new to saltwater and inherited a mess!

[budget9725]

hello all i currently manage 4 freshwater tanks a 1gal in my daughters room a 10 gal in the boys room a 40 gal in the dining room and 125 gal in thy family room all i have freshwater thank keeping down to a science! and love the hobby. recently a friend purchased an established FOWLR tank and got way in over his head all the fish, snails, most of the crabs died and the rock is now barren all but a few of the cool stuff that that used to grow on it. so now that he's givin up and gave the tank to me I've been trying to nurse it back to health here's what i got it looks like a 29 gal bow front tank with live sand and rock it has a canister filter, a hanging filter that i cleaned up and seem to be working well, a good heater, and i just put the power head that i found in the box of stuff it came with its a powerful pump that probably belongs in a bigger tank but i hear thats ok. the tank had a very low sg (1.016), and high amonia levels(.50) which i think was the problem the amonia is gone now and my sg is1.023 anyway my question is will the LR come back or do i need to recure it? and if i have to clean and recure it how do i reseed it any advise y'all can give would be greatly appreciated!

 

[bigblue141]

I would leave the tank as-is.

Once your ammonia reads zero the tank has cycled and you can SLOWLY add livestock to it. "Live Rock" is only rock with waste eating bacteria on it. You may want to leave the tank sit and run for a few months to ensure there are not anymore ammonia spikes. The down side is that if you leave the tank empty for an extended amount of time all the bacteria will go "dormant" and you will have to re-cycle the tank again with a small piece of raw table shrimp.

In a 29 gallon, there shouldn't be a "Bunch" of live stock in that tank. Maybe a couple of clowns, a blenny, and that's about it fish wise. You can add some hermits, snails, shrimp to aide in keeping the tank nice and clean.

You mentioned a canister filter:

If there's floss in it, it's a ticking bomb. Loose the floss. Change your carbon often, and don't run it 24/7.

Hope this helps you out a little bit.

 

[Krish]

I agree on the cannister filter and even the power filter. If it were me I personally wouldn't use them as they aren't totally necessary. If you plan to keep them, you will have to clean out the filter floss, sponge or whatever they use regularily (like every day or two) as any waste allowed to sit and rott will degrade water quality. Biological filtration itself will come from the live sand and live rock. Where the carbon is concerned, it is up to you how often you want to use it. Some people only use it for a short time each week whereas others will run it 24/7 changing it out regularily. I would look into a skimmer as well. That would really help improve water quality IMO.

Just a few thoughts...HTH and good luck!

 

[ac7av]

Welcome to Reef Frontiers
It sounds like you’re off to a good start. Getting the tests back into check is the hard part. As for the filters on a tank that size, a canister will work just fine but does need to have regular service at least weekly. I personal would use it for putting the carbon or any other media for chemical filtration you may want to use. A protein skimmer would be the best thing you could add to the tank. As far as the live rock and what’s in the tank just leave it for now. See what comes back and I think you will find that lots of stuff my have just gone dormant and will come. If the ammonia levels are in check then I would get a fish or some inverts to put in the tank to maintain the bacteria levels while you decide what you want to do about your new drop of the ocean.

 

[Dalbery]

I agree with what everyone's said. One more thing make sure you run RO/DI water in it!! Even for make up water. If you don't do this you will have terrible green hair algae.

 

[budget9725]

thanks for your input everyone! yall are great!

wow ok now im confused i thought u needed constant water movement and filtration how long should i run the filters? and dont i need the powerhead to replicate the
curents found in the ocean? boy this is different than im use to and by the way i mesured the tank its a 39gal not 29 oops!

 

[Dalbery]

Constant water movement yes- filters not really. You will want a sump (probably) that will house your skimmer and return pump. Your return pump should be pushing 1100-2000 gph and be on 24/7. You will also have a couple powerheads in your tank running 24/7 unless you have them on a wavemaker cycle (not neccesary). Almost all of your filtration is taken care of with your liverock and water changes.

 

[ac7av]

thanks for your input everyone! yall are great!

wow ok now im confused i thought u needed constant water movement and filtration how long should i run the filters? and dont i need the powerhead to replicate the
curents found in the ocean? boy this is different than im use to and by the way i mesured the tank its a 39gal not 29 oops!

Now worries
I think we just made it sound more complicated then it is. In a salt water system with live rock and sand the primary biological filtrations is the rock and sand. Mechanical filtrations is done mostly by the protein skimmers (most of us use this method) in a tank like this but there are many ways to do it and canister filters are not the most common way of doing it but they do work and require maintenance like anything else. If you understand what they do in a marine tank you will be fine using what you have. I have run a fish only with live rock tank for over a year using a canister filter and the water was always clean clear and if you do regular water changes 25% every 2 to 4 week you really don’t even need anything else.

The more flow the better in the tank. Running a tank like that with around 2000 to 4000 gph circulations in the tank with power heads would be great. It sounds like a lot but if you use the power heads that have a wide angle output it isn’t as bad as it sounds.

3 to 5 times the tank volume turnover per hour rate is optimal for a refrugium / sump. Slow flow in the sump is way better then too much. It gives a chance for particles to settle out and the other means of filtrations that are used in the sump will have a chance to clean out the water before returning to the tank. For a 39 gallon that would be like 120gph to 200gph return pump to the tank. This of coarse is if you plain to incorporate a refrugium / sump into the system.

Just keep doing what you’re doing now and I think you will find that it’s working fine since you have everything back in check. Watch the tank and it will kind of tell you what it needs and wants. You have an eye for the freshwater tanks and salt is no different, maintenance and patients is the bottom line.

 

[ac7av]

Your return pump should be pushing 1100-2000 gph and be on 24/7..

This is only a 39 gallon tank. That’s way too much. I only have maybe 800 gallons per hour in my 210 gallon tank.

 

[budget9725]

cool deal gonna shop for a protein skimmer in the morning probably buy a couple clowns
can i 86 the hang on filter and just run the canister? how long should it run?

THANKS AGAIN!!

 

[bigblue141]

I would keep the canister, just toss the guts out of it and use it for occasional carbon treatment. They are dark and have lots of area for bateria to thrive.

I would use the hang on filter on one of your freshwater tanks, or keep it as a back up.

Since you don't have a sump, you'll need a HOB (Hang over the Back) Protein Skimmer.

Look up Skimmer Whisperer and ask him his recommendations for what skimmer to run. He's probably one of the most knowledgeable on the forum on skimmers.

I'll second if you do go with a sump, 300-500 gph max is all you'll want for your return pump. You'll have to consider head height, 90 degree bends and the size of tubing you use, as if you buy a pump with a 500 gph output, push water up 4 feet, throw a couple of 90 degree bends in there and you're now down to a 200 or so gph pump.

You want power heads in your display tank, but you want to steer away from high output narrow stream powerheads. (i.e. MaxiJet, penguin, etc.) I like the Korila's as they are high movement and have a very wide flow pattern. They also make kits for the Maxijets that make them a wide flow out pump as well. It looks like a giant propeller housed in a cage. I would start with 2 400-600 gph powerheads pointed at each other on the long ends of the tank. Their current will crash into each other around the middle of the tank and cause random currents.

Rock work (aquascaping) is another thing you want to keep in mind. Stack your rocks, secure them, and ensure that you have good water flow through your entire stack of rocks, so nothing builds up to cause issues later on. There are several posts about how and what to do when you're aquascaping. (I get to re-aquascape my tank when I get home, and will probably do it for another 4-6 months till I find a scheme that I like and works for the tank.)

As Ac7av said, if you pay attention to your tank and you inhabitants, they will let you know what they want and if something is not working for them.

 

[jag3534]

I also agree with the 3 times tank volume turnover through your sump. As others have said, the main filtration is mainly your live rock and sand, if your running a sump with a skimmer anything more than 3x isnt even getting filtered through your skimmer, you need "Dwell time" in your sump so as much water gets through the skimmer as possible. You are wasting power, and adding unwanted heat to the water with such a large return pump for that size of tank. And yet one more thing you could do is add to your sump is macro algae such as chaeto with just a 6500k flourescent fixture over it to make it grow, this will help remove unwated nitrates out of your water, and provide a place for all the little water cleaning creatures that are in our tanks to hide, and grow. Hope this all makes sense, good luck, and probably the most important thing about this addiction, I mean hobby is to GO SLOW!! Welcome to Reef Frontiers!

 

[budget9725]

Got the skimmer its rated for a 100 gal tank so i think it should do the job 86 the hang on filter changed out the maxi jet power head for 2 korila 1500s and gutted the canister all but the carbon bag and bio balls
didnt purchase any fish yet the ones at the store i went to didn't look so healthy gonna try a different store tomorrow
want to make a sump but think i need to research design a little more first anyone know where to find a set of plans?

Thanks

 

[ReefLogic]

A bit repetative but I also agree with just letting it cycle