New to saltwater

[kemerick]

Hello,
I picked up my current saltwater tank on craigslist in January 2010. It included a 35 gallon tall aquarium with a standard T8 bulb, Penguin 200 filter, 60lbs live rock, 2 inches of live sand, 2 Percula Clowns, a Blue Tang, a Elibe Angel fish and a hermit crab. The previous owner had it established for about a year and a 1/2. And I believe he bought many of the items used himself. Since I've acquired the tank I've added a sleeper head gobi, emerald crab, tiger stripped starfish, Royal Blue Tuxedo Urchin and 4 snails and 4 hermit crabs. I've also added a bac-pack2 protein skimmer and a 4 bulb 96watt t5ho fixture with 2 actnic lights and 2 10k lights. I'm hoping the protein skimmer will help bring down my Nitrates which has always registered around 40 PPM even before I added the additional livestock and pre protein skimmer. I do a weekly water change of 5 gallons. I've only had the protein skimmer for about a week, when do you think I'll start to see a reduction in Nitrates?

 

[mr_X]

hey. welcome to the forum. that is a lot of fish for a 35 gallon tank. you might not be able to lower the nitrates enough to matter with all of those fish, despite the measures taken. how and what are you feeding?

i'm amazed that the blue tang lasted over a year in such small quarters.
he won't work for too long in that 35 gallon. eventually he'll get stressed to the point of lowering his immune system, and he will eventually succumb to some illness.

 

[kemerick]

I feed a small amount of flakes and brine shrimp 2x day. The food is all gone in about 2-5 mins, with the tang eating the majority of it. Whatever lands on the sand bed is usually eaten up by the gobi. I've been trying to talk the wife into selling the blue tang to the LFS because he is pretty close to 4inches now and already to big for the tank. Since i've gotten the tank he spends the majority of his time hanging out in the rocks. Is this normal behavior for tang?

 

[mr_X]

well, it's not uncommon when first adding one, but they usually get more social when they get adjusted to their new habitat. it really is best for the tang to remove it as soon as you can. that fish needs a 6' tank.

even though the food is eaten, it's still in the tank. it will not exit the tank on it's own. you'll have to remove it manually. water changes, protein skimming, macro algae...etc.

 

[kemerick]

Thanks for the info, I appreciate the help.

 

[Smitty]

Just as a second voice I do also want to recommend removal of the tang. They like to swim a lot and if they don't have the opportunity they can get some kind of illness, especially Ich that can then spread to others.

Removing him will help with the bio load as well.

Post of Pics!

 

[kemerick]

I sold the blue tang to the LFS and picked up a sixline wrasse instead. The tang had a lot of personality and we'll miss her. If i ever get a bigger tank I would definitely pick up another blue tang. Hopefully, the sixline will be interesting to watch once we add him to the tank and he gets use to his new surroundings.

 

[austinsdad]

I'd also cut the feedings back to once daily. Those fish can even eat once every other day from time to time. Try it. I've had tangs, clowns, gobies, blennies, starfish, crabs, and snails that I've left town for anywhere between 3 and 7 days. All were fine.

The sleeper head though, may require special feeding more often. Good luck with that, since their "special" feeding needs very often mean they don't survive long. Mine never ate foolds offered to the others. Good luck with him.
FantasyReef Databases-Viewing item "Yellow Head Sleeper Goby/Gold Head Sleeper Goby"

 

[kemerick]

I've had the goby for about 3 weeks and he seems to be doing good. At feeding time he'll eat the flakes or brine shrimp that float by him. The rest of the day he usually keeps himself busy with filtering the sand bed for food. The only issue I have with him is when he picks up a mouth full of sand and then floats toward the front of the tank and dumps it there. He makes the sand bed very uneven. He's fun to watch though.

 

[melosu58]

Welcome aboard.

 

[cmor1701d]