Advice on the next step in building a fish & coral 90g t (1 Viewer)

[BonzerB]

We have a 90 gallon bowfront tank with a wet/dry bio ball filtration system (see my tank info below for more details) and plenty of live rock. The system cycled a couple of times and now has leveled out and then we recently added some fish (clowns and tang). We are intending to add some anenome and corals (and more fish later) in time, but we would like to make the best next step to ensure success for the beginnings of the reef tank.

Here are my immediate concerns/questions:
1. Should we get a protein skimmer and can we get one that works with our existing wet/dry filter (proclear 175) under the tank? any recomendations on specific models?

2. Should we setup a refugium and can we do so with our existing wet/dry filter box (I assume this means convert the bioball part to a refugium "tank")?? My thought was that I would need this to add macroalgae to the system to provide food for invertebrates in the main tank - is that true? Or can we simply adda macroalgae plant to the main tank?

3. I would like to add moon lights, but I am not sure which ones would attach best to our existing 48"T5 Marineland light fixture (we have no canopy). Any ideas?

4. When should we add wave pumps and which ones for the 90 gallon bow front tank?

5. I am worried that the clown fish need an anenome (or false anenome) to "hide" in. There are plenty of hiding places in the rock, but they have not found a place of their own and they just keep swimming. Shuld I try to quickly get a anenome for them or wait until my system is completely able to support an anenome?

6. Lastly, when can/should we add shrimps (like peppermint or fire shrimp) ?

I know that is a lot, and thank you in advance for any advice.
AmyI would


Here is what we have currently:
90 g Bow Front
175 proclear wet/dry filter with bioballs
48" T5 Marineland Lights
Quiet One 4000 pump
80 lb live sand
100 lb live rock
40 lb non-live rock
1 Kole's tang/yellow-eye surgeoun
2 percula clown fishes
1 yellow tail damsel
1 turbo snail
5 small hermits

existing wet/dry filter (proclear 175) w/ bioballs under the tank

 

[Reefaddict79]

make the bio ball part a fuge. How many lamps are in the T5 fixture? Go ahead and get some more circulation in the tank with some type of powerhead. If the tank has fully cycled I think some shrimp would be ok now. My fire shrimp dont come out too much during the day but my cleaner shrimp are always out and about.

 

[chriskb3]

It looks like you are off to a great start, and have done your research.

Personally, I feel that a good skimmer is a major componet of a sucessful reef tank. Save up and buy the best you possibly can, if you dont, you will get stuck into a rut of continuously upgrading poor equipment. It also doesnt hurt to get a skimmer that is "rated" for a larger volume than your tank is. Warner Marine, Vertex, Deltec, Precision Marine, ASM are a few of the better/best brands of skimmers out there today, to get you started.

As suggested by Reefaddict, you can, and should slowly remove your bioballs (1/4 a week) and then convert that area to a refugium or skimmer compartment. Where you keep your macro algae is purely up to you, however, is usually kept in a refugium to keep it growing seperately from the inhabitants/corals in the display tank. I have seen display refugiums however.

I have seen moon lights that clip onto the rim of the tank, or if you are handy, can attach them to your light fixture yourself.

From your pictures, it does look like you could use more flow. It really depends how much money you want to spend on powerheads when choosing what to get. A good lower budget powehead brand is Hydor Koralia, a couple of K4's should fit the flow requirements for your size tank. If you feel like stepping it up a notch or two, look at Tunze and Vortech powerheads. These two are pretty much the creme of the crop, but they cost significantly more.

Your fish do look very healthy and happy, so this leads me to assume your tank should be ready for some invertebrates. What are your parameters coming in at? (NH3, NO3, NO2, CA, ALK, MG) These will help to determine if you are ready for an anemone for those clowns.

 

[flexrac]

if you buy a k4, only buy one, too much flow, trust me. k3's x2 would be better for your tank, you did not mention corals, so i assume this will be fish only.
what type of substrate are you using, too much flow can blow sand all over the place, unless you place the power heads low and point up. crush coral will do fine with heavy flow.

I would get a skimmer asap! or start doing weekly water changes. you mos likely need a in sump skimmer, before buying one measure the area in which you will be putting it in. you can do a hang on, however you will need the right amount of depth to get it working.

just looked up the wet dry online, deff a in sump.
i have a tunze, looks small but skims well. Not cheap and can fit in most small areas.
http://www.marinedepot.com/Tunze_DO...r_250_Gallons-Tunze-TZ5331-FIPSISVSOT-vi.html
check the buy and sell section here in the forums.

 

[BonzerB]

Wow - thanks for all of the advice!
Affter doing al lot of reading on what is out there, I am thinking making the following next purchases:
1) Coralife Super Skimmer Venturi Wheel(up to 220g) or the Tunze DOC Protein Skimmer 9005 (but I am concerned about the required depth in the sump for either of these. My wet/dry filtration sump is currently only about 3-4 inches deep).
2) two Hydor Koralia 3s with the Red Sea Wavemaster Pro Wave Maker
3) R2 Solutions Dual Extreme Moonlight (not sure if these will attach inside the light reflector fixture or what) or the Marina Micro L.E.D. Light Whites (any advice).
I think I will plan to convert the bio balls to a refugium on the next step. For that I don't know how I can convert the bottom section - do I remove the grating?

 

[flexrac]

what side of town do you live on, can you update your location? more than willing to stop by if you live near by to help out.

 

[flipside]

Hey BonzerB,

What kind of corals are you looking to keep? I seriously doubt I would run two K3's on a wavemaker in that tank... you'll have to polish that turd one day. Oh, and the Tunze skimmer (although dated technology) is far superior to that CSS 220; however, I'd run the 9010 on a 90g.

 

[BonzerB]

Desired corals are mostly soft and a few hard corals - nothing too serious.

Also,It is tough to find a good skimmer that fits both in height within the cabinet (30" inside ht) and within the return sump (12"x12") of the wetdry filter box that we have. Currently, the Vertex has too big of a footprint. Now I am leaning towards the:

Tunze DOC Protein Skimmer 9005
or the
AquaC EV120 Protein Skimmer w/ JG Fitting + Rio 2100 Pump


Also, over the last few days I getting development of very bright green algae (I think). Is this okay - or is it something else.

AND I getting very little (<1/8") circular white things stuck on the back of the tank and even a few on my turbo snail. they are a little tought to chip off. Anyone know what this might be?

 

[Guest]

Wow - thanks for all of the advice!
Affter doing al lot of reading on what is out there, I am thinking making the following next purchases:
1) Coralife Super Skimmer Venturi Wheel(up to 220g) or the Tunze DOC Protein Skimmer 9005 (but I am concerned about the required depth in the sump for either of these. My wet/dry filtration sump is currently only about 3-4 inches deep).
2) two Hydor Koralia 3s with the Red Sea Wavemaster Pro Wave Maker
3) R2 Solutions Dual Extreme Moonlight (not sure if these will attach inside the light reflector fixture or what) or the Marina Micro L.E.D. Light Whites (any advice).
I think I will plan to convert the bio balls to a refugium on the next step. For that I don't know how I can convert the bottom section - do I remove the grating?

IMO, I wouldn't get the CSS. I would pick up a used Octopus skimmer. Ive heard NOTHING but great things about them. I will be ordering one very shortly myself.

 

[Llama]

I think the white circle things you are asking about are probably snail eggs. No worries there unless you don't like the look. If so chip away!