Tank set up.

Newbie1 · Sep 6, 2019

Ok, so I have a 60 gallon tank with a lot of rock in there. I have been running two ocean revive lights and two jets and a heater since November. It has definitely been through the diatom process. Last week I set up the sump. I’m going to list the order in which I have them please give me any advice.

Hose comes into SOCK.
In same partition I have reef octopus 110.
They over flow to second partition where I have a basket of algae and copapods.
In same partition I have algae scrubber that puts the water back into the same partition.
The water then goes under and over to where I have the return pump and heater.
I also have a canister pulling from display and pouring into the same partition as the algae scrubber.
I have one jet in the display (which I think is enough with the return pump).

It’s slowly getting clear, I have done two water changes this week. And I think a few more will get me to clear water. The canister contains a large sponge, two sacks of carbon and three white pads, and a layer of rock with a lot of holes on them.

I recently had water tested and it did not have any nitrate or nitrite. Salinity was on point I just added 5 snails and 3 emerald crabs.

I’m running white and blues for 2 hours and blues for 17 hours. Blues 100 and whites I think are at 30? Not sure.

please any feed back on what I need to change or what I’m doing right or wrong.

Thank you.

BeejReef · Sep 6, 2019

Are you having an issue or you're just looking for tips?

That is some crazy patience to let your DT run for a year before tinkering with the sump

Do you have any fish or corals or have you been running a crazy long cycle?

Only thing I notice straight away is your heater in the return section. I'd advise moving it to center or left. The return section can run dry if not topped off for some reason. Then your heater melts in the tank.

That's also pretty aggressive filtration if you're already registering nothing for nitrate and phosphate.

Looks like a cool set up though. I'm just not quite understanding where you are at. What you have, and what your goals are.

Newbie1 · Sep 6, 2019

My goal is to have clear reef tank with fish. I have a 30 gal reef that is going great. It’s just I never done one with a sump. I don’t know where I’m at either, I don’t know if I just gotta do 10 gal water changes every week till it clears or what. Ok I moved the heater to the second partition. and the set up looks like a cluster. I wanted to see if I could put it together and have everything run first. Then make it look good. I also got me some of the picture attached. Where should I put this?

Auquanut · Sep 7, 2019

The sump looks good for the most part. I have a question though. You say you have a cannister filter drawing from the display and returning into the sump? Won't that syphon water from the display into the sump when the power is off? Sounds like it could flood the sump. If you already have a lot of cycled rock in the tank, I would loose the cannister.

Newbie1 · Sep 11, 2019

I’m trying to clear up the water with the carbon. Would I be at risk of flood if I pull from the sump and flush back into the sump with the canister?

flsalty · Sep 11, 2019

Newbie1 said:
I’m trying to clear up the water with the carbon. Would I be at risk of flood if I pull from the sump and flush back into the sump with the canister?

You can either run the canister in the sump or in the display, but the inlet and outlet should be in the same one to be safe.

I think we need more explanation though.

Is there any livestock in there? [Edit:I see you added some snails and an emerald crab just recently, but nothing before that?]
If not, have you been ghost feeding the tank this whole time?
If not, then the tank isn't even cycled. That is probably why you have no nitrate.

Have you ever done a water change on this thing?

Did it just become cloudy when you added the sump?

It seems like you are saying this tank has been sitting with no filtration and no fish for almost a year. If so, you are basically starting from scratch. I suggest doing a huge water change, at least 50% now. Probably more later. Then do a proper cycle. Then don't wait another year to stock it.

My apologies if I am misunderstanding what is going on here.

Newbie1 · Sep 11, 2019

There was no live stock in this tank until the crabs and snails. Awhile back I introduced raw shrimp, and was doing water changes with water from my other tank. It went through a ugly stage where the tank appeared to be nothing but algae. After a while it started to disappear and was cloudy. I since added filtration and water changes and it’s clearing now.

Jon Fishman · Sep 11, 2019

I would put the skimmer in the next chamber over, and pull water to/from wherever is easiest access for the ATS

I wouldn’t use a canister filter at all for this application and I would also add probably 2 more powerheads to the display

Newbie1 · Sep 11, 2019

And so, my name is newbie 1 for a reason lol. I’m always tryin to learn. The reason I was using a canister was for the carbon, which I thought helped with cloudiness. And the return pump is at the back left corner shooting to the right. My one jet is on the bottom right towards the glass. Where should I put the other jets and why?

Jon Fishman · Sep 11, 2019

You will just want more overall flow in general. Dead spots = algae growth/detrius

BeejReef · Sep 11, 2019

You've just got a lot going on.
I see a turf scrubber, a skimmer, a canister filter.

Cloudy water (good chance bacterial) is pretty common in young barebottom tanks. Stability and time are your friends.
If it simplifies your life, a few tablespoons of carbon in a mesh bag in the sump should be more than enough for the time being on a tank with just a little CUC.

Can you post your tank's parameters.
Ammonia
Nitrite
Nitrate
Phosphate
Alkalinity
Calcium
Magnesium

The cloudiness could be anything. Hard for peeps to make a good guess without a little background.

Newbie1 · Sep 11, 2019

I have a “API REEF MASTER” test kit.
1.Calcium 17 drops = 340
2. KH 8 drops = 143.2
3. Phosphate = 0 ppm
4. Nitrate = 0 ppm
I stand Ocean Hydrometer salinity 1.024

What does “cuc” mean? If I add live sand to my rock will it starts the process over again? Can tanks run without sand ? I’m about to do a 10 gal water change and try and adjusting the rock as I want it to lay.

Jon Fishman · Sep 11, 2019

Newbie1 said:
I have a “API REEF MASTER” test kit.
1.Calcium 17 drops = 340
2. KH 8 drops = 143.2
3. Phosphate = 0 ppm
4. Nitrate = 0 ppm
I stand Ocean Hydrometer salinity 1.024

What does “cuc” mean? If I add live sand to my rock will it starts the process over again? Can tanks run without sand ? I’m about to do a 10 gal water change and try and adjusting the rock as I want it to lay.

CUC is clean-up-crew. Snails/crab/shrimp/urchin/filter-feeders etc

Newbie1 · Sep 11, 2019

I have adjusted the rock while doing water change. I also added another jet that’s on the same side as the other but further back.

BeejReef · Sep 11, 2019

O.k., cool..

calcium might be a touch low, but probly not your problem.
143 ppm CaC03 = 8DKH.. that's good (you'll find it easier on here to talk in DKH, much more common).

I don't see that you're doing anything "wrong." It's just surprisingly robust filtration for a system with nothing to filter yet.
On the other hand, I see your skimmer cup pulled out a lot of gunk. What has it been filtering?

Where did you get that rock? It almost feels like you started with some pretty gunky rock and have basically given it a nice long cure and cycle and your filtration has removed all the nasties.

Even so, looking at your skimmer cup, it doesn't feel like a tank with zero phosphate and nitrate, so maybe doublecheck that.

has anything else changed recently, aside from adding your snails and crabs?

Really nice looking set up by the way. Like how you've hung your lights.

W1ngz · Sep 11, 2019

Canister filters in a marine setup work, but need to be cleaned out almost weekly.

I would ditch the canister filter, I'd bet there's stuff growing in there that is breaking down and feeding a bacterial bloom in the tank, if that is what it is. It seems likely as there's no sand.

You don't need that much rock. You can probably cut it in almost half, and build structures or arches, anything that allows water to flow on as many sides of the rock as possible.

I would also shut off, or run the lights at only 1 or 2 % for now. All you're doing is promoting algae growth and until you sort out the water clarity problem, the risk of that giving way to a massive hair algae swamp looks fairly high.

Newbie1 · Sep 11, 2019

I was using the skimmer cup until I was getting tired of emptying it. So I attached the hose and have that going to a bucket. It was dang near solid green uck ! There was nothing living in here and the crud that it’s picking up is prolly the algae that bloomed earlier in the year? Earlier this year this tank was like a swamp. You could pick up a hand full of crap.

The rock came from someone selling “live” rock on Craig’s list. I also purchased some from LPS. And some shells from Florida

. The other crud came from the water I was putting in here from my other tank which is established. (A little over a year) 30 gallon.

I think I may take some rock out like you suggest. And I will remove canister this weekend.

W1ngz · Sep 11, 2019

If that's old, used rock that's been basically 'stewing' for almost a year, and nothing but a few inverts then emptying the whole tank, rinsing each rock in a bucket of fresh salt water and putting it back in the tank with all new water would likely give you a nice, clean ready-to-go tank.

The canister filter isn't a waste entirely. It could make a reasonable media reactor with just the carbon pouches and biomedia as space filler inside it, but no floss or foam padding. Pick up the water from the 1st chamber and then output it into the second chamber to avoid recycling the same water. Use a valve on the output to slow it down a little so the water hangs out a little longer with the carbon.