Ok I need help, let's get this tank back to how it used to be!

Bradsreeeftank · Jan 22, 2014

Ok so about 6 months ago my biocube 29 was great everything was going perfect stock bio balls, stock PC lighting nothing extra. And my frogspawn was doing so well it was and still is splitting. Idk why it's taking so long. Anyways everything was happy and now that I swithed to LEDs and added live rock to the back and replaced bio balls, and now tanks doing horrible. I lost wrasse, algea blend,squirrell fish,clown goby, 5 head torch, 1 head frogspawn, another gold torch and bleached my nepthea tree. So I wanna get all prams back too normal. How big of a water change can I do in a day? Also any other tips too getting back on right track?

Small triggers · Jan 22, 2014

A 50% change is okay.....
First a few questions...did you remove all the bio-balls at once? And did you have a maintenance routine for them before the removal?
Next, did you do a water change after removing the balls and before adding the live rock?
And lastly...did you acclimate the tank to your new lights? What brightness did you start them out on and how quickly did you turn them up and what are they at now?
And testing...what are your numbers....

jedidad · Jan 22, 2014

I feel that you could do a 50% water change safely as long as the ph of the tank water and water change water are close. Get rid of the rubble rock in the back section. it just captures detritus and becomes a nitrate factory. go with a media rack in the back section instead. some chaeto and chemipure elite and maybe some phosban in the rack. do at least a 10% water change each week there after. things should start to come together for you. also switching from pc to led probably shocked your corals. hopefully the leds are dimmable. if so ramp them way down and slowly increase the intensity over time.

Bradsreeeftank · Jan 22, 2014

Here's the thing with this hobby. Nothing against you jedidad. But I don't understand 1,000 of difference answers you get 30 people say take out the bio balls and then people say leave them. Then when you replace your lights with better ones then they say don't buy high lights they cause algea growth. And it's just so hard too understand who to trust with 1,000 of diffrent answers. Anyway no I slowly removed the balls, no I did not a have maintence routine. No I didn't do waterchange when removing them. And no I do not have dim able lights but I added two pieces of net under light too dim them.

MrDJeep123 · Jan 22, 2014

More often than not, you have to take what most say with a grain of salt. If something sounds absurd, dismiss it. If it sounds plausible, research it. There are so many ways of doing things in this hobby it can be overwhelming. The things that don't change are reef chemistry and animal husbandry. The biggest thing is slow down and take your time. Breath.

jedidad · Jan 22, 2014

I understand where you are coming from. I used to run a 29g biocube myself. I eventually took the lid off and ran an overflow to a sump down below for filtration. the mesh idea will work to dim the lights. There are a 1000 different answers for every problem and you kind of have to find what works for you. Two things that are very important with a nano tank like yours is very regular water changes and not overstocking with fish. If you are still using the top and don't wantakt to get rid of it the media rack will probably be your best bet. I tried to do a 5 gallon water change every other week on my biocube which worked well for me but I could never keep sps. I believe that if I did 5 gallons a week I would have been good. Good luck to you.

Reefing Madness · Jan 22, 2014

You didn't state what your water parameters were
PH
Cal
Alk
Mag
Temp
Nitrate
Nitrite
Ammonia

evan.lundberg4 · Jan 22, 2014

Reefing Madness said:
You didn't state what your water parameters were
PH
Cal
Alk
Mag
Temp
Nitrate
Nitrite
Ammonia

+1 water parameters are very important to know.

Small triggers said:
A 50% change is okay.....
First a few questions...did you remove all the bio-balls at once? And did you have a maintenance routine for them before the removal?
Next, did you do a water change after removing the balls and before adding the live rock?
And lastly...did you acclimate the tank to your new lights? What brightness did you start them out on and how quickly did you turn them up and what are they at now?
And testing...what are your numbers....

To add to this are you sure the live rock you added in place of the bio balls was fully cured? Sounds to me like it wasn't and your tank cycled again.

As for the LEDs, acclimation is very very important. If you just slap them on there and call it a day your corals will suffer. I would suggest cutting back the time your lights are on in addition to the screen at first. LEDs are a very intense focused light and it takes time for coral to get used to it.

Bradsreeeftank · Jan 23, 2014

Let's time I checked Parm it was about a week go, mag 1600( I was killing algea), cal 600 ( can't get it lower), alks 8.3 dkh, temps 78, nitrate and nitrite 5ppm. Not sure with ph. Here's something to hear, when I guess you could of said "abused" the tank my salinity was super low I'm talking a hydrometer measured way below the "good spot". And I haven't did water change in 2 weeks. This was a few months ago but anyway everything was better with super low salt levels and less water changes. Anyways I'll do a 50% waterchange with natural sea water. Can't get better than that.