Gas Exchange

[rdnelson99]

Have a 2 month old 45 gal with a glass top. When I set it up, I just assumed I needed a top. I now have some jumpers so I don't want it open. Have been debating replacing the glass top with egg crate but don't want to reduce lighting because of the depth of the egg create. I assume my gas exchange is affected by the glass top but so far, all my readings are great (except mag which is not bad but low end). Fish are all happy but the few small coral fags I have don't seem to be thriving like they should. I am working on a new DIY six lamp T5HO fixture to replace my 2 lamp hoping that will help the corals but I am wondering if poor gas exchanges is also contributing.

As always, thanks for all the help and advice.

 

[Fishguy2727]

The fish wouldn't be doing well if you were having aeration problems. Do you have a skimmer? If so you definitely have enough aeration.

If you keep the glass clean (wipe it off once a week) it should stay nice and clear while keeping all fish in. I prefer glass over eggcrate because eggcrate does cut down on light a little, allowing light to only go straight down. Eggcrate also allows small fish to still slip out.

 

[spideybry]

Corals can be iffy if you just got them. Adjusting to new light or new tank parameters can stress them causing them to change/deteriorate/potentially die. One thing you can do, pending that your levels are correct (calc, alk, mag for starters), is provide adequate lighting and water movement.

When you say two lamp fixture, do you mean florescents or T5s?

 

[rdnelson99]

I do not have a skimmer. I have a canister filter and angle the return towards the water line to agitate the water line. My two power heads are also angled up a bit to increase the surface agitation. As for the small fish, Everything I have right now shouldn't fit through the egg create. I do plan on adding a Diamond Goby (last fish) and I want him small when I get him so I was thinking of using screen over the egg create. Of course that reduces light even more.

Yes my current lighting is a stock 2 Lamp T5HO with the factory supplied blue and white lamp. Thought that had to be plenty of light until I started learning about corals. LOL

As I said, I am taking a 6 lamp fixture we were unable to install on a job site and converting it to one I can use on my tank. I have to cut it down to size and build a nice frame for it. Once I have that done, I will buy a nice mix of lamps so that should take care of my lighting problems.

Thanks for the input guys.

 

[Fishguy2727]

What size tank is this?

I would not run a canister on a reef. They trap too much debris and are not needed.

 

[carey]

I actually was quite successful in using a fluval canister on my55g. Just proper maintenance and not overfeeding or overstocking and I was running 0 nitrates and my corals were flourishing.

It's just a matter of preference and your ability to keep up on it. of course on say a 125g tank i wouldn't recommend a canister but a sump but a canister does still have a place in sw.

 

[spideybry]

I do not have a skimmer. I have a canister filter and angle the return towards the water line to agitate the water line. My two power heads are also angled up a bit to increase the surface agitation. As for the small fish, Everything I have right now shouldn't fit through the egg create. I do plan on adding a Diamond Goby (last fish) and I want him small when I get him so I was thinking of using screen over the egg create. Of course that reduces light even more.

Yes my current lighting is a stock 2 Lamp T5HO with the factory supplied blue and white lamp. Thought that had to be plenty of light until I started learning about corals. LOL

As I said, I am taking a 6 lamp fixture we were unable to install on a job site and converting it to one I can use on my tank. I have to cut it down to size and build a nice frame for it. Once I have that done, I will buy a nice mix of lamps so that should take care of my lighting problems.

Thanks for the input guys.

So maybe it isn't enough light, and you are working towards getting better so that is alright. Side note, stock bulbs are usually horrible when it comes to light usable for corals. Look into getting some quality bulbs such as ATI or Giessemens.

What are your tank levels? (Calcium, alkalinity, magnesium, nitrates, etc.)

I would also make sure you are running the correct media for a salt water tank inside a canister filter. Really need to make sure you take good care of it like Carey said. Probably would be a good idea to move to an alternative if you run into too many issues with the canister.

 

[Fishguy2727]

I think the exact brand of bulb should only be an issue if you are right on the verge of not having enough light. If the exact brand makes that big of an issue you need more light. As soon as those high end bulbs age a little they will be just as bad.

As stated the canister can work well enough if you keep up on them, but after the light upgrade I think you need to focus on a better filtration setup. The only clients or customers I have that are being successful with canisters are using them on large predatory setups and know they have to stay on top of them.

 

[rdnelson99]

What size tank is this?

I would not run a canister on a reef. They trap too much debris and are not needed.

One more thing I learned too late. LOL It is a 45 Gal. I have been watching it very closely to make sure the nitrate doesn't start to climb. I don't trust a HOB overflow and I didn't have my tank drilled when I converted it from FW to SW. Hoping to be able to upgrade to a much larger tank in the future and turn this one into the sump.

 

[rdnelson99]

I actually was quite successful in using a fluval canister on my55g. Just proper maintenance and not overfeeding or overstocking and I was running 0 nitrates and my corals were flourishing.

It's just a matter of preference and your ability to keep up on it. of course on say a 125g tank i wouldn't recommend a canister but a sump but a canister does still have a place in sw.

I have never found a good description of what maintenance I should be doing on it. I did tear it apart over the weekend and rinsed everything well. I removed some of the media and installed some carbon. Then, I soaked it all in some of the water from my PWC before putting it all back together and reconnecting. Is that about it? How often?

 

[carey]

I did mine every other week sometimes a bit longer. I was way understocked though so it wasn't that bad. I didn't ever overfeed back then and my skimmer helped a lot.

 

[Strawman]

Just set up a screen that runs straight up on the sides of ur tank so it doesn't restrict gas exchange, light and keeps your fish.

I will leave the aesthetics up to you. Rough sketch would look like this
S. S
R. r
E. E
E. E
N. N. . Top of tank

 

[Strawman]

Nvrmind the sketch spaces get edited out in the transfer or data from mobile

 

[rdnelson99]

My parameters have been very stable. PH between 8.1-8.2 depending on the time of day. AM. 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0-1, Cal 420-440, Alk. 7 (125.3) Phos 0. This weekend was the first time I had mag tested and it was 1250.

It sounds to me like I should worry about getting my lighting handled first and then worry more about the Mag levels if my corals don't take off. Until I have that done, I won't add anymore corals and hope the 4 small frags do well enough in the meantime. The good news is my Zoanthus Colony seems to be thriving and spreading. The hammer is doing fine but not sure it is growing a lot yet. The Daisy Polyp not so good and the candy cane is showing sings of trying to come back after I broke the trunk on it trying to get it secure in a rock to prevent it always getting knock to the sand bed.

 

[rdnelson99]

Nvrmind the sketch spaces get edited out in the transfer or data from mobile

LOL I am afraid you lost me on that one.

 

[Strawman]

Here isvwhat I meant to get across to u. Aesthetics are up to you

 

[rdnelson99]

Ok, now I understand. I think for now, I am going to wait and see if I have problems with my glass top over time. My biggest concern is getting my DIY 6 Lamp T5HO fixture up and running. Made good progress on it last night.