Jordan's 55 Gallon Reef!

[jmay33]

I'm sure he/she is fine. If not well keep going forward . I'm researching PHs now. I don't think I have enough flow in my 120

I sure hope so or I'll be pretty sad! The powerhead I ordered on amazon (800 gph wave maker) is $18.99. My brother has had one running in his 55 and it is crazy good circulation/flow. Sticks to the glass well. He added it on top of 2 other powerheads, but It is
Obviously this one that made all the difference. (probably the combination and placement, too.) That's what Is on the way to my house right now. then I get to put that tiny tiny red hydor in my 2.5 pico reef where it actually belongs. Lol.

 

[Mannydouhnut]

Reef octopus makes great skimmers I've never used their hang on backs but I have used their one skimmers and those work well. If you can you should try to make the stand big enough to fit a 55 underneath. Bigger the better.

 

[jmay33]

Reef octopus makes great skimmers I've never used their hang on backs but I have used their one skimmers and those work well. If you can you should try to make the stand big enough to fit a 55 underneath. Bigger the better.

I don't think I can afford to maintain that much water mass AND I live in an apartment (stupid liability, haha.) I will probably move at the end of this year, so I don't want to do anything too crazy yet. lol. I do want to have at least a 20 gallon sump if I'm going to do one.

 

[TommyP]

That's a great skimmer I have the same one on my 55

 

[jmay33]

That's a great skimmer I have the same one on my 55

Sweet!! I'm excited. I'll be home tomorrow to set it up. !

 

[jmay33]

I ordered some Purigen, some tongs and a timer for my lights today.

 

[jmay33]

I'm feeling some rescaping in this tank when I get home! Hopefully to make it look a little more natural. I'll be there in a couple of hours.

 

[jmay33]

I got home and the tank was a disaster. Rocks and sand are covered in bubble algae. Too much water evaporated and I was on the verge of burning out my power heads, my corals are all looking really rough, and i'm feeling very very discouraged today.

 

[willbratz]

I got home and the tank was a disaster. Rocks and sand are covered in bubble algae. Too much water evaporated and I was on the verge of burning out my power heads, my corals are all looking really rough, and i'm feeling very very discouraged today.

Water change x 20%. But don't give up, don't be discouraged. All of us have had one type of disaster or another. Some of us have even had multiple disasters at one time.

Keep us posted.

 

[jmay33]

Water change x 20%. But don't give up, don't be discouraged. All of us have had one type of disaster or another. Some of us have even had multiple disasters at one time.

Keep us posted.

Thanks for the encouragement. I'm about to head to my lfs to pick up some water. I don't feel like I have enough time to wait around and mix salt. Should I check my parameters first? Or just go through with a water change because it needs it anyway?

 

[jmay33]

Also, my tank really needs a top off. Should I top off before or after my water change? I have 8 gallons of freshwater and 14-15 gallons of saltwater to work with.

 

[Mannydouhnut]

Before not after

 

[Mannydouhnut]

Yea don't be discouraged. Last year I lost every one of the 25 fish in my 150 fowlr while on vacation turns out my "friend" didn't even come over once I did a 95% water change and turned it into a lps reef that I took down just last week. Every fish in the tank cost at least $70 I was über mad.

 

[jmay33]

Before not after

Yea don't be discouraged. Last year I lost every one of the 25 fish in my 150 fowlr while on vacation turns out my "friend" didn't even come over once I did a 95% water change and turned it into a lps reef that I took down just last week. Every fish in the tank cost at least $70 I was über mad.

Thank you for that! This is the most dedicated I've ever been to a tank, the most money I've spent, and I've been really careful to do everything correctly. I did a 25% water change and then topped off with about 5 gallons of fresh distilled water. I know RO is better but I didn't have enough containers to have both. Lol. I also added 2 emerald crabs. I didn't really want to add anything new, but I'm having a serious bubble algae problem and I heard they might help a little. My peppermint shrimp are MIA. The only coral I'm extremely worried about is my hammer. He may not make it. My brittle star is still kicking and I know my snails are. My one clown is also alive and well. He ate good today, so that helped my nerves a little. I will post my parameters ASAP.

 

[jmay33]

I was going to wait to post a video, but if I'm going to track my real progress then I have to post things when it doesn't look so great. My corals are still very very upset. Now the worst they've ever looked. Especially my pulsing Xenia and hammer coral. I'm hoping maybe they'll calm down. please let me know if the video doesn't work. I did get my protein skimmer set up though.

http://i1079.photobucket.com/albums...6-A48C-1D64DBA648A3-4718-0000043ECF92CE6B.mp4

Also, I realized that with the 2 puny powerheads and the protein skimmer along with one HOB, I officially have no dead spots in my tank! The emerald crabs have almost completely eaten all of the bubble algae.

 

[jmay33]

My corals look a little happier today. The first pic is how they looked when i came home. Hammer still doesnt look great and the kenya trees are still pissed off about everything.

 

[willbratz]

But it looks like you avoided a disaster . I'm still dealing with this overrun of hair algae, but I've only added the second treatment today. Hopefully within a weeks time ill be able to start sifting the dead stuff off my sand

 

[jmay33]

But it looks like you avoided a disaster . I'm still dealing with this overrun of hair algae, but I've only added the second treatment today. Hopefully within a weeks time ill be able to start sifting the dead stuff off my sand

I like to think so. I have cut my light cycle down to 6 hours per day, so I think that's going to maybe help with my algae problems. Plus hopefully I'll get a cleaner pack soon. has it slowed down at all?

 

[willbratz]

I like to think so. I have cut my light cycle down to 6 hours per day, so I think that's going to maybe help with my algae problems. Plus hopefully I'll get a cleaner pack soon. has it slowed down at all?

Sadly no... The back of my tank looks like a putting green . I'll give it a week+ before I go in with a shovel and "skim" the sand :-(

 

[Jaketit]

Just outa curiosity what kinda of filtration are you using?