10 Gallon Saltwater Journal

[Dekz]

Just got home from work and he seems to be fine, swimming all over the place

Looks like he's getting along fine with the Firefish too, no aggresion at all, they basically ignore each other.

So I'm a little confused about how to feed the crabs etc. I've just been taking a couple of flakes, crunching them up into relatively small pieces with my finger and thumb, and releasing it underwater so that it gets blown allover the place by the current. The fish "hunt" the little pieces of food just fine, and I assume the crabs clean up the rest?

 

[Mitchell0605]

They clean up anything. Feed the tank Mysis or Enriched Brine shrimp at least once a week to give them something meaty to eat. They will appreciate it.

 

[Dekz]

So I really want a Bangai Cardinal next. Would that be an ok addition?

 

[0o.Kelsey.o0]

My brother has one in his 80 gallon tank and hes quite the character..he is a very picky eater and will only eat shrimp...no bloodworms or flakes. He acts like hes too good for the flakes and just turns his nose up to them lol what an attitude. I would research the tank size for them..you only have a 10 gallon and i will let someone else comment on if thats overstocked or not since im not really sure

 

[thincat]

A 10g is only big enough for one small fish.

 

[Dekz]

Well, more people said yes than no to the Bangai Cardinal idea (on other forums as well) so I went ahead and picked one up on Monday. I asked the pet store to feed the tank and all 4 of the Cardinals that were in it ATTACKED the food, so no worries there.

I took it home and drip acclimated it for just under 2 hours, got him in the tank and everything seemed fine. No aggression at all between him and either of the other fish. Later that night I fed a little bit of flake food to the tank but he would not eat any. He would just grab it and then spit it back out. I figured maybe he was just picky.

Tuesday I fed the tank some dried mysis shrimp instead and he did the same thing, wouldn't eat any. I had asked the pet store what he fed them that first day and he said brine shrimp, so I went out to the store and bought some frozen brine shrimp.

Wednesday I tried feeding the frozen brine shrimp and I think he ate some but it was hard to see cause he would grab it and then go behind the rocks, so I'm not sure if he spit it back out or not.

Thursday I came home to try the brine shrimp again, and found the Cardinal dead

Temperature: 75F/24C
pH: 8.2
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate 0 (MAYBE 5, it's hard to tell)
SG: 1.0235

That's pretty much perfect right? I have no idea why he died

 

[thincat]

Your temp. is on the low side, 1.023 SG is okay for a fish only setup

 

[Dekz]

Your temp. is on the low side, 1.023 SG is okay for a fish only setup

What should the temp be?

 

[r312h]

Sorry to hear about your cardinal, I like to keep the temperature in my tank around 78-80F. goodluck with the tank

 

[thincat]

I just got back and r312h hit the nail on the head. Tropical temps run 78-82 degrees and might dip down or up but only for short periods of time.

 

[Mitchell0605]

If this was the third fish in a 10G tank then it was overstocked before you got the Cardinal. In a 10G you can only fit one fish, a small Goby.

 

[Dekz]

If this was the third fish in a 10G tank then it was overstocked before you got the Cardinal. In a 10G you can only fit one fish, a small Goby.

Stocking levels are very subjective. One guy at a LFS has a ton of experience (he has over 400 gallons of saltwater in his home) and he said it would be fine. Many people on other forums said it would be fine.

There was absolutely no aggression and 0 Nitrate, so I don't see how overstocking could be blamed, especially if the fish only lasted 4 days.

 

[Etunes]

It is all in what you think is right in the end. I mean obviously you dont want to stuff 5 fish in a 10g but i would stay stop at 3 NO MATTER WHAT. I dont care what your opinion is 4 is too much. I think 3 is too much but it is not far feched and it depend son the set up and what fish you get. You also got to look at what fish you are stocking. Is the fish a bottom dweller or swims at the top? For example a goby and a clownfish is perfect for a 10g. They are in completely different areas in a tank, and a bangaii with them is not horrible even though a bigger tank is better. So what you have is not horrible. DONT go over 3, Even if the nitrate has no problems and is at 0 the fish will have issues and there will be no room.

 

[Dekz]

We are in complete agreement there. I knew that 3 fish was on the high end but I thought as long as I stayed on top of the maintenance it would be ok, especially with the species I have selected.

Once I put the Cardinal in, I definitely considered the tank "done".

 

[harmy4993]

opps wrong place

 

[harmy4993]

Stocking levels are very subjective. One guy at a LFS has a ton of experience (he has over 400 gallons of saltwater in his home) and he said it would be fine. Many people on other forums said it would be fine.

There was absolutely no aggression and 0 Nitrate, so I don't see how overstocking could be blamed, especially if the fish only lasted 4 days.

nitrates isnt what you need to be worried about in an over stocked tank. over stocked tanks usually have ammonia and nitrites. ive looked thru this thread but dont remember and would have to go back and check but do you have a sump? i dont think you did but i dont remember. any ways if you dont have a sump you prolly have around 7 gallons of water in the tank. maybe less. thats not enough for 3 fish. specially in salt water.

take in the fact you didnt qt your fish makes it even worse. what if it had something before you got it and now you gave it to the rest of your tank. maybe your lfs owner with his experiance and his 400 gallons of tanks could have run an over stocked tank. but as soon as you put your non qt fish in a over stuffed tanked your odds were low of keeping it alive.

 

[Dekz]

nitrates isnt what you need to be worried about in an over stocked tank. over stocked tanks usually have ammonia and nitrites

take in the fact you didnt qt your fish makes it even worse. what if it had something before you got it and now you gave it to the rest of your tank. maybe your lfs owner with his experiance and his 400 gallons of tanks could have run an over stocked tank. but as soon as you put your non qt fish in a over stuffed tanked your odds were low of keeping it alive.

As I said, Ammonia and Nitrite are also at 0. What magic tricks could my lfs owner possibly use to run an overstocked tank that aren't available to me?

A quarantine tank is for protecting the fish that are already in the tank, not the new fish. It is completely irrelevant here.

 

[Mitchell0605]

Actually it's not. A QT prevents any disease or sickness a fish may have from getting into the DT. Ususally signs show up with two weeks and if there are none then the fish can be placed in the DT. QTs are also good for getting a new fish eating and to fatten it up so it is more prepared for the competition of the DT. In addition if a fish becomes sick during the QT process it can be treated without adding chemicals that may harm things in the DT. Fish that develope a disease in the DT can be placed in the QT to treat with chemicals.

 

[Dekz]

Uhhhh, everything that you just said was about protecting the DT.

 

[0o.Kelsey.o0]

well sort of. i think he is saying it will help protect your new fish since the new fish is so weak. The new fish has just been shipped from who knows where and probably hasnt eaten in a long time..im not 100 percent sure but i think the new fish (being all weak) could even possibly get a disease from the DT that your other strong fish wouldnt get...common example would be ick. Now if the new fish gets ick from your dt there is a possibility your other fish might get it too and could cause i pretty big problem. You are right though i think qt is mostly for protecting your existing fish from getting any new disease introduced to the tank.

I dont think not qt you fish was the cause of its death here since as you say he was eating at the store and was not being harassed by any tank mates. But it is always a good idea to qt....since you probably wont be getting any more fish (maybe one more) i dont think you would have to worry about having a qt set up