HiFidelity
Guest
helloooo everyone, many of you may know me from a couple of BAR events where we might have met.
My first saltwater tank is the culprit here, I had made an introduction back when I first joined and this is the thread;
http://www.bareefers.org/home/node/15086
Well since this is the best and most helpful reef tank community I have ever found I am back my dear friends with open ears to hear your advice/opinions in regards to my most recent predicament.
Simply put I've outgrown the tank very very quickly, it is a 45 gallon setup w/ built in filtration and at this point I have 5 fish (clown pair, lawnmower, firefish and a yellow prawn goby. I also have over a dozen different corals in there now, many of them are frags as well as a few decent size colonies, and lastly I have a CUC consisting of maybe a dozen snails as well as a dozen hermit crabs.
The problem I'm having is how sensitive my parameters are, I have to be on top of my water changes or nitrates will spike quickly and that is what happened recently, I had a busy few weeks and managed to go a month without water change and the result was elevated nitrates. I am currently still fighting back the nitrates in fact I just started dosing vodka about two & a half weeks ago.
I believe I've reached the breaking point of my filtration capacity and the solutions are very limited as things stand right now. Problem is my sump is not quite as big as needed and the same goes for my skimmer. Don't get me wrong the tank isn't crashing, in fact everything in there is happy and thriving except for my SPS (naturally the first to suffer from elevated nitrates) but my softies & LPS are growing.
So taking a step back to elaborate on where the plans started; the current tank was supposed to be a an introduction for me into the reef hobby, something with which I can learn the ropes and learn to practice proper husbandry and reef keeping habits before I jumped into something more serious. What I didn't anticipate is how quickly I would outgrow the tank (this is due to this awesome club, without you guys I wouldn't have so many corals or the useful knowledge I've picked up ) and now my concern is for the well being of my livestock, I'm very mushy when it comes to suffering livestock, it makes me sad when things die lol.
Since my last set of pics I posted I've upgraded the lighting to a Cadlights 150w MH, 2 t5's and LED moon lighting which really made all my corals thrive (including SPS) but after a while and after I neglected to do my water changes the nitrates are up and my SPS are receding, 2 small frags didn't make it (bummed me out).
I do have in my garage 90% of the parts for my next setup which includes a 55g tank (35x18x18) it is a very odd size yes but i chose it because of the fact that it has depth (front to back) and it is not so tall, the idea is to build a setup that is geared towards optimum coral growth and this shape for the size is the best that I can use. I also have an Aqueon Modular ProFlex Sump, AquaC EV120 Skimmer, Lifereef Overflow Box, Mag 5 pump for the skimmer and Ocean Runner 2500 for return pump.
The Plan was to set the new tank against the wall in front of our staircase at the entrance to our home, there is also a closet under the staircase and a wet bar behind it, I planned to plumb the tank through the wall and into the closet where I would setup my sump, frag tank and everything else I need for my tank along with plumbing into the sewer and fresh water so I can run RO/DI right there next to everything and also have the ability to drain directly into the sewer system for quick and easy water changes.
Well that sounds great you might say, so what's the problem? My problem is I feel like I need to go into my new tank sooner than expected as it has 10 times the filtration power I currently have and can most likely sustain a heavily stocked tank of the size I'm planning to have but there is a major hiccup, I'm redoing the flooring where the new tank location will be, on top of that there is actually no floor in that area it is an opening where there used to be a staircase leading to the lower level of the house, so not only do I have to redo the flooring I actually have to do some framing work to the beams underneath and that is not going to be for another few months.
Now I can't get myself to stop thinking about what I should do as a solution for this? at least temporarily so I can keep SPS Corals and not just LPS & softies. I considered plumbing the new sump into the existing tank and have it sit on the side next to it for the meanwhile (sump is way too big for current tank and could never fit in the stand) but my fiance frowned instantly at the thought of having an exposed sump just sitting on the floor in our formal living room. Another thought was whether or not to run the new tank temporarily in another location in the house other than the planned area at the entry of the house, but then I have the sump issue again because my stand is low and not really designed to house a sump (since I want to run the sump behind the wall in the closet) so it's quite a predicament, I either say bye bye to SPS and wait till I can setup the new tank once & for all and only move my livestock once. Or bite the bullet and temporarily setup the new tank somewhere else and later deal with the hassle of moving that tank again into the area where it's supposed to be...
To add to my headache now I'm wondering if I want to drill my tank?? I know I'm going to drill my frag tank (18x18x18 cube) I only think of this because if I am going to do it I should be doing it before any water goes in but then I don't know if I'm going to keep this setup since I have enough room for a 90 gallon tank to fit and work with the design concept we're going with but then again i love the shape of this 55 gallon tank I'm going with and really like the idea of staying under 24" in height.... Decisions Decisions.
Any thoughts or ideas as to what the best option may be?? lol
I will snap a few shots when I get home today of the area where I plan to put the tank so you can get an idea of what my plans are. I don't know if I'm being impatient or overly and unreasonably concerned with trying to keep SPS corals. I guess I just need some constructive criticism or input from those who understand my predicament.
Sorry about the lengthy read, I figured I'd be thorough in explaining my future plans and current situation.
Cheers
My first saltwater tank is the culprit here, I had made an introduction back when I first joined and this is the thread;
http://www.bareefers.org/home/node/15086
Well since this is the best and most helpful reef tank community I have ever found I am back my dear friends with open ears to hear your advice/opinions in regards to my most recent predicament.
Simply put I've outgrown the tank very very quickly, it is a 45 gallon setup w/ built in filtration and at this point I have 5 fish (clown pair, lawnmower, firefish and a yellow prawn goby. I also have over a dozen different corals in there now, many of them are frags as well as a few decent size colonies, and lastly I have a CUC consisting of maybe a dozen snails as well as a dozen hermit crabs.
The problem I'm having is how sensitive my parameters are, I have to be on top of my water changes or nitrates will spike quickly and that is what happened recently, I had a busy few weeks and managed to go a month without water change and the result was elevated nitrates. I am currently still fighting back the nitrates in fact I just started dosing vodka about two & a half weeks ago.
I believe I've reached the breaking point of my filtration capacity and the solutions are very limited as things stand right now. Problem is my sump is not quite as big as needed and the same goes for my skimmer. Don't get me wrong the tank isn't crashing, in fact everything in there is happy and thriving except for my SPS (naturally the first to suffer from elevated nitrates) but my softies & LPS are growing.
So taking a step back to elaborate on where the plans started; the current tank was supposed to be a an introduction for me into the reef hobby, something with which I can learn the ropes and learn to practice proper husbandry and reef keeping habits before I jumped into something more serious. What I didn't anticipate is how quickly I would outgrow the tank (this is due to this awesome club, without you guys I wouldn't have so many corals or the useful knowledge I've picked up ) and now my concern is for the well being of my livestock, I'm very mushy when it comes to suffering livestock, it makes me sad when things die lol.
Since my last set of pics I posted I've upgraded the lighting to a Cadlights 150w MH, 2 t5's and LED moon lighting which really made all my corals thrive (including SPS) but after a while and after I neglected to do my water changes the nitrates are up and my SPS are receding, 2 small frags didn't make it (bummed me out).
I do have in my garage 90% of the parts for my next setup which includes a 55g tank (35x18x18) it is a very odd size yes but i chose it because of the fact that it has depth (front to back) and it is not so tall, the idea is to build a setup that is geared towards optimum coral growth and this shape for the size is the best that I can use. I also have an Aqueon Modular ProFlex Sump, AquaC EV120 Skimmer, Lifereef Overflow Box, Mag 5 pump for the skimmer and Ocean Runner 2500 for return pump.
The Plan was to set the new tank against the wall in front of our staircase at the entrance to our home, there is also a closet under the staircase and a wet bar behind it, I planned to plumb the tank through the wall and into the closet where I would setup my sump, frag tank and everything else I need for my tank along with plumbing into the sewer and fresh water so I can run RO/DI right there next to everything and also have the ability to drain directly into the sewer system for quick and easy water changes.
Well that sounds great you might say, so what's the problem? My problem is I feel like I need to go into my new tank sooner than expected as it has 10 times the filtration power I currently have and can most likely sustain a heavily stocked tank of the size I'm planning to have but there is a major hiccup, I'm redoing the flooring where the new tank location will be, on top of that there is actually no floor in that area it is an opening where there used to be a staircase leading to the lower level of the house, so not only do I have to redo the flooring I actually have to do some framing work to the beams underneath and that is not going to be for another few months.
Now I can't get myself to stop thinking about what I should do as a solution for this? at least temporarily so I can keep SPS Corals and not just LPS & softies. I considered plumbing the new sump into the existing tank and have it sit on the side next to it for the meanwhile (sump is way too big for current tank and could never fit in the stand) but my fiance frowned instantly at the thought of having an exposed sump just sitting on the floor in our formal living room. Another thought was whether or not to run the new tank temporarily in another location in the house other than the planned area at the entry of the house, but then I have the sump issue again because my stand is low and not really designed to house a sump (since I want to run the sump behind the wall in the closet) so it's quite a predicament, I either say bye bye to SPS and wait till I can setup the new tank once & for all and only move my livestock once. Or bite the bullet and temporarily setup the new tank somewhere else and later deal with the hassle of moving that tank again into the area where it's supposed to be...
To add to my headache now I'm wondering if I want to drill my tank?? I know I'm going to drill my frag tank (18x18x18 cube) I only think of this because if I am going to do it I should be doing it before any water goes in but then I don't know if I'm going to keep this setup since I have enough room for a 90 gallon tank to fit and work with the design concept we're going with but then again i love the shape of this 55 gallon tank I'm going with and really like the idea of staying under 24" in height.... Decisions Decisions.
Any thoughts or ideas as to what the best option may be?? lol
I will snap a few shots when I get home today of the area where I plan to put the tank so you can get an idea of what my plans are. I don't know if I'm being impatient or overly and unreasonably concerned with trying to keep SPS corals. I guess I just need some constructive criticism or input from those who understand my predicament.
Sorry about the lengthy read, I figured I'd be thorough in explaining my future plans and current situation.
Cheers