Suggestions to make my tank better

[wbrodeur]

I've bought my tank off of someone else and had it in my possession for about 7 months. He's had it for over 4 years I believe. Can anyone make some suggestions for what I can do to my tank to make it a great reef? Any suggestions will be great! I would ultimately like a wide variety of corals, but I know I am kindof limited with space in my 55g right now, but hopefully in the future I'll get a much bigger tank.

So what I have as of right now:
55g tank
-Sea Clone protein skimmer
-Eco-aqualizer
-Emperor 400 for just the flow and biowheels (have been live for about 9 years; future plans on a refugium in there)
-powersweep
-maxijet
-2X 65W true actinics
-2X 65W 1200K
-45W something? came with tank
-coral substrate, ~1.5"

Livestock:
-lunar wrasse
-mated clown perculas
-tomato clown
-yellow tail damsel
-velvet damsel
-3 stripe damsel
-blue and scarlet hermits (about 15, but who knows now since I introduced the lunar)
-4 bumble bee snails
-2 large turbo snails, bunch of other snails that just appeared in tank

Corals:
-zoos, (yellow, radioactives, peach centered)
-finger leather
-frogspawn
-hairy mushroom, watermelon mushrooms, etc.
-feather duster

Supplements:
-calcium
-purple up
-strotium and magnesium
-iodine
-pro buffer dKH
-trace elements

Tests:
-pH (8.2)
-nitrite (0)
-nitrate (<10)
-Ca ~380-400
-phosphate .01

Are there any other tests I should do? Equipment I need/should get? Livestock i need to get or get rid of? Params ok? How much should I dose Iodine? was told that it can create cyano so only dose around once a month, but I know some corals need iodine??? Any suggestions would be much much appreciated. The pictures attached aren't updated yet with the new corals.

 

[JohnK]

You might want to pick up an Alk test kit (salifert is a good bet)

For the iodine, it's probably advisable to get a test for that also, that way you can dose without doing it blindly.

If you want to increase your options for corals, a lighting upgrade may be something to consider depending on what your goals are.

 

[MartyM]

The tank looks pretty good to me. Before I scrolled down to look at the pictures, I was thinking 'this tank is going to be a disaster!'

I'm sure you'll get a variety of answers so I'll only throw out a few suggestions.
-Make a master plan. Decide what animals you want to keep a year from now and start moving towards that goal. For example, if you love soft coral then you probably don't have to upgrade your lighting. In on the other handi if you plan to keep SPS-type coral, then you'll definitely need to spend significant money on new lights.
-stop dosing everything. You should be able to meet the chemical replenishment needs of the corals you have now by changing 15% or so of the water twice a month. If you get more corals in the future, specifically anything that is hard, and then you can look into monitoring Alkalinity, Calcium and Magnesium levels (and dosing as needed).

 

[phatbob]

I think it looks pretty good now too. I like the aquascaping. Looks like you have plenty of room to add more corals. I'd say all it needs is some time for your corals to grow and give it that "filled in" look.

 

[besl]

I agree with MartyM in that your post reads like it's a clunky old model t and then I saw the pictures - looks like a really nice setup. You will learn as you go, but to answer you rquestion I would consider upgrades to th elights and skimmer, but if they're keeping your livestock healthy at the moment I would not rush into any major changes.

Also keep in mind that bio-wheels are not really recommended for reefs as they are claimed to be nitrate factories - with LR and good filtration you shouldn't need them anyways.

The one area I would evaluate at this time is the substrate if it is crushed coral - your write up say 1.5 " coral substrate. I ran this on my last tank and I now use aragonite (sugar size sand) on my new tank and it is far superior. Good luck - I think you're off to a great start.

 

[naturebatslast]

Be skeptical about the Eco-aqualizer, I think it's just a bunch of magnets that really does nothing outside of possibly rusting in your tank.

 

[wbrodeur]

I forgot to mention that I do a 10 gallon water change every other week with RO water.

Thanks for the comments so far...yes, I am still contemplating changing the coral rubble to sand...like to look much better and seems to stay "cleaner" much longer.

Yes, I know I got scammed into the eco-aqualizer, was my first purchase recommended by a LFS store in lieu of a protein skimmer. Then I read up about them (not too much good things) and bought a so-so protein skimmer because that's all I could afford at the time.

Is making the refugium out of the Emperor 400 a good idea? Do I need a refugium?

 

[jimrawr]

I think it looks really nice, just needs to be filled in more. I would get more coral and maybe add a little more LR..

 

[JohnK]

Oh yea, I second the think twice about keeping curshed coral gravel for substrate. It will tend to trap detritis and contribute to nutrient problems. IMO your better off with a bare bottom, or sand.