Pics from 1st reef (55) at 3 months in

[Original Fin]

Thanks for everyones help so far! What a cool little community I've got going on. I watch for hours and hours.

I'm having an issue with algae...it's mostly diatom, and green hair, but theres also some red slime that keeps coming back. Any advice on how to go about cleaning up the tank a little? I think I have a reasonable lighting setup and schedule (216 watts T5HO...actinincs 12 hrs, whites 10) and I do 10% RO changes every two weeks. Do I need a larger CUC? Phosphates are running consistantly at 0.1 accoring to my Red Sea test kit. I know that's a little high, but it's not too bad, is it? Is it possible/practical to get it down to zero? I wish I had a sump and refugium now, because I know if I could grow some macro algae, they'd absorb some of the PO4. Unfortunately, I'm all HOB at the moment, and adding more equipment and plumbing at this point could get dicey...especially for a newbie like myself. Should I be looking in to phosphate absorbing media? Since I don't have a canister filter, could I put a media bag in my HOB skimmer (CPR Aeroforce). I do have a spare HOB mechanical/chemical filter...I could probably run that with phos-sorb or something, like that right? I'm just not convinced that that phosphates are even the problem. Any ideas would be appreciated!

The inhabitants in the order I added them:

Scarlet Hermit
2 Mexican turbo snails
Black long spined urchin
Coral banded shrimp
Diamond Goby
Hawaiian feather duster
2 Blue legged hermits
2 nassarius snails
Pajama Cardinal
6 line wrasse
True Percula Clownfish (Who's taken a liking to the hawaiian feather duster, not the BTA as intended)
Bi Color Dwarf Angel (Who harrangs the shrimp to no end looking for a cleaning service)
Quadricolor Bubble Tip Anmeone

My local LFS was nice enough to make me a $20 frag bag, and included a large piece of kenya tree coral, two mushrooms, and a bunch of assorted polyps.

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[Parrothead]

The diatoms will fade on their own, the red slime could be caused by several diff. things, High nutrients, test your water for everything, ----- nitrates, nitrites, pH, Cal., and alk, and mag. if you can, and post the test results also try to increase the flow in the areas you see the cyano building up, as for the hair algea, add some more snails, at least a couple more turbo's and try to remove as much as you can manually.

What type of extra HOB filter do you have?????

[Kibouchi]

You've got a beautiful tank in the making there, man. Not experienced enough to offer any advice, but as a newcomer and somebody who can appreciate the quality of life, it looks like you're really coming along.

Keep up the good work!

[Original Fin]

The diatoms will fade on their own, the red slime could be caused by several diff. things, High nutrients, test your water for everything, ----- nitrates, nitrites, pH, Cal., and alk, and mag. if you can, and post the test results also try to increase the flow in the areas you see the cyano building up, as for the hair algea, add some more snails, at least a couple more turbo's and try to remove as much as you can manually.

What type of extra HOB filter do you have?????

Parrot,

The spare HOB I have is an Aqueon 55...it has two charcoal cartridges.
Yesterday's test results:

PH-8.4 (Test done late in the day near the end of photo period)
SG 1.0245 (I've been working on increasing to 1.026 from my 1.023 starting point)
Ammonia-0
Nitrites-0
Nitrates -near zero
Calcium-480 ( Four days ago, CA3 tested at 400, so a little strange that it came up 80 points in that time with no water changes. Perhaps it has to do with the time of day that I tested? When I got the 400 reading, it was much earlier in the day, and PH was also lower at 8.2. Perhaps CA3 readings increase with PH, or maybe it's because I dosed with Strontium/Molybdenum since then? I don't supplement calcium anymore...stopped doing that back in week 6. Had been using Purple up and ballance blocks prior to that point. I got a lot of feedback from the forums that it's a useless if not harmful snakeoil. Regular water changes should be perfectly adequate for replenishing CA.)

I don't have Alk or Mag test kits yet...ordering Salifert test kits today. Anything else I should be testing for? I plan to buy all Salifert going forward. Based on what Marine Depot carries, these are the tests that I currently DON'T have:

General Hardness/Alkalinity
Magnesium
Copper
Strontium
Dissolved Oxygen
Silicate
Iodine.

Since my Kenya Tree Coral needs Iodine and Strontium supplementation, I'll plan on getting those test kits for sure. Considering how I'm currently stocked, and that I don't plan on adding any more corals till I've hit the 1 yr mark, which of the above should I be testing for? Are there any that I've missed?

Appreciate your advice Parrot. You're always one of the first to jump in and help!

[Original Fin]

You've got a beautiful tank in the making there, man. Not experienced enough to offer any advice, but as a newcomer and somebody who can appreciate the quality of life, it looks like you're really coming along.

Keep up the good work!

Thanks Kibouchi...I was checking out your posts last night as well. Kudos for using RO...you shouldn't have to worry about chlorine or phosphates as long as you're doing that. Not a bad idea to test the RO water first though. I had been using a self serve RO dispenser at my local supermarket for a few weeks before it occurred to me to test, and to my surprise, nitrates were present...about 20 ppm. Obvioulsly, management there isn't keeping up with changing their filters, so I've taken my business elsewhere. I'm only a few steps ahead of you, so if you want send me a PM and we can compare notes.

[Kibouchi]

Tried to send you a PM and email but it says your permissions for both are turned off.

It's cool meeting more newbies. So many people on this board are extremely experienced and it can be a little daunting to think about all the stuff I still have to learn (duanting in a good way). It's nice knowing somebody is on a similar level as I am.

You're actually far ahead of me though. I barely have any equipment. I have a 105 gallon tank and that's about it. I want to get the stand next, then the lighting. My research yielded those three things as the most expensive individual purchases in the process. I was looking at a stand from petsmart for 160 bucks that was made for a 75 gallon tank (back when I was getting a 75 gal) but it can only guarantee up to 900 pounds. A 105 gallon tank will be around 1300 pounds at least when you factor the weight of the tank itself + water + substrate + live rock + equipment. That's 400+ pounds past the weight limit of the stand, and if it was 100 pounds or so I'd be more willing to risk it, but 400+ pounds isn't something I'd like to gamble with. I'll have to save up a lot more to get a stand that works for my tank. If you know of any place to get a good one let me know.

[tedlepplin]

hi original fin,

i totally agree with kabuchi, a good looking tank set up so far.

just to say its always worth checking water before it goes in where ever it comes from, i found a month ago that my lfs sold me salter r/o that wasn't salty enough at something like 1.018. i now mix my own.

also i think some brands of salt contain traces of phosphates, so its worth making sure you choose a brand like reef crystals. Parrot reccomended it to me

Reef Crystal Salt 50 Gallon

[Original Fin]

hi original fin,

i totally agree with kabuchi, a good looking tank set up so far.

just to say its always worth checking water before it goes in where ever it comes from, i found a month ago that my lfs sold me salter r/o that wasn't salty enough at something like 1.018. i now mix my own.

also i think some brands of salt contain traces of phosphates, so its worth making sure you choose a brand like reef crystals. Parrot reccomended it to me

Reef Crystal Salt 50 Gallon

Thanks Ted...I've been using Oceanic brand sea salt which is what they sell at Pet Extreme. I've noticed that Calcium is higher than ideal with this mix. A fresh mix tests at about 500. I'll have to see if any of my LFS's carry the brand you're suggesting.

[tedlepplin]

hi original fin,

i dont know if its the best i should have added i am a novice, but i was reccomended to use that brand by parrot , who has far more experiense than me.

you could try to start a new post "whats the best brand of salt money can buy and why" i am sure you would get a number of suggestions and you could quite possibly start a heated debate over which brand is best

[tedlepplin]

i should have added that, as with everything, i am sure there are a coupple of brands out there that might be best avoided for a reeftank, but i am not sure which ones would be best to avoid, if there are any.

[Parrothead]

Used the following:

Instant Ocean - good
Oceanic - didn't like at all
Reef Crystals - rocks, love it

JMHO

[peacock]

+1 parrot Reef Crystals is the one of the best on the market