I recently purchased a 100gal established tank with a 30-40gal sump. The guy I bought it from stated it has been up and running for roughly 7 years. There is very little crushed coral and roughly 125lbs of live rock. the rock is covered in nothing but mushrooms tho. Not that I mind the mushrooms but they are all just one color...red, so kind of boring. I want to get rid of some or most of them because i've read they can smother corals and that once I get to the point of adding them to my tank. Any suggestions? Also, i have this ugly white sponge stuff growing. My LFS said its "chicken liver sponge" or chicken patty sponge?" Is this bad or is it OK and just ugly. I also have this lime green stuff growing on the rock but its flat with no depth on the rock. Under all the mushrooms, I have a ton of coralin? (Beautiful deep purple coloring). I also just recently had a massive algae bloom. I did a 72hr black out and started running GFO as well as shorten my lighting time. Any suggestions or helpful hints would be great. Tank is 100gal acrylic with an eshopps sump not sure on brand of protein skimmer. A uniclife DEP-4000 controllable DC return pump and 2 powerheads (one Jaebo (idk gph) and another koralia 1150. I use RO water but am going to install my RODI 6 stage system this weekend and I just ordered supplies to make a cheato reactor. My nitrates are through the roof (>160 even tho i have done 3 30 gal water changes plus the 20-30 gals i lost in the move of the tank.) Please help. pics to follow.
new to saltwater...no idea what I am doing
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Wow seems like you got a lot going on. Well if I were in your shoes I would start over. Clean the tank, equipment, rock and sand and let it dry for a month then start back up. Heres why
You learn a great amount from cycling a tank and controlling what’s in it. It also sounds like this tank is going to cause you more time and patients than if you started from scratch.
Plus, while the tank cycles, you’ll have plenty of time to research and plan out your next step.
You learn a great amount from cycling a tank and controlling what’s in it. It also sounds like this tank is going to cause you more time and patients than if you started from scratch.
Plus, while the tank cycles, you’ll have plenty of time to research and plan out your next step.
The algae bloom was my fault. I had my actinic lights on for 2hrs, then my 50/50s for 8hrs. then because i programmed my timers wrong, the actinic would turn back on at night for another 2hrs...so lights were on for at least 12hrs. I was kind of hoping to not have to do a tear down and start over but if thats what the general consensus is gonna be i will. I think the nitrates are from my water source as currently in just a 3 stage plus UV light stage, no DI stage. It comes from a local grocery store because have not had time to install my system. IF I do have to do a tear down, can I store craps/snails in my spare tank? or will they not live in my 12gal tank I planned on using as my QT tank.
Heavens what a waste that would be.
@FloatinBy If you're afraid of seasoned rock – every form of life you mentioned is good; try to think of it that way vs "ugly" as it's really quite beautiful in it's own way – then for all that's good SELL THOSE ROCKS – don't ruin them.
Anyone with a clue and a need for rock would pay really good money for them. A LFS would be crazy not to take those mushroom rocks off your hands if you can't find a buyer directly.
It would be an absolute shame to ruin that rock.
FYI, I don't like mushrooms at all....I like stony corals. If stony corals are your real goal, then selling the mushroom rocks really is the right thing to do.
It would obviously be ideal if you could have the perspective that everything in the tank is already an established reef and that you purposefully bought it as such. If the goal is to have bare rocks to start with, be advised that's not an easy route forward if you're a newb.
Also, I wouldn't worry about nutrient levels unless you see indications of an actual problem...chances are there won't be another bloom if you're playing your cards right, and the nutrient levels themselves ARE NOT A PROBLEM. Eventually coral growth and some algae growth should take care of them. (Mushrooms are coral too!!! Plus I see at least 3-4 different types and colors of mushroom in those pics!)
Can you post your most recent complete set of test results, especially NO3 and PO4?
Do you have any normal hairy green algae growing?
Does the tank have a CUC right now? What's in the crew?
I had some green hairy algae especially between crushed coral and glass at bottom but it was mostly small tiny orange/red dots clustered together on the glass is best way i can describe it. I need to to order PO4 kit. which would you recommend? And i have the API master salt kit. my nitrate always comes out bright red, but when my LFS tests it, it shows almost no nitrate. IDK who"s to test because all my other readings much the LFS readings but nitrates. I purchased test kit brand new. Again, its not that the mushrooms are bad, i just want more color and dont want the shrooms to strangle anything I put into the tank. I will do another test in morning and share results. Any idea on conflicting test results?
As far as test kits go, I started with API. I am slowly converting over to Hannah checkers. I like the phosphorus checker vs the phosphate checker. It checks in smaller increments. No clue why you have a different reading than the LFS. Just re-read the directions and check it again. I would trust my results after confirming my method.
I would tear down the tank so you can actually choose what goes in there. Although I do think some if the red shrooms and ricordeas are worth saving as they will make a good first coral.
My LFS was, let say, less than enthusiastic to take the rock with the mushrooms. From the sounds of it maybe a buck or 2 a pound and thats for store credit...I'm sorry, but thats not worth it. I'd get rid of 125lbs of well established rock form maybe 20lbs of live rock... no thank you. And I really dont want to destroy the ecosystem. Any way I could buy cured life rock from another reefer, isolated for a fewweeks then add it to my tank while moving the mushroom rock out? Or would I just be chasing the dragon sort of speak. I.E if i add new rock, will it just become overtaken by the shrooms? Or can I just add dry rock right to the tank since is dry like from BRS?
Thank you everyone for the help and suggestions. If I find ppl local with established rock, can i just add it straight to the tank or no? Like say I find someone who has 100lbs of live rock with all the coraline? (I think i spelled that right) for a heck of a price, can I just buy it and put it in my tank and take out roughly 100lbs of my shroom rock and put it in another tank til I sell it? or could that crash my tank?
Someone's test kit is expired, or otherwise defective. Test your kit on another water source like tap water or some water from the LFS.
So 2 emerald crabs, 7 hermits and almost 40 snails? Any thoughts on how they're doing currently? How long has that crew been in place?
Maybe there's just no market there where you are, but that type of shroom loaded rock is POPULAR among beginners who just want a tank set up NOW. With one rock from your tank, they can have a SWEET mushroom-based nano tank INSTANTLY. That's not just valuable – that's worth paying for! It might take time to line up enough buyers tho, unless you happen to find someone who will buy it all.
If you have patience, and you're serious about not wanting them (I would be too, but lotsa folks LOVE mushrooms) then list your rocks for sale on craigslist and any other online places you can...R2R's for sale section included. Folks from all over read R2R – probably folks local to you too!
If you can sell your current rock so your tank is empty, just start with new live rock from the LFS. Buying from someone else could be OK, but rock that's for sale is often in questionable shape. Aiptasia are often hiding because the rock has been disturbed prior, etc. But if you trust who you're buying from...
If your store is decent, they'll be able to keep you from buying aitpasia rock. In fact, if they're decent they'll carry cleaned wild live rock...almost no hitchhikers, not enough decaying material to need curing. You'd have to find out what types they have and what kinds they can get.
About your nitrates ... did you reuse the sand from the guy? Moving an old sand bed, especially a 7 year old sand bed, can stir up all sorts of problems. Depending on what he had in the tank, how he maintained the sand bed, how much you rinsed the sand, etc, you could have easily caused a nitrate problem and algae bloom by moving it.
Not fatal, and correctable at this point since you don't have much livestock, just don't narrow your focus to your rodi unit. Have you tested the parameters of the new salt water that you mix?
Not fatal, and correctable at this point since you don't have much livestock, just don't narrow your focus to your rodi unit. Have you tested the parameters of the new salt water that you mix?
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I look at it as you have enough live rock now, that seems to be relatively hitchhiker free. Clean off the mushrooms, frag out as many of them as you can and go from there. If you're not a fan of the way the sponges look move those rocks to the sump and use for your refugium or copopod grounds.
You might find this useful: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-supreme-guide-to-setting-up-a-saltwater-reef-aquarium.138750/
Its been roughly a week since did black out and the algae has yt to really return. A little bit here and there but nothing like the bloom I had. Yes, I reused the crushed coral substrate that was previously in the tank, and no I did not rinse/clean it. I actually didn't even think about all the crud I probably mixed up out of it jarring it around while transporting the tank. Ill just keep up on water changes and will test the source water when I get more for next change. (I have to go to store to buy it as Im still waiting for my RO system to arrive) I do wish I had more room in my sump to add rock or a refugium, but I don't so Im just making a algae reactor as it seems fairly easy and cheap to do. Am I correct in my thinking that the mushrooms could overrun and kill any corals I add or will my new items be ok once I start adding things?
All corals need to be groomed. They can all over take their neighbor. Usually it's the expensive ones that take forever to grow at all. Lots of cool things growing. Consider yourself lucky.
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