advice on skimmer please

[rosie297]

Hi there. Just got my firsy nano tank last week. It'a a sera biotpe 130.
Got 2 problems. The pump wasn't working for about 12-24 hours. I came in from work and my corals were dying!!!!!!!! was that just the pump or could there be another reason. Also the skimmer is very noisy, hs anyone elsa had this prob. :

Pleas help a newbie sob, sob

 

[drnsee]

What is the volume in your tank? And...you have corals already? Is this a new system or did you purchase an established one? I would think a pump off for a day would irritate the corals and cause them to close up but not die off... Is there any other livestock in your tank at the moment? Water parameters?

Whenever I see a problem I do an immediate water test and prepare for a water change alongside. When in doubt, dilution is the solution to pollution.

 

[rosie297]

What is the volume in your tank? And...you have corals already? Is this a new system or did you purchase an established one? I would think a pump off for a day would irritate the corals and cause them to close up but not die off... Is there any other livestock in your tank at the moment? Water parameters?

Whenever I see a problem I do an immediate water test and prepare for a water change alongside. When in doubt, dilution is the solution to pollution.

Volume is 130 litres. Don't know what that is in gallons. Corals were transfered from my old tank. An old tropical one which I changed to marine about 18 months ago. I was careful to keep them in water. I used new ro water and new live sand as substrate. Water test showed at 7 and calcium at 400 so I added them. Everything else ok. Nitrate less than ten.

Polyps have closed up, but seem to be still ok. I've removed the dead stuff from the other corals which hasn't left me with much. :sad:
I only have 2 clown fish and a pink and white striped goby. I also lost 2 red shrimps and a clam. They seemed ok.

The flow from the pump is not very strong and I'm thinking about putting another 1 in from my old tank. Is this a good idea?
The shop I go to have not used nano tanks so are not really able to give techlical advice. I stay in Scotland and nano tanks are still very new here.

Thanks for getting back to me

 

[drnsee]

Volume is 130 litres. Don't know what that is in gallons. Corals were transfered from my old tank. An old tropical one which I changed to marine about 18 months ago. I was careful to keep them in water. I used new ro water and new live sand as substrate. Water test showed at 7 and calcium at 400 so I added them. Everything else ok. Nitrate less than ten.

Polyps have closed up, but seem to be still ok. I've removed the dead stuff from the other corals which hasn't left me with much. :sad:
I only have 2 clown fish and a pink and white striped goby. I also lost 2 red shrimps and a clam. They seemed ok.

The flow from the pump is not very strong and I'm thinking about putting another 1 in from my old tank. Is this a good idea?
The shop I go to have not used nano tanks so are not really able to give techlical advice. I stay in Scotland and nano tanks are still very new here.

Thanks for getting back to me

That's about 34 gallons. If you used new substrate and water, it's likely you are going through a cycle. The pump turning off probably didn't help. Can you elaborate what a water test of 7 means? If I were you, I would do a partial water change as soon as possible. Inverts are usually the first to go with any problems in water quality.

Extra flow in the tank is always a great idea! My tank turns water at about 29 times an hour. If you want to simulate that, you'll want a total flow of 3732 L/hr (this includes your return/filtration pump). Again, watch your water parameters closely. I'm sure you are going through a cycle. Try to stabilize your tank and all will fall in place.

 

[rosie297]

7 is %dKH = to 125.3 ppm. I don't know the strength of the pump - book doesn't say. I'm going to clean one of the pumps and put it in tomorrow. Water test is ok. Corals havn't got any worse, so hope they might come back at least a bit.

Thanks again X

 

[TimSchmidt]

Only thing I would add is to check for ammonia and nitrite (if you are going through a cycle then you will have these in a detectable amount and this is probably the cause of death).

I don't know about the skimmer as I've not had this tank or known anyone who has. However if there is an air intake tube then a silencer can be made pretty cheap. A quick search through the DIY forum here has a pretty good walk through.


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