Fixing my 40gal reef and coral tank

[LilMuddawg]

Hello!

I have been running a saltwater tank for about 4 years now. I have had many ups and downs through the years. I started with a small 20g with 2 rocks, a handful of frags, and 3 fish (2 clown 1 royal gramma). I moved to a house recently and decided to upgrade to a 40g. If I had the room or more income, I would've preferred to upgrade higher possibly a 120g, but that'll have to wait.

For my main question, I have a GHL profilux mini controller, and a mitras light bar from my 20g that I've been using for my 40g at the moment. I'm sure I need to upgrade my light for proper development of my corals. My biggest issue right now is heating. I've blown through 2 150w aqueon pro heaters and this third one I have it set on 80F because it keeps running colder (my temp probe is reading 73-75F). I have heard you should get titanium heaters, but I would like advice for which kind I can connect to my GHL device to be able to program it.

Also in general, I'd say 50% of my livestock die. My corals aren't doing well, my fish that I've had for awhile are the only ones that stay living, the new fish I add die, as well as any new shrimp I add. My living fish are a wrasse, royal gamma, bi color blenny, and my 2 clowns who have started laying eggs.

I have honestly a book full of questions that I would love to ask, but I don't want to post a novel!

 

[Fish Fan]

Let me be the first to welcome you to Reef2Reef!

I'm not sure how this slipped by without a reply so far, we are usually much quicker ;-)

I'm not an expert, but I'll bump your post up, and I'm sure other more experienced reefers will be by to offer more solid advice in no time.

I have no experience or comment on your controller or light bar.

The Aqueon heaters in any flavor don't get a lot of love here on the forum, from what I've read. Heaters in general are a weak link in reef keeping, they can fail off, which isn't horrible, but hard to detect without a temp monitor, or they can fail on, which can be potentially disastrous. If your monitor can control your heater(s), that's a good setup.

Many like the InkBird or Ranco heater controllers, if you just need a heater controller.

I can't speak to a good or trusted heater, I'm still looking myself. Yes, some say the titanium heaters are the best, but other than not being glass, and therefore less likely to break, I'm not sure what the advantage is; the electronics is all the same, I'd be willing to bet.

I have a few old Cobalt NeoTherm heaters. These were expensive, but largely trusted heaters somewhere around 2015. Trusted, that is, until they failed in the most horrible fashion. Feel free to look that up. I think that if my heaters were in the batch of these heaters that were prone to failure, mine would have given out by now. So I'm still running mine, in both freshwater and two saltwater aquaria that I don't have too much invested in, and would not be totally heartbroken if the tank crashed, not that I want that.

I'm going to get completely lambasted for posting this for sure, but for an absolutely budget heater that's "not bad", I am going out on a limb and recommending these heaters.....

PLEASE KNOW I would NOT run these heaters without a controller on any valuable fish tank or a high-end coral tank, but it sounds like you're having trouble and looking for a quick/cheap solution.

I use these mostly on my freshwater tanks, and in my Brute saltwater mixing can. They do have a wide spread of temps, but for the money I think these will heat your tank well.

If you hear of a perfect heater, please let me know!

Best of luck with your tank and your heater issue!

Marina Heater On Amazon

 

[fishywishy]

Hello!

I have been running a saltwater tank for about 4 years now. I have had many ups and downs through the years. I started with a small 20g with 2 rocks, a handful of frags, and 3 fish (2 clown 1 royal gramma). I moved to a house recently and decided to upgrade to a 40g. If I had the room or more income, I would've preferred to upgrade higher possibly a 120g, but that'll have to wait.

For my main question, I have a GHL profilux mini controller, and a mitras light bar from my 20g that I've been using for my 40g at the moment. I'm sure I need to upgrade my light for proper development of my corals. My biggest issue right now is heating. I've blown through 2 150w aqueon pro heaters and this third one I have it set on 80F because it keeps running colder (my temp probe is reading 73-75F). I have heard you should get titanium heaters, but I would like advice for which kind I can connect to my GHL device to be able to program it.

Also in general, I'd say 50% of my livestock die. My corals aren't doing well, my fish that I've had for awhile are the only ones that stay living, the new fish I add die, as well as any new shrimp I add. My living fish are a wrasse, royal gamma, bi color blenny, and my 2 clowns who have started laying eggs.

I have honestly a book full of questions that I would love to ask, but I don't want to post a novel!

I use Aqueon preset heaters, and they've worked great for me. However, if you're looking for a heater with adjustable temperature settings, I'd recommend the Eheim Jäger heater. Most people use that heater and have good luck with it.

If you want to stop losing fish you need to quarantine them before adding them to your main tank. If you cant do that you should at least focus on providing high quality food and maintaining a low-stress environment to support their immune systems. Additionally, it would be helpful to know your water parameters to see why your corals aren’t doing well, but IMO, i think it’s just because you need better lights.

 

[Solo McReefer]

I would like advice for which kind I can connect to my GHL device to be able to program it.

Get an InkBird controller

Have your GHL control the InkBird

Triple redundancy

The InkBird comes in a WiFi version(40% off on Amazon right now). And they have audible alarms when temp is out of range

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Sounds like you have a few issues.....

Corals dying I expect due to the light, as you mentioned, you know you need to upgrade the light.

New fish dying tells me there is a disease in your tank. Your current fish might have become resistant to it. #fishmedics will know how to rid your tank of disease.

For heaters I would suggest 200 watts (5 watts per gallon) and use an inkbird.

 

[Fish Fan]

I'd recommend the Eheim Jäger heater. Most people use that heater and have good luck with it.

These are great heaters, I've had a few, and they have a good following here at R2R. My only complaint with these heaters is that they are LONG. Double check the length and your sump or filter space before trying one of these heaters.

 

[LilMuddawg]

Sounds like you have a few issues.....

Corals dying I expect due to the light, as you mentioned, you know you need to upgrade the light.

New fish dying tells me there is a disease in your tank. Your current fish might have become resistant to it. #fishmedics will know how to rid your tank of disease.

For heaters I would suggest 200 watts (5 watts per gallon) and use an inkbird.

Thank you that is extremely helpful!

Regarding the disease, I'm actually a veterinarian and visually there are no signs of illness or disease, which is what I personally know for identifying and treating. Such as ick and other visual diseases. I'll look into the link and see if there are water tests for any specifics that can help me figure that part out!