First Post - Plant/Creature ID?

The key to flow is not to have it all coming from one spot. That's probably why it seems a lot. From what i see your return is loc-line I would recommend getting a splitter
LL1323.jpg

and a couple flare nozzles
LL1118.jpg

If you cant get them local you can order them on-line from
http://www.marinedepot.com
These will help disperse the stream of flow so it doesn't seem so much.
Use this head loss calculator to give you a better estimate of how much water you are moving. Personally i would go for the low end around 10X to start with. Then add more flow if needed.
 
Thank you Kabong!! We had actually purchased a flare nozzle over the weekend but got the wrong size by accident. So we were going to go back this weekend and exchange it for the correct size. Maybe pick up a splitter at the same time.

You had asked if we were using anything other than the sump return for flow. What else did you have in mind?

I'm feeling a lot better about the clownfish now. They've started eating much better and just seem a lot happier. So I won't worry about experimenting with the flow as much, especially if it's better for them!
 
How deep is your sand bed?

You may have problems down the road if it is too shallow, DSB are a better option where you have atleast 4 inches of sand. you will want about 30 x turnover per hour depending on if you want to keep coral you may need 60x + for sps. A Good skimmer if possible, removes organic compounds. Also what type of filtration do you have? and lights?

Cheers
Dean
 
I'll have to check with hubby later to see exactly what we have. I know we have crushed coral instead of sand, but don't know the answers to the other questions.

I also know we have a protein skimmer, but had to order a replacement valve for it. It's supposed to be a good one so we decided to repair rather than replace. Hopefully the valve will arrive today and can be installed tonight!

Also, I'm still new to this and trying to figure out some of the acronyms. Can you point me to a good refernce so I won't feel so uninformed?

We were planning on waiting a LOT longer before we even considered adding coral to the tank. But, if we have a live sponge, we certainly want to keep it healthy! I know that Steve has been testing the water often. So far, the only thing that's a red flag was the nitrate level of 20. I'm hoping when we vacuum and do a water replacement tonight, that will bring down the number.

At what point would you recommend adding more hermit crabs and/or brittle stars? I thought they would help get the tank to optimal health by cleaning, but don't want to make things worse by going too fast!

Finally, I just wanted to add how much I appreciate all your help. We started out with the idea of just getting a goldfish tank for our 4 year old and it sortof spiralled out of control. He loves the aquarium and the fish, but I was starting to feel overwhelmed. You all are making me feel much more calm!
 
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Welcome to the sickness called Marineitis, once you get the bug you are in big trouble.

You can add flow by adding powerheads to your main display. I have two SEIO 820's and they move a lot of water in a wide swath rather than in a concentrated stream. By having good water movement you reduce the chances of algae outbreaks and with nitrates on the high side this is something that you may experience yet. Is your water source reverse osmosis? You do not want to use tap water to make your salt mix with unless you are sure it is free of phosphates and silicates and other disolved solids. That is why most people use r/o water. Your protein skimmer should help reduce your nitrates which can also be from overfeeding. Clowns are little pigs and do like to eat.

I would seriously consider changing out the crushed coral for aragonite sand as crushed coral can act as a nitrate trap and can be difficult to maintain.
this is a website that you need to visit regularily as it has great information

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/deepsandbeds.htm

You are on the right track. Just don't rush anything, nothing good happens fast in this hobby.........
 
OK, just talked w/ hubby and have a lot more info:

We have about 2" of crushed coral lining the bottom of the tank. He's afraid to consider replacing it at this point since the whole system seems to be rather fragile, and it would likely hurt the live rock to try it at this point.

What have two double lights, 96 watts each, 1 white, 1 actinic. We keep them on 9 hours a day, thinking about expanding to 10.

The filter right now is an 'improvised' wet/dry with a fluff bucket on the sump drain.

The good thing is that we bought some of our water directly from the Marine Scene. The rest we used the water we drink which is about as pure as it gets and added Instant Ocean.

He warned me this was going to be complicated, but I didn't realize just how complicated!
 
Im also going to suggest getting rid of the crushed coral.
You are right though takeing it all out at once would not be a good idea.
Take out 1/4 of it every 2 weeks for the next 2 months. This will give the tank time to adjust. Buy some sand and rinse it really really well, then rinse it a few more times.
A good trick for adding sand to an established tank is to use a piece of PVC pipe with a funnel on top. This will reduce the sand storm and you can direct the sand to the nooks and crannys. If you did a good enough job rinsing the sand you can add all the sand at once. If the water gets really cloudy you should split it up over a few days.

That much light will eventually enable you to get softies and some LPS corals.
But at this point id say dont even worry about corals. Getting the basics sorted out
is more important right now.
 
OK, I promise I'm not intentionally trying to be dense here... but... how exactly do you remove the crushed coral at all? Especially if we don't want to disturb whatever is growing in it? And protect all the stuff growing in the live rock? Just in the last couple days we've seen some really neat new things starting to emerge from the rock and I really don't want to scare/hurt them. Also, how will reducing the CC over time effect the crabs/snails?

And, semi-related. Steve thinks 2 of the crabs molted today. Is this a good thing? bad thing? just a thing? Do we need to do anything special for them?
 
LOL don't worry no one thinks your dense.
We were all in your shoes once.
First off I'm afraid to say that sometimes life must be sacrificed for the better off the tank. I should also say the reason CC is not a popular choice is because waste particles (uneaten food, poop) gets caught up in it. Sinks down in where it gets trapped and rots.
OK now how to get it out.
If you have a large enough hose you can suck it write out when you do water changes. Otherwise you'll have to manually scoop it out. Make sure to do a good vacuum of the area you are going to remove before you start scooping. This will reduce the amount of crap stirred up into the water.
As for the snails they wont care weather there is CC or not. Some people run
what called a bare bottom tank. That has no substrate on the bottom.
As for crab's unless you are referring to hermits there are very few species that you want in your tank. Weather good or bad crabs molting is part of there growing process and perfectly normal.

Refugarium's are as the name applies a refuge for things in your tank.
Copods and amphipods are small bug like critters that fish like to feed on.
A refugrium gives them a place to be safe and reproduce. eventually making there way back to the main tank. While there always a good thing to have.
It really wouldn't have any effect on whats going on upstairs with the CC in the main tank.
 
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