My New Saltwater Tank!

[stanleo]

Hi all,
 
So here is the back story. My husband has had this 55g saltwater tank for 5 yrs. I have lived with him for 2 yrs. he has argued with me about all that time because I knew he wasn't taking care of it the way he should. There has been an algae problem from the get go because his maintenance routine was, when he felt like it he did it. So the glass didn't get scraped regularly, the filters may have been cleaned once or twice a year, the equipment was never cleaned to my knowledge. It was gross. I did what I could behind his back but it wasn't enough. This is how bad he was. Last week I decided to test the water and ammonia was at .25 and he said that was fine!!!!!
 
Well I finally had enough. I tore everything down. I saved about 15g of water and used the rest to scrub the rocks, equipment, glass. I got the protein skimmer working properly. (I have been doing a TON of research about saltwater tanks.) I put everything back together and this was about 3 days ago and I haven't lost any fish. The algae is almost completely gone (except on one rock which had polyps on it and I didn't want to lose those. I put new jets into it to get the turn over where it needs to be(he had some but didn't know why they were needed so they rarely ran and both were badly damaged so I needed to get new ones.) I am waiting 2 weeks till I change the filter media and put the right media in there. I wanted to wait cause I know that I probably killed all the good stuff on the rocks and I want to reseed them before I change the external filter media. So that's why I call it MY new tank! I am starting a maintenance routine of emptying the protein skimmer and scrubbing the glass daily, 30% WC weekly, cleaning the filters monthly.
 
So if all goes well, in 3 months I am going to get some new fish and corals. Right now I have a yellow tang, 1 green chromis, 1 clown, 1 lawnmower blenny, and 1 six line wrasse. What should get for my new fish that might actually survive?? Any suggestions that you might have would be greatly appreciated.
 
I have a before and after shots for your amusement!
 
Before
 

 
After
 

 

[attibones]

Much improved! I know little to nothing about saltwater aquaria, but it looks like so far you've done wonders.

 

[ALW]

A clean up crew would be best added next

 

[stanleo]

Yeah the clean up crew is going in next. I spoke too soon though. Tonight the yellow tang died. When I left for work he was swimming at the surface with a horrible looking white splotch on his skin. It was almost half of his one side. I don't have the means for a hospital tank so I just left him be and hoped for the best but he was dead when I got home. I just hope I don't loose anymore. I still have 10 or so hermit crabs in there but I definitely need more. And there are still a few bristleworms. (they were feasting on the tang.)
)

 

[CezzaXV]

Looking much better already! Sorry you lost the tang.

This is another one of those occasions where I wish fish would just die. I hate that people can keep fish in terrible conditions and they just keep going on, and because they're still alive people assume they must be doing alright! I hope the hubby doesn't give you too much stick about the tang dying as it happened after you cleaned it all out. You definitely did the best thing.

I'm looking forward to seeing what becomes of this tank.

 

[stanleo]

I figured I would update this thread since it has been two months since I did all this.
 
Well I did add more CUC, 10 hermits, 10 snails and an emerald crab. I lost the blenny a few days ago

  and never found the body so the pH went down and am in the process of fixing. I still have an algae problem that I am combating but I know this takes time. But thankfully I do not have red slime algae! Diatoms are there but I really do think they are going away and green algae. I'm not sure if its the beneficial type or not but I am still cleaning it.I am getting help in other threads I started but if you're reading this and want to give tips please feel free.
 
I am religious about my maintenance routine, 15gl WC weekly, clean the glass every two days, empty the skimmer everyday, clean filters and scrub equipment monthly. Water test like crazy to keep an eye on things. I just recently learned however that I should have tested the newly made water. So much I don't know still.
 
I am still not there yet and I think I am far away fro adding more corals or fish but I think/hope it is getting there.
 
Thanks for reading and maybe this can my first journal on here

 

 
You can see the algae growth on the powerheads and up in the corner. Also the diatoms.

 

[Skies]

Rock on!!

 

[DrRob]

OK, Wow.
 
That's quite a transformation, this now looks like someone loves it.

 

[stanleo]

Thanks so much guys! DrRob, I really do love it and I am really trying my best to get it to be spectacular.
 
I got a new API Phosphate test kit today because I didn't trust my old one and got some very interesting results.
 
tap water: 0.5ppm
 
r/o water: 0ppm
 
newly mixed saltwater made with r/o water:0.25ppm
 
water in SW tank: 0.25ppm
 
water in FW tank: 0.5ppm
 
new water for FW tank made with 1/2 dechlorinated tap water and 1/2 r/o water 0.25ppm
 
I use Instant Ocean Reef Crystals for the salt and I am not reading anything on the bag that it adds phosphate to the water so I am at a loss as to why it has phosphate in the newly mixed saltwater. Can anyone help me on that?
 
Is that reason for the algae growth or is it low enough?

 

[stanleo]

Its a crab battle royal!!!
 

 

[stanleo]

and another one
 


A soon as I have the funds after rent is paid I am buying a Phosban 150 reactor that is going to hold GFO. Its this stuff that takes phosphates out of the water. Its really not that expensive and I would be foolish not to try it.
 
I have recently added pincushion sea urchin to my list of life that I am going to add. Its a tentative thing that I still need to do more research on. I figure that if all goes well in the next 4 to 6 months, I will be starting to add more life to it. Slow and steady wins this race! I will update this soon with a list of what I want to add and when.
 
Thanks for reading!

 

[stanleo]

For the last week I have been having a heck of time getting my protein skimmer set right. A few mornings I came downstairs and it was overflowing with clear water. I know this is not the way they should run so I decided the reason was that it needed cleaned thoroughly. I cleaned the whole thing and noticed that the clear plastic tube that runs from the intake to the main body was thick with algae. So I cleaned that all out and to prevent that from happening again I put black duct tape all around it so no more light would get in there.
 
Did I do the right thing?

 

[stanleo]

Ok so its been over 3 months since I started getting this tank right. Its been pretty stable and I decided to take advantage of a 40% off sale at the LFS and get some fish for this tank. I got one pajama cardinal and 2 yellowtail damsels today. I am acclimating them right now. They are pretty fish and I can't wait to take pics and post them on here! I will keep this updated on how they work out.

 

[DrRob]

Looking forward to seeing pictures. I will say that we don't seem to have had a full tank shot for a while though.....
 
Not that I can talk, although my tanks are all a breeding mess at the moment.

 

[MBOU]

Wow... the original tank must have been depressing to live with!! When I moved in with my (now) Ex, he had an arrowana in an AquaOne 620T (mainly because the thing was so vicious, he couldn't get it out the tank without it trying to rip his face off, oh... and was clearly not an adult arro LOL) and an adult vieja synspillum (or whatever its been reclassified as now) in a tiny clearseal tank.
 
Unfortunately, Victor the cichlid didn't make it and I drained the tank, took it outside and 'dropped it' so he couldn't insist on reusing it seriously.. the state of it... I cant believe it was holding water! The silicone was all but gone... Arro went into the 260L 4ft tank and then the 340L tank whilst we still had him, he calmed down considerably and grew into a stunning happy fish!
 
Glad he never had a marine tank when I moved in! Was hard enough when he decided the 340L was going marine and I had to change it over in the space of an hour as he was coming home with fish tank god for mature media and rock in my tank! Came home with a blasted bamboo shark and some butterflies.
 
---------
 
Your tank is looking really good now! Glad you took control of it! It seems like a lot of grief with all the testing and faffing about but once things are all settled and you get more used to it, it all becomes so automatic that it wont seem difficult at all.
 
As for the diatom algae... what media have you got in the filter? I don't know if you can get hold of Rowaphos? The stuff is genius for getting rid of it in most cases, it removed the silicates as well as the phosphates, silicates are rarely tested for but often part of the problem
 
http/www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Rowaphos
 
Rowaphos goes a long way and comes with a little fine media bag and looks like fine ground carbon, I think the smallest pot treats about 400L saltwater or 800L freshwater
 
And for your rock with the polyps on, have you tried scrubbing the algae off with an unused toothbrush? The polyps will tolerate being out of water for a time (you can always pour a little water over them as well now and then) and you should be able to get worst off by scrubbing round the polyps.
 
Also with the skimmer... whenever you do a water change, you might need to adjust it and turn it down a little, they often seem to chuck water through at a fast rate when tank is newly cleaned and water changed because the levels are suddenly different.