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Small SW Systems - 3/21/2006 Thanks for replying to my message. <<You're welcome Jeff.>> I have a few more questions for you. First of all, for my 12g Nano Cube, are there any inverts you would suggest? <<I think a cleaner shrimp and some snails would do well.>> I have two False Percula Clowns and I am getting an Emerald Crab. I have 10 pounds of Fiji live rock. Are there any starter sets that are bigger than the 12g and 24g Nano cubes? <<Sure, lots. Although I've never really been a fan of such 'insta-tanks'. They are usually lacking in some department.>> Any suggestion on what I should upgrade to? Are the SeaClear systems good? <<I do not have any experience with said systems. Your upgrading needs will depend entirely on your intentions with your tank. In my opinion, a 12-gallon is too small for your first saltwater tank. I recommend at least a 40-gallon to beginners.>> Once again, Thanks for your time, Jeff Sehl <<You are quite welcome. Good luck with your tank! Lisa.>> Re: Clownfish, Anemone in a 20 Gallon Tank? 3/18/06 Hello Again! <Howdy> Thanks so much for replying. When you email someone over the web on a site, you can never expect a reply :) The information was useful that you gave me but I do have a few more questions to ask if you don't mind... <Fire away!> 1) With my 20 gallon tank, how many watts would keep the clownfish happy? <Watts of... light? Heat? Posted on WWM> 2)I would like to get some coral, but I know they require lots of light. Will my clowns be ok without it? <Mmm, yes> 3)At present, I have 20 lbs of LR in my tank. When would be a good time to get a cleaner shrimp? I was told that it would starve in my tank. <Mmm, a smaller species might do nicely> 4) I can't seem to keep the algae under control in my tank. I have my LR stacked up the back wall and it seems like the algae collects because my filter isn't getting to the part of the tank in front of it. Should I move my LR away from the filter and off to the side? <Maybe... but there are many more things to consider here... again, posted> 5) Will clownfish mate without an anemone? <Yes... are produced commercially w/o> I have a rock with a little cave in it that would be secluded. I guess that's about it for now. I really appreciate that you have this site and answer your emails. Very kind :) The saltwater tank experience has been quite a doozy for me. So much mixed information and lots of things you're not told when you're setting up the aquarium. Angela <Ah yes... An ever-opening universe of experience, contemplation, learning... and sharing/fun. Bob Fenner> JBJ 24Dx set-up, Angler Systems 3/15/06 Hello, I have been setting up a JBJ 24Dx nanocube, possibly becoming a nanoreef in the future. We still have the stock equipment that came with it, I believe 2x36W PC lighting with moonlight and the stock filter. It has a bag of ceramic rings, a bunch of bioballs, 2 bags of carbon, and some foam pads. We've been reading through the book and this site and had some questions about the setup. We know we can only put some corals in the tank close to the lighting, since it's only 3W a gallon. At the moment we have about 10lb of live rock in there, curing another 15 or so in a separate tank. The tank's been set up and cycled for about a month, here are the inhabitants: 1 tank-raised ocellaris clown, 1 orange honey chromis, 4 hermit crabs or various types, 1 tiger turbo grazer, and 1 blue coral banded shrimp. We're planning on leaving the last in until he has taken care of the large amount of bristleworms we have, then removing him and maybe adding a skunk cleaner. Would we be fine with a Current USA Fission skimmer for handling the skimming in the back compartment, along with the given filter stuff, or should it be modified? <Should work stock> As it is, we're planning on the skimmer in the first compartment, pre-filter, then foam pad, then bio/carbon in the last. Also, the optimum water level in the instructions for the skimmer looks like with a high water level the skimmer will be a little too low in the water. If it goes any higher, it might hit the cover for the lights and get pushed down. Also, would a clown goby or a pair go well in this setup, or a royal Gramma instead? <Gobiodon's live best in large small-polyped (Acropora mostly) "reef" systems... where they can hide amongst and eat the polyps. I would not place a Gramma sp. in such a small volume> The tank so far has plenty of copepod/amphipod growth in the sand/rock, the chromis likes munching them off the sides between meals, but nowhere near enough to sustain a fish. To your knowledge, is there a good way to change the flow from the pump for the filter? We've taken it out and there's no adjustment knob or switch or anything, is there any good way to modify it to tweak the output? <Not as far as I'm aware. Systems are quite "flexible" with increasing size... more restricted the smaller> This doesn't relate to the current tank. I'm looking (in maybe a year or so, maybe more or less) to setting up a tank for a frogfish. I'm planning on the smallest one I can get around here, not sure which that will be. With a high quality skimmer, decent lighting, plenty of rock, maybe an efficient canister filter of some sort, would I be alright with a 20 gallon for just the fish and potentially some hermit crabs or snails? <Mmm, likely only when the specimen was small... there are some antennariid species that are very small throughout their lives, but these rarely make their way into the trade> I know what kind of feeding I would have to do for him, and I'm prepared to do as much maintenance as it would tank. Would a 20 gal be adequate, or would I have to look bigger? <Likely larger. Don't move around much, but are copious waste producers> Like I said, this will be in the future, so I have plenty of time to check out info on brands and exactly what I would need. Thanks for the help! Alex <Welcome. Bob Fenner> Eclipse 12 setup Marine Set Up - 03/05/06 Hey everyone, <Hello Dana> Your website is one of the best out there! I spend hours at a time pouring over your FAQ's and articles. <All will help you.> This is my 1st venture into SW and I have many questions and I'll try to keep it as simple as possible. I have been cycling my Eclipse 12 (I know, I know Nano's aren't for beginners, but the tank was a gift, and I have to at least give it a go) for 2 weeks now with 16 Lbs Pacific LR and approx 25 Lb mix of LS and crushed coral. At the moment I am running the stock filter with a Bio Wheel. I have heard conflicting info about the wheel in use with LR, that they work against each other. <Not really, but all that is need is your live rock.> I would like to run my tank as is for a few months before adding much, though I would like get the cleaning crew in place a.s.a.p. I have a skimmer on the way, it is a Current USA fission nano protein shimmer. It's an in tank setup (I'm not wild about that) and supposedly pushes 84GPH, and I shouldn't have to modify my hood much for it. Cheap, $30 but I hope since I have such a small volume of water, with regular water changes I should be able to maintain things. Have you had any experience with this skimmer before? <Relatively new product and have heard no feedback on it yet.>I'd like to run my stocking plan by someone who knows more than I. When the time is right I would (slowly) like to add :1 True percula (tank bred)1 Electric blue hermit crab2 Scarlet reef crabs 1 or 2 Sexy anemone shrimp, Colored cluster duster worms, Bullseye mushroom coral <Doesn't do well without an anemone host.>Colony polyps Kenya tree coral, Toadstool mushroom leather coral, Clove polyps, Green Ricordea All adequately spaced apart from each other, and properly placed of course. Or is this too much bioload my little tank? <Corals do not add much to the bio-load, you are fine here.> I have an airstone behind the rockwork <Airstones just create messes, salt creep, etc Not need if you have good water flow.> for aeration and movement, and then there's the movement from the filter, in addition to the skimmer on the way, do you think that's sufficient water flow? <Yes, you have 150gph flow through the built in filter plus the 84 gph from the skimmer.> As far as the cleaning crew goes, should I add one or another 1st to avoid any territorial issues? There's plenty of caves and hidey - holes in the rockwork. <No special order from what you have selected, excluding the sexy shrimp.>As the stock light is nowhere near where I need it to be, I have a 32W supernova retrofit kit by custom sea life on the way, I would like to switch out the bulb for a 10,000 K daylight, and if there is enough room left I want to add another and put in a blue actinic 03 bulb for esthetics. Overkill or necessary ? <No overkill here. You will need around five watts per gallon to keep the corals you list, just stay away from SPS/LPS corals.> Maybe not enough? Most of these corals come as a package from Liveaquaria.com and it seems they mostly favor the same moderate conditions. The website I purchased the kit from didn't give me any info on the bulb that comes with it other than the wattage. <If the 10K and 03 are at least 65 watts total you should be fine.> Oh yeah, I haven't been able to get a straight answer on whether a CC substrate is too rough for snails or not. I would like to have 1 or 2 of them as well. <Will be fine.> Ok, well I think that's it, hopefully I haven't forgotten anything. Sorry if I jumped around a bunch. Thanks in advance for your advice, you guys (and girls) are the greatest! <Do continue reading the articles on the Web Web. Start with "Marine Set Up". James (Salty Dog)>Dana Writing w/o following directions... re small marine set-up maint. 1/31/06 Hello there, I have a few questions. First off, I have a 29 gallon salt tank with 6 pounds of live rock and sand substrate. With one clown fish, one blenny, one sand sifting sea star, <Too small a world for this species> one turbo snail, and two hermit crabs. The tank has been up and running for about two years.( the sand and sea star has been in there for about a month) My first question is, what else could I buy to help clean up the waste on the sand bottom? The two crabs that I have do an ok job, but I want something else. Also is there a way to vacuum the sand when I do water changes? Please help me. Thanks. <... please see WWM re these issues... Covered there. Bob Fenner> Making the jump to a Reef 12/17/05 Good Afternoon, <Nighttime now, hello Eric.> First of all-thank you for all the wonderful information you provide. <You are welcome, thanks for the kind words.> Most of my questions have been answered by reading the posts. <Glad to hear it.> However, I have a specific need that I can't find the answer for. <I'll try to help you out.> I have a 29 gal FOWLR tank with an Eclipse 3 hood that I am looking to upgrade the lighting with a SmartPaq retro kit. The specs show this fixture is a 4 pin compact rated at 65 watts (I am confused as to if this is 65 watts per bulb or a total for the whole fixture). <Sounds like it is a single bulb 65 watt fixture. PC bulbs look sort of funny, they are bent back on themselves so one bulb may appear as two but it's really just one.> After this upgrade I would like to start on my mini reef. <Cool.> With this set up will I be able to have LPS (plate or candy cane), Mushroom Coral, Polyp's or Leather Coral? <All of these sound feasible, though the potential size of the leather may warrant fragmentation.> I will be researching species compatibility before introducing anything. <Good.> Also, on a totally unrelated question-are there any practical uses for the used saltwater from my water changes? <Well with the salt it's no good for the garden, others have had a few ideas but honestly I haven't found any of them to be worthwhile. Some folks use the nutrient rich water left over from the water change to culture their own green water (phytoplankton)…but this is still only a small portion of water and would not make up for all the lost water during a change. For more ideas I would search through WWM and the net in general see if you fancy any of the other ideas.> Thank you, Eric. <Welcome, Adam J.> Smaller Reef Aquaria (A bit too big to be called nano but still relatively small) 12/16/05 Hi there, <What's up Kyle (That's my best buddies name).> Great site. <Thank you.> It has helped a lot. <I'm glad to hear it.> I have some questions on my latest saltwater tank (I've never tried such a small one). It is a 30 Gallon Long 36"long12"wide18"high. I put a CoralLife Lunar Aqualight (1) 10,000K 96 watt and (1) Actinic 96 watt, 50 pounds of live rock and 3" Aragonite substrate. My questions are: Is this enough light to accommodate all corals/clams? <All corals and clams no, most corals and some clams yes. This light is sufficient for most photosynthetic organisms barring a few, like those that come from shallow water bio-topes such as Acropora, like A. hyacinthus and A humilis. As for the clams the two smaller species T. Crocea and T. Maxima could be okay if place high in the rockwork, but if you were to keep these clams I would switch out your actinic with another 10,000K bulb or at least a 50/50. T. Deresa and T. Squamosa would be fine under the lighting the way it is but both grow to be near the 2-foot range. The other problem with keeping these animals in your tank is it's water volume, these animals need a very stable environment, which can be difficult to maintain in smaller aquaria. Having said that there are many suitable species for this tank. Last note on this subject; replace your power compact bulbs every six to nine months for best results.> With a canopy will their be too much heat (it has an open back)? <If you utilize a canopy I would also utilize some fans to cut down on the heat.> What fish do you recommend based on size if any (reef safe)? <See here for some appropriate recommendations on stocking nano reefs: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/smmarsysstkgfaqs.htm .> Your answers are greatly appreciated. <I hope this has been helpful.> Thank you, <Quite Welcome.> Kyle <Adam J.> A New Nano Product 12/12/05 Hi WetWebMedia crew, <Hello.> I am interested in starting a Nano Cube reef aquarium, and am particularly interested in an aquarium called the "AquaPod 24 gallon." The cube is equipped with a 290-gph pump, dual-stage mechanical and biological filtration, and a surface-skimming overflow intake system. For lighting it has compact fluorescent 32W square pin Dual Daylight 10000?K/6700?K Daylight bulb, 1-32W square pin Dual Actinic 460nm/420nm Actinic bulb, and 2 blue LED. I don't know if you have ever heard of this cube, <Actually this is the first time I have seen this particular product, looks very similar to the JBJ nano-cube with a few upgrades..> but I'm wondering if it is suitable for supporting the soft corals that I want to put in my cube. I plan on keeping <The lighting you mentioned seems quite adequate for supporting softies.> 1 Toadstool Mushroom Leather (Sarcophyton sp.) <Grows quite large, may need to be fragmented.> 1 Kenya Tree (Capnella sp.) <Same as above comment.> 1 Green Striped Mushroom (Actinodiscus sp.) 1 Lavender Mushroom (Rhodactis sp.) 1 Starburst Polyp (Pachyclavularia sp.) 1 Button Polyp (Protopalythoa sp.) 1 Spaghetti Finger Leather (Sinularia flexilis) <Ditto.> 1 Other Colony Polyp (Zoanthus sp.) 2 Percula Clownfish (Amphiprion percula) 1 Firefish (Nemateleotris magnifica) 12 Blue Dwarf Hermits (Clibanarius tricolor) 3 Scarlet Hermits (Paguristes cadenati) 6 Turbo Snails (Turbo fluctuosa) <Far too many, go with only one or two, better yet skip the large and clumsy Turbos and get a trio of Trochus snails. For the most part you have picked acceptable animals though.> I will also will have around 35 pounds of live rock, a plenum, a DSB, and some sort of small skimmer (aqua-c, Prizm, or SeaClone). <The Aqua-C is easily the best choice in this group, the other products leave something to be desired. It's going to be hard to modify this unit for a skimmer though.> So, can I keep these corals and fish successfully with my setup plan? Should I reconsider some different corals or take out some from my stocking list? <I'll just say that's it a lot of coral for such a small water volume I would consider taking out possibly one or two of the ones that I labeled as big growers. Either that or be prepared to do fragmenting/pruning.> Sorry for the long entry, but this is my attempt at a reef, and I don't want it to be a failure. Thanks, Henry <Welcome, Adam J.> Mini-reef set up Dear Bob, Adam, John, and all the helpful people I have not spoken to yet, <Looks like you got Lorenzo today...!> Thanks as always for your wonderful advice. I had asked you a question about my quarantine practices. I had been quarantining a few fish and corals. The corals were doing great, the fish/shrimp were mysteriously dying. <Argh!> My QT tanks were those got from friends who had left the fishkeeping hobby. I have 5 ten gallons, I washed them in boiling hot water (I still have blisters) because I was worried about bleach. And I did it six times! I cycled RO/UV sterilized water in my main display tank, as well as the sponge filters, and then set up the QT tank. All water changes are UV sterilized as well, even top offs (though the latter are of course salt-free) <There is no reason to fear bleach. It rinses out just fine, and would have done the job just as well if not better than hot water (and certainly without blisters!) Just don't get it in your eyes...!> None of my fish showed any outward sign of disease (and man, I researched even the most esoteric of diseases). One (Royal Gramma) that was recently shipped darted into a decorative rock cave (rinsed, sterile) and was dead in minutes. <How was this fish acclimated? Do you trust the source from past experience?> The other, an angel that I was QTing for a friend did great for nearly 4 weeks and then mysteriously perished. <Angels do not appreciate long QT periods. Most need to be constantly grazing, especially the dwarf species.> John pointed out my low level of nitrates, and I assume it is because of my 10% water changes a week, but the water and filter were definitely cycled (0 ammonia, nitrates and nitrites for all tanks- my main display tank shows a color between 0 and .25 for nitrates just before my water changes, but not my QT tanks - maybe because there is only one fish per aquarium?). <That's great that you test so liberally...!> My test kits are all for saltwater. But I followed John's advice, I took samples of all water (6 samples in all) to my local fish store (5 miles away!) and they check out. My fatalities were in different tanks, so they do not seem related. No chance of anything introduced into the tanks except via the fish. None of the tanks are lit. They are covered on three sides to minimize stress and kept in dimly lit rooms. Each tank has filters for tanks thrice their size, no gravel, one `cave like' decoration that I sterilize so that fish can hide, and a small powerhead for circulation (I even cycled the prefilter!) <And good heaters and thermometers...> My shrimp and angel were procured locally, my royal Gramma through an online vendor (Aquacon). So there is no single source. <I assume your online vendor is guaranteeing the Gramma?> My survivors, who showed no sign of distress were transferred into my main display tank where they did great. My clownfish, who has been a greedy little bugger from the start will eat anything. My queen conch rescue, has been foraging for food since the minute I put her in QT (Drip acclimatization instead of the cup of water changes as advised by the fish store is worth it!). My Green Clown Goby did well in QT after a minor lapse (water change rectified that) and on John's advice, I shortened my 6 week QT by 1 week and I put him in the main display tank. He hid somewhere and the last I saw him was 2 days ago trying to burrow below my Queen Conch. No nitrate spike before my water change, so I hope he is alive, just hiding. <Clown Gobies can be hard to find sometimes. Give it a few more days before holding any ceremonies.> Since my QT tank parameters are great, I can only assume that the fish did not die because of QT, but I just got sick/severely stressed fish that QT could not help. Do you think I am right? <Yes, this is plausible. But you didn't describe your acclimation procedure.> I now have two fish in my 29 gallon. Along with 4-5 inches of live sand, some micro-hermits/ beneficial bristleworms, Trochus snails, and one peppermint shrimp. I have two problems. 1. My corals who thrived in QT are not adjusting well to my main display tank. My zoos are doing great, my pinks have become the color of bubblegum, and my greens glow, but my mushrooms don't like it in the main display. It is because there is no place, and I mean no place in my tank with low water movement. When I experimented with the tank before I got fish, I had terrible algae problems in low flow areas so my powerheads are positioned to get water moving everywhere. Will they learn to adapt? <No.> They seem to be bailing out. <Not too surprising.> I have placed them in a place with the lowest water movement in the tank, but they still look distressed. Many are starting to detach from the main rock. (The healthy ones, I feed with coral Heaven, man IPSF gets all my business except for fish! - occasionally with Cyclop-eeze). I have 2 75 watt VHOs. <Most corallimorphs don't need any specific feeding in typical display systems. I'm assuming you can actually see yours ingest food, in which case, fine, feed them!> 2. If you look at my tank, it is like I have only one fish and one queen conch. Everyone/everything else hides. I think I have room for one more fish. Any suggestions for an outgoing, pretty fish that won't harm my corals or invertebrates? I have been burned by the royal Gramma <No, you got burned by a bad specimen, or a stressful shipping experience. The Royal Gramma is an excellent community fish and a fine choice.> and am not going to do that again. I already have a Goby and a clownfish which are the `traditional choices. If I can have a show fish, the centerpiece of my tank, that will be nice, or else I'll just stick with corals, since I do a lot better with them. <A pygmy angel or a small wrasse might be nice.> Thanks to you evil evil people for turning me into the wicked practice of reef keeping. I am already planning my next 75 gallon reef and it is all your fault! Sweta Kannan <Glad to be of service! Cheers, Zo> Nano-Reefs 12/10/05 Hello, <Hi.> I have a plan to
setup a nano-reef. I understand these aren't very popular because
of lack of water volume, but, I think that I am ready. <Okay
if you have mastered the water chemistry in larger tanks and have lots
of discipline a nano can work.> So, I want to have 7 gallon mini-bow
with about 10-15 pounds live rock and 20 lbs live sand.
<That's not going to leave you with much water volume, with 20
pounds of sand I surmise you are trying a DSB in this nano? If so I
usually only recommend a shallow sand bed, as a DSB is rather
impractical in this system.> I want to have a Hagen AquaClear 500
HOB Filter which will be converted into a refugium. <I'm a huge
fan of refugiums though on such a small water volume, I would rather
see some type of small protein skimmer, either that or bi-weekly water
changes.> <<What? The tank would need weekly water
changes, but a 'fuge would be a GREAT addition, nothing BUT
beneficial. There's no reason not to add a refugium
here. Marina>> I plan to keep 2 of the Black Percula
Clowns <Short term right? These animals push 3" as adults and
need at least a 20 gallon tank at that length.> in this tank with
various polyps. Also, do you think a watchman goby would fare well in
this tank? <Along with the clowns? No.> I think it might
work, but I have no issue if this tank should be strictly "clown
only". Thanks for any input you may have. <See here for more
detail on nanos: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/nanoreefsysart.htm.>
Thanks, <Welcome.> Mark <Adam J.> Nanos and Changed Minds 12/12/05 Hello, <Hi again Mark.> My plans for the 7 gallon minibow are finalized. <Cool.> I am not buying the 7 gallon minibow anymore. <Oh, never mind then, hehe.> I have decided to get the 6 gallon Nano Cube by JBJ. <Okay.> It supplies 3 watts per gallon of power compact lighting and a built in filter. I am also putting a Red Sea Prizm Skimmer on it. How do you recommend I should rig this to work? <You'll have to do some heavy modifications, like cutting out a large portion out of the back of the lid.> I am just going to keep 1 Black Percula Clown and some mushrooms and colony polyps, along with the 10lbs. live sand and about 8 lbs live rock. Thanks for all of your help!! <Quite welcome.> I will have more questions though... <And I will be here my friend.> Mark <Adam J.> Mini-Reef Setup, Questions.. 11/30/05 Hello Bob, Adam, <<Which one? We have three now! MH>> Marina, and all the wonderful, helpful people at Wetwebmedia who are the oracles of reef keeping, <Yikes... the pressure! John here with you this evening> I have a 30 gallon (I see some of you going tsk tsk nano reef) but am very diligent. Thanks to Adam, I stocked my fish tank (all in quarantine), but have run into a few err...snags. <I'm a nano man myself... erm, a nano tank man.> <<Hee!!!! Me, too. Marina>> My main tank has 150 watts VHO (after Adam advised that the metal halides might be overkill - so saving those for my upcoming 75 gallon), filter designed for 100 gallon tank, aqua C remora skimmer (replaced my backpack), 2 MaxiJet 1200 powerheads. I use Reef Crystals salt mix that I add to dechlorinated water and aerate overnight before adding to my main tank, <<Did you catch the link to the Inland Aquatics salt study? Look on reefs.org's AAOLM to find. Marina>> I have 4-5 inches of live sand substrate. I have about 45 pounds of QTed live rock in there with about 10 pounds still in QT (they still smell a tad). My tank has cycled completely more than a month back, but fish and coral were still in QT. <All sounds very good. Kudos for researching.> I recently ordered a live sand kick starter kit from IPSF simply because that site makes me feel like a kid in a candy store, to create more biological diversity in my tank, along with some reef critters (sand clams and Trochus snails). <OK> In QT, I have four 10 gallon tanks. None are lit, but they are all filtered (with filters for 30 gallon tanks), temperature controlled to 78 degrees. Cycled water from the main tank was added to them. <Were the filters cycled? It's the filter media that "cycles", not the water.> I test those tanks every day because they are small and test my main tank twice weekly. All around water parameters are pretty decent - 0 ammonia, nitrites and nitrates, 450-480 calcium, 8.4 pH, and I keep the salinity right in the middle of the red zone, by replacing evaporated water. I do 10% water changes every week religiously. <<What, exactly, is your specific gravity, though? Get a refractometer, or (my preference) a lab grade hydrometer calibrated for warm water (about 75F). Marina>> <Hmm.. OK> Seems to be going rather well right? I thought so, but am having mystery deaths. The corals are vibrantly healthy thanks to the Coral Heaven diet and Bob's book. They are already reproducing in QT, including the 'hard to propagate' blue zoos which have produced two new polyps in 3 weeks and all they have is the lighting of the main tank behind which the coral QT tank is placed. My blue and red mushrooms have both split. My Cactus coral is thriving thanks to Bob's advice and book. <All sounds very good> It is the fish and critters that are going belly up and fast! In my first shipment of fish, I lost my royal Gramma within an hour of QT (got them from Aquacon) but the rest were doing fine for a while. Then dwarf angel that I was QTing for a friend just popped it after 5 weeks of doing great. Then two shrimp. These were not in the same QT tank! The individual tank parameters were fine as mentioned above. One tank got cloudy after the angel died (it was fine that morning) and so I removed the shrimp from it and put it in another unoccupied QT tank I have used two different test kits, so the test kits are fine. No contaminants could have possibly been added, as the tank with mortalities are secluded. I wear gloves when I put my hand in the tank. They are covered on three sides and on the top. I checked for voltage leaks. Nothing. (I did not clean them with soap or chemicals). The Royal Gramma I can understand - could be because of the stress of shipping, but the angel and shrimp were local and doing great until a week before they were scheduled to be added to the main tank (I QT for six weeks - is that too long?) <If no signs of disease, four is fine> A clownfish, one peppermint shrimp, and a rescued queen conch that passed the six week QT were added to the main tank. The green clown goby is still in a QT tank and now is starting to hyperventilate. I am very worried about him. I did a small water change to help him out, added a small powerhead to increase circulation in the tank, and the fact that he is very tiny does not help my blind eyes either. In any case he finishes QT tomorrow and is due to be added in the main tank. The fact that he suddenly seems err...unwell worries me. Should I wait a while longer before I add him? <Did his condition improve with the water change? If he has been fine for six weeks, the water change positively affected him, and he is showing no other symptoms, I would add him to the tank.> I am seriously worried. I thought I was getting everything right. And these fish mortalities are my first set back. After all that research and after all the help you guys gave me, I feel like such a failure. <It can be very frustrating, I understand. There are a few avenues to check into, but let's start at the beginning. I'm assuming your 10g quarantine tanks are filtered with sponge or power filters? No live rock? With 10% water changes weekly, I am very surprised that your levels are testing as they are (0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 0 nitrate) after six weeks. <<Me, too. I'd start with much more vigorous water changes. Also, the water really must be aged - get a large trashcan to pre-mix, aerate and heat for at *least* a day, a week would be prime. Even better would be to get filtered seawater. Marina>> If the filters are cycled, I would expect at least some nitrate reading. If the filters are not cycled, I would expect readings on all three. I would make sure that your test kits are rated for saltwater, and within their expiry date. Perhaps you could also verify your results against a different brand kit? If I were you, I would ask your local store to verify your ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and salinity readings.> Is there something I am doing wrong? <<At that point I'd begin filtration with carbon and/or PolyFilter. I would suspect other contaminants as a possibility. Marina>> Sweta Kannan <Good luck & best regards, John> Lighting options - 11/29/05 I am fairly new to the saltwater hobby and totally addicted to it! I have a 30 gallon tank (Eclipse 30"x12"x18"deep, Biowheel filter <Do you have live rock? If so, you may wish to consider removing the bio-wheel> and the lighting now is 24" T8-20 wt X 2) I want to change out the lighting so I can start adding corals, etc. and I am very confused on how to go about this. The LFS wants to sell me ($149.99) 24" Power compact Odyssea which will sit up some off the top front of my tank and it is not long enough. <doesn't sound much good.> Is there some way I can retrofit the existing canopy with new lights so everything looks the same as it does now (a nice pretty tank) <Yes, you have options here... if you don't mind a spot of simple DIY, you may be able to retrofit light fixtures into your existing canopy. There are a number of sites which offer kits for this.. check out AHSupply.com and Hellolights.com for starters. That said, there may not be much room in your eclipse, and your choices may be quite limited. You will also have less heat issues with external fixtures -- but you are certainly not limited to fixtures which are too short for your tank!> or if I go to corals will I have to buy something like the fish store wants to sell me. <No.> Also I don't have a skimmer, is it necessary? <Some people have been successful without them. In my opinion, a skimmer is a very worthwhile investment for any tank, and I'd strongly recommend you to buy a good one.> Right now I have a cardinal, 6 line wrasse, gold striped maroon clown and a cherub angel along with 1 turbo snail 2 Astrea, 3 hermits and one Narc snail that I never see. Please help soon. My husband is going to get this for an early Christmas present and I don't want to spend more on a lighting system when I could spend it on the corals. <Lucky husband! Bear in mind that you need to decide on what corals you want to keep first, and then tailor the lighting decision accordingly. Different corals very widely in their lighting requirements.> Thanks so much. I read this site everyday. Beth Van Zandt Montgomery, TX <Me too! Good luck & best regards from Shanghai, John> Saltwater Nano Questions 11/24/2005 Hi, <Hello
Anthony> First, I would like to say thanks with all
your help in the past. Your information is always accurate
and you always answer my questions. You guys are running a
great website! <Thank you> I have been keeping freshwater
fish for a while (I have a large planted Discus aquarium) and
wanted to try saltwater. I have a 2.5 gal. AGA mini-bow (I
have no room for anything bigger) that is empty. I want to attempt a
nano reef setup. I was thinking of two clowns and an
anemone, w/ live rock and live sand, and other corals/
inverts. I have a 50 watt heater and a "deco art mini
" filter. <Don't even attempt to try an
anemone in a tank that small. Will just result in
problems> My questions are: * Can I use this tank
and its filter/ heater? (Size/ type?) * Is this big
enough for these organisms? If not could you suggest
another species? <I would use live rock for
filtration. Yellow polyps, mushroom anemones etc would be
attractive in your nano.> * Could you tell me how
much live rock/ sand I would need? <I'd go with a 1/2 inch
of sand and about five pounds of smaller pieces of live rock.>
* Could you direct me specific species of anemone/
clown fish? <No anemone, percula clowns would be a good
choice.> * Could you tell me how much wattage of
light I would need? <Ten watts would work well>
* Finally, what do I feed them and what other
equipment would I need for this tank? <Anthony, I
suggest you read articles on this link I will post for
you. Much will be learned here. http://www.wetwebmedia.com/nanoreefsysart.htm> Note: I
cannot find any info on nanos like this
anywhere. (Similar, yet very different) Also take
into consideration my knowledge is limited on saltwater setups.
If you know of any decent websites/ books I should look into,
please tell me. I am always willing to learn about fish! <The
Wet Web Media is a great web site to learn and find answers to most
problems. Good luck, James (Salty Dog)> Thanks,
Anthony 16 Gallon Nano Reef 11/25/2005 Hello and Happy Thanksgiving, <Same to you, eating leftover turkey as I type this.> I was wondering if this was a good setup for a 16 gallon bowfront nano-reef. 20lbs Fiji live rock 30lbs Fiji live sand 2 True Percula Clowns 1 Peppermint Shrimp I was wondering what you thought was good filtration/skimming for this tank. <Sounds good, for more on filtration and skimming check out the following article. http://www.wetwebmedia.com/nanoreefsysart.htm > I am willing to go all out. Also do I need a wavemaker? <not really.> I am also interested in adding an anemone further down the line. <I would not recommend adding an anemone to a tank this small, there is too much that can go wrong in a nano reef.-Gage> 20 Gallon FOWLR 11/8/05 Dear Mr. Fenner, <James today> Thank you for the fabulous website. The more I read on marine aquariums the more I become intrigued and interested in starting my own. Currently, I have a 55g freshwater aquarium that is in use and a 20g aquarium that I plan on using as a FOWLR aquarium. With my freshwater aquarium I have had tremendous luck using a Fluval canister filter. Should I buy another Fluval canister to support the 20g FOWLR (and if so what gph rate) or use the basic Penguin bio-wheel filter that was previously used with the tank? <I would use the Penguin. The bio wheel will give you plenty of aeration. Air stones in SW tanks cause too much salt creep. The air bubbles don't really aerate the water, rather the bubbles moves a small amount of water to the surface where it can absorb some O2.> Should I use the same techniques for aeration in the Saltwater aquarium as in a freshwater aquarium? <As above> (12 inch air stone under the crushed coral) Also how much live rock is best suited for a 20g tank? < For a twenty I'd start with 25 pounds and see how it looks.> With weekly water changes would I need a protein skimmer? <Marine systems always do better with a skimmer.> I have been told that protein skimmers can take out some of the vital elements that a marine aquarium requires. <That is one of the reasons we do weekly 10% water changes.> Thank you for your time in answering my questions. <You're welcome> I would like to start off on the right foot, so if my interest continues I can convert the 55g into a marine aquarium. < Do search our WWM site, keyword "Marine Setup" for further reading. Good luck. James (Salty Dog)> Contradicting info in the world of Marine Systems….Just Part of the Life: Nano Marine Systems and Lots of Stress/Writing…… 11/4/05 Hi Guys, <Hello Sweta.> Long, Long letter. I apologize. <<You ain't kidding!>> <No worries.> I am so confused, so worried and am going slightly mad. I am sure you have not heard of someone with a tank like mine. <My premonition tells me were dealing with a small marine system.> I am the sort of person to whom the daily, weekly, and monthly upkeep of fish is like a tea ceremony to a geisha, a enjoyable, and necessary part of her life. <Agreed…accept make that "his" life in my case.> In addition to salt water fish (set up by professionals, maintained by me), I have kept discus, I have kept cichlids and I have been diligent about their care. <Cool.> Now that I am married with a toddler and do not have the time or the money for a 300 gallon tank, someone advised me to start a mini reef with my 29 gallon tank. <Well nano reefs can make amazing displays but are quite unstable in comparison to their larger cousins.> <<However, a 50% water change on a nano takes seconds to minutes, and only a very few gallons (maybe less), you can reach EVERYTHING, and they are far easier to clean and maintain. I love nano-reefs set up with softies. Marina>> I researched it for 3 months, decided against a mini-reef since it was such a small tank and decided instead to do a fish with live rock set up which seemed more feasible given my natural diligence. <Okay.> Additional specs of my tank - heater that keeps my tank at 78 degrees,4-5 inches of live sand, 30 pounds of live rock (aquacultured of course!!), BakPak skimmer, 2 MaxiJet 1200 power heads that create *some* turbulence, and 175 watts of metal halide lighting suspended 8 inches over the tank on the ugliest canopy you have ever seen (It was DIY, and I am not handy with tools). <Lost of light for a small tank be sure to keep up on the heating issue as well as evaporation.> My tank got cycled in a week. I have had it running for nearly three months now. I do weekly 10% water changes, replace water that is evaporated with fresh water, plan to do a larger monthly water change (20%), bi-weekly ammonia checks, weekly all round checks (nitrate, nitrite, ph, ammonia, calcium). My water has clocked at non detectable levels of ammonia, nitrates, nitrites(<.25 ppm), 450 ppm calcium, 8.0 pH for 6 weeks. <A little low.> <<As long as it doesn't fluctuate, that pH is fine. MH>> I just don't do one thing - feed. You see I don't have any visible living things in my tank unless you count the coralline algae- and those are thriving (I injected the glass anemones with lemon juice and now I have none). <That's good.> I am just so confused. I researched this hobby through books and internet articles for 3 months before I decided to get the tank. I made a careful evaluation of my time, money and space. I spaced out my purchases, and the set up took another 2 months. Cycling took a week. Along the way I made the decision (mistake?) in meeting with other salt water hobbyists in the area for some advice. <No, its good to get different views and opinions but it is also good not to get frustrated when you hear conflicting advice. That goes hand in hand with marine tanks, you have to decide what's best for you and your tank.> Now all my research seems to be in vain <Not likely.> as I have not taken another step after I met these helpful, if contrary folk who have strong opinions about everything I do. I know a fair bit about taking care of fish, diseases, maintenance, but I don't know much about set up and this is where most people rush to prevent me from making mistakes. If only they did not contradict each other! <Heehee, see above.> 1. I decided with a tank of my size, I ought not to be keeping a reef aquarium, but a fish with live rock only set up. I have been told everything from my tank is large enough to accommodate a small number of hardy corals <It is given diligent maintenance…you definitely have the lighting for it.> <<Keeping inverts/corals and similar is easier in this situation than trying to keep more fishes. Much lower bioload with inverts than with vertebrate life. MH>> if I kept my fish stock low, and that I was presumptuous to even think I could keep anything marine in a 29 gallon and should get myself some guppies. <Honestly tanks of this size are best left to veteran aquarists but you can make it work especially if you continue with the maintenance regime you mentioned and water changes mentioned above.> I know I can keep some fish if I am diligent about their care and make good stocking choices (i.e. Pseudochromis instead of tang) <Yes.> but how about the "some" hardy corals part? What would be a good balance? When I ask anybody, I get ranges from 1-6 on the fish, <Well if you do plant to keep coral I would not do more than 2 small fish on this tank.> 1-18 on the coral!! <Well its hard to say how many corals you can have as one can grow and cover an entire tank given time. I would start with just a few hardy specimens such as Mushrooms (Discosoma sp.) and Zoanthids (Zoanthus sp.) and other colonial polyps.> Would someone please clarify? <See above.> 2. I got metal halide because everyone told me to get metal halide as it was best for any coral I might choose to keep. <Other lighting choices would have been sufficient on this size tank, the lighting really depends on the targeted livestock though.> Now comes the confusion. This entire strong, medium and low light conditions. I have heard the watt per gallon theory used (in fact when I kept fish, it was the standard), <Watts per gallon is rather outdated now, as different types of light of the same wattage are stronger than others. The light you have on that size tank can support just about any photosynthetic animals. Your lighting is definitely on the strong/high side.> I have heard the watt per foot, and I have heard the most sensible sounding - depends on what you want to keep. <Of course.> However, the problem with what you want to keep is that it leads to one or the other theories - watt per gallon/or watt per foot. Let me explain. Suppose I wanted to keep Polyps - something that does okay in moderate light but thrives in strong light. So I must keep a strongly lit aquarium but *what on earth is a strongly lit aquarium?*. <You have one right now.> I was told by different people that I need 2 metal halide bulbs of 175 watts each- one for every foot of length of my aquarium. <No one per 2 feet is generally acceptable, trust me dear you have PLENTY of light.> I have also heard that any metal halide over 175 is overkill for a 29 gallon. <Possibly but if it is suspended at least 8" and you keep up on the evaporation/heat you can make it work.> In addition, I have heard Metal Halide will inhibit the growth of my coralline algae, <Coral line algae's do tend to better in lower lighting situation in my experience but they can adapt.> and that VHO actinic lighting is better suited for Polyps, and that I should not have wasted my money on metal halides because...you know what, I cannot keep anything but guppies in that tank anyway. <No, no not true you can make this set-up work.> I don't care if my metal halides are a waste, I know plenty of people who will be happy to have them, and my husband is an electrical engineer and will help me change my lighting, but will someone help me get it right? <You can keep this lighting granted you keep the heating/evaporation in check mentioned above.> Same with water movement. I was told to get a sump, but the DIY diagrams scared me. <Sumps are better because they increase water volume and you can hide your equipment but they are not mandatory.> <<How about adding a HOB/HOT refugium that would share the light of the halides, grow some phat macros in there? In back of the tank puts it out of the way of the toddler, too. MH>> Then I was assured that on a 29 gallon it won't make a difference, then I was told that it is more critical for a 29 gallon because it increased the total water available to the fish. I live in an apartment and with a 2 year old who gets into cupboards and wet things. The tank occupies the only area in the house he cannot reach, I can upgrade to a sump in a while, but not now. <You can but it's not necessary.> I do have a 10 gallon hospital tank ready and set up, but is my 2 x 1200 Maxijet water movement enough? <Should be you can have them face each other to create some turbulence.> <<Offset the height, too.>> They are in the middle level to the back of the aquarium and their flow is aimed at the front wall in an X like pattern. <That should work.> The rockwork is arranged with a lot of holes (epoxy prevents them from falling) so the water circulates well, but I don't know what strong, medium and low water movement strictly means. <Yours is sufficient for most situations.> 3. I thought stocking would be easy. I was planning on 3 fish. My original choices were the clown, the royal Gramma and a goby suited for a smaller tank. <That should work.> The level of subjective opinion has gotten me flummoxed. "It is a crime to keep a clown without an anemone. It amounts to animal cruelty" <Not at all, don't by that for one minute. You can look into surrogate hosts such as Sinularia but truth be told a host is not necessary at all for a clown to thrive. In fact most large scale breeders (if not all) do not use anemones as part of their programs.> "The royal Gramma is a nippy, aggressive little...%#%$" <At times but are generally okay.> "Why do you want a Goby, they are the dullest dorks?" <Some of my favorite fish, especially the neon's (E. oceanops).> "Why don't you get a Pseudochromis?" "Never get a Pseudochromis - they are aggressive" <Rather you choose the Gramma.> "Get a damsel. They are easy to keep, colorful" "Yeah Damsels are hardy but they are mean" <Skip the damsels.> "Get a Chromis, they are hardy, sweet tempered and you can keep them in groups - oh but with your tank, a school of three Chromis is probably all the fish you can have" <That would be true, I prefer your original list.> "Get a cardinal" "Get a volitans lionfish for now, and then upgrade to a 100 gallon by Christmas" <<Alright, Crew, how often have we heard that one?>> "Don't keep any fish. Just keep one clam" "Just get guppies" <Go with your gut…I prefer your original list to all of these.> When I get to the clean up crew I get even more confused. Keep crabs, don't keep crabs, snails are God's gift, snails will fall on their back one night and be killed by the morning, keep sea cucumbers, no sea cucumbers look like giant turds, <<Ok, this is funny. In Puerto Rico they call the sea cucumbers "Los Mojones" (The Turds). <giggle> MH>> sea stars, no sea stars (I won't unless I have a huge enough tank), shrimp, no shrimp. <I would prefer 1 or 2 Trochus snails for the clean up in this tank, and you can keep a shrimp as well, those in the Lysmata family are among my favorite.> <<Serpent stars would be alright in here, too. MH>> Will someone please, please help me decide on some fish, and reef clean up choices. <See above.> I want a non- aggressive set up. I live 15 miles from the fish store and if a fish gets aggressive, I do have a 10 gallon "hospital tank" where he will be jailed until he is returned, but I would rather make that drive only if I have to. I do so appreciate any help that I get from you. Sweta <See here for some more details: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/nanoreefsysart.htm , Adam J.> <<If there are any more questions re: nanos, I'll be happy to offer more help as I have set up many of these for in-store displays and past customers. I do, however, agree with Adam, the initial stocking list is very good. They are a DREAM to keep in terms of ease of maintenance. A bit of advice on working with other people's opinions - keeping fishes is not just a science, it is an art, thus, it seems very subjective. Learning the life cycle of the animal is paramount, this helps you meet its needs. Side note: This should be kept as a compilation for the humorous spoof of Bob's "Conscientious Marine Aquarist", "The Contentious Marine Aquarist". Marina>> I Feel Like a Shrimp Murderer. . . earnest folks with tiny tanks 9/28/05 Hello everyone! <Amy> I must start by saying that I love the WetWebMedia website, and have consulted it several times over with great results. Thanks for all the help! <Welcome> Now, onto the problem. I have a 12 gallon Nano Cube which joined our home last October. Being paranoid that I would kill off any aquatic friends that came to live with us, I let it cycle for about 30 days with just live rock. <The longer the better...> It is now home to a small true perc, a personable green carpet anemone, and a green feather duster, in addition to about 4 pounds of live rock and assorted flora growing in and on the live rock. I started with the anemone, waited about a month, and added a small skunk cleaner. I then waited another month and added the perc. Everyone was healthy, happy, and seemed to get along just fine. <Operative word here is "seemed"> In the middle of June, I found the skunk cleaner dead next to the piece of live rock where the anemone lives. It did not appear to be eaten in any way; just dead. I also don't think the anemone did him in, as he would quite often "clean" the anemone without the anemone's complaint. I quickly gave him a toilet burial, checked the salinity, and nitrate, nitrite, alkalinity, pH, and ammonia levels, along with temperature. Salinity: 1.023 Nitrate: 0 Nitrite: 0 Alkalinity: 280 pH: 8.4 Ammonia: 0 Temp: 78 F The perc and the anemone, not to mention the flora, all seemed fine. I watched the tank for several weeks and all the levels remained the same. <"Seemed"> Missing my skunky friend, I got a new skunk from the same shop in July and also added the feather duster at the same time. Same story - everyone seemed happy and well adjusted. I did notice that this shrimp seemed to be "paler" than I remember the prior shrimp being - his red and white stripes were not nearly as vibrant. However, after having him a few weeks, his color perked up. Then, this morning, I found him in a small crevice created by the live rock, dead. I feel like a shrimp killer! I once again checked all the "stats", and everything was as it has been. The other residents seem perfectly fine. Is there something I am missing as to why I am fatally harming the poor skunk cleaners? Thanks for your time and assistance! <Please understand the inherent faults in your system... it's too small, unstable to "on average" keep going... w/o crashing... and the shrimp are on the more right hand end of survival curves for small volumes... The instability of water quality is at the utmost in probable causes of loss here. If I could, I would have you double, quadruple the size of your system. Your mail shows intelligence, compassion... desire to succeed, but 12 gallons isn't going to allow this for long. Bob Fenner> In Defense of Small Tanks 9/27/05 Hi Crew, <Hi there! Scott F. here today.> I would like to present a positive view about small tanks because of the Crews' negative slant which may discourage people who have no way space for a larger tank. I will preface it by acknowledging that my success to date would not be possible without the Crews' help. But with the WWM and Crew it can be done. My 27 months of experience with a small 10 gallon tank pales in comparison to any one of the Crew. But if I can have what I consider a successful setup with little experience it indicates to me that it should not be discouraged. The questions you receive shows that big systems also have their problems. Small systems leave little room for error but they are also easier to resolve. <True, big systems do have their problems. A lot of the problems with small systems pertain to stocking levels, animal selection, and equipment choices. Small tanks require discipline and the understanding by the hobbyist that there is a limit to the system's capacity, and that environmental stability is very challenging. We get lots of emails from readers who want to keep specimens in "nano" tanks that are difficult enough to keep in larger, potentially more stable systems, or who want to maintain unsuitable coral combinations in these tanks-difficult enough in larger systems, but remarkably inappropriate for small tanks. We would be remiss if we did not warn people of the limitations of these systems. That being said, small systems can and are kept successfully by many hobbyists who understand the limits to their systems and embrace conscientious husbandry techniques. We don't want to categorically discourage anyone from keeping a small tank. We do, however, want to let people know the challenges associated with this endeavour-just like we do with larger systems. And trust me- I've seen many "nano" tanks that blow away some of the larger tanks that I've seen!> Small systems are easy to maintain properly. <Agreed, with the above caveat about discipline...> Changing 10% of the water weekly is not a big chore. <Exactly! Because of this, I suggest that there is no excuse for not changing water regularly in such systems!> I started with a 10 gallon tank with a submersible heater (50 watt), and a Penguin mini filter. I also purchased a testing kit that was for PH, ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. I lost a number of fish the first year but I learned a lot. Some people have problems with overfeeding. Mine is that I tend to overstock. I started with about 1.5 inches of fine sand, and a year ago added a few pounds of rock. I have 4 Turban snails (1/2 inch) and 4 Virgin Nerites snails(1/4 inch) and 3 little hermits. Ammonia, nitrite and nitrates are 0. Nitrates were at about 20 until I added Chaetomorpha about 6 months ago. Nine months ago I added 2 Candy Cane corals and one polyp (out of 5) divided. I also added 6 mushrooms at that time and now have about 10 little offshoots. They add nice color since they are red, brown, green, lavender and purple. I have a Clown Goby and two Spotted Cardinals for a year and a half. Six months ago I added a Firefish, just couldn't resist. These fish are peaceful and do not interact with each other. So I have nice color in the tank and plenty of things moving around so that it is entertaining to watch besides all the little critters that come and go. <Yep!> All in all, it took about 12 months to get things stabilized and since then it has been enjoyable except for an ich attack when I lost a Gramma but managed to save the clown goby. The cardinals did not get affected. Had I known about WWM and the Crew it would not have taken 12 months. <Well, thanks for the kind words. Stability in almost any size system does take a while, so if it takes 12 months instead of 4 months, etc.- you've achieved stability nonetheless. That's a great goal for any sized system.> So thanks for your help and I hope I have lent some encouragement for those with limited space to give the small aquarium a try. <Absolutely- there is a place in the hobby for all sorts of systems of different sizes. again, I think I speak for the majority of the Crew when I state that small tanks are not "bad" to keep- they simply require a greater level of discipline and attention to detail than a larger system might require. In the end-regardless of the size of the tank, our captive specimens require and deserve the best effort that we can give. Sounds like your doing that already! Thanks again for sharing, and good luck! Regards, Scott F.> Small reef set-up 8/3/05 Hi Unfortunately I have had to sell my salt water tank due to lack of room in my apartment and also the fact that my girlfriend has moved in. (I'm sure you can appreciate the issues there :) <Maybe> Anyway I am quite passionate about my hobby and don't want to give it away. It just so happens that my friend has a small tank that he is happy to give to me for free. It is one of those cheap "Aquaone" all-in-one acrylic units.. you know the ones where the filter/lights are built into the top of the tank. I would say it would only hold around 20-25 gallons or so. So here is my plan. 1) It would be a salt water setup 2) I would use only RO salt water 3) I would do only RO fresh water top ups 4) I would do 10-15% water change every week 5) I would only keep one small clown fish (tank bred false percula) - keeping feeding to a minimum 6) I would keep no corals only live rock. Given that I don't have a sump or a canister filter would this work? <For?> What should I keep in the filter compartment? Obviously it wont fit bio-balls - but maybe some noodles and activated carbon and that white wooly stuff? <Yes, likely> Obviously I cant skim because its the all in one unit with no passage for any external overhanging devices. <I'd retrofit a skimmer on here> What would you recommend I use for substrate? If any thing? <Posted on WWM> I appreciate that these small setups are not recommended and are considered unstable, However I am moderately experienced in keeping salt water fish and am very methodical and strict about my maintenance processes as well as being highly disciplined about adding livestock (have been through that phase already). Appreciate your advice I have attached a sample pic of the type of tank I am talking about Regards Simon <Keep reading. Maybe starting here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/small.htm and the linked files above. Bob Fenner> Crowded Reef 7/27/05 I have a 6-gallon Marineland Eclipse aquarium that I converted to a nano-reef tank. <Good choice.> I retrofit the hood with a 32W 50/50 PC light, and added a 160gph oscillating powerhead for circulation. <A little skimpy on the lighting, but overall sounds very good so far.> I have a 2" deep sugar sand bed, 12 pounds of live rock, and the occupants include: <This is where it gets hairy> 1. (3) Blue-leg hermit crabs (2/04) <No problem there.> 2. Green star polyp colony (4/04) <Fine. I doubt you can call anything that fits in an overcrowded 6g a colony. Frag, perhaps?> 3. Red Sea xenia colony (4/04) <Fine.> 4. Yellow zoanthid colony (4/04) <Fine.> 5. Brown-green zoanthid colony (4/04) <Fine.> 6. Neon-green zoanthid (Protopalythoa) colony (6/04) <Getting a tad overstocked now, are we?> 7. Metallic-green star polyp colony (7/04) <...> 8. Green Ricordea mushroom colony (7/04) <Starting to sound like a NY subway car at midday. I'd concern myself with your lighting for the Rics.> 9. Blue mushroom colony (7/04) <And this all fits?> 10. Red mushroom colonies (11/04) <...> 11. Green branching hammer coral (11/04) <Would be very worried here. Large Polyped Stonies possess sweeper tentacles that may sting and injure corals. In fact, they probably will extend all through the entire tank. I'd remove this guy. As an aside, lighting is certainly a major concern for the hammer.> 12. Ocellaris clownfish, 1.5" (12/04) <Can it turn around in there?> 13. Orange zoanthid colony (12/04) <Our hobby is indeed addicting, but don't you think this is a tad much?> 14. Sally-lightfoot crab (12/04) <Watch out with this one. I wouldn't trust one with my fish, no matter the circumstances, ESPECIALLY in such a small tank.> 15. Tree coral (1/05) <Will get decently large, allelopathy is also a concern. I'd remove.> 16. African Flameback angelfish, 2.5" (02/05) <I'd certainly get rid of the angel. These fish need tanks of AT LEAST 30 gallons to thrive. Please, please, please relocate him/her.> The tank has been set up for about 18 months now, and I have tons of coralline algae, and absolutely no nuisance algae. <Good.> All of the occupants get along quite well. <For now. Give it a few more months...> I know the tank is a little small for the angelfish, <A little?> but he doesn't exhibit any repetitive behavior, and happily browses on the live rock & tank walls all day long... <Happily?> Anyway, the coral frags are all growing quite rapidly and consequently, there is very little open rock left. <There was open rock left over when you added those corals to begin with?> The hammer coral has zapped a couple of the xenia (thankfully) <It may very well zap more than just Xenia.> and the Ricordea have overtaken a few of the Protopalythoa. <What choice did they have?> Should I just allow this to progress naturally <In nature, corals have vast amounts of space to grow into. Here, they have to grow into each other. Not natural at all.> or do you recommend removing any of these occupants? <How about this? Keep the following: 3 Blueleg Hermits Green Star Polyps OR Metallic Green Star Polyps Xenia Two Zoanthid "colonies" of your choice Mushrooms Clownfish Tree Coral This way you can have a varied mix of corals without worrying (for now) about overcrowding and other related issues. Best of luck, Mike G> Steve 20 gallon reef tank 6/31/05 Hey Guys, I just set up a 20 gallon reef tank with a hang on wet dry/ protein skimmer, and a Aqua clear mechanical/chemical filter on the back, also a coral life compact florescent with actinic, and 10,000 k light with moon lights. I set it up with 28 pounds of live rock, and it has a Fiji damsel, two green emerald crabs and 5 hermit, and a coral banded shrimp. I set it up almost a week ago, and was wondering how long it would take to cycle? My local fish store told me that the poundage of live rock would cycle the tank in about 2 days but I figured I would ask you guys about my system and my cycle time. Also, I would like to know the optimal temp. for a reef tank, and what would the ok range for it to swing. I would also like to know your opinion on total fish on a 20 gal long with my setup. Thank you, <Jason, all this info is readily available on the Wet Web Media. Do search out the articles you are interested in, such as "marine set up", "stocking levels", and "compatibility". James (Salty Dog)> Jason Joseph 25Gal Microreef Hi Guys, <Don't forget the divine feminine here...> Thanks for the great website, without this invaluable resource, I wouldn't be in a position to ask you this now. I have a small tank (inherited after a friend met an untimely end) that was originally Fish only (no live rock, undergravel filter) which I have migrated over to a micro-reef (being a big believer in letting nature do what nature does best) <Always does> introducing live rock as and when my budget allows (1-2 kilos a time, currently has about 8Kg/18lbs) and have replaced the undergravel with a Fluval 204 external canister (having heard too many horror stories with the under gravel). I've only purchased one fish for the tank since I had it set up, and it now has 1 Cinnamon Clown 1 Orange tail damsel and 1 Algae Blenny (purchased). There was a Yellow tang (died) and a Black Damsel (but a juvenile that was white/grey with a yellow stripe) (sold, too aggressive and terrorizing the rest, possibly the reason for tang death?) <At least a contributor, contributing factor... but this tank is just too small for these species.> at the time of the Tang's death Nitrate's where over 100ppm, it's now down to 2.5ppm after a series of aggressive water changes (20% weekly) and I've introduced a small colony of Blue Mushrooms and a recently acquired a coral labeled as xenia, completely encrusting a small chunk of Live Rock (but I feel it may be mislabeled, am trying to ID it and find out the correct scientific name, is an encrusting purple mat with 5/6 fingered hands coming out of columns [5mm high] on the mat, distinct bright green spot in center of the hand) <Likely GSPs... see here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/clavulariids.htm> Also have some maidens hair (complete with crab!) green algae (introduced in an effort to aid nitrate reduction) and some flat twig red macro algae. Other inhabitants include a Short spined sea urchin (scientific name unknown) a totally unidentified starfish (seems uninterested in the corals/corallimorphs) that seems to enjoy pickled cockles (rinsed first!) 3 Ceriths that have just these past two days laid eggs (so any information about cultivating them would be appreciated) <Posted on WWM> 5 turbo snails, that fell over and is down to 1, 3 redleg hermits, 1 electric blue hermit, 2 Nassarius snails 1 pacific cleaner shrimp and 1 Malu white anemone (but I think it may be Heteractis Crispa that's lost it's symbiont), 1 emerald Mithrax (or so it would appear) and 1 porcelain crab (very shy but you can sometimes see it's claw in it's favourite hiding cave) Other equipment in the tank: Red Sea in tank protein skimmer (1/2 cup of dark skimmate per week) 300w Heater 1 40" VHO 10K Fluorescent 1 40" Actinic Fluorescent 3 small powerheads (300Gal/Hour turnover between them) Tank Readings: 1.024 Specific Gravity 25C Temp 2.5ppm Nitrate 0 Ammonia 0 Nitrite 420ppm Calcium 6.9mg/l O2 pH 8.3 KH 9 meq/L I would like to purchase a neon goby, a sunrise Basslet (all available from my LFS) in the near future, would this place too great a load on this tank? <I would halt at the Neon Goby for fishes here> After this, I would love to get hold of a Blackcap or Royal Gramma, in keeping with my aim for this tank. <Really too many fishes, too much interaction for this size, shape, type set-up> I am quite new to this, and have had to learn a lot about Marine Fish keeping in a fairly short space of time. I've purchased several books on the subject (one even refers to Bob Fenner who's name I see a lot on this site!) <Yes> about the subject. My aim is for a deep fore reef tank with a few fish, some crustaceans and one or three corals. My weekly regime is a 10% water change and once a month service the external filter. I leave the sand bed alone (1.5" deep) in the hope that this produces de-nitrifying bacteria, just siphoning off the un-eaten detritus when I do the water change. Many thanks for your help guys. <So far, so good... Bob Fenner> Chris Marr Lincoln England Nano Tank Recommendation 04/26/2005 Hi, Just a quick question. Nano tank or no? Just want small reef tank & maybe 1 clown but small tank 12 gal or so, what's the verdict? << Yes nano tanks can be very successful. Big water changes to help balance out the nutrient load. That is the main concern in a small system, there is not much water volume to disperse all the nutrients, so large water changes are a must. Do a search on the main site and find a lot of info on Nanos >> Thanks for your time. Cam << No problem and good luck EricS >> Nano Tank First may I say that you are awesome at replying and have helped me immensely thus far. I really appreciate it. Here is what should be my last set of questions... 1. How long does it take a damsel fish to grow from about 1" to 3"? I am considering buying a 2" damselfish which is very nice looking, but if the little 1 inchers grow pretty quick then I might just get one of those. (About half the price) 2. How long does a clown fish take to grow from lets say 1.5" to about 3"? 3. Would a 2" damselfish and a 1.5" clownfish be able to live peacefully together? If not, would purchasing a anemone help? <In a small tank such as yours, I would not combine a damsel with a clown. Most damsels are aggressive. Hard to say on growth rate. All depends on nutrition, water quality and the health of the fish.> 4. I went to Petco today and saw a "long tentacle anemone" with clownfish playing and going in it. Is a long tentacle anemone hard to take care of? It was ~$23...would you recommend getting it for the small tank set-up that I have, or would it be too much of a bio-load? <I would not recommend it. They require proper lighting and are sensitive to changes in water parameters that would be hard to control in a six gallon tank.> I would really like a damsel and a clown (my two favorites) but understand their aggressive natures. Is there a chance that they might be able to live in harmony or would I need to purchase an anemone to help the situation? <No anemone and chances are very high the clown and damsel will not get along in your nano.> Any other answers to questions I may not have asked would be greatly appreciated as well. <I'm sorry but I cannot answer questions that were not asked.> I am very excited to get my fish in my tank as my water has been tested and is ready for fish. <Get fish that will be compatible with each other and you and the fish will enjoy the tank much more. James (Salty Dog)> Thanks so much James aka Salty Dog. <You're welcome> Nano Questions - 1\8\2005 Dear Wet-Web-Media.com Wizards, <Hmm...I prefer Necromancer, actually> First things first: I am a huge fan of your site! I am sure you get that a lot; but the data you have amassed is more valuable than all the fish books in my entire city! <Has helped me immensely as well> I have been researching and considering keeping a marine aquarium for about a year now. I have experience with freshwater fish (almost 9 years) and have had a lot of fun and success with the hobby. <Good to hear> Long ago I discovered bigger is better with freshwater systems; and that adage applies even more in the saltwater world. (I have heard that minimum tank size should be 40 gallons to 55 gallons.) <All depends on what you're keeping> I am very enthused to finally start a marine tank (My father is from the Dominican Republic and he enjoys breeding Oscar Cichlids, he has had some experience with marine fish as well). <Lucky you. My dad just worries about the cost\heat\hazard!> The only catch is that in my current situation I could not possibly keep a tank larger than 15-30gallons. As with freshwater fish I know that the margin of error in such a small tank is not very big, but I am also a patient person who can perform routine maintenance with ease (I have no opposition to sipping tea and watching my aquariums, or lugging buckets of water!). <Good to hear, and looks like we're in the same boat. I'm quite restricted in space myself> The reason many people fail at "nano" reefs is overstocking, lack of vigilance/laziness, and poor equipment right? <Overstocking, lack of water changes, and mixing various incompatible corals> My idea of the perfect small reef aquarium is one with no fish in it at all, I think keeping snails, shrimp and other invertebrates is just as exciting and more practical for a tank of this size. I can only imagine all the cool creatures that would grow and come out of hiding of live rock if there were no fish to eat or pick at them. Do you know any people that keep small reef tanks or any marine tanks with no fish in them? If so I would love to talk about experiences with invertebrate only tanks! <You're speaking to one, though I did end up having to add an orchid Dottyback in an attempt to rid myself of parasitic 'pyramid' snails> After devouring book after book and gleaning many online sources of information (I just ordered The Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Bob Fenner and I can't wait to read it!) <Excellent read> I have finally begun to sort through and choose equipment for the tank. 30 Gallon All glass aquarium H.O.T. Magnum hang on the back canister filter or Bio-Wheel 330 (I own both already, should I use both/neither? Should I leave the Bio-Wheel in or take it out, I have read/heard about both methods) <Use the magnum for chemical media (carbon\phosphate remover) and don't bother with the bio-wheel> Aqua C Remora Protein Skimmer (Most of my sources unanimously agree about using a skimmer on even the smallest tanks. Is this skimmer too large/small? I have heard good things about the AquaC line, which is why I choose this one) <Should work fine, great skimmer - I use it on my 40 gallon> One 100 Watt heater (or two 50 watt heaters, which is better?) <I suppose two 50 watt heaters, but I wouldn't worry in excess over it> Lighting: I am confused as to the amount of lighting needed to keep healthy prosperous growth from live rock. Lighting is the area where I appreciate your expertise! <Hmm, all depends on what you're looking to keep. Most people keep soft corals and the like in smaller aquariums, so PC's\VHO's\T5's will suit you just fine...or a single low wattage (~150) halide pendant. If you're not looking to add any corals, PC's will work fine> 20-30 pounds of live rock which I plan to cure in a large Rubbermaid container using one of the filters and the skimmer. <Try to get pre-cured LR if at all possible - you will have a lot of die off if you do it yourself> Live sand/Dead Sand mix to cover one inch. I am wondering as to whether I can buy all dead sand and let the live rock colonize the sand. I have all the time in the world. Also I have heard conflicting advice to the usefulness of a deep sand bed in small marine aquaria, so I have decided to stick with a small bed. <That is what I did on my first reef tank, and let me tell you: go with a deep sand bed of ~5 inches. Seed it with some live sand, most of the rest can be dead sand. Make sure you get a few sand sifting seastars and the like, as well as some cerith snails to help keep it stirred> I plan to cure the live rock before adding it to the tank, then let it settle in for a 4-6 weeks. I assume after everything is settled in, and all sorts of neat organisms will begin growing! When will it be safe to add organisms that I buy? (Peppermint shrimp, Halloween hermit crabs, Snails etc.) <Should be safe to add snails\hermits in the first 1-2 weeks, wait ~6 weeks for shrimp and the like> As far as maintenance, I plan ten percent water changes twice a week (I do thirty percent three times a week on my freshwater tanks, but I understand that is too much water to change at one time in the marine world) <Not really, but probably unnecessary. ~30% once a week should suffice> Although I plan to keep corals after awhile; I have not read nearly enough about them to provide adequate care (I gather they can be unforgiving), and I figure with time and experience (and more wetwebmedia.com browsing of course) I will be able to keep the simplest kinds successfully. <Definitely buy\read Anthony Calfo's 'Book of Coral Propagation". Tons of great info about the commonly imported coral species there. May I recommend that you plan ahead on a few 'compatible' species of coral, and keep it at that> I fully comprehend the difficulties of keeping small marine aquaria and I feel the rewards will also include the amount of work I will put into it the tank. <I don't think you'll find it as difficult as you think, especially with your diligence :)> I hope with your help and more information I can write back some day to talk about my successful invertebrate marine tank! <I will be looking forward to it> Thanks for any help you can give. <Anytime> Yours Truly, Nick S. <M. Maddox> Setting Up A Small World (New Reef System) Hi, I'm somewhat new to the hobby. <Welcome to the wet world! Scott F. here with you tonight!> I have a 28gal bow-front. I was wondering if it was good/necessary to have a sump. I've seen some nano-reefs 10gal w/ 10gal sump. (the sump being filled with 1/2 sand and more live rock) is it necessary. <Well, it's not a necessity, but a sump gives you versatility and increases your system's stability (via increased water capacity).> My tank has about 50lb of LR, 2 inch coarse crushed coral mixed with aragonite sand. My filter is a small bio wheel penguin. I figure the rock and sand will filter the tank enough. Am I right? <Well, live rock and sand do perform some biological "filtration", but it never hurts to assist with some additional filtration, be it mechanical, chemical, or biological> Should I add more sand? <If you're happy with the results that you're getting, there is no absolute need to do this> I don't have a skimmer 'yet' but I do a 25% water change every 2 wks, is that ok? <I do highly recommend a skimmer for just about any tank. As far as your water changes are concerned- sure that's a great help! If it were me, I'd execute smaller (like 5-10%) more frequent (once a week) water changes, as they are less traumatic (stability is crucial in a small tank) and help dilute potential dissolved organics before they build up to dangerous levels.> I plan to put a mix of fish, w/ some anenomes, soft and hard corals. <I'd avoid anemones in such a small system, especially if you plan on mixing corals. This is a very unnatural combination, and can be a recipe for disaster in this sized aquarium. Anemones do require a high degree of stability, and intense lighting that is tough to supply in small systems. Better hold off until you can set up a dedicated system for them, IMO> For the moment I have (1) Toadstool Leather -4"tall 4"diamter, (1) sm. xenia, sm. mushroom rock, (2) Damsels, and (1) Lawnmower Blenny, a few Blue Leg Hermit Crabs...Thanks so much <You're off to a good start! Good luck! Regards, Scott F.> Small FOWLR Set-up I am setting up a 29gal FOWLR again, I have 20lbs of live rock curing in a lg trashcan. I am going to use 20lb of Arag-alive special grade to cycle the tank and then add the live rock in 2 weeks. (rock will have cured for 4 weeks) When can I add my first fish, cleanup crew? <I usually wait 6-8 weeks, or when nitrates hit zero. This only goes for hardy fish that will readily eat prepared foods. Stock slowly...> I have a Emperor 280 /PolyFilter pad,3 Rio water pumps and a Red Sea Prizm skimmer, which worked great for me before. I get conflicting info about when to start using the skimmer. When should I turn it on? <I always turn on my skimmer right at the outset. In fact, I would put it on your trash can right now. The more die off byproducts you can remove from your water now, the better. More life will survive the curing process this way.> 20 gal with a refugium? I have a 20 gallon Nano reef tank with 40 lbs life sand and 35 lbs of live rock. I am currently using an Eheim wet/dry filter. I am looking to get rid of this unit and switch over to a hang on refugium. << Great idea. >> I am wondering if a fluidized bed filter would also be a good choice or would this provide increased nitrates as the wet/dry does? << I think the fluidized bed is unnecessary with the benefits of a refugium. >> If this would not be a good choice of additional filtration, what might be? My tank is fairly heavily stocked with fish and several corals. << Blundell >> Filtration for a 29 gal Hopefully my email about lighting has been received. Another question as I plan for a 29 gallon reef. Should I remove the BioWheel from the wet/dry Eclipse 3 filter? << I like to leave them in. I think they help. >> I want few fish and plenty of coral. I also have the same Eclipse 3 hood with no filtration system, lighting only. Maybe a better idea to use the Eclipse lighting and modify the hood for a HOT filter and protein skimmer instead of using the whole Eclipse 3 shebang? << Yes, a good idea. I took my filter off to add a hang on refugium, so there are other options that will all work. >> Thanks! -LH << Blundell >> Lights for an Eclipse 3 hood Bob, << Blundell tonight. >> For the 2 fluorescent lights on an Eclipse 3 hood, what combination of lighting would you recommend for a coral reef? << Two blue and one white. >> I will be retrofitting the hood with compacts, but as a standard, are there any specific bulbs you recommend that fit the T8 18 watt that fit the Eclipse? I have been considering a deep reef. I am not sure retrofitting would even be necessary. Your thoughts are appreciated. Thanks, << It may be a good idea to replace the hood with a retro hood with more lights. It just depends on what you want to keep. That lighting system is fine for soft corals, but not stony corals. >> WL Huiskamp << Blundell >> Small marine system questions Hello, <Hi Bryan, MacL here with you tonight> First off, great website with excellent information. <That is very kind of you to say.> I currently have an 18 gallon reef tank with 30 lbs of rock and 3.5 inches of live sand. My bio load comes from two small fish and several mushroom rocks.( I will be adding some coral and maybe one more fish soon) The flow from the main tank goes down to a 10 gallon tank I converted into a refuge. In the refuge I have 15 pounds of live sand and four pounds of live rock rubble. My protein skimmer, heater and 5 watt UV sterilizer work here before the water is returned to the tank. I use pre-filter pads in the over flow and between chambers in my refuge to catch large particles and reduce air bubbles from my skimmer. I rotate the pre-filters once a week during my water changes in order to keep filters from building up bad bacteria. I thought about adding a sump to the system to increase water level and add some additional rock. Here are my questions: 1. Would a sump really be beneficial for my tank? <The more water the better is a standard answer> 2. Would this help keep my nitrates low as I already do 2 gallon water changes once a week? <More water, therefore more diffused so yes> 3. Should I add a light to my refuge to work opposite the lights in the main tank to help maintain PH level? <If you plan to add Caulerpas or other grasses yes> 4. Would you put plants in the refuge to absorb nitrates and if so what kind? <Sea grasses and not necessarily Caulerpas for the long haul> 5. My water has small particles in it all the time. Could I add a filter bag to the refuge to help remove these? <You could or a PolyFilter but the grasses will help filter those.> If so, any recommendations on which one and how often would you rinse the filter to keep bad bacteria from building up. <Carbon also will help immensely> I know I have lots of questions, but I am eager to learn. <Questions are good! Don't worry about that at all> Thanks, Bryan Slone Starting a 10 gal nano reef Hello, friendly WWM Answering Crew People! I've spent hours pouring over various articles, FAQs, and the like, and I still find myself with a question or two for you. Specifically, I am relatively new to the hobby, and I have two 10 gallon saltwater aquariums, each with about 4 lbs or so live rock. While this may seem nonsensical, as 10 gallon marine aquariums are very small (to put it mildly), this was a result of my own naivet? Let me explain. First, I had just one ten gallon aquarium, trying to make my mistakes on a smaller scale (both physically and economically) before I get the money to invest in a "real" tank (>100g), at which time the 10 gallon would become the quarantine tank. Anyway, I had a clown goby, three small (~1") damsels, two small red crabs, a starfish, three snails, and two hermit crabs. Well, I say "had" because a few weeks after adding the hermit crabs, things started going wrong. One day, I found one of the red crabs' carapaces strewn about the bottom... I hoped that it had simply molted, and the molt had been picked over. But, the goby and a damsel were also missing... and the next day, I had a shock (and lost hope in the "molt" theory) when everything but the two hermit crabs, starfish, and snails were gone -- in fact, one of the hermit crabs was feasting on the other red crab. So, that was when I learned the difference between the different types of hermit crabs and starfish. It turns out that I had gotten one still-unknown hermit crab (blue-green body color with reddish stripe down legs, white leg tips, about 1.5" shell presently -- any ideas?), and one of the notorious Dardanus megistos, whom I blame all the carnage on (he was the one eating the red crab). He has grown from his then ~2" size to now (a month or so later) a 4" shell (I also got one more of these after the 'disaster'). Also, continuing my streak of bad choices, it turns out I had gotten the equally noted Chocolate Chip Starfish. Of course. << Sounds like some bad luck. Another reason to read much and learn ahead before making a purchase. >> So, here I am, wanting to have a quarantine tank (hopefully with corals sometime), and I have at least one fish-killing hermit crab and a coral-munching starfish. So, it was about this time that I moved all but the starfish into the second ten-gallon. Now, on to my questions. First, regarding the 10 gallon "hermit crab" tank: I didn't move "Cookie" (the starfish) for fear of "Hermes" the White-Spotted hermit crab eating it. Do you think this wise, or would Cookie be alright with them (since I would like to try some corals in the tank Cookie is currently in)? << I think you will be fine. But I don't recommend seastars in small aquariums. They often do poorly. >> Second, are these crabs going to be alright in the 10 gallon, or will they be unhappy? I understand D. megistos can grow into 6" shells, which is quite large.... << I'm not sure, but it may be best to put him somewhere else just to be safe. >> Also, I was wondering if there is anything I can do to "spice up" the tank? I resisted the urge to get a baby (12") snowflake eel, as I'm sure he needs a much bigger tank, and I'm not sure how he'd be with the crabs. I've also considered a purple lobster, and haven't thrown out the idea yet, but again don't know how it would interact with these crabs, or whether it, too, would outgrow this tank. << Well I'd certainly go with corals before delicate inverts in a small tank like that. You may want to consider peppermint shrimp or the like. >> Finally, I've not been blind to how many people tell you their setup, and get reminded/reprimanded for overstocking (in some cases, it seems, having thousands of gallons of fish in as little as 55 gallons!), and I really don't want to fall into that. So, any ideas? I would just put them into my big reef tank when I finally get it set up and going, but there's that pesky problem that they're hardly reef (or fish...) safe. << Don't buy anything with the plan of moving it to a bigger tank. Just wait until you get a bigger tank. >> Speaking of, would they go so far as to eat snails? << Doubtful. >> Also, about the eventually-to-be QT. Assuming sufficient lighting, etc., is it unwise to put any corals in it, being such a small tank, and given that I would like it to be a QT someday? << Corals for now is a great idea. But corals when it is a QT tank is a bad idea. >> It presently has just one fish in it (a cute Bar Goby with a voracious appetite and the endearing habit of darting into his carefully excavated cave whenever he gets scared), and one of my other reasons for wanting add them is that I would like again to get some experience on the small scale with them before going big. In general, at least, the method has done some good -- at least Hermes didn't wipe out a 125 gallon tank of life (and Cookie didn't have a chance to wipe out any corals!). I guess, in short, I'd like to make the tanks (given my obvious restrictions, i.e., one being a QT and the other having the hermits and possibly Cookie, depending on your feedback) as interesting as possible in a responsible, safe, and humane way. Any ideas on how to do this, along with replies to my specific questions, would be greatly appreciated. I swear, getting into this hobby is easy, but getting informed is much more difficult -- there's so much to know! It's overwhelming at times, trying to figure it all out -- and I'm just trying to come up with simple compatibility and interactions! Thanks so much for your time; I really appreciate it! --Scott Baker P.S. Oh, I almost forgot! I've attached a picture of the mystery item I've had for quite a while. I've got these white pods on the sides of the first tank I set up; there are on the order of dozens in the tank, attached primarily to the glass. They showed up shortly after I added the hermits, Turbo and Nerite Snails, and Cookie. Some have presumably "popped"; they are empty and just the cover is attached, but the rest are full of something. What are they? I was also curious as to what the small creature is next to it in the close-up photograph (it's circled). There are many, many of these small creatures swimming/running around in the tank. From my reading on your site, I assume that they're just beneficial amphipods/copepods? << Well I'm not sure, but I'll assume they are very beneficial. Probably/Hopefully nothing to worry about. If they are moving all around then I think you are fine. >> Thanks again! << Blundell >> Crystal Clear water. Small Marine Setup Hey Guys, <Sal> I just bought a 20 gallon Hexagon tank, Fluval 104, Aqua C Remora skimmer, Hagan Powerhead 201, Live Sand, and 2lbs of live rock. I had my tank setup for almost 2 months now and the water never turn cloudy. <Often they do not> The first question, has it started the first cycle yet. <Mmm, only way to tell is with test kits... see if there is accumulated nitrate by now... if so, probably has> I have one Maroon clown fish (always hiding on top) and plan to only keep him. Secondly, How often do I change the media on the Fluval. Thanks Great Website. Sal <I would take the filter apart and rinse all once a month... the plastic mesh and bio-media, and replace the carbon if you're using same at this time. Bob Fenner> Nano Reef Filtration (10/25/04) Good evening crew <Steve Allen tonight. For future reference, please capitalize the proper noun "I" and the first letter of sentences. Also, please use apostrophes. We post all queries and replies on our site permanently and want them as readable as possible. Our volunteer crew will have a lot more time to answer queries if they don't have to proofread them. Not only that, some of us older presbyopics have a hard time reading unpunctuated text. Thanks.> I've just started a 10 gall reef nano!!! <cool> I got some beautiful aquacultured live rock to start the cycling of the tank, some of my water from my 55..... well, you know the rest and is up and running AWESOME!!! <indeed> But I have read that you don't need any mech filtration for a reef nano. Is that true??? <As with almost all issues in marine aquariology, there are differing opinions on this issue. I personally favor mechanical filtration in all applications. Why not get rid of as much gunk as possible before it breaks down into toxins?> Cause I have a Skilter 250 that I would like to use for my new system ,but I don't know if I should use it or not??? <Go for it.> Thank you for your time. <No problem. Enjoy your system.> Nano lighting for corals I am about to setup a new nano reef aquarium and I am not sure if I understand the reasons for using actinics and daylights. I was hoping to use a 2x36 watt retrofit over a 16 gallon cube with 1 bulb being actinic and the other being a 50/50. I am wondering if this would be a bad idea as some people are saying that actinics don't help with corals? I would like to keep hard, soft, and LPS as well. I had an older tank with half and half and it just looked to yellow to me so any help would be useful thank you. >>>Greetings First of all I think you're being a bit over optimistic thinking you'll be keeping SPS corals under such lights. Most of those corals need *AT LEAST* 150 watt metal halides, some need PAR values much higher, up in the range of what 400watt bulbs provide. Some Monitpora species, M. digitata for instance, may do OK under your lights, but don't count on it. Softies, as well as LPS such as the various Euphyllia species should do just fine. Mushrooms and zoanthids will do very well. Stick with the low light corals. Anyway, no the corals do not need actinic lighting. It DOES however bring out the colors much better. I recommend using one 10K bulb, and one actinic. You'll like the looks of the tank much better that way. Peace Jim<<< Nano Lighting Hello, I just started a 10 gall nano tank today (reef nano)!!! And I was wondering what is the correct amount of watts for such a small tank??? My L.F.S. said 34 watts should be plenty to keep a lot soft corals in a nano. What do you guys think??? I got an 18 right now so I don't know if I should buy another 18 watter. Thank so for your time >>>Hey Alex, There is no 'correct' wattage, but anything above 24 watts seems to enable the keeping of a wide variety of low light inverts. I would definitely get another 18 watt fixture, or even a 24 or 32 watter to add to you 18 watt unit. Regards Jim<<< Avoiding Nano "No-No's"! (Nano Tank Setup) Hello Mr. Scott, I'm happy to report that my tang is doing fine and dandy!!. <Glad to hear the good news!> Scott, I would like to start a 10 gallon Nano tank. <Nano tanks are interesting, but pose great challenges in their care and stocking. You really have to be "on top of things!" I've read that you don't need any filtration nor a skimmer, just live sand ,live rock , good power heads and good lighting. Is that true?? <I really don't agree with that theory. Sure, with extremely diligent attention to nutrient export (i.e.; water changes, etc.), you can get by with limited mechanical filtration, but I would always be more comfortable with some sort of mechanical/chemical filtration in addition to the biological "filtration" fostered by live rock and sand. Also, I believe that a skimmer is virtually mandatory for any marine display that you intend to maintain for the long term.> Because I got a Skilter 250 that I would like to use in my new nano tank. What do you think??? Thank you for your time. <Well, Alex, I think that the Skilter is a great package of filtration/skimming for a nano tank! By all means, I would incorporate it into your plans! Plan carefully, pay very careful attention to your water quality, and don't overstock! Good luck! Regards, Scott F.> Fish for a 16 gal HI Crew! Thanks for always being there. Just a quick question as my tank has been up for two to three months now, and I'm thinking about fish. I was at my LFS recently and put my name on a list for a Stonogobiops yasha. I was planning on also getting a symbiotic shrimp. My tank is only 16 gallons, so this would be my feature and probably only fish. If I do decide to eventually go with another fish, I was thinking either 6-line wrasse, cherub angel or royal Gramma. << I'd say not the Gramma, but the other two would be fine. >> My tank specs are as follows: 16 gallon 96 watt pc remora skimmer aqua clear mini with carbon 2 micro-jets Temp 78 Sg 1.025 Alk 9.8 DKH Ca 430 Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate 0 (I would like a little nitrate, but can't get it - maybe because the tank is so small with frequent top offs dilutes nitrate and aggressive skimming with the remora). Please comment << Sounds good. With a 16 gal a two gal water change goes a long ways. >> 1 Trochus (had 2, can't find the other one for about a week-possible crawled into the skimmer box?) 3 Astrea 2scarlet reef hermits 1 blue leg hermit sm. green star polyp sm. finger leather sm. yellow leather sm. pulsing xenia 1 purple Bullseye mushroom 3 various colored sm. button polyps 20 lbs. LR 20 lbs. LS sand bed ranges from about one to two inches under rock to three inches near glass. (Probably not good, huh? Should be less that inch or greater than 3. Should I bother to mess with it now or let it go. Please comment. << Let it go, but probably 3 inches is ideal everywhere. >> Please let me know how I'm doing, as your input means everything to us reefers out here all alone in this cold, dry world. (I shoulda been a crab-oops, I am! I meant a hermit crab-oops, I am. I spend waaay to much time in here looking at this darn tank! << Good luck. >> Thanks!!! God Bless you guys. p.s. We need to talk about all this evolution crap! << Like what? >> Susan Cestaro-Smith << Blundell >> Stocking for 30 gallon tank Hi, <Hi MacL here with you today. Please disregard if you have already received a response to your question.> I have a 30 gallon tank with 30 lbs. of live rock and about 15 lbs. of base rock. It has no fish in it as of yet, and has been running 4 weeks. Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate are at 0. I was planning on adding a flame or falco Hawkfish, followed by a Pseudochromis fridmani, and then a cherub angelfish. <I think they would all work together, they are all pretty voracious eaters. The one the worries me the most would be the fridmani, who might get out competed in my experience.> I am wondering whether these tank-mates will be too aggressive for a 30 gallon tank. Thank you for you're insight; great site. <Thank you for your kind words.> Lights for a 29 gal Thanks for the advice. What should I get for lighting? Anything else? << Well I too have a 29 gal. I started with four 65 watt pc's. Now I'm running two 150 watt HQI halides. I certainly think this is better and would probably recommend the same. >> Appreciate it, Blundell. Mark << Blundell >> Nano Death Hi there; much thanks for being available to pick your brains- you're my last hope of getting some straight answers. I've sent you 2 additional emails with pictures of my poor Nanocube. This is going to be a long email, I'll warn you now. I am a complete novice with marine systems; am in need of info that I can't seem to locate on the site regarding many issues. Decided to get the 'very pretty' 12g Nanocube from local Aquarium store 4 months ago as my first tank (store set up was gorgeous, it hooked me, what can I say). Followed all instructions from store owner which are: gradual building of live-rock (approx 10 lb? now), sand (10 lbs), 5 electric blue baby hermits and 4 turbo snails, then addition of fragmented tiny soft corals, 20% water changes every 2 weeks (2 g), took out Bioballs and carbon from back of tank, filtration system are the sponges in back of tank only (5 of them), rinsed sponges once a week, lighting system stays on timer 9 h a day, using 'Tetratest Laborette' for water values.<BR>I'm currently a scientist in training (infectious diseases) so I've been a stickler for testing and keeping up with advice from Aquarium store. Here's the deal: Last Friday the stock was: 4 blue hermit crabs, one 'Halloween' hermit, 4 turbo snails, and 7 soft corals (Image #010) which are (excuse the lack of speciation): red mushrooms (2 species), torch coral, I cant even name the rest - hopefully you can see them?<BR>Values from test kit: pH 8.3, KH 11, NH3/4 0, NO2 <.3, NO3 12.5, Sal/SG 1.203, Temp 76-78, water obtained from my lab - super ultra pure water, lab grade quality.<BR>All seemed happy, though one thing I can think of that was weird was the growth of red algae in dead space (mainly sand in front), since I started adding my own water (says a lot about our lab, doesn't it?). Keep in mind we had a 24 h power outage (hurricane) the previous Friday (9/17). Everything survived and values checked out OK (I stirred the tank with a spoon every 15 min, that was fun).<BR>Last Friday (9/24) I bought and added (image #012) 3 additional soft corals (green mushrooms, more green flower like species top right, big bright green species bottom left), 2 scarlet hermit crabs (small), one spotted leg big hermit crab, and 2 tank-reared clown fish who seemed super stressed out. Also was told to purchase iodine and vitamin/AAcid supplements (Reef plus Seachem) which I also added at this time following bottle directions.<BR>And then crisis struck: 24 h after addition (9/25), a clown fish went down, eventually dying. I called both the aquarium store (of no help - said nothing I could do, should not have added 2 fish at a time -which they sold me- as my first fish, which they knew) said ammonia levels were toxic (checked out between 0-.25). Called LiveAquaria.com help line: said to do immediate 20% water change to dilute ammonia level, repeat every other day until levels were 0, not to feed (frozen brine shrimp), to rinse filters, get more oxygen into system. I did all of this and the other fish survived and is alive still though I'm super stressed about this crisis and nervous for future. Fish is stressed, swimming into water flow, not eating but seems hungry.<BR>I noticed Sunday night that 2 corals (one mushroom species and this cactus looking guy (image #012 bottom right) who I moved right next to the said shrooms looked slimy. Water test: pH = 7.7 KH =10.0 NH4 =.25 NO2 = <.3 Sal = 1.023 NO3 = 12.5 I added reef buffer to raise pH to 8.0. Yesterday shrooms turned white, shriveled up, cactus looked necrotic, I removed them both (shrooms disintegrated upon removed, smelled like death). Water check revealed a definite .25 ammonia level, 10 KH, and pH of 7.7. I freaked, did a 20% water change last night. Levels today are better, but ammonia is still questionable:<BR> pH = 8.3 KH =10.0 NH4 =.0-25 NO2 = <.3 Sal = 1.023 NO3 = 12.5</DIV> <DIV class=RTE>What's your assessment - what am I missing/doing wrong? Over-stocked on corals, crabs? Too ambitious with 2 fish? Following bad advice? Missing supplemental equipment? Am also on my way to aquarium store to raise hell with all dead carcasses in tow, though I'm not sure I have the right to do so. Please advise, I'd like to keep the system going and not let my first experience crush this endeavor, plus I'm sure the aquarium guys would like to live to see tomorrow. Thanks so much for your time and input, Vivien <<<Greetings, This is getting a bit complicated for you, and I think you need to back up a bit, and build the system SLOWLY. It should be simple, and fun. The fact that you're purchasing species which have requirements and chemical warfare abilities of which you seem to be unaware isn't helping things. If you see a "green species" and you don't know the ramifications of adding it to a system, don't purchase it. Instead go home and read about it. I think you have combination of effects resulting from stocking the tank too fast, and a bit of chemical warfare between the soft corals. You also shouldn't have ANY ammonia in a mature system. None, nada, zippo! Mushrooms and torches are fine, but I have no idea what else you have in there. I unfortunately can't see your pictures. Here's what I would do. First, you don't need the sponges. The live rock and sand are the only filters you need. Second, so some reading on soft corals! Some exude chemicals which will quickly build up in such a small system, and this will obviously affect the inhabitants. Some corals may have to be removed. Let the tank stabilize. A pair of Perculas is very possible in your tank. Mushrooms, star polyps, Euphyllia (frogspawn, etc) will all live fine together. It should be easy, and you shouldn't have to test everything so often. I never do tests on my nano - ever. I don't add supplements to ANY of my tanks aside from B ionic which maintains calcium and Alk levels. I simply change 20% of the water every two weeks, and it's the easiest tank to deal with that I've ever set up. Good luck Jim<<< Filtration for a 30 gal Hello - I purchased an Oceanic Systems 30 gal cube aquarium, which I am going to make into a reef tank w/ live rock, some soft corals, six/seven fish, and maybe clam later on. << Maybe not that many fish, depending on what you buy. >> I have a Sea Star prism pendant w/ (1) 175 watt metal halide, (2) 32 watt blue actinics, and (1) LED blue moon light. I purchased the CPR Cyclone bio-filter system (CY192) and a continuous siphon overflow box (CS50) because I want to keep the water moving and clean/clear as possible. I would like to know your opinion on using this combo filter/protein skimmer system for my reef set-up, and your advice for alternative system if you don't think this is the best set-up. << That sounds great. However, the real question and best item for filtration is the amount of live rock. I'd be sure to have much live rock and deep sand in that system. >> Thank you, Karen << Blundell >> School marine tank I have a quick question: can a pair of tank raised clown fish (Perculas) be kept in a 15gal aquarium with live rock if they are the only fish? I was asked to find out for our local elementary school. (I don't think so but before I dash their hopes I wanted to make sure.) Thanks, Caryn Heffner >>>Hey Caryn, I'm happy to report that a pair of Perculas will do just fine in a tank that size! In fact they do great in tanks as small as 7 gallons. I've set up a few nano-reefs myself, and they are GREAT projects for the classroom. For a tank that size, the following will give you a nice, easily cared for tank. Or, you may simply opt for the live rock, a bit of sand, and the fish. A 32w Power Compact retrofit kit A small Aquaclear power filter to circulate the water A few nice chunks of live rock A 1" layer of fine sand 5 Astrea snails 10 Nassarius snails 1 or 2 cleaner shrimp Some mushroom corals (there are various colors, red, green, blue) Green star polyps Yellow polyps You may also want to consider tanks like the JBJ nano cube. 12 gallons with PC lights built right in. Very nice. Let the tank cycle of course before adding any live stock. If you need further assistance, I will be happy to walk you through this project. The most reliable place to contact me is here... [email protected] Cheers Jim<<< 6500k or 10000k in a nano reef? WWM Crew, << Hi. >> Hope everything is going good. I have just a few questions for you today. I have a 10 gal Nano reef tank, with 1 small Montipora digitata, 1 small Montipora capricornis, 1 bulb tip anemone, and 1 pipe organ coral, 15lbs of live rock, 2 x 36watt 6500k pc's. Is the 6500 sufficient for what I have? << That sounds okay. >> Should I get one 10k and one actinic, what is your suggestion? << I think a 10k looks nicer, but the 10k may not be as fast of growing light. Debatable, but the 6500 is probably a faster growing light. >> I am also planning on getting a clam, probably a derasa or crocea. Which one stays smaller? << I wouldn't do this in a 10 gal tank. They require lots of food and lots of light. >> The second question is I have a 29g sump in my larger 55g tank with approx 3.5 in of sand and lots of macro algae. Should I put anything in there like snails or crabs to help move it around and keep it clean, still the sand? << Nah, no reason to. The worms and pods will take care of that. >> Last question. What are some good low light corals that I could put in a fish only tank. I have 2 yellow tail damsels, 1 yellow tang and a maroon clown in the 55g tank now. Something that will grow fairly large with lots of color. << Well xenia and Anthelia are probably the best choices. Also some mushrooms. >> Or is there anything that would do well. << Blundell >> Lights for a 20 gal Hello once again. I've done some searching around on the net & on your site but I can't seem to find what I'm looking for. I'm looking at buying the 24" Coralife Lunar Aqualight with 2x65w 10k & true Actinic, as well as 2 3/4w LEDs. I can't find a review for them anywhere. It's for a 20 gal tank and I'm not looking to be able to sustain anything, just some basic "beginner" corals. << I'd say this is fine light. But for what you said, beginner corals, nothing fancy. >> Any bit of knowledge you have with this product would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a bunch. << Sounds like the lights I had on my 30 gal at first, so you should be fine. >> Dean << Blundell >> Fish addition Hi Crew, <How goes it, Michael here this evening> I have a 10gallon SW setup for a year, 1-2 inches sand, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 10-20 nitrates. Two PJ cardinals, 1 clown goby and a sixline wrasse, snails and hermits and a peppermint shrimp for the past 6 months. <A bit much for 10 gallons IMO> I just tried to add a royal Gramma (to replace a rainfordi that was starving) but the wrasse did a job on him. Is there any way to add a fish to this setup? <I most definitely would NOT recommend it; overcrowded as it is> There is no rockwork to change to make the wrasse think he is in a new place just a plastic 'cliffs&cave' on one side where they all hang out after the lights go out.. <Definitely don't add anything else to this set-up, and look into finding new homes for the cardinals. M. Maddox>
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