Help Me Improve My Tank

Ok I am going to list my whole tank setup and what I do to maintain it. I want you to help change things I do so my corals will grow faster and be healthier. I have a 20 gallon long tank with 20 lbs of live rock. A canister filter for carbon And phosphate remover. A hob filter to get debris out (not really working) the canister filter gives me air bubbles or atleAst something does. A 24" oddysea 4 bulb high output t5 light. 2 hydor koraliA 425gph power heads. A good heater. Livestock is 2 medium sized clownfish and 1 small six line wrasse. For corals I have a frogspawn (growing very slowly) torch coral frag (just got it) daisy polyp 3 inch rock. The polyps seem to be getting smaller and spread apart. I don't know what is happening because they still have been growing on my other rocks. 2 zoanthid colonies. 2 green bubble tip anemones. My 6 inch anemone split into 2 3 inchers. For maintenece I do a 2 gallon water change about once every two weeks. I'm not that consistent. And I dose caribsea purple up every 2 days to keep calcium and iodine and stuff up. For test kits I just have the big 3, all being zero. I have a pretty good amount of stringy algae on the back glass but nowhere else. My rocks are a deep green. Tank is about 6 months old. I hate how my water I always see stuff floating around ( micro bubbles and sand kicked up) I was recommended to drop the canister and hob and to just add more rock and a hob skimmer. Good idea? I would like to spend no more than 30 bucks. Feel free to help me out as I want the healthiest tank possible. (Sorry for such a long post)

 

Some things to be noted:
Don't dose unless you can test for it, stability is key for coral growth. Frogspawn and torch (LPS) are relatively slow growing corals compared to things like SPS, Zoathids, etc. Feeding them every other week (along with the anemones) will help with growth. I would recommend Mysis shrimp for the LPS and silversides for the anemones. When you say Big 3, I'm assuming you mean nitrate, nitrite and ammonia? As for the algae on the back wall, a pic would help, but I'm going to guess and say its Green Hair Algae, just pull off as much as you can and invest in some hermit crabs or emerald crabs to take care of it. You're probably seeing the GHA for many possible reasons, such as; old bulbs, feeding too much, too many nutrients in the water, topping off with sink water instead of RO/DI and/or leftover algae from new tank syndrome. The dark green is probably early stages of corailline algae, which will end up becoming purple. The sand could be getting kicked up from the powerheads pointing at it, in which case just point them towards the surface more. I personally rely solely on liverock and water changes instead of filters and protein skimmers. On that size of a tank, skip the skimmer, its not worth the money. If you do decide to remove your canister filter, slowly pull a little bit of carbon and phosphate remover at a time, don't do it all at once. Hope i covered it all, sorry for the novel.

 

Ok I think I'll just get a calcium test. As for feeding I will feed flake to fish. Mysis to coral and silversides to anemones. I can't wait for coraline algae. The big bother for me is kicking up sand and having bubbles. What is your best recommendation for filtration. I can't just go without carbon can I? My power heads are aimed up by the way.

 

Your fish will need a mixed diet, i feed flakes, mysis, and krill. I'm no pro on filtration, considering i have none except liverock, but it seems to have worked well this far. Its your choice if you run carbon, I don't and I've seen better color from my SPS my not running it. If you do keep up with carbon, when changing it, only do a bit at a time. I'm not sure what to do then about the sand getting kicked up if its not your powerhead.

 

FWIW, I run a HOB on my 29 with media bags of carbon. GFO can quickly be added if necessary. The flow through a canister filter is usually too high for optimum chemical filtration.

 

Why would a skimmer be bad on a small tank like mine. I was looking into the rio hob skimmer.

 

Truthfully I don't think skimmers are ever really a bad idea.They not only help remove waste but can help with gas exchange as well.Even small tanks can benefit from this.Are they absolutely necessary?No, but I have never run a tank without one.As has been stated some of your corals are slow growers but feeding will help growth.A 4 bulb fixture seems pretty extreme and some corals simply will not do well under intense lighting.You also should be testing the "real" big 3.Alkalinity,Magnesium,and Calcium.The other 3 you mention I rarely test unless cycling or having an issue.I would stop the Purple up.Without knowing the ingredients and/or the quantity of elements they contain it is impossible to tell just how much of each you are adding.Never add anything to the tank when you don't know exactly what is in it and what quantity.

 

Anyone?

 

Just ordered a calcium test so I know how much purple up to add. I know it's not miracle stuff but it does some good things

 

I have to respectfully disagree with this quote. Like stated above, I don't think a skimmer is ever a bad idea. What's wrong with removing the waste before it becomes an issue. It's funny to me that our ability to keep more exotic corals really improved when the skimmer came into play. It allows us to keep our nutrients much lower than a system with a HOB, WC only, and LR. FWIW, I would never have a tank again without having a skimmer on it.