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Couple questions, new to hobby...

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SkylerS View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote SkylerS Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 20 2012 at 11:41pm
Originally posted by Ryan Thompson Ryan Thompson wrote:

Originally posted by Moosetang Moosetang wrote:

Wish I could have smooth sailing. I'm might be considering getting out of the hobby

Don't get out of the hobby. Giving up is the last thing you should be contemplating. You only found this incredible group about a month ago. Give your tank time and SLOW down. Leave your hands out of the tank and let nature do its' thing.


I had a hard time with this for a while and sometimes do.  You will find that the more you tinker and try to control a situation the worse things get.  Sometimes it's just best to ride out a situation and pick up after.  Your tank isn't heavily packed with expensive coral or super expensive fish.  Ride it out.  Maybe I missed it in the rest of the thread, but are you skimming?  Always a good things.  Even a bad skimmer is better than no skimmer.  Second, do a water change. 10-20%.  Third, relax.  Fish die and coral die.  Sometimes it happens.  I haven't lost a fish in a long time until a week ago I added four firefish and in 3 days all four were dead.  I have a hippo tang that sometimes for random reasons get's ich.  In a previous life I would have torn my tank down to catch him, put him in quarantine, treat with copper and find something to treat my display; inevitably doing more harm than good.  I skim, I feed well enriching my foods, and try to limit my tinkering in the tank to once a week.  I'd think excessive vibrations would be a stressor for the fish.  Find the source and eliminate it.  Good luck man. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote SkylerS Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 20 2012 at 11:43pm
And for ich and just general good health, I run a UV sterilizer.  I've tried ozone and didn't like it, on top of you do it wrong you end up nuking your tank and could possibly kill your family.  0.0
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Moosetang Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 21 2012 at 10:22am
I know it is my return pump. If I switch what is good? What isn't? Currently have a Rio 14
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote SkylerS Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 21 2012 at 11:16am
I use a quietone 1200 for my 65, that's 300 gph.  I wish it were a little more, but that's 5 times an hour water turnover, and then I have koralias and a maxijet in the display so it suffices.  Quietones are fairly cheap and they get the job done for me.  I've also had magdrives and they are powerful pumps, but they are more expensive and really unnecessary in a smaller tank. Buy you a quiteone off ebay to get rid of the vibration.  Did you stop the ozone?  Are you skimming?  How are things looking in your tank?  And as hard as it may be, remember to reduce your tinkering.  Just ride this wave out.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Moosetang Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 21 2012 at 12:31pm
What size would I need for a 72g? Ozone is completely off and yes I am running a skimmer. Things look better but my yellow eye tang is still flashing. I really feel its the vibrations that Iv discovered
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote m.ash Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 21 2012 at 1:08pm
Most reefers strive for 10 - 15 times turnover from sump to display. So 720 to 1080 gph at the head.  (the max head rating will be on the box.) 
Then the added circulation from powerheads are an added benefit and different depending on your individual tanks needs.  To give an idea, I run 1080 gph from sump to display in my 65 gallon, and an 800 gph power head that shoots from midlevel in the display accross the surface and which in turn creates and under tow along the sand bed.
 
A quite one pump is a good pump that is cost effective. Strive for the 10 -15 turnover, but be sure your overflow can handle it.  Judging from the photo I'm sure that it could.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ryan Thompson Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 21 2012 at 1:50pm
Sump turnover should match your skimmer rating. I shoot for 3-5x turnover in my sumps. If your turnover rate is too high you can hinder the performance if your skimmer.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote SkylerS Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 21 2012 at 2:12pm
The first thing you should do is buy a UV sterilizer and try to rig it onto your return if you can.  You need to get the waterborn parasites killed.  But if you get a high flow pump it will hinder the ability of the sterilizer to work as well.  I had mine rigged to my overflow but it started to leak cause a flange cracked so I just have it sitting in my sump with a power head feeding it right from the outlet from the display.  A low flow on that gives maximum contact to kill pathogens and parasites.  The sterilizer is probably the single most important piece of equipment in my tank IMO.  The vibration from the pump is a close second, if it is really so bad, and it's stressing your fish, it is weakening their immune system and allowing the ich to take hold.  Tangs get ich like it's a fashion statement, the fact that your clowns have it is telling me there is major stress.  Clowns are tough, they could probably live in your toilet bowel with some table salt.  lol 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote MIK3B Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 21 2012 at 3:21pm
Originally posted by SkylerS SkylerS wrote:

I just have it sitting in my sump with a power head feeding it right from the outlet from the display.  A low flow on that gives maximum contact to kill pathogens and parasites. 


Agreed on the Tangs getting ich like it's a fashion statement! Add my experience with clowns is that they (and other damsel species) are very hardy as well.

As far as slow flow through your sterilizer though, one thing to keep in mind is the slower the flow rate, the higher the contact time with the UV and this kills both good and bad life. Some people prefer to start with a sterile tank by killing everything in the water and then add organisms and bacteria back in to the water column. I like to keep it somewhere in the middle.

I have baby snails and peppermint shrimp everywhere in my sump and my water is crystal clear so I feel like I've found the sweet spot for mine. For my particular UV sterilizer (Aqua UV 8W Classic) I run it on a 500GPH Mag drive pump with very little head, since they are both in the sump.

From the info on Aqua UV's site:

"Reef Tanks - A UV rated in the 30,000-45,000 columns is ideal for the reef environment.

UV’s rated at higher kill rates will destroy the planktonic food supply for the reef.

Marine Fish Tanks (No reef or live rock) - A UV rated in the 75,000 to 90,000 columns will be the most effective at controlling fish disease."



So for mine to be in the "sweet spot" between 30-45,000 uw/cm2 range I need to pump between 428-642 GPH through my sterilizer. Any higher than that and it will be ineffective and not kill pathogens and parasites, much lower than that and I will be killing beneficial life in the planktonic range - coral food and spores.

I turn off my skimmers and UV's when I feed my corals and fish but run them 24/7 other than that. It's worked well for me.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote SkylerS Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 21 2012 at 3:33pm
I use a maxijet 1200 to feed my coralife turbotwist x3.  It's a 9w sterilizer and according to the manufacturers specs it should be fed 100-200 gph.  The M1200 is rated at 295 gph, it's a little old and I drilled some small holes in the impeller when I was using it to feed a protein skimmer to act as a needle wheel so I would imagine it's at about 200 gph now.  Keep us posted.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Moosetang Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 21 2012 at 10:23pm
Ok so I just replaced my flex tubing from my pump to the check valve. Almost no vibration through the line :) I'll keep pushing foward. Thank you all! So much!!
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