I just purchased a 75 gal. reef tank yesterday from an individual that had it established for over 5 years. Moving it was a hell of a time. I don't think I will sell our house in the near future. Currently I have 100 lbs of figi rock that has very good growth of coraline algae. However, on some of the rocks it has green hairy algae growing on it. The guy I bought it from said I need to get rid of this algae. Do you know what caused it or what fish or invert will eat it, if any? Also, have 80 lbs live arg.sand. The tank has 3 powerhead-400's moving water and a enclosed trickle filter with bio-balls that is run by a 700 powerhead. The lighting is a JBJ PC with 4 55W bulbs (2 BLU- 2 WHT). Is this enough light for this tank? How long should the lights be left on each day? I also have a Aqua clear 100 protein skimmer and a heater that does not show watt or maker. What Wattage should I aim for with my tank size? Life wise I have one percula clown with a bulb anemone and a leather coral (devil's hand) also 2 cleaner shrimp as well as a banded shrimp and an assortment of hermit crabs. Lastly, what should the water parameters be that I should test for in terms of salinity, PH, Ammonia, Nitrite, temperature. Should carbon be in any filter media? I here a variety of opinions on this. Am I missing anything. Thanks for helping the rookie out! Any comments would be greatly appreciated! AK
Rookie reefer with 75 gal. reef tank
- Thread starter kokxy
- Start date
I just purchased a 75 gal. reef tank yesterday from an individual that had it established for over 5 years. Moving it was a hell of a time. I don't think I will sell our house in the near future. Currently I have 100 lbs of figi rock that has very good growth of coraline algae. However, on some of the rocks it has green hairy algae growing on it. The guy I bought it from said I need to get rid of this algae. Do you know what caused it or what fish or invert will eat it, if any? Also, have 80 lbs live arg.sand. The tank has 3 powerhead-400's moving water and a enclosed trickle filter with bio-balls that is run by a 700 powerhead. The lighting is a JBJ PC with 4 55W bulbs (2 BLU- 2 WHT). Is this enough light for this tank? How long should the lights be left on each day? I also have a Aqua clear 100 protein skimmer and a heater that does not show watt or maker. What Wattage should I aim for with my tank size? Life wise I have one percula clown with a bulb anemone and a leather coral (devil's hand) also 2 cleaner shrimp as well as a banded shrimp and an assortment of hermit crabs. Lastly, what should the water parameters be that I should test for in terms of salinity, PH, Ammonia, Nitrite, temperature. Should carbon be in any filter media? I here a variety of opinions on this. Am I missing anything. Thanks for helping the rookie out! Any comments would be greatly appreciated! AKWow, sounds like a nice deal. I'll comment on what I feel confident about and let other people comment on the other parts of your question, like the lighting. My guess is that more lighting would be beneficial to the anemone especially, but if it's been doing OK under those lights, maybe not.
As far as water parameters, if your cyclae is complete, which it sounds like it is, you should test for salinity, pH, alkalinity, nitrates, and maybe calcium. Usually, the test kit will tell you what the normal range is. pH should be between 8.0 and 8.3 if at all possible. Specific Gravity (a way to measure salinity) should be close to 1.026. Nitrates should be as close to 0 as possible, but not more than 15 under any circumstances.
As far as hair algae, if you manage to get rid of it, let me know, because I've struiggled with it a lot. The only thing I know to do is to use your skimmer as much as possible and do water changes to get the nitrates down to 0. Also, you can test for phosphates. If you have phosphates of any level in your water, it's promoting algae growth. Do large water changes with RO/DI water if this is a problem. Test for this and try to get all the nutrients out of the tank that are feeding the hair algae as soon as possible.
As far as water parameters, if your cyclae is complete, which it sounds like it is, you should test for salinity, pH, alkalinity, nitrates, and maybe calcium. Usually, the test kit will tell you what the normal range is. pH should be between 8.0 and 8.3 if at all possible. Specific Gravity (a way to measure salinity) should be close to 1.026. Nitrates should be as close to 0 as possible, but not more than 15 under any circumstances.
As far as hair algae, if you manage to get rid of it, let me know, because I've struiggled with it a lot. The only thing I know to do is to use your skimmer as much as possible and do water changes to get the nitrates down to 0. Also, you can test for phosphates. If you have phosphates of any level in your water, it's promoting algae growth. Do large water changes with RO/DI water if this is a problem. Test for this and try to get all the nutrients out of the tank that are feeding the hair algae as soon as possible.
Welcome to the hobby! I strongly suggest you browse thru some of the link on the top of this forum, as well as the library section to get additional information.
From the way you communicate, I can tell that you are not too far from getting everything in order. You just need some specific updates, and you will be in good shape.
Hair algae is cause by excessive nutrient in the water. Some of the nutrients probably is from feeding and the bio-ball. The hermit crabs will help you out in pulling them out, but the important thing is to limit additional nutrients from getting into the tank, water change with good water will help.
The light is fine, but you may want to check the requirement for the bulb anemone, since they typically need lot more light...
Check the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate to make sure the parameter is within reasonable range. Since you moved it, be expecting some ammonia peak. You may want to look into replacing the trickle filter with a protein skimmer, even if you are going mostly fish-only tank.
Again, welcome to the hobby
From the way you communicate, I can tell that you are not too far from getting everything in order. You just need some specific updates, and you will be in good shape.
Hair algae is cause by excessive nutrient in the water. Some of the nutrients probably is from feeding and the bio-ball. The hermit crabs will help you out in pulling them out, but the important thing is to limit additional nutrients from getting into the tank, water change with good water will help.
The light is fine, but you may want to check the requirement for the bulb anemone, since they typically need lot more light...
Check the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate to make sure the parameter is within reasonable range. Since you moved it, be expecting some ammonia peak. You may want to look into replacing the trickle filter with a protein skimmer, even if you are going mostly fish-only tank.
Again, welcome to the hobby
David Magen":5jhiu7xr said:
Skimmer, skimmer, skimmer...
Remove what you can mechanically, then physically from the tank. I would tend to syphon it out, then do a water change. Run some carbon for a while, then clean and tune your skimmer.
If it comes back, repeat this a couple of times.
If it still keeps coming back, then you need to upgrade the skimmer to something with more power.
Good luck, and welcome.
Regards.
Mike Kirda
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