What should I change in my tank? (Coral + powerhead placement)

[onlytoby]

Hey guys!

As the title says I just need some advice if where I've placed things are correctly.
I've recently just got a few new corals so I want to make sure they thrive.

Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 5-10
Phosphate - 0 (I thought this was high as I feed mysis heavily and the cause of my cyano, but I just got my test kit and am quite surprised!)

Powerhead - 3/4 in height on the left side of the tank, placed in the centre of the glass. This will meet the current of the the return pump

**EDIT I have just seen tentacles from the blasto near the hammer so this has been moved further away and I just moved my utter chaos around the corner from the favia

Hammer - On the left I have a hammer, which is under my powerhead as I figure this will be a low flow area.
Blasto - next to the hammer
Zoa - middle on the sandbed, on top of rock, utter chaos on the right side of the tank in what I think is a low light area
Dragon soul favia - right side, low light, I THINK low-med flow as far from the powerheah
GSP - Back of the tank in the centre on island
Xenia - back left of the tank on an island


I had recently just done so maintenance by siphoning algae and cyano into a filter sock and putting the water back in, so the corals are shy at the moment. I didn't want to do a water change because I didn't want my nitrates to lower.
I have been suffering from cyano for a month or so (tank is 8 months or so old but replaced some rock) and my nitrates were 0. J didn't have a Phos test kit but I figured it was high as I fed heavily, however it arrived today and it just tested at 0!
I can't imagine flow being an issue because my nero was at 1000 GPH and it still covering everything (it was placed low on the tank at the back but I recently moved it to the top)

**I made this tank myself so is a basic AIO, no skimmer, refugium, filter socks. I have a sponge, heater, spare rocks for bioload and return pump in the chambers
**There is a rock placed awkwardly on top of another rock on the right side of the tank. I had previously removed a month or so ago rock that was there and added the top rock there which Is what I want in my tank, however I left the base there for the bio load whilst the newer rock does it's thing. On the third month I will be removing the base rock so it's just the top rock on the right of the tank.
**x2 clownfish, x1 cardinal, x1 cleaner shrimp, x4 hermits. I did have snails however they recently died as they fell whilst I was at work, I have 6 currently in my QT tank.

 

[Quietman]

Honestly, it looks good to me. As your start adding corals the flow will change over time and you may want to add another power head to compensate for low flow or dead areas that have detritus build up. From what I can see your corals look good, the tank continues to mature nicely even with the minor cyano.

Once you feel the corals have acclimated you can move up to rock if that's your plan. I like the xenia on it's own rock.

Your rock work is low enough that you might consider mounting your corals on rock rubble instead of or in addition to the frag plugs. Makes it easier to move around and looks more natural.

 

[onlytoby]

Honestly, it looks good to me. As your start adding corals the flow will change over time and you may want to add another power head to compensate for low flow or dead areas that have detritus build up. From what I can see your corals look good, the tank continues to mature nicely even with the minor cyano.

Once you feel the corals have acclimated you can move up to rock if that's your plan. I like the xenia on it's own rock.

Your rock work is low enough that you might consider mounting your corals on rock rubble instead of or in addition to the frag plugs. Makes it easier to move around and looks more natural.

That's a very good idea! Maybe I will look at a second hand item or something cheaper and smaller online, it's only a 20 gallon (60x45x45cm) tank
Fabulous! The majority are new so hopefully they stay as they are. The only thing I'm a bit concerned about is my utter chaos, I peroxide dipped about 4 days ago because the algae on the plug was out of control and between the heads and whilst it's finally out, it looks a bit wrinkly/shrunken still, but hopefully this will fix itself over time as I appreciate it must have been a stressful experience for it!

Yeah I was planning on having one rock from hammers or torches and the other for zoanthids. I have just been told on a UK forum that my favia is very hard to keep and has a low survival rate so hopefully it will be OK. I was hoping to have a small LPS rock but I guess I will have to see how it does now!

That's a great idea about mounting on rubble!

 

[blaxsun]

I can’t tell what Nero model that is (3?), but as @Quietman suggested - a second at some point wouldn’t hurt (and you can probably dial the flow down on both when you do).

 

[onlytoby]

I can’t tell what Nero model that is (3?), but as @Quietman suggested - a second at some point wouldn’t hurt (and you can probably dial the flow down on both when you do).

You are correct, sir!
When I do get another, where would you suggest placing it? On the other side of the tank or perhaps on the back wall?

 

[blaxsun]

You are correct, sir!
When I do get another, where would you suggest placing it? On the other side of the tank or perhaps on the back wall?

I would probably place it on the opposite side of the tank, move both up several inches, slightly angle to bounce off the front of the tank and dial both back to around 60%. The reason I would place them a bit higher is to get more water diffusion and a bit more oxygen exchange at the surface. But when you start adding corals this is something you’ll play around with anyway.

If you feel really creative you can even program them to anti-sync, ie: one will be pushing and the other pulling, so you get this gradual wave motion back and forth.

 

[onlytoby]

I would probably place it on the opposite side of the tank, move both up several inches, slightly angle to bounce off the front of the tank and dial both back to around 60%. The reason I would place them a bit higher is to get more water diffusion and a bit more oxygen exchange at the surface. But when you start adding corals this is something you’ll play around with anyway.

If you feel really creative you can even program them to anti-sync, ie: one will be pushing and the other pulling, so you get this gradual wave motion back and forth.

Ahh that explains how people get the wave motion!
The Nero has a 'pulse' settting, which I thought would have done this but I can't seem to see that it done anything

 

[blaxsun]

Ahh that explains how people get the wave motion!
The Nero has a 'pulse' settting, which I thought would have done this but I can't seem to see that it done anything

You basically have to program each in the opposite wave motion (not always easy when it's on a random, etc. mode). It looks super cool if you can pull it off!