what went wrong

[whistlerskipro]

For all of you knowledgeable folks that have been helping us newbies thanks. So this is my situation. My 55 gallon has been up and running for about 2 years. To this point I have been able to work out any problems through forums and information found on the web. My tank is lightly stocked as I wasn't sure what direction I would go. FOWLR or reef setup. I had about 40lbs of LR and about 3"LS. I came across a solid piece of coral 3 months ago at a garage sale. I took the necessary precautions and added the base rock to the tank. As expected there was an expected algae bloom that lasted about 3 weeks and afterwards I could see the coral slowly come to life. Now this is where everything begins to go wrong. I live in a small town and met someone with a lot more experience than myself, or at least I thought so. Upon his suggestion I was told I had way too much LR for such a small amount of fish and invertebrates, and told we should make the tank more reef looking. This involved removing the new piece of coral and break it up to allow more flow throughout the tank. I was also told to take out some more LR which meant I took out more of the well established rock. What was left was that I went from about 40lbs of well established and 30lbs of curing rock to about 40lbs of a mixture of live and curing rock. What was left was what I can only think a tank that is cycling again but cycling big time. I did a 50% water change yesterday and was told by the same person I should cover it up and let it have no light for 3 days. I have done this once before but for my Freshwater tank. I'm not sure if I should be doing this under these circumstances. All my readings look good. 0. Nitrate Nitrites 8.0ph. The tank has 2 clownish 2 green Chronic 1 Lawnmower Blenny 3 Hermit Crabs 1 brittle starfish 1 mushroom Coral Pink Tip Anemone 1 conch.
Lighting T5 54watt Actinic 39watt Blue Plus 2X9Led
2X55gallon Fluval Protein Skimmer
3XCirculation Wave Pump.
I run a canister filter with Sachem charcoal, phosguard, and purigen. NO filter media.
Is there anything I should be adding or not doing. Thanks for any help.
Hopefully the picture was downloaded however though it looks like the water is green it is NOT

[WarDog]

I'm sorry, maybe I missed the problem. An algae bloom? What is your phosphate level?

[whistlerskipro]

Thanks War Dog

I had been running Phosguard so I didn't think it would be an issue, but it is running high @02.5. My question was, did removing 30lbs of established LR (in the tank for 2 years) would the coral that I placed in the tank two months ago have had time to establish itself, or did my tank crash because of it? Did doing a 75% water change suffice, and now I just need to let the tank cycle, or is there another problem.

[ReEf BoSs]

I don't know why but I find that a hard read. So tank was going for 2 years ,why did you have to add base rock for the coral or is the coral just rock I'm lost.

[ReEf BoSs]

Why do you think it is cycling again?

[monocus]

your nitrites are really high.should be 0.2 parts per million or less.your canister filter is probably a nitrate/nitrite trap.re test your nitrates as well

[whistlerskipro]

Sorry about the confusion: I added the dead coral to increase the overall filtration. I didn't think the original 40lbs was enough. More is good?
I believe by removing some of the original LR (two weeks ago) caused the tank to crash . Question: Can base rock (the dead coral) replace the old established LR in two months? I don't think so. So I am thinking I am now dealing with my tank trying to re-establish itself.
Maybe I am completely wrong and it may be something completely different. I am very new at saltwater tanks.

[WarDog]

Originally Posted by monocus

your nitrites are really high.should be 0.2 parts per million or less.your canister filter is probably a nitrate/nitrite trap.re test your nitrates as well

Lol. I read nitrite and nitrate as 0 and pH as 8.0

[whistlerskipro]

Nitrates are fine. I clean the canister weekly and apart from chemical media holds some LR. NO filter media.

[Muller]

You generally want between 1 -1.5 lbs of live rock per gallon. So you would be looking at 55-80 lbs for your setup. I'm not sure why this person is telling you that you had too much. Live rock helps filter.
I agree with ReefBoss, it's hard to follow your post. Are you getting live rock and coral mixed up. Generally coral is living and if it is a coral skeleton it is considered rock.