Probably The First Of Many Questions!

[Andy P]

Hi all,

I'd like to start off by apologising for the length of this post, I'll try and keep it as short as I can!

I've been keeping freshwater tropicals for about 6 years now and have always planned on going salty at some point, now an opportunity has dropped in my lap that I cant turn down! I have done some research in the past so I understand the basic principals of a live rock base system, protein skimming etc but have never put them in action.

Basically a workmate of mine has asked if I would like to take on his salty setup as he does not have the time to dedicate to it. I've been around to have a look and it's an AquaMedic Chromis (140l), he has quite alot of live rock in there a Fluval U4 internal foor phosphate removal media and what I thought was a Vectron V2 internal skimmer but having images checked online im not entirely sure...
Livestock consists of 2 common clownfish, a midas blenny and some sort of damsel (blue body, yellow tail?) theres also a feather duster and what may be a small (2") leather coral in there.
Oh, forgot to say - lighting is 2 x TMC aquabeam LED bars.
There is quite a lot of green hair algae carpeting the tank with some sort of tiny anenomie creatures in it (please excuse lack of technical terminology! I'll try to add a pic)

I guess I'm looking for suggestions as to what I should to it improve the health of the tank when I take it on?
It seems to me that there is nowhere near enough water movement in there so a couple of powerheads should be first on my shopping list?

Thanks in advance for any advice

Andy

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Yep powerheads would be the first thing. Lack of water flow will cause all sorts of issues. You want at least X15-X20 tank volume in water flow (ideally from 2 or 3 powerheads rather then 1 large one).

Get yourself a decent test kit for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and phosphate. If there is an algae issue there is probably high phosphate and I know from experience that this can get absorbed into the rock so it can take awhile to get it cleared. Phosphate removal media that is regularly changed will help along with regular water changes. If the phosphate levels are really high then there are other alternatives but these need to be used with caution so lets we what we are dealing with first.

Make sure you have a source of good RO water for topping up and doing water changes (its a LOT easier if you get your own RO unit). Using high TDS RO water or tap water will add to the phosphate and algae issues.

Sounds like a good setup though.

 

[Andy P]

Thanks for the quick response!
I'll start shopping around for some powerheads, I've also got an Eheim Classic external that isn't being used at the moment, I would rather use that than the internal filter for phosphate / nitrate remover but the only thing is I got is 2nd hand and dont know if there were ever any copper based meds used with it - could that cause a problem? Its had a thourough clean!

these are pics of the critters in the algae I mentioned before

Sorry theyre not very clear - any ideas?!?

Cheers

Andy

 

[seffieuk]

to the salty side of the forum

The critters you showed looked like brittle stars to me

The small anemone looking things are probably just that, anemones, but pest anemones, check out aiptaisia and mojanos. If they turn out to be them, don't panic - when you move the rock (in salty water) to yours just be ready to burn them with a small soldering iron or the like

Get yourself a new sand bed, but when the sand is out of the tank seive through it for any creatures lurking there, not with your hands though - ouch!

Pull as much of the hair algae off as you can and get yourself an emerald crab to finish the job

Anyways, keep us updated

Seffie x

 

[Andy P]

Thanks for the advice Seffie, it is much appreciated!

the plan is to collect the tank next Tuesday after work, take it straight home & set it up again. I'll try and remove as much of the hair algae as I can
Would replacing the substate completely be ok? Theres not an awful lot of livestock left in the tank but I dont want to upset the balance & kill off what little remains!

 

[seffieuk]

What live stock is there?

I would replace the whole sand bed - if the tank has been neglected it is likly to cause you many problems with phosphates etc

Seffie x

 

[Andy P]

Hi Seffie,

Livestock consists of 2 common clownfish, a midas blenny and some sort of damsel (blue body, yellow tail?) theres also a feather duster and what may be a small (2") leather coral in there.
Also a couple of small Hermit crabs.

Ive checked and the skimmer is a TMC V120 nano skimmer which I think is a bit small for the tank? I'm sure I read somewhere that you should use a skimmer rated for a larger tank than it is to be used on?

I've seen some Caribsea Live sand in my lfs, would that be beneficial when replacing the substrate or would plain coral sand be best? What depth of substrate am I going to need?

Sorry for all the questions!

Andy

 

[seffieuk]

Sorry for all the questions!

Never be sorry or worried about asking questions, it's how we all learn and develop

I wouldn't buy 'live' sand, how 'live' do you think it would be after a few months in a plastic bag without flow or food!!!? Buy aragonite or coral sand - i dont like too deep a snad bed, mine is less than an inch.

Don't just throw the old sand away, put it through a sieve or the like to get out any snails etc that might be lurking

And yes, you are right re: skimmer - bigger is better, you get what you pay for with skimmers, you might want to keep the one you have for now and look around for a good second hand one like a deltec mce

Seffie x

 

[Andy P]

Here we go!
Picked up the tank & contents Wednesday evening, went straight home & all set up.

The little coral (leather? - just above the clownfish in the pic) had his polyps extended by morning and all livestock seems to be happy. in addition to the fish mentioned in the previous posts I think I've identified the blue chap infront of the Skimmer as a yellow tail damsel - can anyone else confirm? he seems to spend most of his time getting chased by the clowns

Sorry for the dodgy pics - phonecamera!

In addition to the fish there are 3 turbosnails and 3 hermit crabs.

As I mentioned in a previous post the Algae has lots of tentacles wafting about in it, the following is a better pic

Somebody mentioned brittlestars, are they a good or bad thing?!?

I havent had time to do a water test but I suspect nitrates / phosphates are giong to be high (will test tonight & post results) what should I be doing next? Someone suggested an emerald crab would eat the hair algae?

Thanks in advance for any responses.

P.S I have a 3000lph powerhead on order to up the flow

 

[-Nemo-]

Fron the distance, the coral looks like a toadstool leather and the fish does indeed look like a yellow tail damsel. Those damsels can be nasty little guys, so watch out.

Those worms live in the sand, I forget what they're called, but they're helpful. Every centimeter of my sandbed is covered in them. I must have thousands. They help eat any food left on the substrate.

To help to fix your algae problem, first try to find the source of it. Getting your water tested will be the first step in doing so. IME emerald crabs help to eat hair algae but are not voracious at doing so. I would manually remove as much as you can.

 

[Andy P]

the fish does indeed look like a yellow tail damsel. Those damsels can be nasty little guys, so watch out.

I had read that elsewhere but he spends most of his time getting chased around by the clowns and never fights back - I guess the worm may turn someday.

I've got a 3000lph powerhead on order which should arrive Tuesday.

I've done a water test and the results are

PH 7.5
SG 1.022
Phosphate 1.0
Ammonia 0.1
NitrIte 0.1
NitrAte 35

Now I realise ammonia and nitrite should be 0 and nitrate should be lower, what whould I do from here?
I have an Eheim ecco external that I could put some nitrate / phosphate reomver in but I got it second hand and therefore cant vouch for what medications might have been used by the previous owner. Is there any way to clean it sufficiently?

I've also found these fellas hiding behind the algae magnet, I think they may be bristleworms? Good guys or bad guys?

what should my next step be?!

 

[seffieuk]

Your tank is going through a cycle - as you have live stock in there do a large water change. However, if it were me I would be tempted to take out all live stock to a holding tank and then let the tank cycle.

Bristle worms are good members of your cuc unless they are red or very big

Seffie x

ps I would also rehome the blue damsel