Need advice concerning filter, skimmer

[Xanthus]

Well, I might as well explain my situation. Not but about seven months ago, I moved back home from WA, and breaking a six-month apartment lease (due to family problems), shipping ten tons worth of computer equipment and buying a plane ticket isn't cheap. Couple that with this fish tank excursion I've gotten myself into and I think we can establish that I'm basically broke right now.

So back in December, having being settled back down at home, I had a novel idea. I'd kept thinking about this 20g SW fishtank I'd had when I was young (equipped with some notorious el cheapo power filter and not much else). So I thought I'd set myself up a nice 30g or something (which ended up turning into a 55g - that part I don't regret).

I realized I was getting into something of an expensive hobby (*cough*understatement :lol, and did some research. I started browsing sites online, and eventually talked to a local guy who was in business for himself taking care of fair to large sized marine aquariums for individuals and businesses. From that vantage point I basically decided what I needed and what I could afford.

By February I'd obtained what I needed, and started cycling the tank. I wound up with an Eheim 2215 cannister filter (which was appealing as I'd gotten it for less than half the cost through some online special than nearly everywhere else I'd seen it), a Red Sea Hang-On Venturi skimmer and Rio Aqua 2500 pump (which to my knowledge isn't exactly even working anymore, despite having taken it apart several times and cleaned / made some atempt to fix it), Stealth heater, roughly 1" bed of sand, and about 30 lbs of dried out base rock.

Here in May, the tank's completely cycled, with a Red Saddle Clown, Green Spotted Goby, and (probably not to my better judgement) two Dispar Anthias. They've all been doing very well in the tank for a while now (I'm just concerned about what I'm going to need to do when the Anthias get bigger).

Ok, dilemma time. Seemingly everywhere I go I'm told / read something different / that conflicts with something else I've read (for example, this and that fish are / aren't ok in the same tank, or this much lighting is / is not ok - basically goes on and on). I'm having serious doubts about my skimmer, but I'm also not sure my filter is quite cutting it either now (based on what I've read recently). Being so strapped for cash, I may have about $200, and while I could really use that money elsewhere, I'm concerned for the health of my fish and want to know if I need to set the money aside until I can afford an equipment upgrade for my tank (I'd love recommendations too).

I don't want to turn this into a bigger, fancier fiasco a la my 20g so many years ago (which lasted a really long time /sarcasm).

Sorry for the long post. Any advice is appreciated.

 

[NaH2O]

If you need the money elsewhere, you can always use water changes to your advantage, instead of purchasing more or better equipment. What is your maintenance routine? Blast the rocks to free up the detritus prior to the water change. That way you will be removing alot of junk before it has a chance to build up. If the tank is looking cramped, you can always return the anthias for store credit, and then you could apply that to other livestock, or equipment. I think a lot of conflicting advice in regards to inhabitants, comes from different experiences. Some people have no problems with certain species together, or this species is fine with that coral, etc etc etc. I fell into that with my bicolor blenny. I read so many "model citizen" stories about them....well, as soon as a SPS coral hit my tank, the bicolor blenny nipped at it...and nipped at it....

You can certainly make do with what you have. Just my 2¢. Your tank is still young, so you will probably see some algae blooms. Do you have RO/DI water?

 

[Xanthus]

I've been doing water changes every two weeks or so, and replacing the black and white filter pads (I can't remember the more specific names) every one and three months respectively. Water parameters are pretty good, except for my PH which keeps dropping to about 8.0 and I keep having to add buffer.

I'm not sure what the water is, tbh. It's premixed by my LFS.

I just remembered another question I had. I've read all kinds of techniques to figure out how many fish a tank can support, and while I've also heard there's no clear-cut formula, I'm having trouble finding any kind of basis. My LFS recommended I could eventually have about ten smaller fish, while another theory I read suggested 1" of fish per three gallons of water (seems too much to me), I also read another theory suggesting no more than 12" of fish for the dimensions of my 55g (which I believe would mean the four fish I have now in their adult stages would already be well overstocking it).

I'd love to keep the Anthias if I can, they're such pretty fish IMO (which is why I lured myself into buying them in the first place). They need more swimming room than most fish though, don't they? I guess I'd probably either be prepared to upgrade my tank by the time they grow too big, else bring them back to my LFS before I move again in June (I'm attending a technical trade school in Winter Park, FL).

Thanks for the help!

 

[wrightme43]

Ok this is only my experince, the red sea skimmer will work, not well, but it will work. I have bought a insane (doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result) number of them, and the prizam pro deluxe as well. The rio pump is not going to work, they are junk from the factory. The enhiem is a good filter but not the best for a reef tank. Fine for a fish only tank. It takes quite a while for most fish to get big. One thing that will help alot is feed just enough to keep them healty. I agree the anthis were not the best choice but I wouldnt say it was just wrong to get them. They are just beautiful fish. If you are going to have to tear down and move in 6 months anyway. I would just see if you could scrounge up a couple of used hagen or maxijet power heads, keep doing your water changes with rodi if you can get it. Rinse any frozen food with rodi water, and feed sparingly high quality food. Not flakes or el-cheapo brand food. The reason I think there is so much conflicting advice is there are so many ways to do this. Some are just better than others for different fish, tanks, and people. HTH Steve

 

[Xanthus]

I feed them a cube of mysis shrimp a day (spread out over the course of the day). Is that too much, you think? I've just been defrosting it in a little cup of tank water.

I probably should have been more specific when I said the skimmer didn't work. There's an obvious circulation of water, but no bubbles foaming in the collection cup and no grime build up either.

A couple of weeks ago when I was replacing a pad in my filter, I accidentally unplugged the skimmer. I plugged it back in and two minutes later the collection cup was full of water - no pump or air intake adjustments seemed to help, so I ended up unplugging it and plugging it back in again (where it stopped doing anything like before). I took it apart and cleaned it but with no luck.

I'm assuming I'll probably want to replace it eventually... is this any kind of decent skimmer for my setup?

 

[NaH2O]

That is a good skimmer. I put one on a 75 gallon tank before, they work great. You can also purchase a pre-filter/skim box that skims the surface of the tank. I think it is a great add-on.

You might think about offering the fish a little bit of a variety. How big are the fish? I'm not sure if that would be too much or not. If you can get RO/DI water, then defrost the foods in it, and pour off the water while catching the food in a net. It will rinse off any phosphates.

Hope this helps!

 

[Xanthus]

Is the pre-filter / skim box an add-on for the protein skimmer itself? I notice they have the same skimmer with a drain fitting as well, but I can't locate its significance in its description / stats.

The Red Saddle is about an inch, the other three are all about two inches. What else can I feed them? Brine shrimp or some other form of frozen food? All I have besides mysis is a thing of flake food, which I stopped giving them when I got the Goby / Anthias (only the Clown would eat it anyway).

I'll have to ask my LFS if it's RO/DI (which makes me wonder, I know what it stands for, but is there a correct pronounciation for the acronym? I hate sounding silly :lol: ). If not, where might I look to get some other than purchasing an RO unit?

Oh, I just thought of something else. The original piece of base rock I put in there some form of red or brown algae / bacteria (the other pieces, which I added later, are still pretty white). Should it be cleaned off, or does it contain anything beneficial I'll want to keep? I think I remember you suggesting I add a small piece of live rock to the tank in my other thread a while back, but I wasn't sure if I should wait until after I move.

Sorry for all the questions. You've all been a lot of help though, I appreciate it.

EDIT: Oh, do you guys think I'll need a chiller down in FL? I know my apartment will have A/C, but as I won't be home a lot I may not keep it on all the time to save on energy costs (I have no idea how much they cost to run, only other place I've rented was in WA and we had no A/C there).

 

[Xanthus]

Small update:

The water from my LFS store is RO. Saddly though I've been using tap water to keep the tank full as water evaporates.

Freshwater is $0.75 / gallon, that's gonna add up to quite a bit after a while. I'm assuming it's worth it?

 

[NaH2O]

It is worth it in the long run, however, you can test the water for nitrates and phosphates to see how bad they are - you may be alright. Either one can be a contributor for algae. If you can get a hold of some Salifert test kits, then you can test your tap water. Also, try and get a hold of your local water report, as it should tell you some levels, too. Is the 75¢/gallon for RO water at the LFS? Since budget is a concern, you might check the grocery store and see what the price is for distilled water.

As far as your chiller questions go, you may be fine with a fan or two blowing on the surface of the water. My brother had a reef tank in Florida, and during the summer he would set his lights to turn off for a couple of hours during the day. His livestock never batted an eye. You may also find this thread helpful for other chilling ideas: Cheapskate Chilling Techniques

 

[Xanthus]

Hmm, well, I have a few 92mm Vantec Tornado's lying around that I'm not using in my computers anymore. If only I had a reasonable way to power them (that and the noise alone would probably kill the fish).

On a separate note, I had a hermit crab die today and I have no idea why. They've been in there for months without a problem (I got a few snails at the same time which quickly died though, I assumed becuase of the hermits).

My nitrates were ok last I checked, weren't exactly at zero but were pretty low (I don't remember the exact number, was about a week ago - I'll have to check them again).

Thanks again!