Help with my tank

BetoCR · Dec 19, 2016

Hi!
I'm new in this community, I have been in this hobby for a while and I've done research myself and with some friends, but I've never been in a community like this.
I recently moved into the US, and wanted to start a reef tank, I bought this tank used and I didn't build the sump, which now I know its a mess, I've fixed it a little but I need some help with that. In January 2016 I started my aquarium, and now it's at a point where I really want to start it over. My temperature (need a new heater, need recommendation) and pH spike a lot, there's aiptasia on every single rock, tube worms, peanut worms, little starfish everywhere I look, etc. So it's basically a mess. I don't have top of the line equipment, but enough to be able to have a successful tank. I just need help with being able to be successful in this hobby and learn from mistakes that I've made and how to fix it.
I have:
-40g breeder tank
-20g sump
-Around 50-60lbs of rock, same with sand
-Galaxyhydro for light
-1 6025 Tunze for flow
-Skimz SN123 Protein Skimmer
-Jebao DC 4000 return pump
-Little fishies 150 reactor (For now with bio pellets, want to use GFO)
-200 w heater

It's running now, but I'm ready to take it down and restart it. I want to "bleach" or kill the rocks so that I can get rid of everything in them. Same with the sand. Please help me and tell me what to do.

Thanks in advance for the help

cromag27 · Dec 20, 2016

http://reef2reef.com/threads/how-to-clean-old-rock-before-put-in-the-tank.209008/#post-2392229

Shawn.B · Dec 20, 2016

you don't have a whole lot of rock in the tank, you may be better off just restarting with some dry rock? just a thought im not sure how much money you plan to spend.

I would pull everything out of your sump, move the skimmer to the first section, return pump to the second section, then make a refugium in the far right, you can add some macro for nutrient export and run it on a reverse light cycle to help stabilize pH

for your heater I would just get one from BRS or a similar site, you cant go wrong with a heater with a few good reviews you will need about 150-200w, you may eventually want to look at a controller to run the heater, it can double as an ATO and save you lots of time, the RKL is reasonably priced for smaller tanks

NanaReefer · Dec 20, 2016

I'm running the same setup, except our sumps are set up differently.
As for the Aptasia due diligence is a must using AptasiaX if you don't wish to get rid of your rock. You could also try Aptasia eating Nudibranch. Otherwise remove rock and give it a good acid bath. You'll have completely pest free rock [emoji2]
I agree with removing rock from overflow chamber. Placing skimmer there instead. If to noisy I added the use of socks.
Create a small refugium in center using Chaeto & live rock rubble. Return chamber can also be used for reactor, you definitely got the space in there.