New To Marine Help Needed

[starkie]

hi folks just bought a marine tank on wed night the tank itself is 4 foot by 15 by 21 and came with live rock and soft corals.
due to moving it i have filled it with fresh ro water and mixed the salt in it to bring the level up (had to do it in tank due to being the middle of night by time i got home) i have the temp at 72f but this is where it gets fun lol.
the tank when i got it was very very bad with green algea which i have washed off the glass surface but due to filling it the water has gone very mucky so have got a fluval 4 plus in it with new pads to try catch the worst of the grubby stuff in water.
i had in garage a brand new interpet daylight blue 36w t5 light unit so am using that at the moment till i deside exactly what lighting i am going to settle with is there anything i will need to do etc as am new to this

 

[jeasko]

does the tank have a skimmer or sump? or is the fluval the only filtration you have?

I only ask as you would do well to use a phosphate remover to aid with getting rid of the algae, if your planning on an enclosed unit where you only have the main tank you may want to consider a bigger external filter and a skimmer to keep the water quality up, in addition your probably going to need powerheads, and as for lighting you may want to sort that asap as it will affect the corals, best thing would be to look up previous posts from other people regarding setting up a new marine aquarium as there are loads of things your going to need to consider

 

[starkie]

the tank had been set up for 5 years and he never had a filter in it as the rock took care of it i do have phospate remover somewhere and going to add the 2 power heads now that they are actually clean lol but i will add a sump but piping it etc might be a hassle due to being in my alcove

 

[jeasko]

ok if your planning on keeping corals especially hard corals you really should invest in a skimmer as the skimmer will be able to filter out far more unwanted substances than the LR and if you are going to keep hard coral your water quality needs to be pretty much spot on, also its not a bad idea to have one about incase your water prams go off the planet, have to say that the filter really doesnt seem that big compared to the tank size i would be very tempted with an external filter that would be much easier to maintain which could also house the likes of a phosphate remover and activated carbon

If you go with the sump option you can house a skimmer in the sump out of site thus reducing the noise of it as they can be noisy, some will say that there is no need for a skimmer but my take on it is that its a bit of kit that would easily pay for itself if things went wrong and also it will really help to keep your water quality where it should be, but in addition you will need to have sufficient surface agitation from the power heads and do not neglect the water changes as they will be paramount to maintaining a healthy tank

I would still really concentrate on lighting as the t5 light you have may need to be upgraded as im not sure it will be sufficient for the corals, how many corals have you got and what are they?

 

[starkie]

since pics say a thousand words lol

http/i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee80/mi...pictures098.jpg

also have a uv in garage if that would help as dont want to use many chemicals if any

the pics were meant to work lol

 

[jeasko]

lol there is a tab on the page that says forums just copy and past that link I had the same trouble first time i used it

 

[starkie]

finally lol

 

[SkiFletch]

Wow, those corals do not look happy . Do your best to get the temp up and the salinity stable (1.023 to 1.026) as soon as possible. Also get those powerhead running, corals need flow to breathe

 

[starkie]

got the slinity done and power heads whats the best temp to do for

 

[alexlark]

Around 78 degree C should be fine

 

[Musho3210]

you mean 78F (i would still go higher, but 78C is too high lol) 81-83 is good, F of course

 

[jeasko]

78C Man are we cooking corals these days lol 78F would be a good starting point as stated by everyone else, powerheads as per ski's post but also there is no way that filter is going to cope with the water in that tank looking at your pics and previously owning one in another tank it really isnt going to be up to the job, you may want to look at a larger external filter in the intrim between now and setting up your sump, it has several benefits mostly being that you can use phosphate removers and activated carbon within them as its easier to access also its alot easier to maintain and reduces clutter in the tank.

 

[Musho3210]

ive noticed things in my tank did better when i raised from 79 to 83. 78 is probably survivable, but i would crank up to at least 81....

 

[SkiFletch]

Heh, mine does great at 77 all winter

 

[chrissaysyes]

ive noticed things in my tank did better when i raised from 79 to 83.