250 gallon sw tank setup 5 yrs. old

[jyawn20]

Hi
I have a 250 gallon tank that me and my dad have kept for about five years now. We have about 30 various species of fish. We were given the tank as someone in our family was going to get rid of it. It has been great fun watching these fish grow. We have never had many problems with anything but corals. We tried and tried to get it to survive in our tank but something is not right about it, it just would not live. I have been doing research and it seems like we just dont have enough light. I read somewhere it said you need apprx. 3-5 watts/ gallon (also what is importance in Kelvins when choosing lights) AHHH!! Also, I have been seeing all this conversation about filtration in your tank so I have a feeling that is extremely important as well, but really can't understand the lingo in any of these forums yet bc I am very new to this. Our filtration system is what you see under the tank and that is all. Could someone please help me!! We want coral in this beautiful tank extremely bad!!
Thanks for any help and criticism you can give me!!

 

[tnwillia]

Welcome to RS!

Tell us a lot more about your tank and what you have now for both livestock and equipment.

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

to ReefSanctuary, a real Sanctuary of reef forums, with lots of very nice members

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

Re: Abbreviations
Here a few...

FO - Fish Only
FOWLR - Fish Only With live rock
SW - SaltWater
FW - FreshWater

....

Here a few more...

Saltwater Acronyms

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------
SW - SaltWater
FW - FreshWater
FO - Fish Only
FOWLR - Fish Only With live rock
LR - Live Rock
RO - reverse osmosis (filters)
DI (De Ionisation (filters)
W/gal - Watts per Gallon
NO - Normal Output ((fluorescent lights)
PC - Power Compact (fluorescent lamps)
VHO - Very High Output (fluorescent lamps)
MH - Metal Halide (lamps)
P/I - Photosynthesis/Irradiance
LPS - Large polyped Scleractinian (stoney coral)
SPS - Small polyped Scleractinian (stoney coral)
LFS - Local Fish Store
PM - Private Message (Seen in the buy/sell forums)
UV - Ultra Violet (you should know this already)
DSB - Deep Sand Bed
RDSB - Remote Deep Sand Bed
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
AC activated carbon, chemical filtration media / alternating current
AFM Aquarium Fish Monthly, magazine
AGA All-Glass Aquarium, Aquarium manufacturer
AL Aqualink, aquarium bulletin board
ATS Algae turf scrubber, reef setup technique
BOD Biological oxygen demand
CC Counter current, type of protein skimmer
CSL Custom Sea Life, lighting manufacturer
CTA Cellulose triacetate, type of RO membrane
CUC - Clean Up Crew
Cyano Cyanobacteria
DC Direct current
DD Downdraft, type of protein skimmer
DI Deionisation, type of water purification
DIY Do it yourself
DKH Degrees of carbonate hardness
DSB Deep Sand Bed
FAMA Freshwater and Marine Aquaria, magazine
FFE Flying Fish Express, Mail Order Company
FO Fish only
FOWLR Fish only with live rock
FW Freshwater
GBR Great Barrier Reef
GPH Gallons per hour
GSP- Green star polyps
HO High output fluorescent light
HQI Mercury (Hg) Quartz Iodide, a type of metal halide lamp
IA Inland Aquatics, mail order company
IMHO In My Humble Opinion
IMO In My Opinion
IO Instant Ocean, brand of aquarium salt
IR Infrared
Kalk kalkwasser, German for calcium hydroxide solution or limewater
LFS Local fish store
LHS Local hardware store
LPS Large polyped Scleractinian (stoney) coral
LR Live rock
LS live sand
MACNA Marine Aquaria Conference of North America, held annually
MASNA Marine Aquarium Societies of North America
MD Marine Depot, mail order company
MH Metal halide light
MJ Maxijet, powerhead manufacturer
MM Miracle Mud, method of aquarium filtration
MO Mail order
MTS Multiple tank syndrome
NO Normal output fluorescent light
NSW Natural seawater
PA Premium Aquatics, mail order company
PC Power compact fluorescent light
pH Powerhead, water pump
PVC Poly vinyl chloride, used for piping / plumbing
RC Reef Crystals, brand of aquarium salt
RDO Reefs.org ("reefs-dot-org"), aquarium bulletin board
RK Reef Keeping, on-line aquarium magazine
RO Reverse osmosis, type of water purification
RO/DI Reverse osmosis, followed by deionisation, type of water purification
RR Reef ready, aquaria with pre-drilled holes and overflows
RTN Rapid tissue necrosis, protozoal infection of corals; can be rapidly fatal if not treated
SG specific gravity
SPS Small polyped Scleractinian (stoney) coral
SW Saltwater / seawater
TBS Tampa Bay Saltwater, Mail Order Company
TFC Thin film composite, type of RO membrane
TRT The Reef Tank, aquarium bulletin board
TWP Tap Water Purifier from Aquatic Pharmaceuticals
UGF Undergravel filter
UV Ultra violet light
VHO Very high output fluorescent light
W/D Wet-dry (a method of aquarium filtration)
WD Wet-dry (a method of aquarium filtration)

 

[jyawn20]

Ok I am going to try not to leave any of these guys out but they are hiding from me so I might miss a couple.
We have:
2 Pygmy angelfish
Flame angelfish
2 different kinds of clownfish (Ive tried to identify them and I think one is a sweetlips and one is the nemo/true percula)
Koran angelfish
Vermiculated angelfish
Scooter blenny
3 Yellowtail blue damsel
Domino damsel
A puffer, not sure what species
A few random wrasses
A 6 line wrasse
Mandarin dragonet
Firefish goby
Foxface rabbitfish
Yellow tang
and a Blue hippo tang
also we have the "dory" fish lol but it hasnt come out today and I cant really remember what it looks like

As far as equipment goes, like I said, we were given the tank and the plumbing and we really did get into the hobby very "hard-core" untill a few months ago so I would like to know what we have, but I honestly can't say what it is. I will upload some pictures and maybe someone can tell me what we've got here.
Thanks for the input and direction! I will upload pics asap

 

[jyawn20]

attachments?

 

[dmatt88]

Al buddy. Where's the par talk man we need Ya!

Matt's DROIDX using Forum Runner since idiots hacked thru tapatalk.

 

[TylerHaworth]

Al's Lighting Speech!

With all due respect the WPG rule is very antiquated with today's technology. It was "Ok" back in the VHO day when that was the only real choice. Now we have many light choices and they are not created equal. If you go by WATTS the only thing you know for sure is how much electricity they will consume in a given time. Here is how "lighting" plays out in a very generic terms:

PC - least intense but good for softies, LPS and some have gotten away with SPS but it's not readily suggested. Not efficient and not intense. Not good for medium to deep tanks. A Tried and proven true method to light medium light needing tanks. Bulb selection is alright and need to be replaced yearly.

MH - VERY intense but also fairly inefficient and produces a lot of heat "into the tank". Tank temps need to be considered. Great for getting high intense light into the bottom of deeper tanks. A tried a proven method for lighting tanks with good selection of bulbs to chose from. Bulbs can be a bit expensive and need replaced yearly.

T5 - Very efficient and fairly intense in shallow to medium tanks. If designed and built correctly with correct components can grow just about anything in the tank from low light to high light needing coral. Bulbs relatively inexpensive and a HUGE selection of bulb choices. This makes it easy to create a very unique and eye pleasing "light scape" in your tank.

LED - Latest and greatest of the batch. Can be VERY intense but the components need to be evaluated carefully because you can end up with a very expensive moonlight if you're not careful. VERY efficient in fact the most efficient of the group. Heat is a factor but it's not directed into the tank. HEATSINK required in assembly. Bulb last years and years and if "controlled" by a Dimmer or Tank Controller your color combinations are mind blowing for that WOW factor.

Let's do some examples:

• 70w Metal Halide over a 34g tank (RSM 130D) approx 2.06 WPG and a CRAP LOAD of high intensity lighting.
  
• 130w PC bulbs over 10g frag tank . That tank had over 13 WPG and even with that I could not keep a Seabae anemone alive or any SPS coral. I had a lot of WPG but it was all PC.

It's like this.. if you was landing a jet on a runway at night ... would you rather have a few extremely bright lights shining on the runway or 1000 birthday candles? LOL! I'm being overly sarcastic but at the same time it puts things into a more realistic perspective for us.

On my 12g NanoCube I'm only running 36W total but they are 3w LED and pushing a TON of light energy into the tank.

I wasn't picking on you by any stretch of the imagination I just don't want you getting bit by the WPG bug like some of the rest of us have.

 

[dmatt88]

Special thanks to Al's temporary fill in Tyler. Cheers applause!

Matt's DROIDX using Forum Runner since idiots hacked thru tapatalk.

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

I will upload some pictures and maybe someone can tell me what we've got here.
Thanks for the input and direction! I will upload pics asap

Cheers - you are very welcome ! :chair: :lurk:

here how lots of members post nice pics http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums...ay-post-pics-photobucket-nanoreefing4fun.html

 

[mcentire1123]

 

[DesertOrchid]

Photos please! Sounds like an awesome set up!

 

[Clownfishfan]

What kind of light do you currently have, what corals have you tried ,and have any of the fish picked at the corals that you had?

 

[DanaJ104]

Some of those fish you listed are not reef safe. Particularly the koran angel and the puffer fish, though the vermiculated angel and the foxface need to be monitored as they can eat corals as well. IMO I would not waste money on corals unless I was willing to take them out. Reef tanks are beautiful but it is necessary to sacrifice the ability to keep certain fish in order to have the corals survive

 

[jyawn20]

Ok I finally figured out the whole photobucket deal lol.

This is a picture of the lights we have. The front two are 36"twin tube fluorescent reflector 75 watts (that's what it says on the sticker) I think this is the one that has the LEDS that come on at night as well. The back one has four tubes in it and I read on it Coralife 96 Watts 10,000K. Not sure if all the tubes are the same because a two of them were off and two on.

 

[jyawn20]

So what do you do when you have to take fish out and dont have separate tanks?
Thanks

 

[jyawn20]

 

[jyawn20]

This is a pic of what plumbing we do have. Would really love to know more about this it seems very important and I dont know if I have enough here.

 

[PSU4ME]

I know this isn't your question but I wanted to ask about the windex......are you using that on or around the tank? It is not good to use as a cleaning agent due to the ammonia in it.

Although by looking at your fish, they seem to be doing great! Just wanted to ask.

 

[jyawn20]

I just wanted to point out the red on the live rock here. Can someone tell me about this? And also this fish is not reef safe am I right? He is very aggressive.