Hello,
I use to be an active member here when I got my 240 gallons a while back. Since then I have had to sell it after a move during which I automatically bought a 90 gallon from SCA. Long story short at the same time I got into UCLA and have since then been trying to keep my 90 gallon in check. I had a multitude of issues including: aptasia, phosphates, flatworms, etc and want to keep it from going downhill like it has been since I moved to UCLA. Somehow it keeps surviving. It was so much easier running a 240 gallon in my personal opionion and with the 90 I guess there is less room for error. There is a lot of sentimental and personal value attached to the coral left in this tank and as such it would be really hard for me to sell it. I really want opinions and help from fellow reefers if possible.
I go back home once every 2 weeks and to be honest primarily for errands but can dedicate about 2 hours to my tank. Nobody can maintain the tank except for feeding fish and adding water to ATO. I have started to wathc the BRS series but still need help. Thus, the goal of this project is to make it AS LOW MAINTENANCE AS POSSIBLE and PRIMARILY SOFTIES. Im going to list questions and hopefully we can tackle them together.
About the tank :
Tank: Starphire 90 gallon by SC aquariums
Lighting : Two Ecotech Gen 3 pro's
Skimmer: SCA-302 180 gallon Protein Skimmer
Return Pump: Ecotech Mp1
Auto Top Off: Jbj with a orange home depot bucket
Sump: Custom built by AA, it has two filter socks section, a fuge section and a return pump section.
Fuge Lighting: Kessil h80
Reactor: Two little fishes phosphate reactor and next to it I have some ultra porous ceramic media balls
Circulation: mp40 quiet drive
Electronics: Reeflink + router
Livestock: I had a bunch of flatworms die on me a month ago and wipeout all the fish I had in a period of 8 hours.
Extra Materials lying around: another mp40 converted into a quiet drive, a doser by gh ( I have no idea how to set up for there is no room under the cabinet), a Neptune apex (bought back in 2013) with temp and ph probe ,3 vertex dosing containers and brand new 302 algae turf scrubber (just dont have the space for it).
I am willing to sell the extra materials if you guys see it as unnecessary or use them if I get a general consensus that it will help make my tank ULM.
1/26/18 Parameters:
Ca: 440
Alk: 104 ppm
Mg: 1300ppm
Phosphate: 0.04
Nitrate: 30 ppm
Ph: 8.2 ( API test kit)
Salinity: 1.024
TDS of ATO H20: 1ppm
Ammonia: 0 ppm
ISSUES/ QUESTIONS:
0) PRIMARY QUESTION :Is it possible for me to only visit my tank once every 2-3 weeks and run a primary LPS Tank or should I just sell the system all together?
1) Nitrates are decently high lol I have no idea how to tame them. Is there any easy method ? Should I attempt to get another chaeto ball?
2) It seems my clean crew keeps getting killed by the nitrates thus I have some algae issues in the tank.
3) My kessil has killed 3 chaeto balls its on a timer for 10 hours when lights are off. Should I Just use a screw in simple CFL bulb ????
4) How often do I have to change the soft tubing on my return and drain
5) If I want to make it primarily softies would I still need a doser?
I will continusouly add questions as we attempt to stabilize this tank and hopefully make it gorgrous while keeping it ULM.
I use to be an active member here when I got my 240 gallons a while back. Since then I have had to sell it after a move during which I automatically bought a 90 gallon from SCA. Long story short at the same time I got into UCLA and have since then been trying to keep my 90 gallon in check. I had a multitude of issues including: aptasia, phosphates, flatworms, etc and want to keep it from going downhill like it has been since I moved to UCLA. Somehow it keeps surviving. It was so much easier running a 240 gallon in my personal opionion and with the 90 I guess there is less room for error. There is a lot of sentimental and personal value attached to the coral left in this tank and as such it would be really hard for me to sell it. I really want opinions and help from fellow reefers if possible.
I go back home once every 2 weeks and to be honest primarily for errands but can dedicate about 2 hours to my tank. Nobody can maintain the tank except for feeding fish and adding water to ATO. I have started to wathc the BRS series but still need help. Thus, the goal of this project is to make it AS LOW MAINTENANCE AS POSSIBLE and PRIMARILY SOFTIES. Im going to list questions and hopefully we can tackle them together.
About the tank :
Tank: Starphire 90 gallon by SC aquariums
Lighting : Two Ecotech Gen 3 pro's
Skimmer: SCA-302 180 gallon Protein Skimmer
Return Pump: Ecotech Mp1
Auto Top Off: Jbj with a orange home depot bucket
Sump: Custom built by AA, it has two filter socks section, a fuge section and a return pump section.
Fuge Lighting: Kessil h80
Reactor: Two little fishes phosphate reactor and next to it I have some ultra porous ceramic media balls
Circulation: mp40 quiet drive
Electronics: Reeflink + router
Livestock: I had a bunch of flatworms die on me a month ago and wipeout all the fish I had in a period of 8 hours.
Extra Materials lying around: another mp40 converted into a quiet drive, a doser by gh ( I have no idea how to set up for there is no room under the cabinet), a Neptune apex (bought back in 2013) with temp and ph probe ,3 vertex dosing containers and brand new 302 algae turf scrubber (just dont have the space for it).
I am willing to sell the extra materials if you guys see it as unnecessary or use them if I get a general consensus that it will help make my tank ULM.
1/26/18 Parameters:
Ca: 440
Alk: 104 ppm
Mg: 1300ppm
Phosphate: 0.04
Nitrate: 30 ppm
Ph: 8.2 ( API test kit)
Salinity: 1.024
TDS of ATO H20: 1ppm
Ammonia: 0 ppm
ISSUES/ QUESTIONS:
0) PRIMARY QUESTION :Is it possible for me to only visit my tank once every 2-3 weeks and run a primary LPS Tank or should I just sell the system all together?
1) Nitrates are decently high lol I have no idea how to tame them. Is there any easy method ? Should I attempt to get another chaeto ball?
2) It seems my clean crew keeps getting killed by the nitrates thus I have some algae issues in the tank.
3) My kessil has killed 3 chaeto balls its on a timer for 10 hours when lights are off. Should I Just use a screw in simple CFL bulb ????
4) How often do I have to change the soft tubing on my return and drain
5) If I want to make it primarily softies would I still need a doser?
I will continusouly add questions as we attempt to stabilize this tank and hopefully make it gorgrous while keeping it ULM.