Smallreefer Posted July 22, 2006 Report Share Posted July 22, 2006 Hi all just wanting some of my questions answered. Firstly ill just say a bit about my tank my tank is about 5 years old cant b certain since im not the first owner. I have had the tank for a bout a year. And i am only 14 so i think it is a good starter tank for me Its an 90 litre aqua 1 AR-620 all in one aqurium lights, filter. it has 2 floroesent tubes i think there 20 watt each not sure i use 1 white and 1 purple. it has 1 105 gph powerhead and the filter return for water movement. It is heated by a tronic 200 watt heater. Has lots of coral rock and sand. Live stock: 1x blue tang star of the show 1x lemon peel dwarf angel 2x clown fish 1x cleaner shrimp 1x very nice looking coral bannded shrimp Corals a rock coverd in mushrooms- this is where the clown fish spend all their time. 2x leather corals, not sure what their indivdual names are. assorted other mushrooms. all my water parameters are good i measure ph, amonia, nitrite and silinity. i add just 1 addivitve at the moment- Salifert all in one reef suplement which increases alkalinity, calcium, strontium and trace elements. 1. Quite a lot of my live rock is coated in a redish brown algea. wat can i do about that? :-? 2. Also i have quite a small tank (90 litres) should i have a protien skimmer? would one make a big differnce also i may have troube fitting one as there is no real place to put 1 and since it has the filter on the back i cant hang 1 on, but i may be able to cut into the filter and hang 1. not sure about submerssing 1 as i have limited space and havent really seen any small skimmers, how small do they get? dont want to get a sump as it would b quite costly and i dont really have the space. 3. Could any one suggest some good corals i could keep under my low lighting conditons? only 40 watt i thnk 4. Is there any way i could add more powerfull lighting so i could keep better corals and make the ones i have even happier? but if i could i would still like them to b able to fit in my current light hood. is this possible? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetskisteve Posted July 22, 2006 Report Share Posted July 22, 2006 I have set up 2 AR620's as reefs with great success I modified the filter & fitted a skimmer which you need to do, Its pretty easy and as we live close I could show you? PM me if you like. Also you prob use tapwater as top off? Filtered water would help also some phosphate resin. oh I'm pretty sure your tank is 90L?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted July 22, 2006 Report Share Posted July 22, 2006 1. Quite a lot of my live rock is coated in a redish brown algea. wat can i do about that? doesnt worry me 2 much, but makes the tank not look as good as it could sounds like cyano. physically remove it. read this http://www.netpets.org/fish/reference/r ... teria.html 2. Also i have quite a small tank (80 litres) should i have a protien skimmer? yes and no. since its reasonably small, if you keep up with regular water changes you should be right. a decent skimmer will make life that much easier between changes by pulling out the crap you add (in the most basic sense) would one make a big differnce also i may have troube fitting one as there is no real place to put 1 and since it has the filter on the back i cant hang 1 on, but i may be able to cut into the filter and hang 1. not sure about submerssing 1 as i have limited space and havent really seen any small skimmers, how small do they get? dont want to get a sump as it would b quite costly and i dont really have the space. yes, any (half-decent) skimmer will help. pm steve for info on how to mod it to fit a skimmer. 3. Could any one suggest some good corals i could keep under my low lighting conditons? only 40 watt i thnk as you are mushrooms, leathers, all those types of corals that are both hardy and have lowish light requirements. most soft corals. 4. Is there any way i could add more powerful lighting so i could keep better corals and make the ones i have even happier? but if i could i would still like them to b able to fit in my current light hood. is this possible? anything is possible. again, ask steve he's modd'ed them so will show you how. for a small tank like yours a single 150W halide should fit nicely. the typical 150 you can get has a small footprint that might squeeze in nicely. there is heaps to learn but but top marks for giving it a go at your age. good luck, keep reading Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted July 22, 2006 Report Share Posted July 22, 2006 havent really seen any small skimmers, how small do they get? dont want to get a sump as it would b quite costly and i dont really have the space. You have quit a few options. get can get a Deltec hang on skimmer or a small internal skimmer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smallreefer Posted July 22, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2006 thanks every1 for the great information. cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted July 22, 2006 Report Share Posted July 22, 2006 The algae or whatever growing on the rocks, is basically caused because when you add food to the tank, this ends up one way or another, providing food to nuisance algae and cyano bacteria. These nutrients added when we feed, need to be removed somehow, or they build up & make the tank dirty. First thing is a protein skimmer, just that may be enough, but not always. The good ones are expensive but a cheap one may not cut the mustard. The main nutrient we are trying to control is phosphate, if we keep that low enough the nuisance algae etc cannot grow. So using a phosphate removing resin such as Rowaphos can also help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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