Scarsdale Newbie!!

[BlueSi4]

Hello everyone!!
So today i was at Pet Goods shopping for some fish food and i came across a member here, i believe his name is Nick, who told me about this website. I'm a member of Living Reefs and up till now i've been getting most of my help from there. I started my tank towards the end of June. It's a 46 Gallon Bow Front with 2 Ocellaris Clownfish, 1 Blue Tang, 25lb of Live Rock, 20lb of Live Sand, 10 Hermit Crabs, and today i added 2 cardinals, not sure about their name. I have a heater, a HOB filter, today i added a Bio-Wheel filter, and a power head. So far my tank seems to be pretty good, just a couple problems. My main worry right now is my blue tang, who i've been led to believe he's not getting enough nutrition. He wouldn't eat seaweed, just brine shrimp. So now his face is greyish and has a line going across his body. Also, i'm getting a lot of cyano, and as nick told me, i have the lights on too much, and also i believe my phosphate levels are a little bit high, but everything else is good.
I'll post pics when i get a chance!!
Thank you

EDIT: I know my set-up is not good, mainly because i'm using tap water, a bio-wheel filter, and other things, but i'm working on it.
This is my set-up as of right now

70 Gallon HOB Filter
50 Gallon Bio-Wheel Filter
270 GPH AquaClear Powerhead
25lb live rock
20lb live sand
Heater
Ground Probe

any help with new stuff would be appreciated as well as what stuff that i have now that needs to go

 

[NYreefNoob]

welcome to mr

filtration and flow are also probably the problem, and maybe the water you use from what changes and top offs. you will get real info on this site, not the kind that has you buy stuff you should have saved money on. best of luck

 

[BlueSi4]

well i use tap water for top offs as well as for water changes, but i usually let the water sit for a couple days before i put it in the tank, like i always have 15 gallons available for top offs or water changes.

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Welcome to MR.

Got any pics of the tank? Just or starters that tang is too big for that tank. Also the Hang on biowheel filter not the best for a reef tank, but if you aren't putting any corals in there and just going fish only it could work for the short run. I see you are using tap water what is the TDS reading out of your tap (this is usually bad to do BTW)? What are your water parameters? I would venture to guess that your phosphates are out of wack and you need to get some more flow in that tank as well as run some more carbon than those cartridges that the HPB filters come with.

Anyway, again welcome and show us some pics of your setup.

 

[muntai]

bio wheel? omg :shocked1:
check your RO/DI. test with tds
do more WC

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Umm Oh yeah another thing you should think of is a decent protien skimmer (seaclone and prizm skimmers are cr@p)

 

[BlueSi4]

Well after i've been with the tank for a while i wanna start with corals, mainly anemones. I know i'll have to upgrade the lightning and stuff, but for now i want to work with just fish so that if any mistakes happen, i'd rather have them happen now not when i have corals.
I also know that the tang is too big for the tank, but i just wanted to keep one, he's little though. When he grows i'll probably sell him or who knows, maybe by then i have a bigger tank.
My parameters are good, when i checked this morning i was a little high on nitrate, but according to the test strip i was in the "okay" range. Everything else is good. Water temperature is about 79F, and i do water changes every two weeks.
How do i get more flow in my tank? A powerhead and 2 filters are not enough??

 

[BlueSi4]

Umm Oh yeah another thing you should think of is a decent protien skimmer (seaclone and prizm skimmers are cr@p)

Well since i have a fish-only tank for now, i was told i don't really need one, but today i went out to get a protein skimmer and came back home with 2 cardinals, a bio-wheel filter, and a ground probe

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

This was from pet goods right?

They got a problem there, they know how to bait and switch people and they have very little clue about the livestock they sell.

 

[BlueSi4]

no, i never let them make me decide on what to buy, i do my research before i go to the store. When i was talking to nick though, he was the one that told me that i don't need a skimmer YET

 

[crox99]

Welcome to MR and where are the pics!!!!:anger2:

 

[BlueSi4]

ok, here are some pics of the tank 2 weeks in...currently taking some pics..be patient lol

 

[BlueSi4]

my bad nutrition tang...

 

[jw10604]

Drop me message. I work in Scarsdale and I would be happy to help you out with the setup.

 

[BlueSi4]

well when i get some more rock i might need some help setting it up, because the ones i have now i like how it looks, but one of them is a little bit unstable, plus a second opinion on parameters and such would be great, thanks for that bro

 

[crox99]

Do I see driftwood in there?

 

[BlueSi4]

yea it's fake driftwood, i haven't taken it out because my blue tang loves it, he hides in it all the time, so i'm afraid of taking it out!!

 

[crox99]

At least it's fake. I don't think that the tannins in the real driftwood are suitable to a SW tank. JMO

 

[BlueSi4]

yea, it's fake, i wouldn't put real wood in there lol
it also came with the tank when i bought it, so i kept it in there for looks and i was thinking on taking it out when i put some more fish in, but then the tang made it his home, so i left it there

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Ok if I may attempt to add some more assistance, the test strips, probably the worst thing you can test with. They are very inaccurate. You should not be using tap water because it puts unwanted chemicals into the tank that may be absorbed by the seals, sand and rock a nd leach back out into the water over time causing problems. Biowheels are bad for a reef tank, as they tend to be nitrate factories. Crushed coral is also a nitrate trap that could go bad at any time. Skimmers export those nutrients and chemicals as does carbon. Take a gander through the website and look at how others have tanks set up. Try to mirror them if you can.

And the recommended tank size for that hippo tang is 90 gallons IMO but most will argue that a 6 ft tank is needed for a fish that size.