I have a 54 gal bowfront tank with built in overflow. Currently, I have a wet/dry filter attached powered by a Supreme Mag Drive utility pump. I attached a triangular wide nozzle to the return so it creates a lot of turbulence. The wet/dry acrylic container holds about 8 gals. of water. I have 80 lbs of Nature's Ocean Bio-Activ Live Aragonite sand and lots of live rock. The tank has been up for 3 months and there is a lot of color to my rocks. From all my reading and advice, I was told that the bioballs are not necessary and that these would eventually make the nitrate levels go up. Now my nitrates are at 10 mg/l! I will be removing these. Is there a special way to do this? I have been researching the protein skimmers and want opinions about these two: Aqua C Urchin with Maxi Jet 1200 and the Red Sea Berlin Turbo skimmer with pump. I am limited in space because the bioball container on my box takes up about 1/3 of the space. With my mag pump in there, I only have room for a 6"x6" skimmer footprint. One last question, the deep layer of my sand is getting some purple color (as seen from the front of the tank)...any opinions on cleaning or should I leave it alone? Thanks for your replies! I am very excited about this new hobby!
newbie questions: filtration, skimmer, sand
- Thread starter floridian91
- Start date
I believe you want to remove the bioballs slowly, though if it's only 3 months old I wonder if that matters. Hopefully someone else will weigh in on that.
I'd go with the Urchin...I believe it's a better skimmer.
I also have different colors within my sand bed that I can see through the glass...I just leave it.
Welcome to RDO and this fantastic hobby!!!!
I'd go with the Urchin...I believe it's a better skimmer.
I also have different colors within my sand bed that I can see through the glass...I just leave it.
Welcome to RDO and this fantastic hobby!!!!
I did remove a 1/3 of the bioballs last Thursday (1/6) and will continue to do so over the next couple of weeks. I will keep testing for nitrates, all other parameters: pH, specific gravity, alkalinity, ammonia, nitrites, phosphates and calcium are on target. I currently have the tank stocked with the following corals, which are doing very well: 1 candycane, 1 sarcophyton leather, 1 purple mushroom, 1 colt coral and 1 brain coral. The fish are: 1 pink skunk clown, 2 green chromis, 1 yellow tail damsel, 1 blue damsel, 1 blacktail dascyllus and 1 shrimp gobie. I also have 1 cleaner shrimp and 1 coral banded shrimp. The clean up crew consists of blue hermit crabs, turbo snails and 1 green emerald crab. I just plan on adding more corals once I have the skimmer installed. By the way, my nitrates were down to 5 mg/l today. I am leaning towards the Aqua C since a lot of good comments have been posted about it. I just figured that when the bioballs are out, I may be able to place my mag drive pump in the bioball compartment, which gives me 6Wx11L for a skimmer. Thank you again for your responses and I am very, very excited about this wonderful, fascinating hobby!
Andy, thanks for the positive comment. Since I am new to the hobby, my primary goal is to acquire and maintain the hardier species of corals and fish. I don't want to jeopardize the life of any creature! Actually, my pink skunk clown is almost three inches long and is fat and not shy at all! He even chases the damsels at times. l did loose a clown a week ago due to this guy! He was ok in the beginning but then started nipping at my percula. I was going to separate them but did not do it soon enough Later, I read that it is advisable to keep only one species of clowns in the tank since different species may show aggression towards each other. Since then I have been doing lots of reading about species compatability. I will never add another creature to my tank without first doing my research since I have received mixed advice at the 3 acquarium stores I buy from!
Later, I read that it is advisable to keep only one species of clowns in the tank since different species may show aggression towards each other. Since then I have been doing lots of reading about species compatability. I will never add another creature to my tank without first doing my research since I have received mixed advice at the 3 acquarium stores I buy from!That sounds great 91, the skunks are one of my fav clowns. I had a pair several years ago that were trying to spawn. We had a brush with a hurricane and lost power for a couple of days. The only fish I lost was the female skunk.
Research is always a good idea. It saves animals lives and human heartache and money. Good luck and go slow.
Andy
Research is always a good idea. It saves animals lives and human heartache and money. Good luck and go slow.
Andy
Andy, I live in Cape Coral Fl, which is 1/2 hour from where hurricane Charley hit this past summer. We were without power for a week! Luckily, I had just replaced the roof on my home a couple of months before this event and only had damage to my fence and lots of trees. I did not have my salt water tank set up then. I did not loose any fish in my planted 55 gal. However, I do need to make some plans before next hurricane season in case we lose power again. I don't own a generator but may have to invest in one. Don't know what else I could do. In fact, that hurricane was the reason why I started this hobby! A co-worker lost all her saltwater fish and decided to dismantele her tank since she was also moving to Jacksonville. She had lots of live rock and asked me if I wanted them. She knew I had and empty tank and had expressed an interest in the hobby but had not made the move. She gave me the rocks which were beautiful and full of color. I did not want the life on the rocks to die off so I decided to set up my tank and that's how I got into the hobby!
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