How to have Amazing coral tank? Crystal clear.

I am not new to the hobby but i would like to know how you guys have show quality tanks: Crystal clear water, no nasty algea, really healthy corals.

I have had a few tanks that were great, i kept them maintained nobody died.
But i always had some nasty algea like green hair and bubble. and had no problems with soft easy corals and nems.

I am re-starting a tank since i moved and had to sell out (cycling now). it's a 130L 34g red sea max. the protein skimmer sucks (working on it) with 2 T5 50% actinic bulbs.

What i want to know is how to keep my water crystal clear, less algea issues, dosing with calc or any other chems needed to maintain healthy corals because i never did that before. In other words i want this tank to be PERFECT 8).

Thanks for the input!

 

lots of work and money!

 

For clear water i carbon, it polishes the water, removes toxins that corals release that supposedly stunt growth(leathers, toadstools),

To keep my water algae free i use gfo, or you can anykind of phosphate removing media, phosphates are usually what cause your bad algaes, nitrates also contribute, but mainly phosphates, also you want to have nitrates in your water because that is most corals feed on..you just dont want alot of nitrates..For growth you need really good lights and even better water quality, the more stable your tank of course the better your tank is goona look..You will have a little change in either ph and temp throughout the day but you dont want anything moving but +-1..the next thing to look at is flow, some corals thrive in very high flow, like sps, my sps are in the most flow parts of my tank, and depending on what you want grow need lower flow spots..All these factor in with a great tank..


AND Most Importantly....PATIENCE, PATIENCE, PATIENCE..It took me almost 7 months before i found the scape that i liked and still might tweek it a little..
So:
1. keep water params perfect, and literally perfect, no changes in it ever
2. get really bad A$$ lights
3. then make sure you have good flow, this also helps with the algae, the more you have flow you have the longer waste, food, detrius stays in the water column that is either gonna get sucked up from skimmer or consumed by corals..

also running a fuge helps with the removal of phosphates and nitrates by growing cheato or any other kind of macroalgae that lives by sucking the phosphates and nitrates out the water column..this is another way of having no bad algae..

 

Starts with good water quality (RO/DI), lots of flow, strong protein skimmer, low bioload, GAC/GFO usage, light feeding of animals, regular water changes and maintenance of equipment. Outside of that there are some more technical things like dosing but if you stay on top of the above you shouldn't need to dose in such a small aquarium. Corraline would be the expert here.

 

The importance of this should not be underestimated. I ran fugeless for about a decade. Didn't understand what all the fuss was about. About 3 years ago I added my first fuge. All I can say is DAMN. I will NEVER have a tank without a fuge ever again. It really does make that much of a difference. You can definitely run a successful tank without one, but keeping a nice tank becomes MUCH easier with a fuge.

 

yeah i set one up a couple weeks ago and can already tell a huge difference and i never have to clean the glass anymore, its awesome..

 

The first time I started a saltwater tank I ran an undergravel filter with powerheads, crushed coral, and a hob skimmer. (This was the latest and greatest at the time) I kept fish successfully....however, corals are a total different story. I contstantly had MAJOR algae issues and never could get them under control even over the course of several years. Moral of the story? Fuges, sand beds, high flow, sumps, and great skimmers=great aquariums. Just my $2.

 

I think my biggest concern is this POS Prizm skimmer. i have a box of replacement parts and have never had ANY luck with it. i would like to get a tunze 9002 skimmer but price is a small issue right now.
I wish i could add a fuge to my tank i've heard it can be done but i wouldn't even know where to start. Thanks for the input.

 

heres what i use, and works bad a$$..its a knock off of the cpr but is the exact same thing..i even compared them to the cpr and it is built with the same specs, best 80$ i have ever spent on my tank..i was really weird about buying a knock off product but when i saw my friends up and running and never thought twice about it..

Aquarium Acrylic Refugium + Protein Skimmer & Free pump - eBay (item 160517755471 end time Feb-08-11 11:56:26 PST)

 

the skimmer that comes with the rsm is ok, but noisy, but with such a small tank a skimmer isnt really needed. i have had it off for the last couple months in fact. regular wc's, i run carbon and phosban and feed every 2-3 days. here is a pic of my tank. the only lps i have is a duncan, the rest are softies. not for a lack of light but room!!