60 Hex needs HUGE makeover!

Brock Fluharty · #1 02/17/2007, 10:03 PM

My stepdad has a 60 gallon hex that looks awful. It has a yellow tang, blue velvet damsel, big eyed squirrelfish, 3 striped damsel, and a red reef lobster. It is a hex, so HOB filtration is hard to do. It currently has a whisper power filter...THAT'S IT!!!!! I don't know how these fish are alive. it has 1 powerhead, but it's so clogged with hair algae that it's barely running. He bought 2 corals at the swap, and both nearly died before I put them in my system. They were a fungia and a colony of the big green protopallys. The glass is covered in hair algae, as are the rocks. He buys hermits and snails, but the lobster kills them. He bought a cleaner shrimp to deal with the ich, but the lunar wrasse ate him (he's gone now). I keep telling him that if he wants a successful system, he's gotta kick the damsels out. At least the mean ones. He thinks that our tanks are a contest. People come over and see my corals and blue tang and clowns and they are pretty impressed. So he comes over and says "MY tank's got a LOBSTER!". It's really immature. He tries to feed my octopus to show her off when shes already eaten, and ends up trying to scare her out of the rocks. It's horrible. Anyway, kina got side tracked because of venting but, how can we soup up the filtration on this tank? Natural ways are not working. Macro died in this tank. The hardiest corals wither away in days. The first thing that needs to happen is getting the fish out. Not all of them, but most, if not all, of the damsels, and the squirrlfish. he also needs a new light. He's using my old LOA and it's yellow. I think he'd be much happier with a standard 55 long or something. he feeds this tank 6 or 7 frozen cubes of brine shrimp. I tell him over and over again that it's too much, and brine shrimp is nutritionally poor, but does he listen? Nine. I know what needs to be done to this tank, but he won't listen to me, so I would like some opinions that I can print out and show him.

Thanks!

n8rad · #2 02/17/2007, 10:27 PM

my 1st question does he even care what his tank looks like? I mean does he ever say "i dont like the look of this tank" because it sounds to me like he could care less about the tank.
2nd of all what do you care? you know your tank is better and youve tried showing him his faults and what he could do better but seems like your wasting your time. I would just leave it alone and let him dump more money into the tank and keep killing the inhabitants of the tank.

Brock Fluharty · #3 02/17/2007, 10:40 PM

So you are ok with the fact that these fish are clearly suffering from ammonia poisoning?

essop3 · #4 02/17/2007, 10:50 PM

I'd suggest losing the tang if it's very big. Step up water changes, use ro/di water, use refugium and all the other standard algae answers.

Reef4Fun · #5 02/17/2007, 11:16 PM

sounds to me like a complete breakdown of the tank should be done, clean everything, and rebuild with ro/di water. The over feeding is a problem as well, I have a 120 gal tank with 3 damsels, a yellow tang, a purple tang, a maroon clown, 3 shrimp, and all I feed them is two cubes of mysis shrimp (acually about one and 3/4 because I have a small tank I feed some to that has a sebea clown in it) I feed this every day and a few times a week I feed flake food along with, I also have cyclospese my tank gets once a week. Oh, and the tangs should be given a veggie clip, at least every other day. Over feeding is terriable, causes all sorts of problems.

Reef4Fun · #6 02/17/2007, 11:18 PM

I forgot to add, without the proper flow or lighting, this should definately be a fish only tank. The killing of coral is, without a better word to use, ignorant and cruel. I commend you Brock, for trying to get this man to do right by these animals.

mcox33 · #7 02/18/2007, 12:27 AM

People like that are why the state wants to regulate our pets

fishmon · #8 02/18/2007, 12:54 AM

clean it out, canister filter, skimmer, power head, pendant mh, and oh yea..........................a different tank, hexes suck for salt tanks

firefish2020 · #9 02/18/2007, 12:28 PM

Quote:

2nd of all what do you care?

Well is'nt that a quote for the ages. Maybe if we all cared there would'nt be nearly as much trouble in our world today. Amazing the insensitive nature that most human beings exhibit IMO.

Brock Fluharty · #10 02/18/2007, 02:02 PM

Thanks Nancy, Jim, and Ron, for being the only ones in this thread that are trying to be HELPFUL and not rude inconsiderate trashtalkers.

The tang is maybe 4 inches from tip of nose to tip of tail. Not that big. he has plenty of chaetomorpha that he grazes on from time to time. And hair algae. I'd post a pic, but I don't feel like buying a new camera after mine breaks.

LtPiper · #11 02/18/2007, 08:22 PM

6 or 7 cubes of brine shrimp a day????? I feed one brine and one mysis to 4 tanks with 12 fish 5 shrimp 2 stars a clam and critters on a daily feeding when not using my fish food mix which gets about a equal amount to the tanks. He really needs to cut back on the feeding on the tank and that will help bunches with the algea problem.

firefish2020 · #12 02/18/2007, 09:31 PM

Do what you can Brock. That's the same kind of people I have dealt with for years. "My fish died, what are you gona do about it?" Maybe if you changed your water once a decade or so, picked up a book maybe, just maybe you would have better luck in this hobby. Oh and no we wont be selling you that Naso tang for your 29 gallon freshwater guppy tank.