hi guys i'm new

[pez]

hey guys i'm new to the marine side of things i have previously held a various number of freshwater fish tanks all going well....i've had my SW tank up and runing for about 2 months now...its 3ftx1.5ftx1ft and holds about 100 litres...i've got a clear flow undergravel filter running...2x mozoo 800L/H power heads for considerable water flow...a turbosmart protein skimmer running off a mozoo 2300L/H power head the base of my tank is shell grit....i also have a 3ft 3 tube neon aquarium reflector.....fish/inverts/coral are as follows:

Fish
4x Sgt Major (very small)
1x Clarkii Clown
1x Chocolate/Cinnamon Clown
2x Dot - Dash Damsels
1x Lyretail/Orange Anthias (female)
1x 3 stripe Damsel
1x Archeye Hawkfish
2x yellow tail damsels

Inverts

2x Shrimp (local reef shrimp)
1x Starfish (i think its a linckia)
2x bubble tip anenome (i think not sure :? ) (on live rock)
1x long tentacle anenome (very small)
1x fluffy anenome :? :? :? :? ( not sure)
2x turbo snail
1x yellow legged hermit crab


Corals
1x Bubble Coral (soft coral)


any information or feedback would be great guys...this tank is going to be like my lil' project so when i setup my 3ft cube i can sump it and make it sweet....cheers

 

[Sadielynn]

hey guys i'm new to the marine side of things i have previously held a various number of freshwater fish tanks all going well....i've had my SW tank up and runing for about 2 months now...its 3ftx1.5ftx1ft and holds about 100 litres...i've got a clear flow undergravel filter running...2x mozoo 800L/H power heads for considerable water flow...a turbosmart protein skimmer running off a mozoo 2300L/H power head the base of my tank is shell grit....i also have a 3ft 3 tube neon aquarium reflector.....fish/inverts/coral are as follows:

Fish
4x Sgt Major (very small)
1x Clarkii Clown
1x Chocolate/Cinnamon Clown
2x Dot - Dash Damsels
1x Lyretail/Orange Anthias (female)
1x 3 stripe Damsel
1x Archeye Hawkfish
2x yellow tail damsels

Inverts

2x Shrimp (local reef shrimp)
1x Starfish (i think its a linckia)
2x bubble tip anenome (i think not sure :? ) (on live rock)
1x long tentacle anenome (very small)
1x fluffy anenome :? :? :? :? ( not sure)
2x turbo snail
1x yellow legged hermit crab


Corals
1x Bubble Coral (soft coral)


any information or feedback would be great guys...this tank is going to be like my lil' project so when i setup my 3ft cube i can sump it and make it sweet....cheers

Well first off welcome.
now on to the feedback loose the undergravel filter will trap ditris and cause you to have high nitrAtes, phosphates and eventually algea issues you can NOT get under control,as well as if those are high it will be hard to keep corals . Not exactally sure what shell grit is but it sounds like crushed coral loose it and replace with agronite sand . How much live rock do you have with that size bio load ?
Stocking list , you have too many fish (13 fish) for that size tank it is only about 26 gallons . And the clowns will eventually fight and kill one another . Damsels will also be agressive and kill each other . Corals what is your lighting ? I see that you have anenomes that demand LIGHT , and post up some pics of the anenomes (some one here can ID them) You need to increase your clean up crew as what you have is bascially nothing . And for such a new tank it seems rushed I implore you to slow down and take some of those fish back as eventually you will run into problems , I promise . I am not trying to come down on you but these are common beginner mistakes , we (or at least I have been there before .) I am learning something new every day too, this is a great hobby but expensive and not alot of room for booboos

 

[roka64]

WELCOME TO AA!!!

I agree with Sadie, the Anthia needs at least 125Gallon tank. The Sgt Majors need 50 Gallons. You are way overstocked and problems may start to happen with aggression in that small of a space. I'm not coming down on you either, we are simply looking out for both your's and the fish's best interest.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Agree with the previous posts, but I'm a little confused because you didn't really ask any questions! What kind of information are you looking for?

The overstocking issue has already been mentioned, but what first came to my mind when I read your post was "Wow... they put THAT many fish in within two months?!" Usually, you want to add fish slowly - maybe one or two at a time. With your size tank, probably only one at a time. And probably wait at least 2-3 weeks between fish. The reason is that your bacteria population need to catch up with the increased bioload in the tank. Just out of curiousity, do you have any measurable ammonia or nitrites?

What's done is done, but I just figured I'd bring it up for future information.

 

[macman7010]

I am not trying to "come down on" or critisize anyone, just make a valid point and lesson out of this: The first post in this thread is a prime example of what takes place when a saltwater aquarium is started without at least some research into what these systems require and how to properly cycle and stock them.

First and foremost your fish population is totally running out of check. Why you have so many damsels in the aquarium I dont know, but the fact is that your tank - which at roughly 100 litres is close to 33 U.S. gallons - can not support even the 10 damsels in the tank.

The Anthias is a fish that is not suited for small aquariums and should be returned and removed immediatly! The hawkfish and cinnamon clown should be the only fish in that aquarium at this point.

Considering how young your aquarium is I cant imagine, given the stocking load that it properly cycled. I would first check your ammonia levels, then nitrite, then nitrate - my guess is you are pushing at least readable nitrite if not worse.

My recommendation before going any further would be this - return all fish except the hawkfish and cinnamon clown then begin to address water quality and filtration issues that are no doubt taking place in your system. Dont feel bad we all had humble beginnings and no one on this forum can say that we didnt make our fair share of "mistakes" when we were starting out. I know I did and I am sure the most seasoned of us here did as well.

 

[Ziggy953]

Very well put Macman! Great advice....I didn't notice anywhere you saying how much LR if any you have in this tank. That is something that you will want to get in your tank for sure! I agree with Sadielynn get rid of the undergravel and go with a sand substrate!

 

[melosu58]

Welcome to AA

I know it sounds rough but some valid points have been made. I know you might be leaning on the Fw side as far as the number of fish you have but you`ll really need to research the SW side. I know things are going good right now but it all builds up to a big crash so be careful. Not trying to be harsh just concerned.

 

[artoledo]

Welcome to AA!

Read as much as you can about SW and be patient. That is the most overly used suggestion i offer in this forum. If you dont want to get rid of any of your livestock you might want to upgrade your tank to something a lot bigger.

 

[pez]

cheers guys i appreciate the feedback.....i think my major problem was impatience i cycled my tank properly for at least 7 weeks with no fish in there....the 4 sgt's went straight in aswell as the 2 clowns...my local pet store said that it would be fine with wat i was putting in my tank...i obviously didn't think that he was just trying to sell his stuff....at the moment everything is pretty good in the tank as fas as nitrates nitrites etc goes...i agree with everything you have all said....the peace in the tank is pretty good at the moment an odd game of chasey here and there between the 2 clowns and the dot dash damsels....i will be setting up another sw tank and i'll get the mass in gal to make it easier....hopefully you guys can give me advice on how to set my new sw tank up....i'll let you know how everything's going....cheers

 

[Bonez]

Again, there was no mention of live rock, and no mention of water quality readings...
these 2 things are extremely essential!

 

[pez]

i was just wondering also...i have an external canister filter for my freshwater with a uv sterilizer in it....would it be a good idea to take it off my FW and put it onto my SW???

 

[artoledo]

If you want all the bad stuff out of your tank and your water crystal clear than it would be a good idea. if you can remove the sterilizer from your filter that would be better.

 

[pez]

sounds like a good then...the uv runs off its own switch so i can just choose to not turn it on....would that be the way to go???....also do i have to clean my external before fitting it to my saltwater???...as it came from a FW tank....and one last thing...should i take out the carbon/bio-balls/noodles and replace with something more beneficial for my marine tank?...cheers

 

[Lance M.]

I would clean out the filter before using it and remove everything from it. Carbon lasts for about a week then needs to be replaced so it is probably already used up and the bioballs/ noodles? (i dont know what you mean by noodles) will cause nitrate build up. I would run the filter only with chemi-pure since it is much better than carbon. And the uv sterilizer is not needed.

 

[roka64]

I agree, take out the media, you can clean the filter with vinegar and water, just rinse it out well. You can replace the media with LR rubble. I use purigen, which I believe, is about the same thing as chemi-pure. It is great stuff. You can run the UV if you like. When are you planning on setting up your next tank?

 

[pez]

ok will do i'll let you know how it goes i'll prob being doing iot in the next week...the external that is...as for my new SW tank not for about 4-5 months...gotta get rid of my cichlids first...then slowly set it up

 

[LuxorCaw]

So...I have to ask the question, have you or are you going to return some of those fish? In my years of coming to this site, looking for answers, I have grown to take the advice of these people as gospel. So if they think you are overstocking this tank, you probably are.

Since you are new to the hobby, here is my one main tip I have. Find a mentor. What I mean by that is find a person or persons at a LFS that you trust, and only take their advice. There are a lot of ppl at lfs that dont have a clue about SW or think they do and give terrible advice.

How do you find a mentor you ask? Get some basic questions about SW tanks. Look for them on this site, then see how the majority of members on this site have answered them. Now go to the lfs and ask the salespersons these same questions and see what type of answers you get. If you get answers that are totally contradicting to what youve read on here, find another person to ask. Once you find a person that answers your questions correctly, tell them about your tank, your exp and then start picking their brain for advice. Then every time you go in that store, seek that person out and use their advice over and over. Its important to use the same person, because you will find out people in this hobby will give contradicting advice, but if you use the same resource over and over, and it works, dont change. Usually this type of person is more interested in the hobby and welfare of your fish, and not in selling you stuff you dont need.

Once you get more experience it will be easy to pick out the people that dont have a clue, the people that have some experience, and the people that really know what they are talking about. But for now, if I were you, Id find a mentor.

Anywho, hope this helps and welcome to a world of constant frustration and love.

 

[roka64]

That is an excellent point Luxor. I bounce a few things off of the folks at my LFS and then come here for the real answer! LOL!