Some help

Ok so as all of us want crystal clear tanks, we do a lot to get there. I thought my problem was the crushed coral I had do to not rinsing well.. After I removed 99% of it the tank has been pretty clear for the past month and a half. I try to blow the rocks off every week or two doing water changes every 2 weeks.. Tonight I had noticed that the tank looked a lil dirty so I checked my filter and they where pretty good except for my first tray was filled with a hole bunch of stuff, from red alge to what ever dirt from the crushed coral.. Just looking for tips and tricks to get a clean looking tank without spending a whole lot of money ( was in the hospital, no cash flow right now). P.s. I have two intake 1250 gph pumps



One other thing I would like to throw in that I came a crossed today. When I bought my sump and set it up (bought from a guy that I was referred to) the pump was way to powerful for my tank ( 75 gal). I don't know what pump it is what the flow rate is on it or anything. Just really only know the guy said it would be perfect for me.. Well anyways let's get to the point when piping for the return to the tank had used a brass ball valve to turn down the flow rate on the pump only because I couldn't find a pcv valve anywhere. I must say I didn't even think twice about it cause it was brass. Only reason I am really asking cuz when I get snail,crabs,shrimp they last for anywhere from 2 weeks to a month then die. I have research this a lil bit and seen people say that everything needs to be replace from the tank to sump. I would love to upgrade everything for a 120 set up but kinda just don't have the money for it right now maybe to just re plume everything. Thanks for everything.

 

Keep everything very clean including all of your equipment. If you don't have a skimmer get one when you can, it will remove a lot of suspended stuff from the water.

You probably are correct on the re-plumb.

 

so what was the prob ?

 

Brass (an alloy of zinc and copper) is not made for saltwater and is likely leaching copper into your system, which is killing your copper-intolerant inverts. If you replace that valve with PVC (I bought my PVC ball valve at Home Depot) you might at least keep your inverts alive, which might keep your tank looking cleaner.