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angelinafay

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Jul 25, 2009
Messages
20
Location
kentucky
i am still fairly new at the whole fish tank thing let alone salt water tanks. My dad gave me a 20 gallon sw tank about a month n a half ago along with some live rocks two green cromis and a hairy crab. the hairy crab was aggressive so we gave it to a friend. i now have a little nemo and a tomato clown. i also have a sebae anemone which seems to be doing pretty good...my clownfish have not taken to it though. my tomato clown seems to be playing in the sand as if it were an anemone and making a sand dume out of it. i have one live rock that has hairy moss that grows rapidly, just on the one rock though, but has just start to spread to the other rocks...any suggestions there? i have no crabs or snails yet, getting some tomorrow though.my water temp is hard to keep stabilized cause the temp in my house drops so much at night making my tank temp drop...any suggestions?
 
For the hair algae, get some snails. Margarita, Turbo, or Nassarius snails, or however they are spelt lol. Those types of snails will take care of your algae problem. Also, it is a known fact that clownfish will not always host an anemone. It is never guaranteed. As for the temp thing, since it drops and raises, i think you could do with both a chiller and a heater. The days that it gets really too hot for the tank, throw in the chiller to cool it down. And for the really cold days the heater would solve that problem.
 
Like Links said, go with some snails, they'll do great. The ones he listed are the ones you'd want too. Keep in mind that inverts dont so much effect your bioload so you can have a decent amount. Dont go crazy either though!
 
well i have a heater but it doesn't keep it stabilized. my tank never gets above 80-82 which is good but sometimes it drops to 70 overnight. i don't know if this will harm my tank or even slow my coral growth. the fish seem to be doing fine though!
 
is your heater working correctly though?? It shouldnt have such a drastic drop like that without the heater kicking on. I think you should try a new heater. What kind is it and how many watts is it?
 
you really dont need 200w for a 20g tank. and if it is 200w and its not heating the tank from such drastic temp changes, i think its time you get a new heat IMHO
 
Well, what temp do you set your heater to? You want to keep it set at the highest temp your tank achieves during the day.
As for the algae issues, you should work on checking your water parameters. Adding snails will help but will not solve the problem.
What/how much/how often are you feeding?
How long are you running your lights?
What are your water parameters?
 
Welcome to AA. As far as the algea we really need to find out what`s fueling the algea. Read this link on some of the reasons for algea.FantasyReef Databases-Viewing item "10 Step Plan for Nuisance Algae Control"As far as your temps bouncing around from 82 to 70 that is basically lethal in a SW tank. The key to temp. in a tank is keeping it stable. Wild swings like that will cause severe stress to corals and fish. Find a heater you can trust and keep your temps stable.
 
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Here's a real stupid question but I ask because it happened to someone I know.. the name we need not dwell on..

But when this person was doing some maintenance he made the mistake of plugging the heater back into the wrong outlet on the timer strip. So when the lights went out so did the heater. When the lights came on in the morning, so did the heater.

Drove me ..errr... him nuts for awhile trying to figure it out.

Just in case.
 
Here's a real stupid question but I ask because it happened to someone I know.. the name we need not dwell on..

But when this person was doing some maintenance he made the mistake of plugging the heater back into the wrong outlet on the timer strip. So when the lights went out so did the heater. When the lights came on in the morning, so did the heater.

Drove me ..errr... him nuts for awhile trying to figure it out.

Just in case.


good point
 
CaptainAhab, that is so funny. Nice one...Welcome angelinafay, You did not mention what kind of lights you have for your tank. How long has it been set up and you are hitting the limits of a 20g tank as far as fishes. What if any corals do you have now. and what are your water parameters, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and salinity.
 
i don't know my parameters, my dad is going to check it tomorrow! i have yet to get my own test kit. my tank has been up for about 4 months, i just started putting fish in about 1 1/2 months ago. i have a 50/50 light. i turn it on about 730 am and off at about 930pm. today i actually seen my heater come on and go off a lil while later, so i think it's working, but it could be that the tank sits close to a ceiling air vent. i just started getting 2 feather dusters growing..one on the mossy rock and one in the sand. today i got a sand sifting starfish(didn't have to pay for it)...are they okay to have?? i feed flakes in the morning and brine shrimp or krill every two days...thats what i've been told to do. correct me if i'm doing something wrong please.
 
I only feed my tank every other day. Been OK for 11+ years. Make sure you are feeding vitamin fortified brine. Regular frozen brine has no nutritional value.
 
i think my sebae anemone is or has died! my tomato clown was smacking around on it yesterday and now it is lifeless. my water temp has stabilized i think!
 
You need to get a test kit. API makes a good kit that is not to hard to read. You also need a means to check your SG (specific gravity) or salinity. How do you check SG when you do water changes?
MY bad...I guess your Dad does that.
I don't think you have enough light for an anemone.
That slug that you have is a nubibranch. Is it green in color. Some are really bad for corals.
 
the slug is slightly green, sometimes no color at all kinda a neutral color. i tested my salinity yesterday and it is fine, my temp has stabilized finally. but i am yet to get my dad to test for everything else. well my anemone has no life but didn't get slimy, is it dead?
 
If your Temp drops at night 1 to 2 degress you should be fine. Mine does every night and I have no Issues.

Also you mention you have 2 Clown Fish? A Nemo which is and Ocellaris Clown and a Tomato Clown Fish? In the same tank? If so I would suggest removing one before one of the 2 become stressed from all the fighting and die.
 
Sorry for your lost. Without a picture it's hard to say if it is dead. By fine do you mean 1.025-1.026? If you can please give us #'s.
 
1.025 and yes my anemone is dead, we'll i put a stronger filter in my tank cause the other one was barely working, and it seems to be much better.
 
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