Need help with equipment...

[H2oheartny3]

Hi everyone. I’ve had my aquarium for about 9 months now, but I’m starting to wonder if when I set up my tank that I purchased the right equipment as far as lights/filtration/power heads go... I have a 50 gal cube(24x24x22) with a Current marine pro light, gyre power head, and as far as filtration goes, I have like 30 lb of live live rock, some ceramic rings, and my protein skimmer. I have a filter sock as my water enters the sump...

The reason I’m asking is I’ve been trying to add new corals/fish, but only 2/3 seem to make it more than a week. My water parameters seem good and I feed reguarly(fish daily/every other day and corals 1-2 times weekly). Is my lighting ok? Do I have too much/not enough water movement?? Do I need more filtration??

Any input would be much appreciated. Thanks!!

 

[RIreefGuy]

Something is def up. What are your tests showing? If u post your results ppl should be able to help. Also what fish/coral have u added and lost? Are u using RO/DI water? Let's get this sorted!

 

[SDK]

Something is def up. What are your tests showing? If u post your results ppl should be able to help. Also what fish/coral have u added and lost? Are u using RO/DI water? Let's get this sorted!

All of this, plus you should look into upgrading your lighting if you want to keep much more than easy, low light corals....

 

[Alexreefer]

+1 for all above. Post params and upgrade your light to a radion or AI

 

[RIreefGuy]

Agreed on the lights but that's not root cause of fish and coral dying in a week. If u have the tests I'd like to see ammonia nitrite nitrate calcium alk salinity and temp values

 

[Act1n1c_L1fe]

I use a hydra 26hd on my jbj 45 which grows sps halfway up.
your powerhead being a gyre is good,
skimmer is good.
what are parameters?
nigh nitrates or phosphates will kill fish over a few days.
salinity?
are those dinos on the sand bed? they release toxins that can kil fish...
whats in your media reactor?

 

[SDK]

Agreed on the lights but that's not root cause of fish and coral dying in a week. If u have the tests I'd like to see ammonia nitrite nitrate calcium alk salinity and temp values

Agreed. If you look at some of the corals in there, lighting is also an issue and OP was looking for critiques on his equipment choices....

 

[H2oheartny3]

ok just checked my parameters and they’re not good... ammonia/nitrates are high... I stopped there because I’m sure phosphates are also high. What would cause this spike? It’s not like I left the dead fish in there... and what do I do to remedy this?? If I change too much water would that hurt the tank as well?? Feeling pretty bummed I let this happen...

 

[RIreefGuy]

Agreed. If you look at some of the corals in there, lighting is also an issue and OP was looking for critiques on his equipment choices....

Yep totally agree.

ok just checked my parameters and they’re not good... ammonia/nitrates are high... I stopped there because I’m sure phosphates are also high. What would cause this spike? It’s not like I left the dead fish in there... and what do I do to remedy this?? If I change too much water would that hurt the tank as well?? Feeling pretty bummed I let this happen...

Yes makes sense. Very strange to see ammonia in a tank that age unless something died and u didnt realize/remove it. Basically need to rebuild your good bacteria now. I would grab a bottle of biospira/ dr Tim's/ fritz etc. Add that and test till ammonia and nitrite zero out. What's living in the tank atm?

 

[RIreefGuy]

Its interesting because I was talking about testing with someone in another thread and they were saying they dont test ammonia nitrite or nitrate once the tank is established. I get this but I enjoy testing so I still do those weekly and I would have caught this in my routine. I am def gonna keep doing what I'm doing lol

 

[H2oheartny3]

2 clownfish, a damsel, mandarin dragonet, fire shrimp, a few soft/lps corals. Two damsels I added are what died within the week which made me really wonder what was going on... they’re normally hardy fish, right? I’ll grab some biospira and add right away. How much filter media should I have? Should I basically fill up as much of my sump as possible?? Is there a range? Looks like first thing is to get my parameters back in check...

 

[RIreefGuy]

Yea I'm a "the more live rock the better" kinda guy lol. If u can grab some from lfs tanks, that would help too as it will be another source of good bacteria. The only other filtration I run is a chaeto reactor , skimmer and filter pads. I change the pads weekly. What's the ammonia testing at? You might want to think about adding some Prime if it's high to relieve the fish. It won't address the problem but it bonds with the ammonia for a while and renders it non toxic. I would also do a 10ish percent water change asap.