My new tank (needs some work/help)

[Mrs. Fox]

So I finally got my first saltwater tank (yay!). It was already established when I bought it but since it was 2 hours away I could only keep half of the original water (it was really gross anyway). It came with two fire shrimp, some snails, and a bunch of live rock that was absolutely COVERED in algae. I got most of it off with a toothbrush in a bucket before putting them into the tank but theres still quite a bit so I think I'll invest a yellow tang or lawnmower blenny (or if anyone has any suggestions that would be great!). For now the shrimp seem to be doing well and the snails are happy eating the remaining algae. The tank doesnt have a sump but I'm planning to make a HOB algae scrubber in the next few weeks (theres still a major algae problem going on).

I also had the suprise of uncovering a few corals beneath all the algae. They seem to be doing alright now that all the algae is cleared off. The tank came with a lot of supplements and chemicals to supposedly help coral growth and I was wondering if they're safe to use/if they'd hurt the shrimp or if I should just let the corals grow how they may? The tank also came with a light that has 4 T5 bulbs and some blue LED's. 2 of the T5's are aqualife purple and two are aqualife bright white light 10 000K. How long should I leave the lights on a day for the corals? And when should I buy new bulbs?

Haha sorry about all the questions and the long post, I just don't want to kill anything by accident and want the best for my corals. Final question, my Remora protein skimmer has been catching alot of the "bubbles" it makes, filling the resevoir in just a few hours, and I read online that the white bubbles should be staying near the bottom of the neck. The water it's collecting is slightly yellow so I'm not sure if its just filtering out all the crud from the old water I brought with the tank or if its overworking and filtering out too much. I've fiddled with the collection cup and the best I could get is it filling in a few hours. Is this being caused by oils, organic material, or my dechlorinator? If it is how to I fix it?

Again, sorry about the long post, I appreciate any advice you might have! Thanks in advance :)

I attached pictures of the tank before (really gross) and a picture of it now, and a few of the little corals I found among the remaining algae if anyone could ID them that would be great. :)

The tank when I first got it (minus the fish)

The tank now!

Both of the little corals I found look like this, ID please :)

Thanks again! :)

 

[kddunlap21]

did you use tap water to refill the tank?? tap water and Salt? the correct way would have been RODI and salt. Also how many hours a day are the lights on?

 

[Mrs. Fox]

did you use tap water to refill the tank?? tap water and Salt? the correct way would have been RODI and salt. Also how many hours a day are the lights on?

I used dechlorinated tap water and H2Ocean salt when I first set it up a few weeks ago only because it was so far away and didn't have RODI available when I finally got it home at 10pm. I'm planning on buying a RODI system this week sometime, but so far the parameters in the tank all seem to ge good, ph 8.2, temp 77, kh 110, and ammonia/nitrates 0ppm. My town has pretty consistent, good quality water so I haven't been too worried about the quality, however I am getting RODI soon.

The lights are on 13-16 hours a day right now. Is this too long or short? I wasn't planning on getting corals right off the bat (they just showed up) so I haven't done a lot of research in that area yet.

 

[kddunlap21]

too many hours for the lights for sure! I would turn the lights off until the algae is gone. i know you want to keep the corals but getting rid of the algae is more important, try frequent water changes twice a week and invest in a cleanup crew.

 

[Mrs. Fox]

too many hours for the lights for sure! I would turn the lights off until the algae is gone. i know you want to keep the corals but getting rid of the algae is more important, try frequent water changes twice a week and invest in a cleanup crew.

Okay good to know, thanks! What would you recommend for a cleanup crew, and do you think the water will be okay for some hardy cleaners? The shrimp have been doing great and they're really active and eating well, I'm just a bit nervous to add anything expensive before I'm sure he water quality is good (after buying an RODI system).. I've also been doing water changes every other day of 5-10gallons letting the water aerate, completely dissolve the salt and get to the same temp overnight before adding it. Should I be changing more or less water?

A canister filter came with the tank with a bunch of biological media/other media (along with live rock and live sand) and I've spotted a few small organisms among the rocks/sand so I'm not to worried about that aspect of the tank.

Thank you for your help :)

 

[kddunlap21]

i wouldn't purchase anything pricey like a tang just some snails/crabs/shrimp for right now. the canister filter can only help. RODI water is overall the best, so water changes with that will be good.
best of luck to you! also take a sample of your water to your local LFS, they will/should test it for free.

 

[Mrs. Fox]

i wouldn't purchase anything pricey like a tang just some snails/crabs/shrimp for right now. the canister filter can only help. RODI water is overall the best, so water changes with that will be good.
best of luck to you! also take a sample of your water to your local LFS, they will/should test it for free.

Okay awesome, thank you so much!

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Hi Mrs Fox. Welcome to Reef2reef. Nice work on the rehab on that tank.

Research is key in my opinion. Itll help to get some basic tips. A healthy tank will help SOOOOO much to keep fish healthy. Marine Fish are funny that way.

good water and Rodi is really key. Ive gotten Bad rodi and it only led to tears. there are other elements in some tap water that is really bad.

These are links to a great reef keeper with very easy to follow tips and tricks. Great guy in person great reef keeper.
http://www.melevsreef.com/category/articles/saltwater-newbie-guide

Thers many ways to skin the cat, and youll find the best technique for you.

Always feel free to ask questions, theres some really genuinely good folks here who are always happy to help.

The tank also came with a light that has 4 T5 bulbs and some blue LED's. 2 of the T5's are aqualife purple and two are aqualife bright white light 10 000K. How long should I leave the lights on a day for the corals?

good color choice Led for an hour or two in the am about 10 hrs in the day. Might want to go slightly less till the algae prob is solved.

Final question, my Remora protein skimmer has been catching alot of the "bubbles" it makes, filling the resevoir in just a few hours

this is called "skimming too wet" move the cup up, so less foam gets to the cup.

The tank came with a lot of supplements and chemicals to supposedly help coral growth and I was wondering if they're safe to use/if they'd hurt the shrimp or if I should just let the corals grow how they may?

hard to say as we dont know what they are or when the expired

is that a canister filter? keep doing what your doing but scrub a little alge in tank and rise the top filter pad weekly. clean the whole can once a month till re hab is done, then youll want to get rid of it probably. AST skimmer and fuge work better long term, canisters are GREAT for rehab.

Maybe look into a hang on back refugium. I love mine. same concept as ats.

 

[Mrs. Fox]

Hi Mrs Fox. Welcome to Reef2reef. Nice work on the rehab on that tank.

Research is key in my opinion. Itll help to get some basic tips. A healthy tank will help SOOOOO much to keep fish healthy. Marine Fish are funny that way.

good water and Rodi is really key. Ive gotten Bad rodi and it only led to tears. there are other elements in some tap water that is really bad.

These are links to a great reef keeper with very easy to follow tips and tricks. Great guy in person great reef keeper.
http://www.melevsreef.com/category/articles/saltwater-newbie-guide

Thers many ways to skin the cat, and youll find the best technique for you.

Always feel free to ask questions, theres some really genuinely good folks here who are always happy to help.


good color choice Led for an hour or two in the am about 10 hrs in the day. Might want to go slightly less till the algae prob is solved.


this is called "skimming too wet" move the cup up, so less foam gets to the cup.


hard to say as we dont know what they are or when the expired

is that a canister filter? keep doing what your doing but scrub a little alge in tank and rise the top filter pad weekly. clean the whole can once a month till re hab is done, then youll want to get rid of it probably. AST skimmer and fuge work better long term, canisters are GREAT for rehab.

Maybe look into a hang on back refugium. I love mine. same concept as ats.

Thanks for all your advice, I really appreciate it! I will probably keep the lighting to a minimum until the algae problem is solved, maybe an hour or two a day.

A few days ago I removed all the live rocks from the tank and scrubbed some algae off jn a bucket of tank water to avoid getting the spores in the tank. I'm planning on making a hob algae srcubber out of an old filter asap, the LEDs are already on order!

Its a fluval 305 canister filter, and I've been cleaning the filter pads in tank water every few days as well as changing 5-10gal of water. I'm also going to get a RODI system, do you have any recommendations?

Again, thank you for all your help!

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

brs rodi or melev too. IMO keep a normal light schedule. limit water changes to 10% a week.
the algae is actually doing what a scrubber will do right now. funny right? its pulling poisons and Po etc.
and youve got spores. no beating that. refugium and ats will out compete the nuance algae combined with your manual removal
the canister is building a bacterial filter so you dont want to scrub it to deep. just get the big particles out.

the tank will find a balance. the more you do the harder time the tank will have in finding its balance.

The only supplement I would recommend right now is bacterial. Microbacter 7, pime and stability. I use Fuli mud and prime. Im a nut though.
Bacteria is extremely important.

oh and you simply must get a couple of powerheads in there. I do see there is some flow.

the animals(even ones you cant see) and bacteria use the water movement to breathe. the less they breathe they die. that lets large colonies of Cyano bacteria move in.
Its in the picture of the mushroom(an angry ricordia i believe), see the little bubbles on the algae?

 

[Mrs. Fox]

brs rodi or melev too. IMO keep a normal light schedule. limit water changes to 10% a week.
the algae is actually doing what a scrubber will do right now. funny right? its pulling poisons and Po etc.
and youve got spores. no beating that. refugium and ats will out compete the nuance algae combined with your manual removal
the canister is building a bacterial filter so you dont want to scrub it to deep. just get the big particles out.

the tank will find a balance. the more you do the harder time the tank will have in finding its balance.

The only supplement I would recommend right now is bacterial. Microbacter 7, pime and stability. I use Fuli mud and prime. Im a nut though.
Bacteria is extremely important.

oh and you simply must get a couple of powerheads in there. I do see there is some flow.

the animals(even ones you cant see) and bacteria use the water movement to breathe. the less they breathe they die. that lets large colonies of Cyano bacteria move in.
Its in the picture of the mushroom(an angry ricordia i believe), see the little bubbles on the algae?

Thank you for all your help!

I've been rinsing only the mechanical media to loosen any algae that gets stuck in there. The biological media should be pretty well established as it had been running in the tank before I picked it up, although it was NASTY.

Even so, I've been adding Prime according to the directions on the bottle just to be safe.

I have the output of the canister filter pushing water right to left across the top, and a powerhead pushing water across the bottom from left to right back to the filter intake. I did have another powerhead but decided again putting it in the tank when it gave me an electric shock. I'm planning to buy another one asap to increase flow, (my LFS doesn't seem to sell any so I'm going to have to look around).