This is my first time posting on this forum. I will give you some background on my tank, I am from Australia, I bought my rank second hand at the end of may as my first tank. It is a 4x2x2 so 400 od liters it started off well but I started running into issues. here is my latest update which I posted on The Reefuge hope you enjoy!! ask anything you like, well with in reason 
I will do this in order of what happened.
After a few weeks i started noticing my nitrates rising rapidly it peaked at around 120ppm (with api as it went off the carts of red sea)
i just gave up on testing my nitrate a few sps bleached other looked really unhappy
i also stupidly bought a blue tang which brought my tank white spot, GRRRR!!!
it appeared to go away and i didn't think any more about it (wish i did).
So i continued to monitor my tank and things just got worse, corals looked more and more upset.
It then got to a stage when all my fish suddenly started to die due to a very very aggressive strain of white spot, they were all left for dead with in 2 days, except 3, the 2 chromis and the file fish i was given.
I was very very disappointed.
I gave away them with warning of white spot (of course)
i then found a home for the anemones and the cuc and my precious red line
Thank you Ellen Homes she took the two chromis as well (dont think she is on the reefuge )
I then find a place to make my 2 old freshwater 2x18s into my new QT/Holding/hospital tank.
I got them made and transferred all my coral skimmer and lights to the tank.When my tank was running before i put the coral in the tank i was talking to Lesley i she took a loom at my sump and found 1 of the contributors which was a mix of different media all in a high flow high oxygen part of the sump which was not letting the bacteria that eats nitrates grow. This was due to the previous owner having a issues with nitrates and him putting a mix of media in. I should of picked up on this mistake but we live and learn. I then also decided to see if the sand was the issue and it wasnt the live rock. i emptied the tank leaving a about 2 cm of water and mixed the sand around a bit, basically i stunk the house out just before some guests came over, and the water went a dark brown. I have since come to a conclusion that the sand was the issue, and the media wasn't helping me. I have taken the sound out and thrown in into the gateways of my mums paddocks.IT WILL NOT BE USED AGAIN!!!!!! i also sold half of my rock and kept the stuff i liked from the lot as i had 2 different kinds of live rock. it has been dried out, i am currently looking for a way to return it to a dry rock with nothing on it. i need ideas so please chip in . I was thinking bleaching it then soaking in ro water. I will be using dry rock and dry sand in my new set up. I also have decided to redesign the hardware of my tank, i have planned for a redesign in the sump (photo to follow), relayed the cables and overall made it look a little neater
I will do this in order of what happened.
After a few weeks i started noticing my nitrates rising rapidly it peaked at around 120ppm (with api as it went off the carts of red sea)
i just gave up on testing my nitrate a few sps bleached other looked really unhappy
i also stupidly bought a blue tang which brought my tank white spot, GRRRR!!!
it appeared to go away and i didn't think any more about it (wish i did).
So i continued to monitor my tank and things just got worse, corals looked more and more upset.
It then got to a stage when all my fish suddenly started to die due to a very very aggressive strain of white spot, they were all left for dead with in 2 days, except 3, the 2 chromis and the file fish i was given.
I was very very disappointed.
I gave away them with warning of white spot (of course)
i then found a home for the anemones and the cuc and my precious red line
Thank you Ellen Homes she took the two chromis as well (dont think she is on the reefuge )
I then find a place to make my 2 old freshwater 2x18s into my new QT/Holding/hospital tank.
I got them made and transferred all my coral skimmer and lights to the tank.When my tank was running before i put the coral in the tank i was talking to Lesley i she took a loom at my sump and found 1 of the contributors which was a mix of different media all in a high flow high oxygen part of the sump which was not letting the bacteria that eats nitrates grow. This was due to the previous owner having a issues with nitrates and him putting a mix of media in. I should of picked up on this mistake but we live and learn. I then also decided to see if the sand was the issue and it wasnt the live rock. i emptied the tank leaving a about 2 cm of water and mixed the sand around a bit, basically i stunk the house out just before some guests came over, and the water went a dark brown. I have since come to a conclusion that the sand was the issue, and the media wasn't helping me. I have taken the sound out and thrown in into the gateways of my mums paddocks.IT WILL NOT BE USED AGAIN!!!!!! i also sold half of my rock and kept the stuff i liked from the lot as i had 2 different kinds of live rock. it has been dried out, i am currently looking for a way to return it to a dry rock with nothing on it. i need ideas so please chip in . I was thinking bleaching it then soaking in ro water. I will be using dry rock and dry sand in my new set up. I also have decided to redesign the hardware of my tank, i have planned for a redesign in the sump (photo to follow), relayed the cables and overall made it look a little neater
