Juwel Trigon 350 Reef Setup

[Anemone Man]

Hello everyone,

I am new to UR. I switched to salt water about a year ago and haven't really had the cash to do anything with my tank. I'll let you see what I've got and we can watch it grow together. OK?

My setup consists of:

Juwel Trigon 350

Fluval 404 External Canister Filter
(Filled with Rowacarb, Coral Gravel and Rowaphos)

Red Sea Prizm Protein Skimmer
(With Rowacarb)

About 20kg of Live Rock

Live Aragonite Sand and Coral Gravel Substrate

I don't yet have any corals or inverts

1 Kuslinger Wrasse

1 Porcupine Puffer

2 Silkshot Gobies

1 Fijian Blue Damsel (Blue and Yellow)

6 Blue Damsels

2 Panda Damsels

That is about it so far. Heres some pics.

[GaryM]

The picture is not all that clear (neither are mine ;) ) but it looks like a red cyno problem there and looking at equipment IMO you need a lot more circulation.What are your parameters with regards to nitrate, phosphate,nitrite, etc ?

[Anemone Man]

Originally posted by GaryM@Mar 26 2005, 00:27
The picture is not all that clear (neither are mine ;) ) but it looks like a red cyno problem there and looking at equipment IMO you need a lot more circulation.What are your parameters with regards to nitrate, phosphate,nitrite, etc ?
Cheers for the reply gary. I only registered with UR about 15 minutes ago. My readings are as follows.

S.G. 1.020
DKH 5.3
Ammonia nil
Nitrite 0.2mg/l
Nitrate 20.0mg/l
Phosphate 1.0mg/l
PH 7.9

I have added PH buffer and changed my rowaphos but will need to wait a couple of days to see my results.

:cheers:

[SunScar]

You'll want to raise pH to 8.2 and DKH to the 7-mark

[Anemone Man]

Heres another picture. This one is a bit better.
You can see the difference between my blue damsels and my fijian blue damsel in this one.

[Reef Addict]

Hi, welcome to UR. I have a Trigon 350 too. As GaryM says, I'd increase your circulation, maybe add a couple of maxijets 1200's for starters. If you are using the LR and deep sand bed as bio filtration, you don't really need the coral gravel in the external filter, or the sponges for that matter, these are just another chore for you to keep clean and will help towards raising your nitrate levels. The sponges in the internal filter can be removed also as these will become biological filters too which is not what you want. If you remove the coral gravel, do it in stages, over the course of a couple of weeks, to give the LR and sand time to catch up and keep an eye on the ammonia/nitrite levels. If your not using RO water buy an RO unit, you'll notice a great improvement in water quality.

ATB,

Mark

[Anemone Man]

Thanks Reef Addict. Points taken on board. I have got my hands on a couple of Aquaclear 4000 powerheads. I have already put one in. The other one will probably go in tomorrow.

Re: your comments on my coral gravel, any ideas what to put in it's space in my external filter?

I forgot to say in my tank spec, I have taken the sponges out of my internal box filter already. This is filled with very porous rock (can't remember what it's called) and bits of plastic tubing for biological filtration. I also use the Juwel powerhead for circulation and to feed the media in the box with oxygen.

I use a de-ioniser for my water changes just now and it seems to be o.k. Is RO much better? Would it be worth the spend?

I am also looking into a UV Steriliser before i start keeping inverts coz i've had a couple of run-ins with white spot and marine velvet already.

Anyway, heres a picture of my tank as at tonight, fresh off the press.

Cheers.

:cheers:

[Reef Addict]

I'd just typed a really long reply for this then my pc decided to close down!

Anyway, here's a shorter reply:

External filter, use it for just chemical filtration (phosphate remover/carbon etc)and flow, no need to fill it up with anything else.

Internal - the bio filtration in there will only partly complete the nitrogen cycle leaving you with nitrates as an end product. The LR will carry out the complete cycle including the nitrates. You could do with a few more kg though.

I used to use DI on it's own and I had high phosphates after the water had been run through. Bought an RO, no phosphate and zero TDS reading - much better water! Not had a nuisance algae problem since.

I think UV is a matter of choice, some people use them some don't. I took mine off 2 years ago and have never had a disease problem.

Mark

[Anemone Man]

Thanks again Reef Addict, can anyone advise on tonga branch LR? All my LR is fijian but tonga is more expensive. Is it better or does it just cost more money to collect?

:cheers:

[mark-c-]

Hi

welcome to the board

good to see another Scottish reefer and fellow edinburgh reefer on the board :thumbsup:

wrote big long post but as per reef addict it wouldnt post up when something happened to u reef so bit shorter reply.

as Gary and few others have suggested up the flow - i see you are now doing this

imo ro water would be a lot better,your nitrates are high and phos is a problem and if you are doing regular water changes? then i see a problem with your water and its not taking all the crap out - test your water before you add it to the tank and check the readings.you could also be overfeeding?

if your budget doesnt allow for an ro unit at the moment you can buy ro water £2 for 25 litres(one of the lfs in edinburgh sells it and the other will be very soon) i would do a 25% water change or at least 10% using ro water asap.an ro unit will pay for itself in around a year.

your sg is also low at 1.020,there is a bit of debate but most people run at 1.024 - 1.026,with nsw at 1.026 this is what i would advise running at but you need to increase this very slowly no more than 0.001 per 24hours,even take a couple of weeks to increase this slowly.

i think the branching roch is more expensive because of the shape and what you can do with it but i might be wrong.

HTH

Mark

[GaryM]

Is RO much better? Yes and a must in a reef set up IMO. Have a look at RO Man`s website as they are very reasonably priced and will pay for itself very quickly as Mark says.
[/QUOTE]I am also looking into a UV Steriliser before i start keeping inverts coz i've had a couple of run-ins with white spot and marine velvet already.
[QUOTE]
I think i would concentrate on getting the water conditions correct first as this will be more important in the health of the animals.

s.g. needs raised to 1.025/ 1.026
ph should be up nearer 8.2
Nitrate / nitrite and phosphates need reducing and you should aim for 0 for all 3. There are many ways of reducing these, has your phosphte readings improved with your fresh rowaphos. I would remove gravel from canister as that could be causing nitrate. Raise s.g. over a couple of weeks with a series of water changes preferably using ro water as the ro will reduce your nitrate/phosphate considerably.

[donbob180]

Hi
I had a porcupine puffer and absolutley adored him but he had to go as he munched on mushrooms, terrorised my regal and yellow tang and ate 3 green chromis (and they were large ones too).
I know that you may be lucky and have a nice puffer but in my experience I wouldnt trust them.
Bold as brass he was when I walked past the tank and because I never fed him he took it out on the Chromis :angry:
Anyhow

Good luck

[At Safe Depth]

Hi,

The tonga branching rock is more expensive due to it being less dense than fiji, therefore having a better ability to hold beneficial bacteria. Which also means it is lighter. You need less in your tank than a fiji stocked equivelent (if that makes sense). :wacko:

[Anemone Man]

Thanks again guys. After adding my ph buffer etc the other night, i tested again tonight with the following results.



Copper nil
S.G. 1.021
DKH 11.3
Ammonia nil
Nitrite nil
Nitrate 20 mg/l
Phosphate 0.5 mg/l
PH 8.1

Everything seems to be getting a bit better with the exception of the nitrate. I haven't managed to get to my LFS to get RO water but will soon. Salinity has come up slightly (trying not to do it too quickly) and phosphate is on the decline too. Better all round. Just need to work on my nitrate now and keep the salt level coming up.

I have also added my other Aquaclear 4000. Circulation is much better now. Is it enough or do i need more?

Getting there slowly!!!

P.S. i have figured out what LFS means but what is IMO? Everyone seems to use it.

Cheers

:cheers:

[At Safe Depth]

IMO = In My Opinion, or the variant IMHO = In My Honest/Humble Opinion.

Also, you might see, FWIW = For What Its Worth, AFAIK = As Far As I Know.


No one told me this when i first started using BB's, i had to figure it out all on my own :unsure: :(


Theres a few morelike LOL, LMAO, ROFLMAO ect... ect....

[panda30]

Looking good m8 :)

:dance:

[dirk053]

Hi Anemone Man

How’s it going

I am not sure exactly how much flow you have at the mo but I run my 20g at 33x the volume per hour and some people run even higher 40x +

I think I am right in saying that the Aqua clear 4000 turnover 1600 lph, going on 30 times your tank volume you are looking for a total of 10500lph.

More Live Rock defiantly, Mainly for filtration, but also to give the fish more places to retreat to.


:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Anemone Man]

Got 2 buckets of RO water from my LFS yesterday. Changed one yesterday and one today along with an ample dosage of Red Sea salt to raise the levels a bit and some Kent Marine buffer for good measure. Will let you know the results in a couple of days. My nitrates will be at zero before we know it, hopefully. :thumbsup:

Moved my rock round a bit too. Heres a new pic. It's looking better already, the algae is starting to disappear (or seems to be).

Cheers fellow reefers :dance:

[mark-c-]

:thumbsup:

Mark

[Teesh]

Hi and welcome. Buy yourself an RO unit. You will save so much money in the long run. I also wouldn't be panicing too much about your nitrate level at 20 unless you plan on adding corals. Using RO water should help reduce this anyway in addition to more live rock. stick with the figi IMO... Will be interested to see your updates as also have a Trigon.

[Sean the Prawn]

Looking good mate, there is a definite improvement in the overall look of the tank since your first post.
I'd say put some more live rock in and like everyone else increase circulation.
Keep us posted

Sean

[Anemone Man]

ABSOLUTE DISASTER!!!

I have lost my fijian blue damsel, a panda damsel and my puffer since last post.

WHY??????? PUFFY WAS MY FAVOURITE!!

:angry: :( :unsure: :o

[mark-c-]

sorry to hear that mate

what is all your parameters at the mo?

Mark

[GaryM]

Playing around with many different parameters at once can lead to mistakes. It is more important to adjust bad parameters slowly and taking longer rather than making everything good quickly. I think something has obviously disagreed with the livestock, parameters really should have been better before adding livestock but I am sure you do not need me to tell you that. Let us know what your parameters are sitting at so as we can try and help avoid any more deaths.

Sorry about your losses :(