75 gallon FOWLR help !

[haiyzues]

So I didnt start off well with my 75 gallon tank.
Here's what if have just in case
60 lb. live sand
60 lb. live rock
425 koralia power head
im pretty sure i have a 248 watt 48 inch t5
i have a marineland 400 and an aquean 60

So for right now I'm limited on money after spending so much to get my tank set up only to realize that i messed up bad. all of my water tests are fine except for my nitrates which I have seen go up to 20 ppm, I do a 20 gallon water change every week. As of right now im using tap water and adding instant ocean salt as well as a dechlorinator. My question is what should i get for the time being, an r/o di system or a sump with a refugium? I'm also having a lot of algae growth ( the brown kind or diatoms).

btw heres my live stock
a pair of ocellaris clownfish
a flame angel
yellong tang
blue hippo tang
porcupine puffer hybrid
and a bangai cardinal
25 turbo snails
25 hermit crabs
one sand sifting star fish
2 emerald crabs
1 red crab
1 feather duster

any help would be greatly appreciated
thank you in advance

 

[marrone]

Since this is a Fowlr tank you didn't really need to get the lights that you did, a simple 2 48" bulb setup would have been fine. If this is going to stay a Fowlr tank I would add on a sump and refug, the water in the city is just fine for a Fowlr tank. With the sump you can also add a skimmer, which along with the Refug will help you keep in check the nitrates, not that 20ppm for a Fowlr tank is bad.

As for livestock, you have way too many Turbo snails and Hermit Crabs, you're also pushing it on the fish, unless you get a very small Hippo tang space will be a problem in the tank. Having a sump will let you move some of the LR into it and out of the tank, making more space available in the tank.

 

[haiyzues]

Well I do have a small hippo, for right now anway and I would like to have this be a reef tank in the future. Also im out in long island idk how different the water is from the city.

 

[fishman1069]

+1 to everything Marrone said. You should be fine without the ro unit for now. The brown algae ( diatoms ) should go away on their own. You definitely have way too many snails and crabs. Your Bio load is way high with such a new setup.Go with the sump and fuge for now and look into the ro unit down the road

 

[E.intheC]

I agree with the above advice.. I'm going to add that IMO, the tank is overstocked, and will ultimately be too small for the Hippo tang and Puffer.

You will also want to look at increasing flow. A few more Koralias (1050's should work) will be a great improvement.

 

[Ariel110G]

Get a sump & get an RO/DI. I did use Tap water for the1st 6 months & I had major algae problems, & now even after using RO/DIfor the past 6 months I still have some algae problems but it?s a lot better. If you will see what a sediment filter lookslike after 2 months of use, you will not want to drink tap water & you willnot want to use it for your tank, I got and RO/DI with a drinking system kit so I can make RO water for drinking & RO/DI for the fish. The wife is happy tohave good water & I & the :goldfish2are happy.:lol2:

I find that in this hobby you can?t cut corners a lot like in other hobbys, ether you do it right or don?t do it at all.

 

[haiyzues]

Well like I said I didn't start off well and now I'm trying to fix my mistakes and improve my system, as of right now all my fish are small, I do have an extra 10 gallon tank that I can set up and maybe putt clownfish and snails and hermit crabs, do you guys think that would help?

 

[Buck0land]

You can try Purigen. It adsorbs organic waste.

 

[Awibrandy]

Although you are currently running a FOWLR, you will eventually start to add corals. Therefor I would recommend that you get an RO/DI unit, and begin the process of cleaning up your substrate & life rock of all the phosphates that it has been absorbing. After the ro/di unit when you have a some more $ look into getting a Protein Skimmer, and then a sump. You can get a skimmer that can be used as a hang on back as well as on sump or in sump. I had the TurboFloter skimmer, I loved that thing. Skimmed great, multiple ways to operate it: HOB for hanging on back of tank, or sump, and could also be placed in the sump.

BTW, don't feel bad as many reefers began the same way: Using tap water ~ myself included. It is not the end of the world.