Thinking of downgrading

Oh so green film algae, yeah I dont think you have a sunlight problem, you may but I wouldnt think so. You definetely want more to that clean up crew. You could throw dozens more snails in there. Water changes look good.

 

also from the pic it looks like your running an eheim canister filter?

 

Yes I am running a Ehein. I think the algae is from my water. Or my canister. This algae started when the canister turned on.

 

Let me give you some hard earned advice, don't down grade to a 55. I have one and the width sucks. If you want a 4' tank, go with a 75, 90 or 120. Use the 55 as a sump.

If you still want to down grade to the 55, you will need to get rid of some of the fish. Just because your tank doesn't look overstock doesn't mean it isn't. Many of the fish are not open swimmers and hide in the rock work. Also, if the fish are hiding constantly, that can be a sign of stress.

As to your algae problem, it's probably from being over stocked and over feeding. People blame sunlight for algae problems when applicable, but if your parameters are in check you shouldn't have any issues. Also what type of RO/DI unit do you have? 1 gallon every 3 days? I've never heard of that slow of a system. What filters does it have?

I do commend you for attempting to look out for the best interests of your fish, but it seems through reading your posts that, as with all of us, you still need to better grasp the basics of this hobby. I tell people all the time that this is not your standard hobby. It requires time, money and most importantly knowledge if you want to be successful.

 

My 75 is 3ft long and 15.5" wide. I only feed once a day 7 days a week. I have a BRS unit. I meant I top off 1 gallon of water every 3 days. I'm not downgrading, I need a CUC atm. I don't have TDS meter on me atm, so I don't know when to replace my filters. I'm buying filters and a inline TDS meter today from BRS. Most of my fish are small, but they are out and about, following me back and fourth.

 

Canister filters a great for polishing the water and keeping the water free of particles, but in a saltwater tank they can become nitrate factories unless you clean it every other day (not very realistic). The most popular and proven filtration system especially with a tank your size is a sump. Since your tank is not drilled, what you would need to do is get an overflow box that drains water to a sump located under your tank. Im not sure what type of stand you have but for example I use a 20G long as a sump that fits under my 65G tank. Getting a sump under your cabinet could be troublesome or impossible since your tank is already filled up unless you can slide it through the doors of the cabinet. In the sump you would place your skimmer, heater, and return pump. I also run a refugium with macro algae in my sump to remove nitrates from the water column. The return pump when then push water up and back into your tank. Having sump also adds more water to your total water volume. (The solution to pollution is dilution) if that makes any sense.

 

Can't atm. I'll build a sump when I get a 240g in a couple of years.

 

I can understand. But in my personal experience I would rather have a 10g sump than than a canister filter. In fact, I would rather have JUST a skimmer, than a skimmer and a canister filter. My protein skimmer is the only type of mechanical filtration I have in my sump.

 

Yea, I'm removing the canister in a couple days.

 

Will snails on reefcleaners remove algae off the glass?