My 1st 55 gal reef build

[daney90]

My lights are new about 2 weeks old now. I have the taotronic LED that I ordered from ebay and for my rodi I just changed my filters last week. I'll try to cut back my lights for 8 hrs starting today and we'll see of that helps. I dont have GFO reactor though. What does that do?

 

[jjamontan]

GFO removes phosphates as water passes thru it.

 

[daney90]

What other filtration should i need to have other than skimmer and live rock?

 

[jjamontan]

All I have is rock, sand, a skimmer, filter sock and the GFO and carbon reactor.

 

[daney90]

I'm going to get a real filter sock next week after exams and maybe get rid of my home made filter sock lol!!

I hate how i lost so much astrea snails in two months. When they fall they cant seem to get back on their feet. i need to get more of them..

 

[LaWoWee]

Filter socks work great! But they get dirty and backed up really fast. I keep buying more because im too lazy to wash them. Now i have around 9 socks and i wash them together every couple of months.

 

[daney90]

Hello all, its been a while since the last time I posted but im happy to be back thank god Exams are over!! Wheeeww

Just tested my water parameters and here they are:
NH3 = 0
NO2 = 0
NO3 = 20
PO4 = 0.25
PH = 8
KH = 6

What do I need to be concerned with these parameters? Im still battling with cyano but good news is that they don't grow anymore and each day they die

 

[daney90]

Im planning to make a fuge from a Rubbermaid bin. Anyone tried this before? Also, im looking at the led strips they sell in Home Depot is that fine for my fuge?

 

[LaWoWee]

Never tried it before but i can be done. Do you have a sump already? If not, you can turn the bin into a fuge/sump by creating a siphon and installing a return pump.

 

[daney90]

Yes I have a sump but theres not much space in there so im thinking to just use a Rubbermaid bin and drill it.

Im still having prob with my cyano it covering some of my zoas now..

 

[LaWoWee]

If you have the extra room for a rubbermaid fuge the i say go for it. Ive seen a lot of DIYs where people use an aquaclear HOB filter and convert it into a fuge. Cyano can a big pain. Ive had it bad before. I ended up using chemi-clean get rid of it and it killed all of it. I had to ofcourse perform a bunch of maintenance after to keep it from coming back.

 

[daney90]

So I went to lfs 2 days ago and I bought a ricordea frag it was on sale for $10 and I thought to try it out and see if it will survive in my tank

Here it is

 

[LaWoWee]

Nice! I think I have the same one. Theyre real easy to care for. If it has more than one mouth on it, It'll probably split.

 

[Beengirl]

Nice!! I've recently taken a real liking to ricordeas, and yours has a nice color! Great pick!

 

[daney90]

Thanks they're lovely what other corals are for beginners? I just have zoas and this ricordea.

 

[LaWoWee]

Since you have LED's now, you can probably try some LPS (frogspawn, hammer, torch).

 

[daney90]

Hello all, I just added a midas blenny 4 days ago and he hasn't eaten yet. I tried feeding mysis, brine, flakes, pellets and he would just sit down on the sand n the corner. Im worried...

 

[daney90]

Please help me raise my KH because its only at 6 right now. Tested my water last night and here are the results

NO2=0
NO3=0
NH3=0
PO4=0
Ca=380
PH=~7.9
KH=6

I've read a trhread that says baking soda, kalk, crushed coral will help but idk which is the best way to go.

 

[LaWoWee]

Please help me raise my KH because its only at 6 right now. Tested my water last night and here are the results

NO2=0
NO3=0
NH3=0
PO4=0
Ca=380
PH=~7.9
KH=6

I've read a trhread that says baking soda, kalk, crushed coral will help but idk which is the best way to go.

Have you done a water change lately? That should raise your levels up. Your calcium is a bit low also. WC's or dosing a calc/alk supplement will work. Kalk is a calc/alk additive. What kind of substrate do you have? Crushed coral does raise PH but traps a lot of dirt.

 

[daney90]

Yes, always do my pwc weekly and my KH, ph, and cal have always been like that lvl. I used aragonite caribsea substrate. Tank has been ruining for 3-4 months now.