New to r2r

Jmradtke13 · Oct 17, 2019

jhebi said:
How lonmg is the seahare in there. Sometimes it takes couple days for them to chow down. And when they do, you better have a lot of algae or else they will die. Hope starts to eat. Good Luck and Welcome

I bought it 2 or 3 days ago. The LFS said I could take it back for credit once my tank is clear.

dbl · Oct 17, 2019

Welcome to R2R and thanks for signing up.

Ruben's Reef · Oct 17, 2019

!!! Welcome to R2R !!!

LiveWire · Oct 17, 2019

Welcome to the REEF!!

Jmradtke13 · Oct 17, 2019

lmm1967 said:
Welcome - if that picture of your tank is recent I'd say it's not in all that bad of shape!

It looks like you have a canister filter - how often are you changing that and how old is the media inside it? Can you start running a protein skimmer?

Personally - I wouldn't change too much all at once. Get started on regular water changes, be sure you get and keep your salinity right on target. Run for at least 2 weeks after that and keep your tank as stable as possible.

See whats happening after that - algae going away a little? Great - keep up the water changes. Algae getting worse? OK - start taking additional steps.

First though - get the tank stable and keep it stable for a few weeks. As long as nothing is close to death - go nice & slow.

Yes that is my current tank and thank you! . I have seen it in way better condition which is why I feel it doesnt look so hot. Its just a lot of live rock right now. I do have a canister filter. Its the first one I bought 7 years ago and I havent moved to anything else. I feel its not 100 percent what I want but I dont know enough to change it. I would have to do more research. As far as a protein skimmer your the 2nd person who has suggested that so guess what I will be researching next . It probably was changed out around may but the guy who I had come clean my tank used to clean it out every so often. I just noticed today my lights are not set up correctly and I think thats causing some of it. I will definitely keep up with water changes. I checked the salinty 4 days ago and it was super high and I did another small water change yesterday and the salinty went from being at 1.032 to 1.028.

fishface NJ · Oct 17, 2019

Welcome to R2R

lmm1967 · Oct 18, 2019

So your canister filter has not been serviced since May? If that is accurate - there's your problem.

You need to clean that on a regular basis - and get an ATO in place to keep your salinity where it needs to be.

If you accomplish those 2 things - I'll bet you'll be in a much better state.

Emarley · Oct 18, 2019

Welcome to R2R!!!

TK_KW · Oct 18, 2019

Welcome to R2R

Mastiffsrule · Oct 20, 2019

Welcome. A few quick think. Love the countertops.

Your salinity is way high. I use those hydrometer too, but a refractor is better and more accurate. The biggest thing with those is the possibility bubbles get on the arm giving false high readings. So first we want to be sure your reading is accurate.

When you add top off water are you adding mixed or fresh RO, or using an ATO? How do you mix water? Once you get a routine down these problems go away.

There’s tons of info here to read and ask about. Please take advantage of it all.

Glad you joined

Jmradtke13 · Nov 8, 2019

Mastiffsrule said:
Welcome. A few quick think. Love the countertops.

Your salinity is way high. I use those hydrometer too, but a refractor is better and more accurate. The biggest thing with those is the possibility bubbles get on the arm giving false high readings. So first we want to be sure your reading is accurate.

When you add top off water are you adding mixed or fresh RO, or using an ATO? How do you mix water? Once you get a routine down these problems go away.

There’s tons of info here to read and ask about. Please take advantage of it all.

Glad you joined

I actually recently purchased this house and one of my requirements was granite counter tops so thanks! This hydrometer is about 7 years old as well. I bought it when I first started with the tank. So I should probably get a new one but a friend suggested for me to get the salinty tested at the fish store. When I top off I use fresh. With my work schedule it was hard to spend time with the tank so I had someone servicing the tank for the last 6 months but now Im back to being able to spend some time with it.

Jmradtke13 · Nov 8, 2019

lmm1967 said:
So your canister filter has not been serviced since May? If that is accurate - there's your problem.

You need to clean that on a regular basis - and get an ATO in place to keep your salinity where it needs to be.

If you accomplish those 2 things - I'll bet you'll be in a much better state.

Not entirely. He changed the media in may but he cleaned it out when ever he came to service it once a month.

Rick Mathew · Nov 9, 2019

Jmradtke13 said:
Hey! So Im new to r2r and new to forums so excuse the naiveness. A little back story. I have been a salt water hobbiest for about 7 years now. I used to have a beautiful tank but ended up moving and with lack of knowledge and a promotion at work leading to a very busy work schedule I neglected my tank. I didnt really care enough again until like 5 months ago when I started paying someone to come and do water changes. Fast forward to today and lessons learned Im reaching out to this wonderful community for the knowledge I need that I am lacking to continue on this journey without paying someone my hard earned money on something I enjoy. I currently have a 55 gallon with only some polyps and candy cane coral that is pretty small. I have a small clean up crew consisting of hermits, astreas, 2 tiger conchs, seahare and 1 or 2 mexicans and a turbo. Livestock wise 2 dominos, a fox face I just purchased a long with a school of 5 chromis. My question to you guys is I had a bloom of hair algea and I think diatoms? ( the sand has a film and red in color) I tested my water and nitrates were high along with a very high salinity. I went to the LFS today to have them test as well he said my phosphates were kinda high but not to extreme along with a slightly high salinty. So I was advised to do a small water change (like 5 percent) and add about 3 gallons of fresh to my 2 gallons of salt. Any other advice to get rid of hair algea? How many snails should I own in my tank? Could my lights contribute to any of this? I have owned nems before, tangs, and other coral and would like to get back to that but I know I need to get the numbers right. Sorry for the long post, I have attached some photos of my tank as well. I am glad to be apart of this community .