I have kept cichlids for 5 years now, and a dream finaly came true. Friday night I was a a buddy's house (he still lives with his mom) and his mother has a 220 gal. reef she has tried to get and keep going for 2 years now with little sucess. She gave me the whole thing. Tank, fish, corals (the ones still alive) live rock (aprox.200 lbs.) lights (1200 watts CF and MH combo) reverse osmosis system with constant drip, protien skimmers, 2 wet dry systems, and more. I have never kept any salt water, but I cant turn this down. So, any tips as to moving this setup, getting it back healthy, getting corals to start to grow, would be greatly appreciated.
220 gal. reef help needed
- Thread starter jeffG
- Start date
Get rid of the wet/dry system. You're going to need a lot more LR. I'd either rinse that sand well or start with new sand. You can tell by it's smell.
Powerheads and rubbermaid tubs are going to be key for the move and setup. Moving 150 gallons of water is not realistic nor necessary.
I'd siphon off 50 gallons of water into tubs (this will be your clean water for transport)
Take the corals out and place them in one tub with a powerhead
Take out the live rock and place in empty tubs
Make sure the tubs are not too heavy
Cover the rock with water from the tank
Once all the rock is out, capture the fish and put them into another one of the tubs with the initial water you siphoned off. You can optionally bag up the fish, but it's not necessary
What's in the tank as substrate?
What's in the wet dry systems? bioballs? If the bio balls are in there, take them out. This will cut down on nitrate production. The concept nowadays is to limit nitrate from occurring by removing the waste ahead of time. You have all the equipment you need to get the system on track.
I'd siphon off 50 gallons of water into tubs (this will be your clean water for transport)
Take the corals out and place them in one tub with a powerhead
Take out the live rock and place in empty tubs
Make sure the tubs are not too heavy
Cover the rock with water from the tank
Once all the rock is out, capture the fish and put them into another one of the tubs with the initial water you siphoned off. You can optionally bag up the fish, but it's not necessary
What's in the tank as substrate?
What's in the wet dry systems? bioballs? If the bio balls are in there, take them out. This will cut down on nitrate production. The concept nowadays is to limit nitrate from occurring by removing the waste ahead of time. You have all the equipment you need to get the system on track.
You might be able to use the wet/dry as a fuge or something, depending on how the system is set up.
I wish I had a tank that big to play reefer with!
I wish I had a tank that big to play reefer with!
The substrate is crushed coral. I havent looked at the wet dry as it is in the stand. I think they are bio balls. I hope you guys keep checking this thread as I will be moving the tank in 1 month and I will spend the meantime doing research. Thanks for the help.
What should the wet dry set up contain? I am not too fimailar with wet dry systems. I of corse know what they look like but thats all. I know I saw a Tidepool in the pile of spare parts she had. Although I was thinkning if using that for my fresh water. Correct me if I am wrong but the wet dry should spray in to the media ( bioballs,ect...) drain to an overflow area into a sponge (or other media), then back to the tank? Give me an idea of what the ideal filtration should be.
I wouldn't run the wet dry withany media in it all. I would use it as a sump etc like puff suggested other wise you'll have some pretty major nitrate issues. I'd say that's what's caused her most of ther problems. The perfect filtration in any marine tank is plain old live rock. You should have somewhere around a lb per gallon depending on the rocks density.
hth
MaX
hth
MaX
Dump the crushed coral & use fine sand. Check with wwww.reefcentral.com, to see if you have a local reef club by you for live sand & more rock in the future.
ditch the crushed coral and go with sand or live rock only (bare bottom). IMO you have enough live rock, but it is up to you (there is no defined rule since LR depends on density).
remove the bio-balls from the sump and just use it as a sump system. get a monster skimmer in there and you should be good. can you describe the RO topoff system better, you may need to modify it for safety.
remove the bio-balls from the sump and just use it as a sump system. get a monster skimmer in there and you should be good. can you describe the RO topoff system better, you may need to modify it for safety.