New tank for the 3’rd time.

[Fscarr2216]

Hello everyone, I just recently started my 55 saltwater up after having two failed attempts of getting it going. Both times I ended up doing something wrong that causes the tank to go wrong and fail. But, I’m determined to make it work. I recently started it back up, I cleaned out my filter, filled my tank up, and let it run with live rock from my buddy’s aquarium +some snails for 2 months without any lights on. About 1 in a half weeks ago i started the day/night cycle and added two clown fish. Currently i did a small water change 2 days ago, and i’ve been feeding every other day. I have ALOT of algae growth so far, (which i figured is normal) and would like to make sure i’m doing everything right and that my tank is in fact doing what it is suppose to be doing. I appreciate any feed back, here is some pics.

 

[00W]

Welcome to R2R! We're all here for you. Hopefully this newest attempt goes well.

 

[Fscarr2216]

Welcome to R2R! We're all here for you. Hopefully this newest attempt goes well.

Thank you i appreciate it, the excessive amount of algae right now is normal right?

 

[The_Paradox]

Good luck and looks like good start. From the pictures though you need way more clean up crew.

 

[parclife]

Good luck, def agree with more clean up crew. They would love to help you out with that algae. Copepods as well.

 

[Fscarr2216]

No problem, i’ll deff get some. Thanks!

 

[Fscarr2216]

*Update* good afternoon, wanted to give an update on the tank! so far the only thing that died was 2 emerald crabs. I got 3 turbo snails and they cleaned up aloot! But they leave so much feces in the tank. I’ve been doing weekly 5 gallon water changes, my parameters and salinity are still the same. Is there any suggestions on what i should do differently? Or does it seem like it’s going well. Thank you for the feedback!

 

[Bruttall]

Greets, tank is looking good so far! Having said that, I'll add a few things .

1. reefcleaners.org should be on every Tank Owners Quick Links IMO. Go read about the CuC packages they recommend for your size tank. Dwarf Cerith snails are amazing additions to any tank since they eat almost all types of nuisence algae, I have over 270 in my tank.

2. Herbivore Fishes, you are limited by tank size to NO TANGS sadly, and they are my GO TO fish for Hair Algae control, research into Herbivore Options for your tank size.

3. Water Flow. A lot of people forget how important water flow really is. I see you have some powerheads going, so what I would look for is dead spots, places where the detritus collects on the sand. Try and eliminate those as much as possible. Your power heads should pick detritus up from the bottom and agitate it into the water column, so it goes thru your filters. Really good water flow eliminates the need to vaccuum your substrate.

I like the water change you are doing, I do a 20% change every week.

For me keeping a Marine Tank has been an adventure in Algae Management. I see Algae, I research what eats it, and start adding those critters to my tank. Seems to be working out ok so far.

Good Luck to you.