'm under there I can't see squat. That's not really relevant. Just something I'm going to do so I can see what I'm doing.

Things I'm definitely looking for some guidance on:
1. Am I missing anything in the maintenance category I should be aware of?
2. I would like to add fish. Wife wants starfish but I understand that's out as I would like to get corals and what not. I'm looking at a Blenny to keep algae under control. I'm thinking a few more pajama as they'll school and the one we have just kinda keeps to itself.
3. Looking to add corals, etc. I need some color in the tank and want it to look more natural and not just a bunch of living rock with algae growing on it. I know this is challenging with the triggerfish but being the only "non reef friendly" one and seeming pretty mellow I'd like to give it a try. I'm open to suggestions on this front for what to put in the tank.
4. I'd love an anemone for the clownfish. I'm concerned about interaction with corals and other fish though. Is there a good fit here?
5. Vegetation - I'd absolutely love some live plant in here to give the tank some natural feel to it.


And..... go!

 

[KrisReef]

Potter’s angelfish.
I would lower the temperature towards 78, 81 is at the upper end of safe.
Start a build thread with lots of pictures so folks can see what you are asking about.

 

[Dolphins18]

So - long story short - I can give more details if needed. And sorry for advance for the length of the post. I was really anticipating more guidance and have been kind of left in the lurch having to learn the hard way.

A friend of mine that I take care of his IT needs on the side was downsizing his office. He knew how much I loved his tank and insisted that I take it because he wanted it to go to someone he knew would appreciate it. He had a guy that does marine tank stuff move it to my house and here I am. I asked a ton of questions of the guy when they brought it along with its contents here and I'm now kind of in a lurch as he's effectively gone ghost (he's still in business - I think I'm just too small for him to even bother dealing with at this point) and I want to make sure I'm doing it right. I'm also trying to make sure I'm not going to blow up my tank with adding things.

So first - here's what I've got:
210 Gallon All-Glass Aquarium customized tank. It's had holes drilled in the bottom for plumbing to keep it flush to the wall.
3 x Radion XR30W (2 x G2 and 1 x G4) controlled via ReefLink.
1 x unknown brand or size return pump. It does have a controller on the side of the sump to allow between 1 and 6 levels of flow and a feed button.
1 x ESHOPPS X-160 Protein Skimmer - This seems to need somewhat regular adjusting.
1 x Unknown brand or size of heater.
2 x JVP-102 Powerheads (cheap chinese junk - I know - an Icecap Gyre Flow is on my list and will be bought shortly)
1 x Carbon reactor with "Exchange media" according to the guy that installed it. He said it's "good for 2 more months" which means a couple weeks from now needs replacing. This has a small pump on it. It shares the chamber with the Skimmer.
1 x ESHOPPS Sump of unknown model. It's not any of the current models but has 4 chambers - One for the flow from the tank with two inlets. This is on the back left. In front of that is a chamber with 2 square holes water flows through from the drain chamber. There are no socks although I'd like to get the hangers (they aren't there) and socks for this. There's also no filters on the inlets which I think it would have come with? There is a sock with a "Bio media" that "doesn't need to be replaced". Next chamber (middle) which is largest is where the Sump and Reactor are. Last chamber to the right is the return chamber.
1 x ESHOPPS 5 gallon ATO. It's draining into the last chamber of the sump with the return pump and uses a mechanical float switch. I'm looking to replace this with a TUNEZ ATO with a pump so I can place this under the tank instead of next to it outside in the open.

As for fish I've got:
1. Humu Picasso Triggerfish
2. 2 x Clown Fish
3. Yellow Tang
4. Two-Tone Wrasse (there's some question here. I've included a picture for anyone that wants to correct me. The guy indicated it was a banana wrasse but I don't think so.)
5. Pajama Cardinalfish
6. Unknown - It's either an Angel or Damsel. I've included a picture as well.

We made it through our first water change without issue. Water change was exactly 50 gallons. We now have a process for how far to drain, where to mix new water, etc. to make it much easier. We shoved the siphon into the sand to pull out dirt but were told not to swirl around. Tank looked really good after water change.

Here's where I'm trying to make sure we're doing it right:

1. He indicated salinity of 1.024. We've maintained that with zero issue. Fish seem to be happy. Is this correct?
2. Temperature is set to about 81. I'm going to get a controller for the heater and add a second one in the future to better balance the heating a little bit. Is this too warm? Too cool?
3. We were told to test for the following and that's it: Nitrate, Phosphate, and PH. PH should be between 7.8 and 8.4. Anything else here I'm missing or we should really be watching? I picked up a couple of red sea test kits. Not strips.
4. We rinsed the filter media between the skimmer chamber and return chamber on the tank with cool water during the water change. That's all we were told to do. Am I missing anything?
5. We took out the powerheads and disassembled and cleaned as one stopped working because it was super gummed up. Is this bad? We cleaned using only brushes and water. No solvents. They're working fine. Should we be regularly cleaning these? What about the return pump, skimmer, reactor pump, etc. etc? Is this all stuff we should be cleaning on a regular basis?
6. We've been emptying the skimmer every couple of days. This seems to need constant tuning. One minute my bubble column is at the top and I'll check it later to find the bubble column too low and then other times it's just right. It does seem once it's tuned it's good but then something will happen that it needs to be re-tuned. Is there a certain time I should look? When feeding? After feeding? Before?

What am I missing? I feel like we've got this alright and with alot of the reading I've been doing I think we're OK but I wanted to draw on the wealth of knowledge here in case we're totally screwing something up.

Things on my radar:
1. New return pump - likely a Neptune as I intend to invest into the Apex system. I know - I've read all the mega threads on Apex vs. GHL and I'm still in the Apex camp.
2. Icecap Gyre Flow - Probably ordering this in the next day or so.
3. New heater and heater controller. Ideally one that can send me temp alerts, etc. in the event that heating systems have failed.
4. I'm considering a newer sump but at minimum would like to get the sock holders and appropriate filters for the one I have if I can determine the model and get parts.
5. I'm planning to replace the ATO with a TUNEZ 3155 so I can move the ATO tank to inside the stand.
6. I'm going to add a light to the lower section for only convenience purposes. Every time I'm under there I can't see squat. That's not really relevant. Just something I'm going to do so I can see what I'm doing.

Things I'm definitely looking for some guidance on:
1. Am I missing anything in the maintenance category I should be aware of?
2. I would like to add fish. Wife wants starfish but I understand that's out as I would like to get corals and what not. I'm looking at a Blenny to keep algae under control. I'm thinking a few more pajama as they'll school and the one we have just kinda keeps to itself.
3. Looking to add corals, etc. I need some color in the tank and want it to look more natural and not just a bunch of living rock with algae growing on it. I know this is challenging with the triggerfish but being the only "non reef friendly" one and seeming pretty mellow I'd like to give it a try. I'm open to suggestions on this front for what to put in the tank.
4. I'd love an anemone for the clownfish. I'm concerned about interaction with corals and other fish though. Is there a good fit here?
5. Vegetation - I'd absolutely love some live plant in here to give the tank some natural feel to it.


And..... go!

Hello! Welcome to the hobby it’s really fun and there’s no better way to join than with a BIG tank like that. First thing grab an ammonia test kit. You are spot on by not using the strips. Sometimes when moving tanks a lot of nasty stuff can get sloshed around, causing ammonia in the tank. This is the first step of something called the “nitrogen” cycle. Good nitrogen cycle and there’s a lot of good information, though it’s pretty straightforward to grasp. It’s okay that a power head stopped working, but you’ll want to replace it down the line (no immediate rush, but sooner rather than later). You have plenty of room for an anemone, but look into lighting fairly in depth prior to jumping into corals. Mangroves grow in reef tanks, though if you wanted to grow it into the DT (display tank) you’d likely need to get a fairly large one that can already reach out of water as they use air and saltwater and require both long term.
it really sounds like you do understand the basics and got some good information from
Your friend. People on this site are always happy to help with questions anytime you need help with or understanding something.

 

[kasala]

Hello! Welcome to the hobby it’s really fun and there’s no better way to join than with a BIG tank like that. First thing grab an ammonia test kit. You are spot on by not using the strips. Sometimes when moving tanks a lot of nasty stuff can get sloshed around, causing ammonia in the tank. This is the first step of something called the “nitrogen” cycle. Good nitrogen cycle and there’s a lot of good information, though it’s pretty straightforward to grasp. It’s okay that a power head stopped working, but you’ll want to replace it down the line (no immediate rush, but sooner rather than later). You have plenty of room for an anemone, but look into lighting fairly in depth prior to jumping into corals. Mangroves grow in reef tanks, though if you wanted to grow it into the DT (display tank) you’d likely need to get a fairly large one that can already reach out of water as they use air and saltwater and require both long term.
it really sounds like you do understand the basics and got some good information from
Your friend. People on this site are always happy to help with questions anytime you need help with or understanding something.

Thank you for the follow up! I did have a 65e Freshwater tank years ago so some of the stuff I get.

I'm taking a stab in the dark here that: My lighting may not be sufficient for a full reef tank. Is that the case with the lights that I have?

Thanks for the mention on the Mangroves. Those look like a great option to add some plants to the tank. Looks like I'll rant to remove the glass tops though at least where the Mangroves are growing so they can grow out of the water.

 

[LuizW13]

Welcome to R2R!

Binge watch this series ASAP





You also might want to elevate that power strip a bit in case of a leak or flood.

 

[Ryan3313]

I would suggest a rodi unit if you don't already have one.

 

[kasala]

Welcome to R2R!

Binge watch this series ASAP





You also might want to elevate that power strip a bit in case of a leak or flood.

These guys are great! I've already ordered pretty much everything from them as I'm fortunate enough to get free next day delivery since they're just a few hours from me. Their videos are awesome! I'll definitely watch those!

Thanks for catching the power strip. That's temporary as those are metered smart outlets. Trying to get a handle on electricity costs on the tank as you likely guessed with the Kill-a-watt which is MUCH more accurate than those cheap outlets.

 

[kasala]

I would suggest a rodi unit if you don't already have one.

So I have an RO filter on my drinking water / refrigerator because my water here has a pretty strong chlorine taste. We obviously use a de-chlorinator for water changes as I can't get that much RO water in a short period of time. I do fill the ATO tank with RO water though.

The system that I currently have is a four stage with a sediment filter, pre-carbon, 50GPD Membrane, and Post-carbon. I was looking at the solutions offered by BRS and considering replacing mine as the cartridges set me back half what the system did. It's from Costco and was about $200.

I'm open to suggestions on a different RO system that can maybe get me more water flow and possible allow me to use it for water changes?

 

[FishGeist]

If that's an angel or a damsel it will eat coral. Trade it in, and put some Green Star Polyp or some hearty Large Polyp Stony Coral in there.

I'd scrap the Mangrove Idea, they need alot of strong natural light (Not Blue or a Purple Grow Light) Neptune Sky might work for that but research the lighting. And you will need a cover with that wrasse in there. I grow mine in a pot next to a window sill.

 

[LuizW13]

So I have an RO filter on my drinking water / refrigerator because my water here has a pretty strong chlorine taste. We obviously use a de-chlorinator for water changes as I can't get that much RO water in a short period of time. I do fill the ATO tank with RO water though.

The system that I currently have is a four stage with a sediment filter, pre-carbon, 50GPD Membrane, and Post-carbon. I was looking at the solutions offered by BRS and considering replacing mine as the cartridges set me back half what the system did. It's from Costco and was about $200.

I'm open to suggestions on a different RO system that can maybe get me more water flow and possible allow me to use it for water changes?

I don't know much about RODI water systems, but from what I've read, the DI resin cartridges are critical for making good water. I have the 5 stage BRS RODI water filter, in the laundry room. Filtered water goes into a food grade bucket and dirty water goes into the washing machine.

 

[kasala]

I don't know much about RODI water systems, but from what I've read, the DI resin cartridges are critical for making good water. I have the 5 stage BRS RODI water filter, in the laundry room. Filtered water goes into a food grade bucket and dirty water goes into the washing machine.

So you just have the system fill up a bucket that you keep water in until needed - What does that look like over time? Say I've got a container for 100 gallons of water and I let it fill over time. Doesn't it become stagnant just sitting there in my basement until I need it?

 

[LuizW13]

So you just have the system fill up a bucket that you keep water in until needed - What does that look like over time? Say I've got a container for 100 gallons of water and I let it fill over time. Doesn't it become stagnant just sitting there in my basement until I need it?

Yeah, a lot of people do that. In my case, I have a 25 gallon, so, I usually just have a 5 gallon bucket covered in the laundry room with fresh water on hand, just in case. But for saltwater, I usually mix to use, which is also 5 gallons at a time.

I find that keeping the freshwater on hand, and then mixing the saltwater when I need works for me.

The folks with bigger systems and kick-butt fish rooms have two tall food grade reservoirs ( I don't know what they're called, but they kind of look like silos) for water; one fresh and one saltwater. You can keep the freshwater covered up with no problem, but the saltwater, you'd want to keep circulating with a pump, is my understanding (depending on the salt brand).

A good example of this that I can think of off the top of my head is Jake Adams from Reef Builders. Look him up on youtube, there's a tour of his aquarium studio he did recently, and you can see the water reservoirs I'm talking about.

 

[kasala]

Yeah, a lot of people do that. In my case, I have a 25 gallon, so, I usually just have a 5 gallon bucket covered in the laundry room with fresh water on hand, just in case. But for saltwater, I usually mix to use, which is also 5 gallons at a time.

I find that keeping the freshwater on hand, and then mixing the saltwater when I need works for me.

The folks with bigger systems and kick-butt fish rooms have two tall food grade reservoirs ( I don't know what they're called, but they kind of look like silos) for water; one fresh and one saltwater. You can keep the freshwater covered up with no problem, but the saltwater, you'd want to keep circulating with a pump, is my understanding (depending on the salt brand).

A good example of this that I can think of off the top of my head is Jake Adams from Reef Builders. Look him up on youtube, there's a tour of his aquarium studio he did recently, and you can see the water reservoirs I'm talking about.

Sadly for me the "fish room" would be the utility room in the basement so keeping large quantities of water on hand is going to be somewhat impractical and my water changes are 50ish gallons at a crack. Best thing I can think of in my case would be a automatic water change setup with the Apex system. But then I'm making 10+ gallons of water per week to keep loaded up under the tank. That seems almost worse. I'm having great success with a $30 sump pump from menards that takes a garden hose fitting and filling a large garbage can specifically for water changes and pumping it from that. I guess I could test how much head said pump can create. If it's enough I could make and store larger quantities in the basement and pump it up for a water change.

 

[kasala]

Potter’s angelfish.
I would lower the temperature towards 78, 81 is at the upper end of safe.
Start a build thread with lots of pictures so folks can see what you are asking about.

Thanks for that! That's what I suspected and it's good to narrow one of the two mysteries down. Did you have any idea if I was correct on the other fish?

I'll put a build thread together today!