Getting Discouraged

Sunshine

Sunshine

Reef enthusiast
I've had this reef set up since last Spring. It was a FOWLR before. Never had any trouble with it. Now, my ammonia is at .50 I've got green slime on the glass that I have to wipe off every day. I buy a CUC, they die and the slime comes back. My Mandarin died today. The only fish I have left from the old FOWLR is my Watchman Goby. I can't get the flow right for the corals. No matter where I point them, it's too much. This is more of a job than a joy. I use to love to sit and just stare at it, now I'm beginning to hate it. I've got so much money wrapped up in it, I'll never get it back. Sorry about the rant, but I'm at the end of my patience. And that's one thing I don't have much of.
 
How large are your water changes? You could always remove one of your powerheads or add a ball valve to a return line if you have a sump.

Don't giveup Sunshine! WE NEED YOU! THE FISH NEED YOU! :mrgreen:
 
I do 10% weekly. I did have 4 powerheads, I took 2 out. I have ball valves on there now. Turned it down once. The corals aren't swaying, they are more like moving back and forth, and not smoothly.
 
Bounce the water flow off the glass and spreading it a little over the glass and the sand. YOu don't need to point them at the corals. Don't give up.
 
I have a one jet pointed at the glass, one pointed up, one side of the overflow tube thing pointed towards the back glass and the other pointed at the side. I tried pointing them all in the same direction, it was like a cyclone. They are all at the top. But, the Clove in the sand is getting whipped like crazy. And my Mushrooms on bottom are lifting up. How does that happen when all the flow is pointing up ?
 
shouldnt be to much flow at all for your tank. i think you just need to find better spots to put them. if anything for what you say you have with a 90. you could use more..
 
Are the Brains and Mushrooms suppose to lift up ? How much should they move ?
The pump is a 1200 that blows the water out of 2 black tube looking things.
 
I've been in your situation before..the setting up of powerheads and adjusting flow is a real pain in the butt...What I did was point the powerheads at long lines away from the coral..get them to blow parallel to the corals, you can accomplish this easier if you bounce it off the glass. It's a ton of trial and error. On a weekend or day off grab a towel and dive in your tank. You'll eventually get it setup right, but it will not be easy....

Good luck to you and hang in there. You're too far in to come out now. It's so rewarding when it eventually works out for you.

Best of luck.
 
It seems like when the Goni gets too much movement, it tightens up it's pedals and so does the Zoas.

shouldnt be to much flow at all for your tank. i think you just need to find better spots to put them. if anything for what you say you have with a 90. you could use more..
Click to expand...

Do you have a pic of your tank so I can see how you have your jets and overflow tubes set up ?
 
Sunshine,We've all been there at one time or another.Things start going crazy,we rack our heads trying to figure out whats happening.But we'll never get it figured out if we dont just work through it.
On the ammonia,have your LFS double check that one.Matter of fact,its a good idea to have them check everything once a month or so.That way you'll know if a kit goes bad.
For the flow,about all all the advice I can give there,is exactly what GBoyd posted.Flow is one of those things a pain to get right.Get in there and play around with it.Try placing the powerheads under rocks,behind the rock,move em up and down,redirect the flow.It might take 5 minutes,it might take 5 weeks,but you'll eventually get it.
At one time,I had 4X K4s,3X K3s and 3X K2s in a 75 gallon tank,and had it working right for the corals.I had em pointed in all directions.Even had a couple at the bottom of the tank blowing straight up.
Besides,Look at it like this.If was easy,we wouldnt do it.:D
 
I'm going there tomorrow to get another set of CUC. The green slime on the glass is driving me nuts, I'll have him check my water. My sump smells, I never noticed it smelling before.
 
A sump and refugium. Water goes into part that has skimmer in it, than into refugium than into pump compartment. Refugium has a rock and cheato and about 4 inches of sand.
 
This may sound radical, but may be you could just stop everything for about 6-8 weeks clean everything up and just start fresh all over again. Sometimes a break can help gain composure again. If you're seeing things as a job it's time for a change or something that will give you renewed interest.

Also Sunshine you are forbidden to leave the hobby or this forum. That is out of the question. :)
 
That sounds great, but I still have fish in there. Just all the fish I had when it was a FOWLR are gone. Plus I just bought a $100 coral not long ago. I'm just tired of coming home from work and working on the tank. I didn't think it would be this hard.
 

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