kngfisher February 12, 2006 Share February 12, 2006 (edited) Hello and greetings to all. I have had my tank up for 5 years and to this point it has been more out of luck then skill or knowledge I am afraid. My current setup is as follows: 55gal tank ~40lbs of live rock substrate is ~4" crushed coral Turbofloter 1000 Multi (HOT) Fluval 404 (carbon) CustomSeaLife 48" PowerCompact Maxi-Jet 1200 (used for water movement inside the tank) coralife digital themometer hydor 200 watt heater My levels are all off Ph 7.8 (measured w/ FasTest test kit) Alk 2.5 (measured w/ FasTest test kit) Sg 1.03+ (measured w/ SeaTest square floating arm tester) Nitrate 70+ (measured w/ FasTest test kit) temp 78 f what can I do to improve the water quality of my system without doing weekly water changes. I have no corals (due to water quality I am sure). planning on doing daily 5gal water changes to slowly bring levels back into the acceptable range. The inhabitants of the tank include 1 sailfin tang 1 azur damsal 1 blue damsal 1 royal gramma 2 Percula clows 1 Bangaii Cardinal 1 coral banded shrimp unknow number of snails and crabs all inhabitants act normally even though water is off (now you know the luck part). I do not have the room under the stand to setup a sump so I have invested in a refgium (12x4x36) but what else can I do? Below is a list of items on my wish list but before I buy them, can someone give me some guidance to see if I am looking in the right direction or should I be looking a different equipment to better help the overall health of the tank. -wish list- Coralife Turbo-Twist 3X - 9 Watt UV Sterilizer w/Tunze Universal pump Mini 5024.04 AquaMedic Ozone 50 Milwaukee pH/ORP Controller Combo Pinpoint Salinity Monitor w/prob new bulbs for existing CustomSeaLife 48" PowerCompact Can someone please help me. Edited February 13, 2006 by kngfisher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhoch February 12, 2006 Share February 12, 2006 Here are some things you can do: 1) With your "daily" water changes make sure you are using RO/DI water... That will help 2) Start a refugium with macro alage A couple of questions that might lead to other things you can do: What kind of substrate do you have and how deep is it? How old are your bulbs? What kinds of things do you want to keep. I wouldn't advise any purchase till I know the answer to the above questions other than something to setup a refugium and/or a RO/DI filter if you don't have one. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Lazar February 12, 2006 Share February 12, 2006 Kingfisher, The only real problem I see for a fish only tank is your nitrates are too high, and water changes are really the easiest way to fix that. Your refugium may help some too, but not as much as water changes. You also should slowly bring down your salinity. I would not worry at all about alk, as you don't have corals. I also would not worry much about the pH...again, your water changes will fix these parameters too. The first piece of equipment you should get is something that accurately measures your salinity. I like the $35-$45 refractometers, but I've never used a salinity meter. Unless your fish are sick, you're planning on adding corals, or you have some other problems, I think you really don't need any of those other pieces of equipment. My number one recommendation is that you do water changes. Do small water changes every few days until you get your nitrates and salinity under control. Once they're good, start a regular maintenance program of a small water change every week or every other week. Let us know how things go. Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kngfisher February 13, 2006 Author Share February 13, 2006 Here are some things you can do: 1) With your "daily" water changes make sure you are using RO/DI water... That will help -the only water i get is from marine scene...since salinity is high, am using fresh rather than salt for my small 5gal water changes 2) Start a refugium with macro alage A couple of questions that might lead to other things you can do: -have the ref on order but do not know how or what to put into it. no pumps are included so i will need advice there too. What kind of substrate do you have and how deep is it? -substrate is live sand (crushed coral) about 4" deep....i also have ~40lbs of live rock (maybe more but not much more room in tank left) How old are your bulbs? -bulbs ~3years old What kinds of things do you want to keep. -I used to be able to support mushrooms, green star ployps, haddoni, so I would love to be able to support those again. also, just had my purple urchin die. I wouldn't advise any purchase till I know the answer to the above questions other than something to setup a refugium and/or a RO/DI filter if you don't have one. -would a RO/DI filter be cheaper then getting water at marine scene? Dave 52881[/snapback] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grav February 13, 2006 Share February 13, 2006 How about getting your SG down to 1.025.... that is easy. Then get some PH buffer and get that up to 8.3. Small cost to get your two of the top 4 most critical paramiters in line. Temp is good and Water changes / filtration for the nitrates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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