New hobbyist, please help, thank you!

[krystlemike]

My wife and I set up our new hobby about 2 months ago, we love the idea and enjoy it very much. We have learned much online and from local Fish Stores and done the best we can with the little knowledge we were able to acquire from diverse locations. I was very intrigued to stumble upon this community, its amazing how much I have learned here so here is our very first post to get constructive criticism and recommendations. Just want to make sure we are doing the right thing in order to enjoy and keep our beautiful pets happy! At the moment we cant (at least not yet) have a refugium so we are doing what we can. Please let us know what changes we can make if any, Ideas, set up, chemicals, food, equipment or any other things you can think of in order to keep this set up clean, healthy and stable, maintain the water crystal clear, algae control, anything you can think of!! Thank you so much in advance!!! Feel free to reply with pictures or your set up too!

Set up:
56 Gallon Tank
Live Sand
Live rocks (About 30-40 Pounds approximately)
We test the water daily for PH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate and Gravity/Salinity for the last week it became stable at PH between 8.0-8.2 Salinity between 1.022 - 1.025 and everything else is 0!!


Mike and Krystle

 

[Mike J.]

Welcome to Reef2Reef. Great first post, with pictures! Has to be the cleanest aquarium I've seen in awhile. I see you have an anemone in there and would suggest that you consider a stronger light for it. Maybe a four bulb T5? Another recommendation I have is when you do water changes skim the water off the top. That way you'll get those floating organics, oily film. Also, highly suggest a HOB skimmer. Again, welcome aboard.

 

[krystlemike]

Mr. Mike J.
Thank you for your input and compliments, When you recommend a "four bulb t5" you mean the one I currently have is a dual bulb so I just need to buy another dual bulb T5 to have 4? As per skimming the top you mean using a bucket to slightly get the top water off? or using an actual HOB skimmer? Thank you Sir!

 

[Mike J.]

On my tank that doesn't have a sump I'll use a cup to skim the oil off the top of the water. Also, a skimmer is what I'd consider essential equipment.

 

[krystlemike]

Thank you so much Sir!

 

[fishroomlady]

welcome to the forum and the hobby! your tank looks really good - I think more lighting is a great recommendation. I can see one powerhead in there, it may be beneficial to look at adding one more powerhead on the opposite side, flow is always good in a reef tank. A skimmer is a must imo for a salt tank. Do you have any media in your HOB filter? Your tank will go through stages of different algaes so don't become too concerned when you see it showing up. You'll want to keep your phosphate and nitrates on the low side to limit fuel for algae. You'll want to regularly blow off detritrus off your rocks (you can use a turkey baster), this also assists in keeping nutrients low.

you do have a couple of damsels in there that can become very aggressive toward new inhabitants - I might suggest that you remove them and replace with some more passive fish - this is more for the long run of the tank - the black and white striped damsels ime can become extremely territorial and will attack any newcomers.

 

[krystlemike]

Hi fishroomlady, What you mean by media in my HOB Filter? Pertaining to the detritrus off the rocks you mean when sometimes when I moved them to change the scenery a lot of stuff comes off of it (Is that what you mean?) I will get another circulation pump and im going out today to get a HOB skimmer, also about the lighting can I double up what I have now to make it stronger? ( is that how it works?) or is it the intensity of the actual light? About the Damsels I agree with you but my Wife says she never see them attacking anything (I just go by what I learn online and Liveaquaria.com when it comes to fish description and attributes) any ideas on how to approach this situation ? Anything else I can do to maintain what I have? Cleaning the live sand if needed? Any chemicals? Water changes? Feeding? Any maintenance you recommend with your experience?

 

[Fin]

The tank is REALLY clean!

 

[Mike J.]

Yes, you can add another 2 bulb T5 HO. Just saw the Blue Velvet Damsel. I had one years ago and still remember it as a terrible fish. They get BIG fast. One day I came home and it had tore up everything in the tank. I took it to a fish store where it sat for over a year until some brave soul adopted it.
A six inch damsel is a fierce thing.

 

[krystlemike]

We also if not noted in the picture have a Valentini Puffer fish and a Fire shrimp. I will go out today to get HOB skimmer and check out the lighting/circulation pump. I will get the two Damsels out from my tank just to be safe. Thank you!

 

[krystlemike]

I am about to add this to the tank. What you guys think?

 

[Mike J.]

IMO that's a sorry excuse for a skimmer. Sorry, I'm so blunt. You'll end up replacing it in a couple months when it quits or you figure out it doesn't do a good job. Might as well wait and do it right just once.

 

[krystlemike]

So this one is no good?

 

[Mike J.]

One of the main reasons I answer questions from people is to help them avoid the mistakes that I and we have made. This is an expensive hobby already without being duped by bad products.

 

[krystlemike]

Its still in the box, which one u can recommend? They another skimmer for about 200 bucks in the store too that I can exchange.

 

[fishroomlady]

that will work if you keep your bioload low. It's not the best quality skimmer but I did use one for years on my 54 and it worked ok. You could also do a search on modding it to increase its production. In terms of media in your HOB, I was wondering about carbon or other media (phosguard, GFO, ceramics). yes, the dusty stuff you see when you move the rocks is detritrus - if that settles, it can create excess nutrients - extra flow (will help keep it suspended so it can be taken out through your HOB and now skimmer). In terms of feeding, I usually feed my fish a variety of food (pellets, frozen) about 2-3 times a day. Since you have a shallow sand bed, I'd suggest vacuuming small sections (about 1/5 - 1/4) during water changes.

You'll also want to include a varied clean-up crew in your tank that will help with algae control. In terms of water changes, you may want to look at 10% of your water volume about every other week. You'll get differing opinions on that - some would say more percentage and/or more frequently (weekly).

 

[fishroomlady]

bump for your skimmer question - I used a reef octopus on my tank (replaced the seaclone) that was much better - you could search the forum also for recommended HOB skimmers.

 

[krystlemike]

The filters I have on are two large ones and I think they have carbon in them. Its all I have at the moment. This skimmer was 120$ there is another for 200 which would be my second choice. The weird part on this one right now is that I see no filter in it.

 

[Mike J.]

Waiting another week to get a skimmer for half that price would be worth it, right? On my tank that had HOB equipment I changed 10% of water weekly and the filters every two weeks. Here's a good site to get those filters and a skimmer for a lot less money.

Pet Mountain Aquarium skimmers and Protein skimmer discount

 

[mps0813]

Some wise reefer once said that reef keeping is more about maintaining good water than it's inhabitants... That being said, IMO, a skimmer is a MUST for any reef aquarium. I can see the film of skimmate begging to be skimmed from the first picture you posted. As you venture deeper into the hobby (for some addiction) and add fish/corals to your aquarium the increased bioload will tax your system and you will have issues with nuisance algae, higher ammonia/nitrate levels etc.... Also you are going to want more water flow, maybe a powerhead or two on either side of tank to help the water circulate, and help with any dead spots that will accumulate detritus and such. And one final thing... READ! Any books by Julian Sprung is required reading for any reefer, novice or veteran... Good luck!