230g having issues...not feeling the tank so far.

[Outatime]

Hey all, need some advice please, I have never had a big tank before (230g Prostar setup) with big fish so I am having troubles, I started it up about 6 months ago I started with new live sand and live gulf rock, I have been tested tonight and Nitrate 75 and phosphate 0.90 flashing on my hanna.

Stocking level is a powder blue tang, naso tang , Picasso trigger, niger , blue throat trigger, puffer, hawk fish and a fox face. They are messy eaters but my water never seems clear and always messy, lighting never seems great either with the three AIs (2 x 2 light and the one with 4 lights).

I have long hair algea all over the place too.

Two Nero 7s at either end of the tank, I installed a reefmat 1200 on it a couple of months ago and goes through about 32 inches a day right now and the skimmer cup fills up and I empty it each week. Middle of the sump has chaeto and a led light on a timer.

I have more rock curing (dry rock not live) at the moment as I know I am a little low. Will do a water change tomorrow but it never seems to change much, tank just looks drab and dusty all the time :-(

Any help or advice please?

Thank you

 

[MnFish1]

There are a lot of definitions in this hobby that are mixed - so - forgive me if I ask you something first.

You said you have more rock curing (dry rock) - what are you meaning by this? Additionally - your high nitrates are at least part of the algae problem. you can use this calculator to help decide how much water you need to change. https://www.hamzasreef.com/Contents/Calculators/EffectOfWaterChanges.php
hope this helps!

 

[MnFish1]

Hey all, need some advice please, I have never had a big tank before (230g Prostar setup) with big fish so I am having troubles, I started it up about 6 months ago I started with new live sand and live gulf rock, I have been tested tonight and Nitrate 75 and phosphate 0.90 flashing on my hanna.

Stocking level is a powder blue tang, naso tang , Picasso trigger, niger , blue throat trigger, puffer, hawk fish and a fox face. They are messy eaters but my water never seems clear and always messy, lighting never seems great either with the three AIs (2 x 2 light and the one with 4 lights).

I have long hair algea all over the place too.

Two Nero 7s at either end of the tank, I installed a reefmat 1200 on it a couple of months ago and goes through about 32 inches a day right now and the skimmer cup fills up and I empty it each week. Middle of the sump has chaeto and a led light on a timer.

I have more rock curing (dry rock not live) at the moment as I know I am a little low. Will do a water change tomorrow but it never seems to change much, tank just looks drab and dusty all the time :-(

Any help or advice please?

Thank you

PS a picture of the tank would help

 

[Outatime]

Thank you guys, seems I double posted this one by accident. Photos attached.

So a few months back I bought a box of the Marco rocks, I dumped into a trash can and filled it with water but honestly with so much going on and the tank not looking good I didn't add it fearing it may make the situation worse or just get covered with algae as well.

I wasn't sure if having larger messy fish like the puffer was the reason for the nitrate issue. Going to check that chart now as that was a upcoming question.

I was told to use microbacter7 which I started three days ago using 55ml for my size tank daily for the next two weeks.

 

[Pickle_soup]

Thank you guys, seems I double posted this one by accident. Photos attached.

So a few months back I bought a box of the Marco rocks, I dumped into a trash can and filled it with water but honestly with so much going on and the tank not looking good I didn't add it fearing it may make the situation worse or just get covered with algae as well.

I wasn't sure if having larger messy fish like the puffer was the reason for the nitrate issue. Going to check that chart now as that was a upcoming question.

I was told to use microbacter7 which I started three days ago using 55ml for my size tank daily for the next two weeks.

That's not a ton of LR for a pretty heavy load. Your skimmer looks to be a bit small for this setup. What's the rating on it? With nitrates sitting that high, you definitely need to up your water changes.

 

[Outatime]

Thank you, yes I do need to add more rock , I bought a case of Marco rocks but didn't want to add it till I had fixed the algae issue so it all didn't become a huge mess.

The skimmer is a Reef Octopus Regal 250 INT which I thought was over sized for my tank, said 250g for a well stocked tank.

How often/how much do you think I should be doing on a water change? Thanks again

 

[Pickle_soup]

Thank you, yes I do need to add more rock , I bought a case of Marco rocks but didn't want to add it till I had fixed the algae issue so it all didn't become a huge mess.

The skimmer is a Reef Octopus Regal 250 INT which I thought was over sized for my tank, said 250g for a well stocked tank.

How often/how much do you think I should be doing on a water change? Thanks again

Yeah, the skimmer looks good for your setup. It just looks small in the sump. You want to take those nitrates down at this point, 70 ppm is pretty high and you will continue to have issues with hair algae. Catching up on nitrate issues is annoying, but it's not difficult. At this point, I would take the timer off the chaeto, let it soak up some of those phosphates and nitrates. Personally, I try not to have nitrates over 20 ppm. With a ton of large and messy eaters, you will probably have to do weekly 10% water changes once you get your nitrates down.

 

[Outatime]

Thank you, so just keep the led light on all the time, it's pretty thick in the chaeto part of the sump.

I feed pellet food each day and from what I read they can cause high nitrates too?

 

[00W]

All those fish are going to want to eat all the time so that's something you're going to have to deal with and oblige them on that.
That's going to make the tank messy but it's still great,just not going to be this pristine showcase. That's fine. Mines the same way.
Once you move to a big tank your water changes need to be bigger with a tank like yours.
Tank is still young and you need more rock. But you know that so throw it on in there.
Cheato is fine and skimmer is great.
Many many awesome, beautiful tanks ride high nitrate and phosphate but if you are wanting to get that nitrate down water changes are the way to go. You have nothing in there using nutrients so you are going to have to help manually.
Biopellets and carbon dosing are another way to go but I would suggest studying up on those before rushing into anything-I don't have the experience there to help you with that.
High nitrates are going to bring on the algae.
If you have 2 little fish and a ton of coral you're in the opposite situation.
Don't know if that helps or even if I made any sense but I like your tank and don't want you to be discouraged.
Joel

 

[Dcloser12]

The question I have is do you export any chaeto. Is it growing and how fast? Every time I tried to grow it , it just slowly declined adding nitrates and phosphate to the water. If you are not exporting anything except water it will be hard to keep up nitrates. I'm wondering if it's not dying slowly and releasing nitrates back into the water

 

[k2-]

So something about the nitrate number - I believe what you are seeing is the highest range of Hanna checker (depends on which model it is) - So looks like your nitrates might be even higher - so do take one reading by diluting it 1:2 and see if you still see 75 - (i had this situation once - and frankly if you ask me that was really the turning point of my tank as well - for better).

And dilute it further untill you see a number and then extrapolate.

So here is my suggestion

There is no quick fix - would encourage you to do a 100% water change if possible (or 2 large water changes of 50%) few days apart but before you do that again make sure you have planned your nutrient export.

This should reset but nothing will change unless your nutrient export is not solid - My turning point was a 100% water change followed by slow and steady KZ method (Zeo bac, zeo food, zeolite reactor etc) and lighter food did the trick for me.

Also if you are not comfortable with rocks add a few bio bricks.

 

[ArachnoJoozt]

A few observations from someone who has never had a big tank, so if I'm talking nonsense please ignore

- The tank seems to have quite a deep sand bed, which could be a detritus trap, especially with messy eaters.
- Not a lot of rock (=filtration) as you mentioned. I would put the Marco rock you have cooking in the (a non-lit) part of the sump to help with the filtration and have greater surface area for good bacteria to grow. This will not grow algae as it is not lit. Another option is to put biomedia (like the Maxspect spheres or blocks) in the sump to up the surface area for beneficial bacteria.
- I would guess a good stocking of snails and/or urchins to combat the algae is out of the question with the triggers (quite expensive snacks )?
- Do you have any light dependent corals/anemones? If not, you could dial back the light, right now the light is mainly causing the algae to flourish.
- You could turn your skimmer a little wetter, like having to empty it two times per week for extra nutrient export.

And a question: what is the goal for the tank? A fowlr or a tank stocked with coral? Don't really know the eating habits of your fish, but some kinds of corals may be out of the question.
If the answer is corals, I would try to put in some easy and hardy corals to outcompete the hair algae. Plus manual removal as much as possible.

I wish you the best of luck, I'm sure you can turn this around!

 

[shcrimps]

That's not a ton of LR for a pretty heavy load. Your skimmer looks to be a bit small for this setup. What's the rating on it? With nitrates sitting that high, you definitely need to up your water changes.

second this
tank that big should definitely have more LR and biodiversity within the extra rock would definitely help, managing WC on bigger tanks is easier provided you have a source of natural saltwater
or deep pockets for salt
either way both would certainly help