Quite sad to read about the loss. The use of OHF or even canister filter is not the right way to start a marine setup. I had advise you previously on this thread-http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29306
I would say that you have a total loss and would advise you to throw away the live rock that has the anemone like organism on it. No use keeping the rock for a new setup. Get rid of the sand too.
Get a proper setup. A tank with overflow ( internal or external, it's your choice ) and a sump with a stand or cabinet. A small tank can also look good if it's properly setup.
For equipment wise, a good skimmer is a very important piece equipment for your setup. If you are aiming for corals, a chiller is really needed. With a chiller, the type of lighting to use will expand from using High Output T5 to Metal Halide lightset. A return pump that matches the flow needed for the chiller is required too. These are the basic equipment to have for a tank that has coral.
Accessories and additives.
In the future, you might need a phosphate and carbon reactor. The phosphate reactor to remove phosphate and carbon to remove whatever toxin in the water column. Certain corals gives off certain chemical to inhibit other kind of coral to grow. If you are on a budget, weekly water change is another option to go for instead of purchasing the 2 reactor and media.
You'll also need to dose calcium and kalkwasser. Certain salts does not have adequate level of calcium so you'll need to increase this to a certain range. This should be done during lights on period and should be turn off before lights off. Kalkwasser would be used in conjunction with an auto top-up equipment to maintain the level of calcium during lights off. You could either get a dedicated auto top-up equipment or diy one. Either way, this will maintain the water in the sump level. To manually dose this 2 additives, you'll need to purchase them in powder form. The use of test kit is important too to find out the level of calcium in the water. There are other additives to add on too.
If you want to start over, do it slowly. Read up more. Stock up real slow.
Bookmarks