Help deciding on new equipment

[hampsterblade]

I've been up and running for about a year and my tank is still not stable .
I just finished a move and decided my tank needs to be fixed. I lost 4 shrimp in the move and think I may have lost my corals. My leather and Kenya trees are both not showing any signs of life, my zoas are back and are opening .
Some of the problems I've been having:
1. Nitrates high (usually measuring around 20) and with it algae blooms.
2. Corals not really growing or growing slow. Possibly related to 1 or not enough light.
3. Chaeto is not growing. I am using a CFL flood light from Lowes everyone seems to swear by, but it just doesn't grow.
4. My flame angel was swimming sideways. Seems to be remedied after the move (high nitrates?)

Things I'm doing to remedy issues
1. Refractometer on order. I suspect some issues may be due to unstable salinity from using a hydromer. I think this is why my shrimp died. When I checked the salinity before adding the shrimp it read 1.22. When I noticed my shrimp not moving the next day my reading was 1.14? This thing is bonk.
2. Before the move I was using RO water. I now have an RO/DI
3. Doesn't really effect the fish much but I have redone the tanks plumbing so it is now much quieter and leak free (better for my floor )
4. I have put more live rock in my refugium so my chaeto is now closer to the top of the water.

Considerations:
I have about 150 to throw at the tank. (Buying things will probably work better than drowning my money though)

1. Test kits? I currently am just running a cheap API test kit. Could my issues be alkalinity?
2. Better lights. I currently have a 4 bulb t5ho with a purple plus, true atinic, and two 15000k full spectrum. Not sure where 150 would get me here though. Maybe a cheap led fixture or metal halide and switch my t5s to all atinics and purple.
3. GFO for obvious reasons
4. A better skimmer (probably not for 150)
5. An ATO. ( I top off every day though so this is probably more convenience than anything though)

Sorry for the long post. I'm trying to figure out what will help my tank stabilise. There isn't much fun looking at a tank full of macroalgae.

[Zorba2.0]

How much did you disturb the sand bed during the move? This could easily cause nitrates to skyrocket and cause a diatom bloom.

How are you topping off to account for evaporation? This could be some of the cause of salinity swings.

I had nitrate and hair algae problems till i did weekly 25% water changes 3 times. (In a 20 gallon so it wasn't a big deal)

[Zorba2.0]

Do you have any kind of protein skimmer in your sump?
Also, Cheato didn't grow well in my sump, but Caulerpa thrives.

[hampsterblade]

The sand bed was disturbed a bit as I removed and replaced rocks and also as filled the tank. The tank was filled almost entirely with premixed rodi water once I moved the tank. I suspect I lost the shrimp due to the hyposalinity and the water was too cold. Didn't have a heater in my mix tank. Maybe I should order a heater for my salt mix tank >.<. I normally only change the water in the sump and let it heat up for an hour or 2 before I turn the return pump back on.

As far as top offs go, I top off to the top of the last level of my sump with clean ro/di water til it is level with the baffle. Usually takes about a half gallon a day.

I have a protein skimmer. It's generic. Don't even know what brand it is. Rated for 100 gallons and it does its job. I just don't like the whooshing sound it creates. I've thought about getting a reef octopus once I have money to burn.

Caulerpa scares me. Everywhere I read says it can spread to the display and they talk about it going sexual. Which I don't know what that means, but it sounds scary. I keep imagining two pieces of algae doing it >.>

[Dmorty217]

ATO are invaluable. A better/ oversized skimmer will help things a lot

[hampsterblade]

http://www.amazon.com/Instant-Ocean-.../dp/B000255NLE this is the skimmer I currently have

[hampsterblade]

What sort of ATO do you recommend? I see them range anywhere from 40-150$ and really have no clue what to look for. Is all the weird computer stuff really worth it here? Also could I just run a float valve from my RO/DI?

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/hydor-...o-top-off.html
I'm thinking about this one

[CStrickland]

The first thing is water quality, you need to be able to report accurate levels on: ammonia, nitrate, alk, calcium, magnesium, ph, salinity, and temp. You test regularly so you have a baseline, not just when there's a problem. IMN(noob)O that would be the very first investment, otherwise you're throwing money at problems that you don't even know exist. That helps people give you better advice too, the first assumption is a nutrient problem, but 4 fish in a 55/30 is not a very high bioload. Could just be wacko salinity, right?

Some other random thoughts:
20 nitrates isn't high for fish and leathers / Zoa / Kenya. Shrimp don't like it, but even they would be ok at 20 if everything else were fine. Depending how deep the sand is, you might have released a pocket of hydrogen sulfide, I think that'd kill them.
The RO water you were using could have been adding phosphate to your water, which could have absorbed into the rocks and sand.
Flame Angels can nibble soft coral.
I built an ato for $6 plus $20 for the pump based off designs you can google easy. Works great. You can't run a float switch straight off the rodi, but it's not much harder than that.

Do you have an algae problem too, or was that last comment in the OP about your sump?
How much are you feeding?
Do you clean the tank at all, or just leave it to the skimmer?

PS I <3 your sceename, the mental image of ninja hamsters made me lol

[hampsterblade]

Originally Posted by CStrickland

The first thing is water quality, you need to be able to report accurate levels on: ammonia, nitrate, alk, calcium, magnesium, ph, salinity, and temp. You test regularly so you have a baseline, not just when there's a problem. IMN(noob)O that would be the very first investment, otherwise you're throwing money at problems that you don't even know exist. That helps people give you better advice too, the first assumption is a nutrient problem, but 4 fish in a 55/30 is not a very high bioload. Could just be wacko salinity, right?

Some other random thoughts:
20 nitrates isn't high for fish and leathers / Zoa / Kenya. Shrimp don't like it, but even they would be ok at 20 if everything else were fine. Depending how deep the sand is, you might have released a pocket of hydrogen sulfide, I think that'd kill them.
The RO water you were using could have been adding phosphate to your water, which could have absorbed into the rocks and sand.
Flame Angels can nibble soft coral.
I built an ato for $6 plus $20 for the pump based off designs you can google easy. Works great. You can't run a float switch straight off the rodi, but it's not much harder than that.

Do you have an algae problem too, or was that last comment in the OP about your sump?
How much are you feeding?
Do you clean the tank at all, or just leave it to the skimmer?

PS I <3 your sceename, the mental image of ninja hamsters made me lol

Thank you. I think I'll pick up an alk test kit. I don't think calium is an issue since I don't have any hard coral for the time being and am planning mostly soft and leather corals. I did end up ordering the 80 dollar ato cause it looks like it has some really nice features and is very nice visually. With that and my new test kits I'll be at budget. Hopefully the sump changes i made will fix my chaeto issues. It was sinking but it is floating now.
Also thanks. 13 year old me liked the idea of a hamster running around with a sword and the name was unique enough I stuck with it.

[smedlin]

Originally Posted by hampsterblade

13 year old me liked the idea of a hamster running around with a sword and the name was unique enough I stuck with it.

hey, why ya gotta be 13 to chuckle at the mental image of that?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VFPtY7hiGw

Anyways, CStrickland pretty much summed it up.

You need to test so you know what to change. Although.. I think you already knew what it was.. lack of true ro/di, incorrect salinity and temp's.

[hampsterblade]

Originally Posted by smedlin

hey, why ya gotta be 13 to chuckle at the mental image of that?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VFPtY7hiGw

Anyways, CStrickland pretty much summed it up.

You need to test so you know what to change. Although.. I think you already knew what it was.. lack of true ro/di, incorrect salinity and temp's.

Yup. Managed to get my test kit, and ato within budget. Got the expensive hydor ATO, and found the red sea essential pro kit on eBay for 40 bucks. And got a new overflow on order. Got a new hydir pump on order. I found just having a pipe with a strainer sticking out of my tank does bit maintain water level well, which would have been problematic when I hooked up an ATO. Overall 200 bucks thrown at the coral. I really hope I can get my ZOA's spreading. Might even think about removing the Kenya trees. I think they're pretty, but hear they become pests

[smedlin]

Originally Posted by hampsterblade

Overall 200 bucks thrown at the coral.

don't feel to bad about that. I'm slowly over-hauling my 13 year old tank to be more reef capable.

Last month I replaced my old lights with spiffy LED's. Spent $900 JUST on those (and they are not top of the line brand...)

It's an expensive hobby.

[BigCountry74]

nitrates at 20 will not cause damage. salt at 1.014 will though. even 1.022 is low.

get that salt to 1.026. especially if your gonna house inverts. go buy a cheap hydrometer if you have too. i think that will fix a majority of your current issues. just my .02

[coralsnaked]

You need to prime that tank or use Amqueal to lock up any ammonia that may be causing stress before your tank spirals out of control and you loose it all in a crash. Then 20% water changes daily for 5 days. That'll give you ~ 65% total reduction in all existing water chemistry issues. Then do everything else you mentioned before hand as you can to continue improvements. By the way testing is parmount over anything else. If you cant get it for free at LFS then invest in the testing equipment first. Red Sea Pro: foundation - ammonia - nitrate- phosphate to get started and a NSW refractometer for aquarium use not brine water.