Frustrated!!

[mannyfern09]

OK. I am getting really jealous looking at all these builds and how nice it all is! for starters let me tell you what i would love to have. a nice reef which my corals are just reproducing and baisically growing out of the tank lol. Seems crazy but alot of ppls tanks here are just like that.
What i have right now.
-29 gallon tank on stand glass top
-30 inch satellite power compacts not 100% shure on the wattage i think 96.. have not changed the bulb in over a year and half 2 years
- i have a wet dry with no l/r or bio balls right now havnt decided what to do
-water, LR-- which i am not too thrilled about has alota red NOT PURPLE stuff all over it so i really wouldnt mind getting rid of it and the same with the sand -- i wouldnt mind getting more sand or new rocks
i just wouldnt no what to do with the water i have now weather to through it out or keep it?
-and i have a clown and damsel , and a little bit of xenia growin
- i also want to paint my tank on the bakk...

i would SOOO appreaciate it if one of you EXPERTS!! help me out and tell me what my next purchase should be any thing in the order of importance.. i want to have my tank lookin like all of yours

THANK YOU SO MUCH

 

[ccCapt]

1st thing is remove the glass top. There is no need for it and it can cause pH problems.
Change your bulbs. I believe cf bulbs should be changed every 8-10 months.
Red stuff on live rock sounds like cyanobacteria, which is usually the result of poor water quality and high nutrients. What kind of water do you use for top offs and water changes? How often do you do water changes? Do you test your water parameters? Can you post some of your readings?
There is no need to throw out the rock. You can just mix up some fresh saltwater in a bucket, take the rock out and scrub the crap off it. Just keep in mind, if your water quality doesn't improve, it will come back.
I assume you have a crushed coral substrate and you want to replace it with sand? You can siphon out about 1/4-1/3 of it at a time when you do water changes. Just replace what you took out with some thoroughly rinsed sand. After 3-4 water changes, the old substrate should be all out and the new sand in place.
If you don't use RO/DI water, your next purchase should be a RO/DI filter.
Whatever you do, DO IT SLOW! Nothing happens fast in this hobby except disasters.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Agree with everything ccCapt mentioned. Also want to say that I think you'll find that the folks here with successful tanks don't attribute them to any single piece of equipment or purchases. (Well... maybe expect for a RO/DI unit!) It's just plain elbow grease, using quality products, and being patient and consistant with their tanks, as well as understanding the dynamics of their tanks.

You mention that you want corals growing like crazy, but only mention having the xenia. Have you tried other corals and they haven't survived? If so, what were they? And as ccCapt mentions... knowing your water parameters (pH, salinity, temp, ammonia/nitrite/nitrate, phosphates, calcium, alkalinity) would help us help you.

 

[mannyfern09]

LIVE ROCK -- The LR does have the bacteria all over it from bad water. Im 100% shuer aboutthat. I was plannign on taking it out scrubing it down really good with a brush and throwing it in my wet/dry.
WATER -- I figure since im taking out my rock, i might as well take out the water and taking out the sand. I live in miami so all the LFS have saltwater for sale. so mixing the water is not a problem for me. when my water evporates i put DISTILLED WATER.
SAND- i figured ide get rid of that to to clean the tanks it self and baisically have a fresh start
STORY- LOL i really tried starting up my tank a wile ago but got cought up in college work and baseball in college -- VERY TIME CONSUMING!! so i really didnt do much i would do a water change every month or 2 or three : / sorry! i plan on doing a wwater change every week or so since my job is literly next door to a fish store.
EQUIPMENT- i no its not super important like u said! but i want to make shure since i wannt to start over that everything iscorrect so i dont have to run and purchase something while my tank is set up!
CORALS- like i said xenia is the only one thats made it through the stage of me not paying much attention!

THANKS A MILLION

 

[melosu58]

Nitrifying bacteria is a good thing on your LR. Whatever you do dont scrub that off. Just do some PWC`s if you are not pleased with the water. Very little of the beneficial bacteria is in your water. As I said it`s on your LR, Sand and tank surfaces.

 

[mannyfern09]

You just confused me a little? So my rocks now that have cynoabacteria. dotn scrub that off when i move the rocks to my wet/dry filter? leave it on??

 

[cmor1701d]

Confusion is esay in your situation. You have a tank that hasn't been maintained and want to get i back to pristine condiitons. Your LR and sand host most of the good bacteria in your tank. But, your LR is also coated with cyano. You can mix up a couple of 5 gallon buckets os sw (only abut 2/3 full), then take a rock at a time and scrub it in the sw bucket to get as much of cyano off as you can. Repeat this for all your LR. Then move the rock to the wet/dry (now going to be a sump).
You can try to vacuum the top of the sand to clean that too. Don't take more than about a ¼" off the top as that's where most of the nitrifying bacteria are in the sand (down to about 1").
You should also start doing a series of 30% water changes several times a week to get your water parameters back in check.

If you don't have one, get yourself a refractometer and calibrate it. Use that to help maintain the SG of the tank. Get some good test kits (I like Salifert for Ca, Mg, NO3, and API for pH). Test weekly at a minimum.

Feed LESS. No more than twice a week and only what your fish will eat within 3 mnutes.

Change the bulbs NOW and change them every 6 - 8 months. You will be limited in the corals you can keep with a single 96w CF light, but you can still get a good selection of corals.

If you are buying water from the LFS, TEST IT every time before using it. Test it for Phosphate (PO4) too.

That should get you back on the road to a healthy tank.

 

[mannyfern09]

WOW awesome thanks for that... VERY HELPFULL!
Lol
This weekend I will take the rocks out into a 5 gallon container scrub the HECK out of them then throw them in my now called SUMP! lol the sand part im still a little confused? my sand is really dirty!! when fish swims by it and piks up sand brown stuff shoots up like a cloud of dirtyness you get me?? if this is ok i can take outa ll the water take out the sand put new sand and putt the water back into the tank and do a 30% water change like 3 times next week.
also when i take everything out i plan on painting the back of the tank but thats a whole nother subject in itself!

anything else?

oo yeah and the lights i will buy asap.. or just the bulb still havnt decided!! what type of wattage do you thing then for a 29 they told me at the LFS 3W per gallon

 

[cmor1701d]

What are you going to do with the fish when you take everything out?
How deep is your current sand bed?
If you vacuum the top layer you get most of the crud off the bottom leaving you with close to pristine sand underneath. If not, you may want to set up a QT tank to house the fish while you tear down the 29 and start it over again. That would include going through a new cycle.

The watts per gallon rule is just a generalization. Decide on what you want to keep in the tank and that will dictate how much light you need. Is that a single 96w bulb or two 96w bulbs?
The fixture you have now (with a new bulb) should be fine for mushrooms, leathers, xenia, frogspawn/hammer (often confused for each other), and a host of other corals. Just checkthe light requirements before buying. Most SPS will not do well as they need more light.

 

[mannyfern09]

i was actually just planning on thowing all my water into a big plastic garbage can for the day which would mean i would not have to cycle while i clean the inside of the tank and put a new sand bed. then planned on putting the water back in with the clean rocks in my sump .. in the garbage can i planned on putting 2 power heads to keep the water moving for the couple hours that the fish would be inside.. also while i had everything out of the tank i planned on painting the back a specific color ... does that sound good? any other suggestions?

and for the light im going to go home later and i will let u no what i have i am pretty shure its 1 bulb of 96 watts. and will that wattage hold zoos? or not?

 

[mannyfern09]

i have been looking around and my light "satelite brand" only makes a 30inch 65 w so i am guesing my light is 65w! i guss i need to invest in a new light ASAP!! lol im gunna be looking around now maybe find one online and order it tonite?? any suggestions?

http://cgi.ebay.com/30-Power-Compac...5|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318|301:1|293:1|294:50

 

[cmor1701d]

OK, the water contains almost no bacteria. All the good bacteria clings to surfaces. LR is live because it is coated with bacteria. The same goes for live sand. New sand will blow all over the tank until it gets coated with bacteria which makes it heavy enough to settle to the bottom and stay there.

Removing the entire sand bed in one shot would probably remove enough bacteria that the tank would have a mini-cycle if not a full blown cycle. You would be much better replacing it thirds as ccCapt said. Yes that will take time, but it's the right way to go.

Putting the fish and water in buckets while you paint the back glass should be fine. Just don't disturb the sand bed too much unless you replace it all. If you do replace it all make sure you have plenty of sw on hand for partial water changes. Should a mini-cycle occur you will need to do 10% or larger daily pwc's to keep the parameters in check. Get new Ammonia and Nitrite test kits and test daily.

As for lights, I took a quick look and the Current USA Nova SunDial T5 Aquarium Lighting Fixture, 4X24 Watt, 30 inch Sale Price: $186.25 looks like a good deal. Any 5 bulb T5 with a quality reflector or a dual bulb 65w CFL should be good for most corals. The Current USA Satellite Dual Compact Fluorescent, 2X65 Watt, 30 inch is on sale for $126.91

 

[melosu58]

If it was me I would just siphon off the cyano if that`s what we are talking about and do some frequent PWC`s. The nitrifying bacteria is already as I mentioned before already on your LR, sand and tank surfaces. You dont want to do anything to disrupt that. JMO

 

[mannyfern09]

so the cyano bacteria is good? Im starting to understand .. (sorry) ..
so just remove water cyphen out some sand? put some new sand?( do i put the sand anywhere or in a certain place??) sorry for so many simple questions which may sound dum! lol

so step 1 cyphen water into bucket.
2. clean sand? or w.e u say
3. paint the back let it settle
4.set up tank again
5. live rock which was in tank into sump
6. restock tank with water and fish
7. water change daily
8. watch everything
9. buy cured lr
10. LIGHTS

AM i missing n e thing?

THANK YOU SO MUCHH! I WILL POST PICTURES OF MY PROGREESS!! YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME

 

[melosu58]

so the cyano bacteria is good?

No the cyano is bad. It is the red slimey algea looking stuff that looks like this.

Do some PWC`s and and when you siphon water out siphon this out. Nitrifying bacteria is invisible and it covers surfaces in your tank. It helps out in your tank by turning ammonia into nitrites and then into nitrates which can be removed by PWC`s. We are talking two different things here. This article will help explain the good bacteria.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/articles/articles/3/1/Cycle-your-salt-tank/Page1.html

BioFiltration

​

 

[mannyfern09]

ok since im keeping my water in my plastic container! i should take the rocks out 1st, then cyphen outthe cyano into the bucket too?? because water will be coming out with it? and the rest of my steps looks good?

 

[mannyfern09]

No updatEs?!! I needa find out asap planning to DO WORK sunday morning so trying to get everything ready by tomorow night

 

[mannyfern09]

??? 130W OR 96W I have the money and want to purchase it online or at the LFS anyy help? and is what i wrote abovve a good idea?

 

[cmor1701d]

SLOW DOWN! You are not going to fix everything in one day.
Cyano is bad. Vacuum it off the sand and rocks if you can. Scrubbing the rocks in a bucket of sw may also help. Without seeing your tank it's hard to tell what is going on. If you could some full tank shots and some close ups of the rock using the macro setting on your camera that might help identify what is goinig on. As Melousu58 stated you may not need to scrub the rocks. Let's see what's on them.

You are going to need several buckets for this. When you siphon the cyano and other detritus off the sand, that water and whatever comes with it needs to be discarded. The same goes for the 5 gallon bucket you scrub the rocks in, IF you decide that step is needed.

As for a light fixture, therre is a huge difference between VHO, CFL, T5, MH and LED lighting systems. The wattage numbers alone do not mean much.
Post a link to the lights you are thinking about (like I posted earlier).

 

[mannyfern09]

this is the cyano? should i scrub it off b4 i toss it into the sump? or keep the cyano on? and what do i do with the sand? look at the pic!