Complete newb 30 gallon reef

n1zjd

Sure give me a few minutes and Ill snap some pictures of it for you. In the meantime here are a couple pictures of the tank. The first is with the flash on




I guess Im finally seeing a diatom bloom. Why so late? It doesnt seem to be nearly as bad as others Ive seen on here though. Its gotten a bit worse over the last couple days but nothing on the glass that I can see and not a whole lot on the rocks but there is some. Heres some pics of the filter, the first one shows how little flow there is.

Pasfur

That, my friend, is the best example of a diatom bloom I have ever seen! No need for a water change. Instead, get that alkalinity and calcium test kit out!

stanley888

I have a lot mircobubble when using skimmer because I initial setup with tap water and dichlorine stuff
Also u have prefilter box reduce microbubble*
The maxijet stock pump output not very high I agree that
People usually upgrade 1 size more to mag 3 or mag 5 if u planning replace stock one
About the light I upgrade my tank to Nova Extreme T5 2x24 for $68+*
Current USA Nova Extreme T5HO X2 - Saltwater Light Fixtures
It's a regular 24" T5 bulb fit in 30" light texture
only Carolife make 30" bulb for 2x31
It seen low watt compare to 2x65 power compact
I can always upgrade another 2x24 in the furture **

n1zjd

Haha cool. I tested two days ago and alkalinity was 9 dKH and calcium 440 ppm. Ill test again tomorrow and adjust as needed. I know Alkalinity is a bit on the low side but I had hoped for them to both drop down to a 'respectable' low level so I could adjust both with the same measurements but Im sure its not always going to work out this way. But like I said I will test tomorrow and adjust on the low side and retest to get a baseline on the outcome of certain adjustments. My main concern is that I know I shouldnt adjust for say 29G of water because Im sure the rock and sand take up probably 5 gallons or more so I will play it safe and make small changes and retest after 24 hous. Am I correct in saying that a little less than enough is better than too much?

Stanley888 - If the pump I have is in fact operating properly then yes I will be ugrading to a larger pump because there just doesnt seem to be alot of bubble action going on. The skimmer has only been running for 2 days so its not had a chance to 'break in' yet. The only problem now is that I believe the prefilter boxes are designed for specific pumps. So I will just have to be patient and see how well it skims. Like I said, I can always buy another Maxi-jet 1200 and see if this one is in fact not outputting the proper flow rate. Actually I need another power head anyway because I need one for the container I will be mixing the water in for water changes so I will purchase one next week and swap it out and see if there is any change in water flow. These skimmers have a great rep so I have no doubt that it will work just fine. Also, I dont know if it applies to all models of these pumps but the Maxi-jet 400s and 1200s are the exact same size I do believe. I will look at whats available at my LFS next Saturday and see whats up.

stanley888

mine seen a lit more flow
less microbubbles is good sign good water quality

n1zjd

Hmm, yeah thats alot more flow! I think I will mess around later today and remove the surface prefilter box and see if that changes anything at all. I tend to think the pump is just junk. If so thats an easy fix. The prefilter boxes fit fairly tight but as long as the water level stays where it should be I would think it would allow the pumps to pull all they want. Ill find out a bit later on though. No worries, they make them everyday, just seems as though I shouldnt have to be buying a new pump for a 3 day old skimmer.

But at least it came! I cant say the same for the light yet. Hopefully it comes and it wasnt a loss of $155. Alright, I need coffee, time to motivate. Have a good day everyone!

n1zjd

Pump is fine. I removed the prefilter box and the thing just took the heck off. I put the prefilter box back on and all is well. Only thing I can think is that there was an air bubble somewhere that was wreaking havoc on the pump. But needless to say, Houston we have micro bubbles! And plenty of em. Now there is a ton of water dumping out of the skimmer back into the tank. I knew something was wrong regarding the pump but at least it was a cheap fix haha. Of course its ALOT louder now but I like that personally, now I know its working. The wife might not feel the same though haha, it will be quieter in a week or two though after the break in period is complete.

I was beginning to think to myself, I paid $200 for this piece of crap?!? Now I see its worth the money, there is an insane amount of bubbles. But I dont see how anyone runs one withoout the prefilter box! It literally FILLED the tank with micro bubbles in less than a minute with the prefilter box off but they are subsiding now thank god. So once again Im a happy man looking forward to some skimmate! w00t.

Pasfur

I think you misspoke. Less skimate could indicate less accumulation of dissolved organic compounds. However, Mike was talking amount microbubbles in the skimmer column, which is not function of water quality, but is a function of the effectiveness of the venturi.

Also, Mike, keep in mind that you can replace the impeller on the MaxiJet without buying a new power head. This is something that generally will need to be done every few years. Cleaning the impeller is part of routine maintenance. I clean mine every 3 months or so, depending on what I visually see. As the impeller becomes dirty it spins more slowly, pulling in less air.

n1zjd

Heh, well I couldnt leave well enough alone. I moved one rock, then another, then a couple hours later I was once again satisfied! So the rock formation has changed Im afraid, but for the better. There is better waterflow around the rocks now and there are more caves than before. I didnt test the water today since I stirred things up quite a bit moving rocks so I will test tomorrow when the water has cleared up.

The skimmer is now running like it should with a gazillion micro bubbles and there is actually some skimmate in the collection cup now but nothing like there will be after it fully breaks in I would assume. Hopefully I didnt mess anything up as far as the diatom bloom goes. The original reason for moving the rock was to rescue an upside down Astrea from behind the rocks then nothing looked right but I do like it better now .

It wasnt long ago that I was REALLY impatient about wanted to add some more of my CUC but Ive have since made it past that itch and now all Im really concerned about is letting my tank mature. Im sure in a few days I will be back to wanting some more life in the tank but I do want to give everything the best chance to thrive that I possibly can.

Ill be honest, Im kicking myself in the butt for being so impatient. I shouldnt even have started this project to be honest because obviously I already want BIGGER and BETTER, but I now have a $200 skimmer that wont be enough for a 75G tank. Oh well, live and learn I suppose. Ill just continue with this project and learn all I can from it to be better prepared when I DO start up a larger reef tank.

stanley888

i have my rock stack too high on the first version 3" below water level
When make water change my rock possible hit air or my future carol will...