hello,
i'm new to tr,..i have 110 gal s.w.,i've have 2 tangs,3 damsels,1 cardinal,1 royal gramma, 2 clownfish,1 dragon wrasse,{how many fish can i put in this size tank ,there a few more i would still .like to add},snails ,2hermit crabs..and a few coral,and anemones,..dsb,90-100lb live rock...
my questions are :i read that the bio balls can cause nitrate problems which i have ,i 've gotten down to 40,but i want zero,so i removed them today ,the sump is a bit louder due to the flow,i have put some media in to slow it down ,my gate valve will not allow me to slow down flow ,without many air bubbles..but i've noticed my over flows {2}now are a lot higher ,before they filled 1"-2",now its 10" deep ,how much water should fill in the over flow..
i've done many water changes,i came acroos ansd article showing a healthy sand bed ,well when i clean my tank i siffen the sand ,what goes into bucket i clean with freshwater and return to tank,should i NOT clean the sand bed?
i really would appreciate any help you all could offer .
thanks much ruth
ps is this where i post or not????

i moved your post to its own thread in our "new to saltwater" forum.

welcome to talkingreef !!

is the 110 a standard tank ... if so it is very tall. you will likely need metal halides to keep most anemones due to their high lighting needs. with a tall tank it is going to need to be some pretty intense lights. if it is the same as a 110 i had back in the fresh water days ... you will probably need 400w halides.

i would only clean a small portion of the sand with every water change to insure that you dont disturb to much of the bacteria growing in it. i would have recommended the SLOW removal of the bio balls. that would have give the bacteria time to catch up and remove the nitrates that the bio balls were causing.

how much water n the overflow should be regulated by how tall your stand pipes are.

As far as adding more fish, I would be careful. You are close to what I would consider a safe limit., plus you have a fairly aggressive tank that might pose a problem to new additions.

The best way to control the flow to the tank is either by using a smaller pump or "T" off and send some of the flow directly back to the sump. You would also need a couple ball valves to dial it in properly. What is your return pump?

hello,
thanks all ,
to answer the first question the tank has 2 over flows,60 widex24tallx18deep.i'm running t5 lighting ,the anemones i have are called pink tip,they only get to be half dollar in size,but they do split alot.the lighting seems to be fine for they ,but i was hoping on a seaban or maybe a bubble tip for my clowns..guess i better make sure i have correct lighting..
over all the fish seem to get along ,at time the wrasse goes after the blue tang ,but shes goes get the larger yellow tang ,and the yelow controls the wrasse.kinda funny..the devil has become a very mellow fish ,after i got the larger tank,and i only bought another black /yellow damel because the one i have kept laying eggs ,i was hoping to mate them..not sure if there the same sex or not ,at times they both go into the one barnacle hole together,but most of the time they chase after each other.and well the gramma let the damel move in her barnacle,but she will get after them all ,if they spend to much time at her end of tank..and my darling wrasse,was the first fish i got ,not by choice ,well i've consider taking him to the pet store,but i've become very fond of him ,his such a hard worker,digging and moving rocks..
now back to the sump ,i hope removing all the bio ball at once ,won't hurt ..the noise over flow ansd sump ,has quieted down ,its WONDERFUL..
i'm not running top of the line skimmer ,but it works good ,as far as i know..i would like to up grade my lighting one day ,but i feel content with what i'm running,if i do change i think i'll get two 30 " compact ,instead of 1 long 60" which are kinda hard to come by ..till then ..i'm happy ..my fish appear to be happy..hubby won't admit his happy ,{think i spend to much money} but he loves fish ,he has a 2,500 pond with fish,"his babies.".
well thanks everyone for your advise,wish i would have found you 6 months ago..
ruth

another question ,what is the limit to how many fish.,,thanks, ruth

do the T5's have individual reflectors ?? if so then they will probably be just fine for a few anemones. i think that BTA's (bubble tip anemone) should be fine in there.

corals that you could keep (again individual reflectors are the key to T5's) would be soft corals (leathers, zoanthids, mushrooms, etc.) and LPS (frogspawn, torch, hammer, etc.), but i would recommend the LPS corals be kept up higher in the tank. and you might want to keep an eye on the wrasse ... they are know to eat some corals, and are not considered to be a reef safe fish.

another question ,what is the limit to how many fish.,,thanks, ruth

i would say that with those two tangs (depending on their size) that you are pretty much maxed unless you get a GOOD skimmer. the skimmer and lights are two of the pieces of equipment that should not be skimped on.

Hi Ruth and :welcome: to TR.

Keep an eye on your ammonia and nitrite. The bio-balls are really efficient at processing that and your rock and sandbed will need to catch up. How many T5's do you have? I think that Montipora digitata and Pocillopora damicornis kept in the upper part of the tank would be OK under T5's with individual reflectors.