Help me create a ULM Tank out of my old tank

[markgutin]

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.

 

[markgutin]

 

[markgutin]

 

[markgutin]

 

[newtothis]

I think you just need to get your param to specs, then you can get it to ULM.

Your only obstacle you would have is the ATO. If you are able I would get a bigger container/brute to store your top-off that will hold atleast 2-2.5 wks of water. I use to have my ato pump floating on my 55g drum. Never really had to worry bout running out of water. Think of doing the same again, since I'm topping off 5g a wk. It gets pretty old.

No3 would be your other hurdle, but it should be a small hurdle. Either have a auto feeder or ration out the food. I would er on the low end or maybe every other day or 3 days a wk. This would help with elevated no3.

Skimmer cup. Maybe run a drain line to a milk jug, so your cup doesn't over flow.

Maybe setup the apex. So that you'll be able to monitor your tank.

I'll take your doser, since you don't have room nor time. Hahaha

HTP and GL with your quest to ULM.


Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk

 

[orbela]

If your fish died I would just maintain it without fish until parameter are in check. The. Slowly start adding after everything is in check. I am going through the same process


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[markgutin]

Running without fish is the plan for now.

I took out all the sand to see maybe if that was causing my nitrates to be so high. Also, my phosphate reactor return line was leading into my sump in which the chaeto was located.

Would the fact that the chaeto had no phosphates kill of the chaeto???????

 

[joseserrano]

this is very possible, just think it would be a little pricey to really set it up for ulm, but it can be done on a budget, just more risky. IE. skimmer overflows, large mess, ato compensates and refills tank, saltwater tank becomes freshwater,.... Once you get an auto feeder, so some large WC, and possibly use something like nopox to bring down nitrates and phos, numbers should stay good.

 

[reefes pieces]

Id physically remove as much algae and detritus as I can and even consider a 100% water change add as much ceramic media as you can in the sump and dose some good bacteria. I agree with the others in terms of the skimmer reservoir. ULM needs back up contingencies as huge ATOs and remote skimmer reservoirs can amplify the effects of an error. eg. Dumping a 5 gallon jug of RODI from a faulty ATO switch vs dumping 20 gallons. Skimmer overflowing into the sump but is cleaned out once a week vs skimmer overflowing into a reservoir and onto your floor and draining your sump. All these things can be catastrophic if there isn't a redundancy set in place such as leak detection and different back up switches to shut off a faulty product.

 

[markgutin]

I agree that many things can go wrong in this case but I will try and set up a drainage for the skimmer cup. I should specify that my mother is usually home and is strictly against maintaing the tank but if a leak starts occuring such as from overflwoing, I think she will step in :lol:.

Does anyone have any other suggestions for when it comes to lowering nitrates and trying to keep it as low maintenance as possible?

 

[sjet]

I'm fairly new to this hobby but learned a lot. I'm no expert but I'll help where I can.

To answer your question
0) yes you should be able to get away with 2-3 weeks of maintenance as long as you don't go crazy on fish. Before buying a fish check with your LFS but get fish that can survive from 1 feeding a day, that will cut down on your bio load.

1) the fact that all your fish died, you probably don't have enough bio load to sustain a chaeto system. I wouldn't even mess with chaeto right now it's more trouble then it's worth. The thing with chaeto, it's kinda fussy to start out at first but once you get it up it's easy to maintain. Honestly I could never get my chaeto to grow consistenly and I just use GFO/carbon now. When you run gfo did you measure out how much you need? Follow the dosage listed on the container, you can overdose your tank.

2) The only cleanup crew I recommend is Tronchus snails, Astrea Snails, Cerith Snails and Scarlet red hermits. Everything else I find either unnecessary or a nuisance in one way or another. Not sure why your clean up crew died, I don't think 30 nitrates would kill them.

3) Your light is good enough for chaeto, but again for right now I wouldn't even mess with chaeto since all your fish died. If you want to get back into chaeto, I would start during your summer break when you have time to fiddle with it. People either run chaeto or GFO, usually not both.

4) You shouldn't have to replace them unless they are visually damaged some how. If you're paranoid invest in a leak detection alarm it's like $13 on BRS.

5) I would say yes you need a doser but when I look at your pictures it seems like corals are growing ok. So in your case I would eye ball it. I don't know how you're getting away with not dosing and doing water changes ever 3 weeks. On my tank I have to dose and my alk drops low and my zoas look at wierd.


Here is what I would suggest base on the pics you posted.
#1 you can't let filter socks sit for 2-3 weeks. They need to be cleaned out every 2-3 days. If someone can help you swap them out while you're away that would be the best option. Buy some extra socks on the side for them to swap out and clean up all the old ones when you get home. If that is not an option it might be better off to just run the tank with out filter socks.

#2 your bio media should be in the return section of your sump not the skimmer section. The way you have it setup it's like a detritus trap, there's no flow going through there. And I don't think you need that rock in your sump.. I would take it out and 1/2 of the bio balls, you don't need that many. If possible build, a vertical container out of egg crates to keep them off the ground as much as possible.

#3 you gotta clean out that refugium, it looks like death in there. All that dead chaeto is feeding your nitrates. Your GFO return lines should run after your refugium. I would also throw in a pack of Purigen in that bubble trap before the return pump. If not somewhere in the return pump section is good.

#4 your rock scape is interfering with your flow. The rock going up against the glass is bad for flow. Ideally there should be about 1/2" to 1" of space between your rock and the glass of your aquarium. I would also adjust your wave maker to push flow in the back of your tank behind your rocks, that's where a lot of stuff collects. And if that's not enough flow then I would add a 2nd wave maker. Your corals should be constantly swaying back and forth.

#5 When you get home for tank maintenance I would get a turkey baster and blow it on all your life rock. This will get all the gunk into the water column so it can get filtered out. I would vacuum your sand as well or stir it with a long stick to get all the gunk in your sand into the water column.

Hope that helps, keep us posted.

 

[markgutin]

So that system crash happened because I had a mass die-off of flatworms which spiked the nitrates levels.

Updates: Siphoning out the sand helped lower the nitrates to 20ppm and performed a 30% water change. Sofites are looking amazing will post pics this Thursday. Chaeto ball is still alive after i took the phosphate reactor offline.
Also took Anh recommendation and vaccumed the chaeto portion of the sump.

QUESTIONS FOR THIS WEEK:

1) Would adding the extra mp40 be an overkill on this 90 gallon tank?
2) When would it be safe for me to add a clean up crew?? (nitrate level wise)
3) If I add a clean up crew would my nitrates go up?
4)Also, I DISCOVERED A HIDDEN WORLD in my drain column. More than 100 aptasias and bubble algae. What effect could this possibly have on my tank.
5) Should I put my phosphate reactor back online or just rely soley on the chaeto?
6) Should I really be swapping sock every 2-3 days or should I just wait till theyre full?


THANKS FOR THE HELP AS ALWAYS!!!!! Pictures are coming this week.

 

[markgutin]

Any input would be appreciated....

 

[Sky's Reef]

Id physically remove as much algae and detritus as I can and even consider a 100% water change add as much ceramic media as you can in the sump and dose some good bacteria. I agree with the others in terms of the skimmer reservoir. ULM needs back up contingencies as huge ATOs and remote skimmer reservoirs can amplify the effects of an error. eg. Dumping a 5 gallon jug of RODI from a faulty ATO switch vs dumping 20 gallons. Skimmer overflowing into the sump but is cleaned out once a week vs skimmer overflowing into a reservoir and onto your floor and draining your sump. All these things can be catastrophic if there isn't a redundancy set in place such as leak detection and different back up switches to shut off a faulty product.

Maybe keep the skimmer reservoir in the sump.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

 

[markgutin]

Maybe keep the skimmer reservoir in the sump.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

Like a reservoir that collects skimate ? You suggest I keep it in the sump? Just wanted to clarify. Thanks