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peezon1979

Active Reefer
Manhattan Reefs
Location
westchester
Rating - 0%
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Hey everyone Im from cortlandt manor ny in westchester county about 20 min north of yonkers. im new to this but very addicted. lol so i have 170 gallon piano shape tank. i need help plumbing a refugium into the system. im picking up an etss protean refugium saturday and have no clue how to hook it up. my tank has 2 overflow boxs built in with 2 holes under each box. and my refugium has a protein skimmer built in. and i have a precision marine rl200 return pump. i need serious help ive already lost 6 fish. I also have 100lbs for live rock and 160lbs of live sand. last week i did a water change and the next morning all my fish were dead. I did nothing else but a water change with poland spring water. i guess poland springs is no good. so i purchased an ro/di for the future. right now i have 2 fluval fx5s hooked up to the 4 holes drilled on the back wall of the tank, also dont know what to do with those after i take away the fx5s. I really need someone to come over and help me get started and explain to me how all this works. also where to buy fish and corals without getting ripped off, I would be greatful.
 
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bklynreef

Advanced Reefer
Manhattan Reefs
Location
new york
Rating - 100%
83   0   0
Read read read

Look, truth is you need the bible
Buy The Reef Aquaruim Volume 3. Expensive? Yes, but without it you'll never learn on your own and really get in to it. at this stage, no more fish! Just read, measure your parameters so you can get comfy with the tests on the water. Don't hook the fugue up yet until you feel more comfortable with the system you have. You have a large system and you should handle it before you go to stage 2. Just take it slow and have patience. There will be a lot of questions the book will answer for you. It's worth every penny.
 
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andylee

Advanced Reefer
Manhattan Reefs
Location
Westchester
Rating - 100%
21   0   0
Do yourself and the oceans a favor and don't buy any more livestock until you get a better handle on what you are doing.

As has already been recommended, start by reading some books. There are some very simple books on cycling, livestock, etc. Mike Palletta's book comes to mind. The answer to your problems don't sound like they're in buying more hardware or livestock. This is a hobby to take slowly.

It's possible that your live rock and live sand aren't live any more, given what happened to the fish. Did you cycle the tank at all, temperature, salinity, test parameters?

People on these sites are generally helpful, but not if you don't do any homework on your own.
 
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peezon1979

Active Reefer
Manhattan Reefs
Location
westchester
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
ok nobody get it twisted, ive been reading stuff for months. yes i waited 3 months while my tank cycled before i added any fish, i had the salinity perfect and all levels perfect. tempature is bet 76-78. I did a 30gallon water change last week and mixed the water/salt perfect, i didnt have an ro/di so i used poland spring water which i spoke to 2 different fish keeping stores before i put it in, and they both said people use poland spring all the time. thats all i did, and the next morning the fish were dead. I need to get rid of these fx5's and move onto a refugium, im asking for help setting it up, so i dont make mistakes. ive read every forum, looked on every website and every magazine i can get a hold of. its the labor of hooking up the refugium right is what id like help with. ive never hooked one up before so i think its a good idea to have someone with me who knows what there doing.
 
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andylee

Advanced Reefer
Manhattan Reefs
Location
Westchester
Rating - 100%
21   0   0
It's not the presence or lack of a refugium. Refugia may help to remove nitrates and phosphates and add some biodiversity. Maybe they help feed the tank if water drains passively back into the tank. Whatever killed your fish was a much faster-acting process. Possibilities that come to mind include toxins in the water, temperature shock, stirring up of anoxic areas in the sandbed.
 
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peezon1979

Active Reefer
Manhattan Reefs
Location
westchester
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
the water was room temp, and i used a garden hose and a mag 7 pump to pump it in, it def. didnt desturb the sand at all. it had to have been something present in the can that i mixed it in which was a brand new brute can from home depot. Fx5's just dont belong on a salt water tank, I need to have the proper filtration to start. I only used the fx5's because i had them from a fresh water tank i broke down. i was only going to use them through the cycle until i bought the proper sump. my tank is piano shaped so its very tight underneath i only have 11.5" of width. and has proven hard to find the correct one to hold the water in case of power out. I finally found one that has the simmer built in by ETSS. Every nice tank has the proper filtration for it to run properly, that is where i need to start.
 
dherrera83

dherrera83

Advanced Reefer
Location
Manhattan
Rating - 100%
144   0   0
How about pics of your set up... And throw a reef bash at ur place, I'm sure someone on here is itching to play with a piano reef. Beer and pizza is a cheap price for the assistance...
 
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mtk

Experienced Reefer
Manhattan Reefs
Location
Montauk NY
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
The garden hose you used was it a hose for drinking water or a standard garden hose. I am not positive but I know that the rubber that is used on garden hoses give off some type of nasty taste and if you look at the packaging it says do not use for potable water. It is just a thought. For your fish to die that fast it had to be something to do with the water change. When you tested the salinity did you use a hydrometer or a refractometer. I have seen hydrometers give way off readings. When you say your water change water was room temp to me that means it was not the same temp as your tank. Your water change water could have been 65 and tank water 80. The key to saltwater is stability. When I say stability I mean your water change water should be exactly or very very close to your tank water's temp and salinity and your tank should not change temp,salinity or any other parameters on a day to day basis. Not being a ball buster just giving u some of my thought's.
 
roc5288

roc5288

ReefersDelight
Location
Ellenville NY
Rating - 100%
93   0   0
Welcome to MR.. What kind of salt did you use for your water change ? How long after you mixed the solution did you do the water change? salt can be very toxic if not mixed correctly. Some salt mixes need to mix for about 24 hour with a powerhead before you do the water change. Just a thinking out loud.
 
Tonyscoots84

Tonyscoots84

REEF ON!
Manhattan Reefs
Location
Howell, NJ
Rating - 100%
64   0   0
i would stop worrying about people getting it "twisted" obviously you are doing something wrong and you are def. not being completely honest with us. take some pics and show us the setup. spill the beans on your entire setup and everything you do from a - z. :thanks:
 
motortrendz

motortrendz

Mainland Aquatics
Vendor
Manhattan Reefs
Location
Forked River, New Jersey
Rating - 100%
82   0   0
i wasnt giving you a hard time and i asked a legit question.. you didnt give all the facts.. id love to see your system up and running correctly.. listren im the first to say no canisters on a reef.. but you dont have a reef yet, you have rock water and had fish.. the holes in the back of your tsnk are for a closed loop systrem.. and sisnce you dinbt know when the drain chambers are for and still have 2 holes in the bottom of it, you dont have the tank full... post some pics, show is what it looks like.. sounds like alot of sand.. maybe the rock and tank sat for 3 months but did it just sit or did you test the water as it cycled and made sure it was complete, or did the addition of the fish cycle the tank and kill them off?? you want help and were here to help but we cant do it for you, give us info and pics so we can offer advice.. whats your parameters???? start there
 
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