i am going to make this a new post as well. i just wanted to make sure that you
saw it as well....
i started this as a quick note to you and this was the final result:
Hello. My name is ben and I write to you from the land of morristown NJ. I hope this finds you well...
Please allow me to introduce myself. I am someone who was recently asked the privilege of maintaining a fully grown very stable 55 gallon reef tank since I have so recently been introduced the world of inverts, corals, phosphates, and salinity naturally I have many questions.
alright here is the latest.
With the exception of a green crusty algae growing quicky over the top of my purple algae, the tank has been very healthy for the last 12 years. I noticed this growth a short while ago so, I brought a rock to "Absolutely Fish" in Clifton NJ. my father has been dealing with them for years. I didn't speak with the guy who was normally there, but found a very knowledgeable hobbyist working there. he only comes in to help out when it is busy. found this to be encouraging because he sparked a number of questions I hadn’t thought about.
here is what I spent the latter part of the afternoon doing....
1. Nitrites are alright. on the higher side....
2. Nitrates are just fine. nearly clear. nearly...
2a.phosphate is slightly high - (my mom is stopping by the fish store tom. with samples of water
flowing into make up tank, from tank, and phosphate test samples just to be sure)
3. PH is between 6.8 and 7.0
4. the algae growth could be from the water change three weeks ago. question to follow>
5. brought Nemo home for the joy of all.
7. picked up a new shrimp.
8. filled water in the sump below.
9. added slightly less than half a teaspoon of superbuffer dK4 as well.
10. salinity just fine. everywhere....
11. moved some rocks and found a nice piece of hard coral hidden.
12. fed tank with micro vert and green marine algae
13. cleaned glass, and growing funky algae. question to follow>
14. sat back and enjoyed a really nice glowing tank when I was done.
Some things I am still wondering about,
q1. when filling the make up tank, when do I add the salt?
q2. how long before the change should I fill the tank?
q3. a suggestion of turning on the pump in the make up tank to move the water, however, no suggestions of how long to do so. how/when do you make up your water?
q4. there is a thick smelly ugly algae that fills my overflow slots, grows and hangs all the way down the overflow box, grows over the power heads, and comes out/off easily in large clumps. I cleaned out a large amount from the overflow, and above the power heads, but I did leave some because, it hasn't hurt it yet! is this normal/acceptable and out of control?
q5. when cleaning the algae off the glass I felt that I was sending an awful amount of what seemed to be dust, and algae specks all around the tank. is there a way to get it off without putting it every where?
q6. I felt that every time I touched something it felt very fragile. are they this fragile or was I being neurotic?
q7. is the hard purple stuff algae anyway?
please take a break. you deserve it........
q8. ready?
q9. if I want to move the rocks out of the tank clean the gravel, and put all the rocks back in a completely new arrangement. what should I do with the rocks/animals?
q10. should I even remove them?
q11. How much water should I remove?
q12. Should I ever reuse the old water?
q13. If you empty a reef tank, clean all animals, rocks, sand, and all equipment with the water taken from the tank, then fill the tank with completely new water, is it the same as starting over?
q14. Two much to soon?
Thanks for listening. I hope some of your input will be of great assistance in the end.
I am sure that I will bring other questions to the board for your thoughts in the future, just not quite so long.....