pics added

[zann]

i wanted to know they say they work good for a high bio load .

i also would like to know in a 4 month old 30 gal tank that i have.
one i think i have been through it all went trough the cycle ok and the the alge problem, i started useing Ro water and i rented a diatom filter to clean it. came out crytal clear but still in a couple days it seems to get a tiny bit cloudy.
is it where the tank is still new? i do a water change everyweek and the water it self witht eh test all look good.
calcium is 420 nitrite are 0 nitrates are 20
could it be the bio load is to much i have a few damels and a scooter bleany
and a flame angel.
i have live rock also and a clean up crew of snails and hermit crabs .

i dont have a sump want one but cant drill the tank and dont want to use a prefilter with a u tube i hear they fail alot .

so i have a cascade 700 canister filter with bio media in it along with boyd chemi clear for the chemical filtration
and of course the bio spounge that came with it .

will a good protein skimmer do a alot of good also? the one i have doesnt work to good.

but i think i have done ok sence i havent lost any fish with the alge blooms i have been haveing.

one more thing with the flame angel i have what kind of coral can i have with him ? i hear that when they get to adlut size they might eat on the corals or clams .
well one more feeding i for got to put i ahve a feather duster also
but how much should i feed the fish and how often. i use frozen brine shrimp and formula one frozen food. one cube seems alot for what i have but everything in the tank seem to love it even the snails go to it .
useing this is beter the dry food isnt it


any advice is welcome .

 

[Brian5000]

Hello and welcome,
A lot of you problem could be because the tank is still fairly new. Weekly water changes are good for solving your problems, the canister filter can be tricky though. As it was dicussed in another recent thread I think, canisters can collect crud and leach chemicals back into your system if they aren't cleaned regularly. It can be good if you keep up with it, but it's more work than a lot of people are willing to put up with. I've never owned one personally, but I think I've been told you want to check on that weekly as well. Other than that, I'm not really sure how to kill a diatom problem. Search this site a little; I'm sure your not the first person to go through this.

You don't necessarily need a sump, and most smaller tanks don't have one (mine included). It mostly just helps get the filtration equipment out of the way, plus allows for a refugium if desired.

I've battled with a dirt cheap skimmer for a couple years. If yo can afford a good one, go for it!

I think flame angels can be either perfectly good or completely disasterous depending on the temperment of the specific fish. In a larger aquarium with lots of corals, even a bad angel might not pick any one thing to death. In a small tank, it might be risky.

In my aquarium, I only have three small fish right now (mine is also a 30 gallon). I end up cutting the cubes in quarters and feeding one quarter a day. If you have particularly tenacious feeders, maybe use half a cube.

Flake food tends to release a lot of waste into the system. Use them sparingly.
_________________
marijuana seeds

 

[Anonymous]

I have a flame angel in my tank. The tank itself is 330L. The problem you may have is that it is constantly picking at live rock, in my tank there is 50K of rock. If it sees any algea on the coral it is likely to have a go. I also have a majestic angel, this is constantly looking around the rock, when i got a yellow tang i started putting a sheet of algea in a clip in the tank. They both now go for this and look around the rock when it is all gone. If you get your fish when they are young they are less likely to be destructive in your tank as they will not have any bad habbits.
What is the water like in the tank, is it a milky colour?

 

[zann]

no not milky just not completly clear

 

[Anonymous]

If you can see loads of little white coloured creatures moving in a jerking motion you could well have a copepod bloom. This happened to me, the water looks clear when the lights are off. When the lights come on it looks hazey. How long has it been like this?

 

[zann]

heres a photo
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[mr_X]

try running some activated carbon in that tank for 2 days or so and see if that clears the water. a good quality protein skimmer- one that is rated for a much larger tank than you have, will work wonders for you.
30 gallon tank? get an aqua c remora. they are good quality and supposedly rated for up to 75 gallons.
on ebay you can pick one up brand new for 163.95 shipped.

and as for overflow boxes- i have used one since the beginning. also, most people i know have them. i have never had any trouble, nor have they. what risk is there? that if you have a power outage, it won't restart?
hook a suction pump to it. then if the power goes out. the suction pump will restart the siphon for you. no problem.
if overflow boxes are risky, then so are glass tanks that are glued together with silicone. who knows, the glass may come apart some day :?

 

[zann]

Thanks m-x and its not the over flow box its the u tube if it gets air in it it will not feed water to the sump and the pump in the sump will over flow the tank will it not . like i said im new and not for sure about alot of things you here i know drilling your tank is the best way to go with a sump.
just some say it is risky to use the pre filter instead.

i realy apreciate the advice

do you think i will need a uv sterilizer just have to do things slow because of cash flow .

 

[mr_X]

i don't use a uv sterilizer. i'm doing ok. :wink:

you might find that you want one down the road, but for now, i'd focus on that skimmer. :wink:

 

[shavo]

I have an overflow box with a U tube and when my power goes out it hasn't lost suction yet. been up and running for a year and a half. always has suction. What am I missing about this? do people have problems with overflow boxes? what have you heard?

 

[zann]

just from genral reading about it its good to know you havent had a problem
something for me to think about i got a 20 gal home made sump that was give to me just have to figure how to set it up .

 

[zann]

i ordered a skimmer i hope it helps with my problem
but i do think i have a alge problem still last week i used a diatom filter system to clean it it worked great but i hate to have to drive 30 miles to rent it every week
i was thinking i have a old pool pump and i think i can use diatom filter stuff with it might try it
you can get a 25lb bag of the stuff at the pool supply for 15 dollars you cant beat that
for anyoner that has a vortex diatom filter and pays 5 times as much

 

[shavo]

hey post a pic of the sump and we can figure out how to help you set it up