SmMarSysMaintFAQs

FAQs about Small Marine System Maintenance 1

Small volumes are no place for large anemone species. Heteractis crispa (Ehrenberg 1834), the Leathery or Sebae Sea Anemone.


Small Marine Aquariums Book 1: Invertebrates, Algae New Print and eBook on Amazon: by Robert (Bob) Fenner	Small Marine Aquariums Book 2: Fishes New Print and eBook on Amazon: by Robert (Bob) Fenner	Small Marine Aquariums Book 3: Systems New Print and eBook on Amazon: by Robert (Bob) Fenner

Algae and compatibility Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 Hi crew. I first must thank you for an awesome web site. First off my sand bed always gets thick growths of a greenish/reddish algae and the glass gets covered with green algae. Some red coralline algae grows on the glass very slowly but I'm pretty sure that it is a good indicator that this "good" algae is starting to thrive. How could I control/exterminate the bad algae. Also, it is a 29 gallon with a yellow tang, a domino damsel and some hermits crabs. <You don't mention the use of a wet/dry filter or skimmer. Are you employing any of these?> It also has a bunch of rock. Some live some not. On the newly added not live rock a lot a green hair-like algae is growing. Is this just because it is newly added and it is kind of cycling in a sense? <No, the algae is growing because of excess nutrients. A yellow tang (how large) and a domino will all outgrow that tank very shortly and add more organic waste to the system.> Also, are there any saltwater eels that would be suitable for my size tank.<You are at your limit right now. If anything, I would trade both the tang and the domino in for a couple different gobies and two percula clowns and a lawnmower blenny to help out with the algae problem. This will also create more diversity and still have the color in the tank. James (Salty Dog)> If I got an eel I would trade-in my damsel and tang because I know they could become possible snacks. That's about it for now. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Sincerely, Aaron

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. 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? 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. 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). 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. 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. 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: 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<<<

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)? <> 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

A Few Questions (He Says..) >I have a few Questions that I could not find the answers to in the FAQ's. >>Ok, this explains why I'm reading this.. ;) >I set up a 7 gallon "nano" about 13 months ago. I found you guys 3 months later. Thanks to you I Upgraded my lighting to a 32watt PC light, found the importance of water changes, and have been able to have a pretty good survivability rate. In my 7 gallon for 12 months I have successfully kept 1 very large 12" diameter anemone. It's by far the center piece of my tank. >>Oh my, this news makes me rather uncomfortable, as the anemones I can think of that reach that size get MUCH larger, and should be being housed by themselves. However, let's deal with the situation at hand. >I had it under an 11 watt lamp for about 6 weeks before I found you guys and upgraded the lighting. >>The anemone thanks us all.. I do hope that you know what species you're keeping and its requirements. I also hope you're feeding it. >Now for the last 12 months he has been great, other livestock is as follows, 3 small clowns, 2 rocks with Ricordea mushrooms, a 5" tall, with 7" diameter crown toadstool leather, assorted hermits and snails. >>Oh my.. know that the fish will need culling when they begin growing. Expect this to be necessary when two of the three begin showing aggression towards the third. >Again this is a 7 gallon bow front, 32 watt SmartLight, Emperor 280 filter, no skimmer, but I do water changes about every 10 days to 2 weeks. >>My friend, with what you have going, this system would be doing better to have at LEAST weekly water changes, if not actually every three to five days. >I actually had a mandarin in this tank that I got to finally eat flake food, he lived 10 months, only to jump out of the tank and I found him on the floor dead when I woke up in the morning. I was devastated that I had a mandarin fat from brine and flake die because he jumped out. >>Don't let it upset you too much, his nutrition would have ensured an early death from poor nutrition, which may ultimately be far more difficult to watch. Please research brine shrimp, it is the "Pringles" of the aquatic world and is quite nutritionally deficit. Mandarins are really only suited for LARGE systems, holding on the order of 100lbs.+. They require a real variety of microfaunal life, as well. >Anyway, I received a 35 gallon tank for xmas, I want to upgrade. >>Fantastic! >With all the success I have had with the anemone in the 7 gallon, I am hesitant to take him out, what is the best way to transfer him? Same acclimation as from LFS? >>Yes, same acclimation, assuming you can free it from the 7 gallon. Also, please do some research on anemones, know that they are incredibly long-lived, and one year in captivity is barely a drop in the lifespan bucket. If you wish to move the anemone to the 35 gallon (a good idea - especially if you make the seven gallon a refugium), do be very careful in freeing it from any rock, etc. >I plan on buying either a 150watt Halide set up, or 175 watt. >>Way overkill for a 35 gallon if set too close. Go with the 150 and use a pendant setup that you can set a bit further away, and lower as necessary. However, I feel that power compact fluorescents would be suitable in such a setup as well. >I currently have 2 32watt SmartLamp Powercompacts with dual 10k and actinic lights. Should I use these as well as the halides? or should I not get the halides, and buy a PC Quad? I think 96 watt to go with the two 32 watt PC's I already have... >>Personally, I like this second option best. Much less chance of overheating and burning animals in my opinion. >Cost is about the same either way. Also I have 2 Emperor 280 filters, should I use both or just one? >>If that's the only filtration you can achieve, use both. Consider setting up that 7 gallon as a 'fuge! >And between a BakPak 2. and a Prism skimmer which Hang On model is best? >>CPR ALL THE WAY, BABY! Don't even waste your time or money on the Prizm, too many folks have communicated their dissatisfaction with this device. >sorry for all the questions but I figured one long one was better than 4-5 shorties. >>Heh.. ok. No worries, mate. >One last question, How long should I let the new tank "cure" before adding my livestock? I figured I would put the lights, sand 4" sand bed activated with my current sand, and a filter then skimmer to start. I was figuring 3-4 weeks? Oh at any given time when I feed I can find in excess of 25 small to quite large 1/4" bristle worms. >>These animals are necessary to handle excess detritus and food. If you don't want them, you'll have to address these issues with better filtration and more frequent water changes. As for "curing", this is done with live rock. If you mean "cycling", then set up you tank as you outlined, then take a small bit of raw shrimp, fish, krill, or similar, put it in a piece of old nylon hosiery, set it in the tank and let it rot. Then, start testing for ammonia. Once that goes up, add tests for nitrite, when that goes up start adding the tests for nitrate. Once ammonia (first to drop) and nitrite (second to drop) hit zero, you know you've got a cycled tank. >They don't seem to be harming anything, but there are a bunch in such a small system, When I pull out the live rock 10lbs or so, should I try and catch the larger ones? or just let them be? >>I would let them be and understand why they're present. >is there a natural predator I can buy to keep the numbers down? >>Yes, but you don't really want this animal in a reef tank, especially a nano (35 is still considered "nano" in many circles). >thanks again... sorry about the size of this letter. Aaron >>You're welcome, and no worries. Please, find out what kind of anemone you have so we can ensure you have it for many, many, MANY years to come. Marina

Feeding a Nano reef - 2/9/04 Hello crew! Thanks so much for your helpful site. <Thanks for being part of it> I have a 12g salt nano and having a hard time deciding how much: Iodine Strontium & Molybdenum Calcium to add. <Well, I will tell you what, the best way to add these supplements in such a small tank is to do weekly water changes, if not twice a week. Do you test for these? The rule of thumb is if you don't test for it don't add it. Words I live by> I have some yellow polyps, trumpet coral and a xenia. I have one clown fish as well. <this is almost too small for most clowns but....I digress. It can be done.> Water condition tests fine, but I can't find on my products how much to add for such a small tank. <Water changes are the best way to replenish lost minerals See here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/calcalkmar.htm http://www.wetwebmedia.com/suppleme.htm http://www.wetwebmedia.com/watrqualmar.htm> The trumpet coral is looking a little ill. <Lots of reasons for this. Without more specifics, it would be hard to diagnose> I have the Kent Marine Reef Starter Kit with the above solutions. And should I add any other food besides the solutions (for the corals)? <Yellow polyps (Parazoanthus) and the Trumpet coral (Caulastrea) should be fed small mysids, small krill, baby brine (nauplii), zooplankton, and other meaty matter in that size range.> Any guidelines for me? <Hope the above helps ~Paul> Thanks so much, Steve HJ

Nano- No-No? Dear Whomever can help me :), <Scott F. the "Whomever" today!> First off, I'd like to say that I love the site. Very informative and helpful, especially for a beginner like myself. <Glad that you find it helpful! We're proud and pleased to be able to bring it to you every day!> I started a 15 gal reef tank about 2 months ago. I was originally going to use this, with high W/gal lighting, as a prop tank for coral. So, I originally got a 2x65W PC coral life fixture. Of course, I didn't know a ton about salt tanks at the time (which is why I started with a 15) but have been doing a lot of research before and since I got it started. <That's all good!> I started cycling the tank with a yellow tail, a Chromis, and a few small pieces of live rock. After about a month, I threw in my star polyp rock and small branch coral that I'd been storing in my girl friends tank. <Thank goodness for understanding girlfriends, huh?> Everything looked good and I'd never seen my branch coral so big until about a week or so later when I had a spike in nitrates & nitrites and lost my Chromis and noticed both coral not looking good like they did before. <Yikes!> I then did a 30% (or so) water change, and everything's been fine since w/ water quality. Every time I test everything looks good. I tested last night and read PH ~ 8.3, ammonia 0, nitrites 0, nitrates 0. I keep it about 78degF, w/ SG of ~ 1.023. I now have a (2") cleaner shrimp, about 10 very small blue leg crabs, 2 ( 3/4 - 1" ) turbo snails, 3 other small 'flat shelled' snails, 1 Neon Goby, 1 (1") 3 Striped Damsel, 1 (1") Sergeant Damsel, 1 (3/4")Domino Damsel, 1 (1") Yellowtail damsel. <I'd avoid any more fish additions to this tank for now. You're right on the edge with this population> I've had most of this for a couple weeks now. I also have the same small rock with star polyps on it, the same small branch coral, and recently purchased a yellow leather coral. I also have a few inches of live sand, about 8lbs live rock and am using a Penguin Mini, wet/dry filter. The filter is supposed to be rated for at least 15gal, (20gal, If I remember correctly). I do have quite a bit of algae growing on glass and what not. <Do use aggressive, regular water changes and liberal use of chemical filtration media (activated carbon and/or PolyFilter) to help keep things clean. A small water volume with a heavy population is a real challenge> My problem is this: Every morning my tank looks great, clean, and healthy, besides the coral still being somewhat asleep. When I get home from work the water looks all cloudy and I can see a somewhat powdery substance floating on the top (orange\brownish mix in color). The first time I noticed this I tried another 20% or so water change. It looked fine until the next day when I got home from work. Again, it's cloudy with this powdery looking stuff on the surface, and since this has been happening my coral aren't looking great. <Sounds to me to be a combination of things, such as semi-dissolved organics, possible slime from the inverts, etc. A protein skimmer, more active water movement, and a more powerful mechanical filter would all help here> Most days my branch coral extends about half way out, and every once in a while my star polyps come out a couple at a time, but not like they used to, and not all at one time. Thinking the problem might be too much light, because I read to use 2-6W/gal for soft coral, I traded my 130W PC for my girlfriends 96W PC hoping this would solve the problem (good trade for her - 30gal). My W/gal is still a tad over 6, but I reduced it from about 8.7. All fish seem healthy, it's the coral I'm more worried about and, of course, it's not as pretty to look at when it's all cloudy. I try not to overfeed ( btw, I use flake food if that helps at all ) and again, my water tested out okay... so, I'm stumped. What could be the problem? <As I mentioned above, I think your problem is too much in too small a system. I'd "beef up" the filtration capabilities of this system, with particular emphasis on protein skimming. I'll bet you'll see a very positive improvement in water quality and animal response once you get some good skimming going there!> Oh, one more question. I bought the branch coral grown onto the inside of a small shell which is just slightly larger than the base of the coral. What's the best way to get him grown onto a rock? <Unfortunately, the term "branch coral" can apply to a number of different corals, ranging from Acropora to Sinularia. If it's a hard coral that you're talking about, you can use one of the glues or epoxies made for this purpose. If it is a soft coral, the coral will eventually put down enough tissue to attach itself to rock or substrate, given time and little disturbance> The other animals in the tank always knock him off the rocks that I place him. I've tried just lapping a rock over the edge of the shell he's on, so hopefully with time, he'll grow onto the rock as well.? Is there a better way? <As above> Thanks so much, Josh <Well, Josh- with a few modifications and a little time, things should work out well! Good luck! Regards, Scott F>

Nano reef tank - Will it last? Hi WWW crew! <Hello. I think you mean "WWM" rather than "WWW" :) > Love this site! It's da bomb! I wrote in earlier about clownfish sucking anemone behaviour. They're still sucking and I'm cool with that. Just thought you'd like to know... <Thank you for the great comments and the update on your clownfish behaviour!> I've read and heard a lot about micro systems, and the general consensus seems to be "the bigger the better". My mini system is a year old and everything I bought when I first got it is still alive (good sign?). <Very good sign.> I don't have the space for a big set-up, so this is the best I can do. I do small water changes consistently (every 2 weeks, 10%) as I don't have space for a skimmer. I use distilled and/or rainwater, bubbled and aged for at least a week. I test and document my water parameters at each water change and it's been consistent for at least 6 months. There's a healthy population of copepods and some long greenish hairy algae (looks like ferns) which the turbo snail grazes on. I feed my rose anemone a mix of finely minced shrimp, clams and Mysis (twice a wk), clowns and shrimps get Mysis and pellet food (small amts daily), filter feeders get DT live plankton every other day and I stir up gravel bed twice a week as well. What's the long-term outlook on my tank? Is it doomed to fail? <Your long term outlook looks like it's going to be great.> Must I go bigger or lose Rosie, Fanny & Grumps? <No need to go bigger if you don't have the room.> It's a space and mobility issue, not cost and time. I'm OK with an anemone/clownfish only tank, but I'm worried that Rosie will grow so big I have to get a bigger set-up or give her up. She's gorgeous, I love her! Tell me I can keep her! Here are the numbers: Tank specs: 30 litre tank (7 gallons), 10lbs live rock, 2 inch thick live sand bed, mini PC white/blue light with reflector (on timer for 12 hours a day), overhead filter with submerged powerhead and another small powerhead (3W) for current/ water flow. Water parameters: SG 1.022, temp 25 deg / 77 f, Nitrites 0, Ammonia 0 and ph 8.2 Livestock: 1 rose anemone (Rosie), 2 ocellaris clowns (Fanny & Grumps), 1 small purple star polyps (spreading steadily), 1 small blue sponge, 1 small pink Dendronephthya, 1 blue pepper sea fan, few mushrooms, 1 feather duster worm, 1 marble shrimp, 1 cleaner shrimp, 2 sexy shrimp and 1 turbo snail (See attached file: anemone.jpg) <One sentence of advice: If it isn't broke, don't fix it :) Your tank sounds like it's going on very nicely and there's no reason to try to improve something if it's already doing fine for a year. I'm sure if you continue to take good care if the tank it'll be still going on strong 5 years from now.> Cheers, Yvette :) <Take Care, Graham.>

Question on Future Direction 3/13/04 Greetings Crew, <Hi Tom!> I started my first marine tank about two months ago. It's a 20 gallon (24x12x16h). Right now, the tank has completed cycling. Specific gravity is 1.022, ammonia 0, nitrites 0, nitrates ~2, pH 8.0, temp 78?F. <If you are planning on keeping invertebrates, I would strongly recommend raising your SG to 1.025 and add alkalinity and calcium to your testing regime.> The tank is stocked with about 5 pounds of live rock with nice coralline growth, some interesting plant-like algal growths, small tube worms, etc. The substrate is about 2.5 inches of crushed coral. Right now I am running a penguin 175 bio wheel filter. I do weekly 10% water changes using treated tap water. I am aware of the eventual need for a protein skimmer, but as the tank is stocked now, it is unnecessary. <If you are going to add rock in the future, it must be completely cured (don't trust your vendor for this task). This makes future additions of rock quite a chore. Adding another 10 or so lbs. now along with replacing the bio-wheel with a skimmer will likely save you a lot of headaches down the road. The bio-wheel will tend to encourage the accumulation of nitrate.> I have in there two Nassarius snails, two Nerites, and one Mexican turbo. I have two damsels- a blue devil and a yellowtail. They "play" rough sometimes, but they are happy and in good health. I have also noticed a healthy and burgeoning population of amphipods and much smaller copepods. <Sounds great!> Essentially I do not so much have a question as I am looking for advice. I have read the postings on your site at length, I promise. Because of this, I don't know where to go from here- it is all so overwhelming. I feel over-educated if that is possible. I am worrying about problems that I am far from even being able to come across. <Something we have all gone through. There are so many choices that it becomes overwhelming trying to make decisions. Be careful of getting caught in the plan of "I know I need this eventually, but I can get away without it for now". Equipment and rock is expensive, but doing it right up front will pay for itself in fewer animal losses and heartache.> Basically, I am looking to have some type of reef tank eventually, with fish and corals, but I'm in no rush. I know lighting is a major issue, and protein skimming, and that I will need a lot more live rock... But if you could perhaps suggest some good beginning corals that I could do some more of my own research on, and a beginning lighting set up, that would be great. Also, I am interested in a Royal Gramma. If he had enough places to hide, could he get along with the Damsels, which don't seem overly aggressive? Also, could you suggest fish that could go with my proposed trio? I would not go with more than four of any fish. Thank you very much. Tom <A royal Gramma is iffy in your tank. It is a bit small, and if harassed by the damsels, there is a high risk of it jumping. For smaller tanks, it is best to stick with fish that aren't open water swimmers... Think gobies and blennies, but please do avoid the very problematic mandarins and "scooter blennies". The smallest of the pygmy angels would probably do OK also. Best regards! Adam.>

Small Tank Husbandry Hi There, <Hi there! Scott F. with you today!> As you might aware, I've been bugging you a lot lately... Thanks for everything :) <Not bugging us at all! That's what we are here for!> Scenario: 14.5 gallon tank (24x12x12 inches) 2 ocellaris clown (1.5 inches) 1 blue streak damsel (1 inches) 1 coral banded shrimp 1 anemone (soon to be deported) Virtually no life rock (2 pounds for decorative purposes) 1 inch crush coral substrate 36 W PC fluorescent (10000K/actinic 50/50 tube) Counter current skimmer (I can't remember the specification, but it is the tallest that I can fit in this tank) 1000 L/h external canister filter with Chemi Pure, activated carbon, bio ceramics It seems that the longer I stay in this hobby the more I know that I am lacking :p <We're all still learning!> ... I'd like to improve my current system to be a happier place for my livestock. Here are the questions: 1. Is my tank overcrowded? <Well, I'd say that you are at the tank's stocking limit. I'd avoid adding any more livestock at this point> 2. Though they appear happy currently, I'd like to increase my live rocks to 19.5 pounds. Is it too much? Too little? How much would you recommend? <Well, in a tank of about 15 gallons volume, you're going to be displacing valuable water with the addition of more live rock, And, higher water volume makes maintenance and husbandry easier for you. Unless you are building a refugium or sump, which increases water volume, I'd avoid any more live rock> 3. I vacuum the substrate at least once weekly. Is it sufficient? <Sure. But don't over-do it. Heavy siphoning can disrupt the very processes that you are trying to foster. Just siphon the top 1/4 inch or so> 4. I've read that crushed coral substrate are able to trap junk and create nitrate problem. Would my maintenance enough to prevent this? If not how often should I replace it? With this substrate would I need further calcium supplement? <Well, there is a lot of controversy on substrate size and depth. Conventional wisdom on sand beds suggests that you go with 3 inches or more of fine substrate for denitrification. On the other hand, with careful maintenance, you could have a sustainable sandbed (although not as efficient at denitrification) with this depth. The real "knock" on crushed coral is that it can accumulate detritus if not carefully maintained. Yours seems to be well-maintained. The need for calcium supplementation should be determined by testing> 5. I thought of replacing this substrate to deep sand bed with 3.5 inches of aragonite sand. Is it effective for DSB to work in such a tiny system? If so, is it thick enough? How thick would you recommend? <You hit it on the head! Again, think about water volume lost in this system if you go with a deep sand bed. Another one of the reasons why I think smaller tanks are a real challenge to maintain> 6. I've read that partial life sand seeding can eventually turn the whole substrate to live sand. If I were to place life rock on top of ordinary sand, or even without life rock, will ordinary sand eventually turn into live sand? <Absolutely!> Does DSB need to be built by live sand for it to be functional at all? <Nope- you can use inert sand, and "seed it" with a cup of live sand> 7. How can we tell that whether aragonite sand in LFS is really aragonite and not silicate when buying them? <Buy an established brand, such as CaribSea, which will clearly state that the product is aragonite-based on the label> 8. With my current lighting, what corals would you recommend? Will changing 50/50 tube to pure 6500K or 10000K tube improve photosynthesis? <Well, I'd stay with smaller, less demanding animals. Zoanthids or Corallimorphs would be good. Remember my caveat about additional bioload, though> 9. My skimmer isn't producing any "coloured" stuffs. Does it mean that it is not working? Or it is due to the low bio load, small tank size, or Chemi Pure? <It really needs to be adjusted until it produces dark, yucky skimmate. Even a well established, nutrient poor system should yield skimmate if the skimmer is well-adjusted> 10. Is the filter flow enough? <For the animals that you are maintaining, it seems okay. Monitor carefully and adjust if needed> 11. What is your opinion of Chemi Pure? About it's claim that it can keep nitrates low for 6 months and can do without water change for FIVE YEARS? <It's a good product. I don't like the "no water change" claim, though. Kind of crazy!> 12.With my tank size, would 20% fortnightly water change be enough to replenish the trace elements? <Yep. I'd consider smaller, more frequent changes (5% of tank volume twice weekly) to ensure maximum stability> I realize that this is a lot of question... Thanks again... Wid <My pleasure! Good luck! Regards, Scott F>

Pushing the Envelope Hello all! <Hello! Ryan with you> I hope life is treating you very well and you have a full belly. lol ;) Well, I have a few questions, but first I have to show you a picture of my new flower. Love and adoration! <Superb!> Okay on to the business... I have setup an 11 gallon ViaAqua (nice little tank) for an upcoming show. <Cool> It has live sand, cured rock (100%), creatures, and a hang on the back refugium. In another week or so I want to get some fish. This is only a temporary nano tank and I will most likely return or give away the fish. <OK> Here's the thing, I plan on buying some 1 inch long hippo tang(s), a Desjardinii tang, and a one or two tiny baby box fish (yellow w/ black spots, not that that helps). What would I feed these guys? <The tangs will require live macro algae for proper development at this stage, as well as some high quality flake soaked in Selcon. The Boxfish will require foods similar to that of the puffer family.> Do they need different food since they are juveniles or live food? <Just more frequent light feedings...smaller fish need to be fed more often> I have these foods available: Spirulina, Cyclop-eeze, pellet, BioPlankton, Formula one brine shrimp, formula one red food (ha! forgot the name), and blood worms. I can also make baby brine. <All good, just add some live Gracilaria> Since they are babies would I have to worry about the Sailfin and the hippo tangs fighting? <Yes, probably> Do you think ich will be a problem? <Almost certainly if no quarantine is used. Here's the catch 22: By the time any of these fish are done with a 6 week quarantine period, they will have certainly outgrown an 11 gallon nano. There are much more appropriate selections available- Perhaps a pair of Shrimp Gobies with a few pistol shrimp?> I really would like to get them, but I want to be sure I can provide for their needs. Can you recommend any good articles? BTW, I have 2 other 6+ yrs est. tanks and I passed the one yr anniversary on my flame scallop. heehee <Glad to hear> Thanks so much for your help! Love you guys, take care, Morgan Mok

The dreaded nano-reef - a challenge! 4/20/04 hi crew, <howdy> I have a nano 12 gallon reef and has been going well for the past 5-6 months. <with all due respect my friend... 5-6 months is not any real test of time. Some animals are hardy enough to hang in for some months before showing signs of stress/death, etc> I added corals over time and they seemed to be doing well. <Hmmm... do be careful of unnatural mixes or keeping more than just a couple of similar animals in a tank this small. Most all corals can easily outgrow 12 gallons of water in mere months. The mixing of multiple species in such aquaria requires extraordinary husbandry (large weekly water changes, heavy chemical filtration, etc> Recently, about 3 weeks ago, I added a red open brain and shortly after, <this is a deep water, low light species that must be kept on a deep sand bottom or it will perish in time. It also is an extremely "hungry" coral that needs fed minced meaty foods several times weekly. A great burden on such a small tank> noticed some of my xenias are not acting so well and eventually all of them died (sob), a total of 4 stems, each about 2 inches. 2 nights ago, I added some brown button polyps and saw that the brain looked like it got clipped on a side (rest of sides are fleshy) and I resituated him to another place because I noticed a Condy anemone very close by. <ughh... please stop right there. Seriously. An Atlantic anemone with pacific corals is rough. The fact that any anemone is in this tank so small with the risk of moving and stinging other cnidarians really is a recipe for disaster in the long run. Before you buy another creature, please do read/research more here about suitable tank mates, husbandry, etc.> Next day, my brain looked like it got fried for some reason and all the flesh melted! and they stank! I'm really concerned now that my tank may be poisoned. <a few large water changes take care of this> All params are ok -ph 8.2, zero ammonia, zero nitrite, 10ml nitrate but I don't have a reading for calcium since I don't have a kit. <no worries... weekly water changes (50%) should negate this concern> I do add liquid calcium once every 2 days (2-3 drops each time). <liquid calcium is a temporary calcium and not be used long term for fear of skewing the Ca/ALK dynamic with the accumulated Chloride ions from the liquid Calcium> Now my torch coral looks a little messed up too. I have spotted Shrooms, fluorescent Shrooms, Ricordeas, green zoos, torch, hammer, button polyps, red brain, xenias and a Condy anemone. I have moved out the brain to a quarantine tank and its all down to its skeleton and I'm really in need to advice here. Hope the info is sufficient for some good advice. Thanks in advance. <nano-tanks are a great challenge and your problems in this tank are tough to address when I'm not sure what kind of husbandry and hardware you have. In such a small reef, it makes a big difference in the advice/opinions shared.. speaking particularly to stocking levels, which at present sound to high (species number, not volume per se). Please do take the time to read more about mini-, micro-nano-reef keeping and more in our archives at wetwebmedia.com Anthony>

Avoiding "Nano-No-No's!" (Maintaining/Stocking A Small Tank) Hi WetWeb, <Hey there Scott F. at your service today!> First of all, your site is awesome. I've learned so much that's helpful from you in the last two months. That's when I got a second-hand 16-gallon tank with about 20 lbs of live rock and live sand. The lighting is power compact, 40 watt, 10,000k. No skimmer. I've been doing 10 percent water changes weekly, though have been told recently to up that to about 30 percent (yes?). <I am a water change fanatic (at least according to my friends), but even I only do 10% a week. Although there is nothing wrong with establishing a good water change routine, you don't want to overburden yourself or traumatize the life forms with constant large water changes. I like 2 5% changes a week> I've been adding livestock very slowly and right now have a Dottyback, a clam, mushrooms, polyp fragments, a leather, a couple hermit crabs, etc. Here are my questions. First, should I get a skimmer? I'm been reading your site, and am considering an Aqua-c, but am worried that it will be too powerful for my tank in terms of water flow, and also taking nutrients out. Should I go ahead and get one and just run it part-time, consider something else, or keep on with the water changes only? I've read all of your skimmer responses have ended up a bit confused about this. <I would not hesitate to add a skimmer. You run little risk of depleting trace elements or desired compounds from the water. With continuous replenishment from our dedicated water change schedule, you probably won't even need to use the "additives" that everyone loves to buy! A protein skimmer is an absolute must, IMO> Next, is my lighting ok for my little clam, and in general, for getting other soft corals like xenia and bubble coral? <Marginal for the clam, but okay for some of these less-demanding (from a light standpoint) coral. I would not mix Xenia and Bubble Coral in a small water volume like this, myself though> My LFS said xenia needed metal halide lighting, but on a site, someone keeping xenia was doing fine with a power compact. <PC is fine for Xenia, trust me> I don't think I can spring for metal halide lighting, but if my lighting is insufficient, should I get more powerful bulbs? <Well, when you reach the point were you are considering a $300 lighting system for a $100 tank setup, it's time to shop for a larger tank! You've been "infected" by the hobby at that point, and the only cure is to move up! LOL> I'd like to get a couple small shrimp, but am also concerned about changes in my salinity. I try to keep things around 1.023 and 1.024, (is this right?) and was pretty successful. Then I read I should take the cover off my tank to improve my lighting, but evaporation is now more of a problem and the salinity goes up more than I'd like. <Yep, in a small ("nano") tank like yours, the difficulties of maintaining stability are magnified. It's not impossible by any stretch, it's just that things can happen pretty quickly in a small volume of water. You have to remain especially vigilant to water quality and evaporation in such a system.> Is there anything I can do about this? <Top off the system daily to maintain stability. Some people even design and build automated top off systems for their tanks. These things scare the hell out of me, but I envy them for not having to constantly reach for a pitcher of water for top off > Also is this the right salinity for a shrimp? And if so, what kind of shrimp do you suggest for my tank size etc. (Someone suggested cleaner shrimp)? <Your specific gravity is fine for shrimp. I'd go with one of the many small "cleaner" varieties available. Do a little research on the WWM site for candidates, or get a copy of Bob and Anthony's "Reef Invertebrates" book for a thorough treatment on these cool creatures!> Also, for fish, I plan to add just one or two more. I'd like a mandarin, but again have gotten conflicting info. At one LFS, I was told it would do fine, even with a Dottyback, at the other, I was told a mandarin would starve because the Dottyback would get all of its food. Can I get a mandarin? <I would avoid this fish for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that the fish can be difficult to feed, particularly in a newly established system. Plus, you don't want to over tax a small tank with too much bioload. How about a small, colorful goby or blenny? Plenty of cool ones to choose from> Also, after that, if I have room, I'd like to possibly get a small clown or a Chromis. Would it or the clown have territory issues with the Dottyback? <Please refrain from adding more fishes after the goby. Understanding the limits on small tanks is part of the challenge and art of keeping them. In fact, even in 300 gallon tanks you need this wired. You need to have the discipline of when to say when with this hobby, but this is imperative with small tanks like yours. Enjoy the animals that you've already assembled at that point, and consider a larger tank when you want to expand. The patience will serve you well, trust me.> Would either stay small enough for my tank? <Nope. See my rant above!> Last question (for now), someone locally is breaking down is 100 gallon reef tank and I can possibly pick up some livestock, but the tank has been a bit neglected. Should I go ahead? What should I keep an eye out for? <Well, much to review, including the quality an condition of the animals and equipment. Obviously, as mentioned above, you need to have the room for the animals, and the ability to maintain the ones that are available. It can be a good deal, but I'd do some homework first to see if what you would get is viable, within your means to keep, and healthy. Sometimes, the reason why these systems are available is because the guy selling them made bad equipment/livestock choices, and is now paying the price. Don't take on someone else's burden, if this is the case...> Thanks so much for your help. <My pleasure! Good luck! Regards, Scott F>

Avoiding Nano No-Nos (Cont'd.) Hi, <Hello again!> Thanks for answering all of my questions. I will definitely avoid getting a mandarin and just add one more fish, either a blenny or a goby to my tank. <Good choices!> I have a couple of follow-up questions. You mentioned that my lighting for my clam is marginal. What can I do to keep him healthy? I think he's a little maxima about 1 1/2 to 2 inches. I thought I'd move him higher up, but he's so tightly attached to a rock at the bottom of my tank that I'm afraid I'll hurt him if I try to get him off (my tank is a 20 inch cube). <I'd try to move the rock higher, or possibly chip away at the rock (a respectable distance from the clam, of course) to get it closer to the light> Also, just for information's sake, why wouldn't you keep both a Xenia and a Bubble Coral in the same tank? How about if they're both small and not near each other? Thanks again. <Well, these corals (Bubble Corals, Plerogyra) put out very long stinging tentacles, which can damage your other, more "docile" corals, such as Xenia. In the confines of a small tank, this has the potential to be a serious problem over time. At the very least, keep an eye on things. Regards, Scott F.>

Cramo another nano 4/28/04 Hi Anthony! Thanks so much for all the help. <always welcome> I went to our LFS last weekend and they didn't have any button polyps and mushrooms. Majority I found were hammer and anchor corals, bubble corals, and flowerpot corals. <all but the last one are hardy... can be> I didn't buy anything yet. I might be considering the hammer coral, as flowerpots are not easy to maintain, bubbles get too big, <all of the Euphyllias get to big> as also my tank is only a 10 gallon nano-tank. <Yikes! None of the above please my friend. You need species that you can prune easily in such a small tank> My tank is a 10 gallon, with 3 inch sand bed, around 7 to 10 pounds of live rock, with 1 powerhead and a skimmer which I don't know if its working (I'm doing 20% water change 2x a week, don't know if this is the reason). <the skimmer is not working for other reasons, likely design flaw. A SeaClone or a Prism?> The live rocks have many feather dusters, and the main rock has 3 green long strings sticking out, with the tips looking like 2 leaves joined together. My fishes (2 false Percs and 1 black Sumatra saddleback - the sebae succumbed to the ich) are currently in my QT tank, on their 3rd week. They won the ich bout, but I'm still observing. I haven't seen them fighting, maybe because they are still juveniles, especially the saddleback). Thanks again ! Romel <for long-term success in a non-reef (how I dread these), please do limit yourself to one species or only one similar and compatible genera. Too many people simply watch frags kill and overgrow each other when poorly mixed in small tanks. Make the tank a theme or biotope my friend and you will enjoy far greater success. Anthony>

Holding on a thread...HELP 5/26/04 Hello there!!! I hope you guys can help me on some issues that I have with my mini reef tank (10 gallon). <Me too!> In the tank, I have a Torch Coral, a Frogspawn Coral, a Ricordea mushroom, a button polyp colony, 2 feather dusters, 1 cleaner shrimp, 1 Firefish goby, 4 Nerites snails and 3 Astrea snails. <Sounds like a good bit for 10 gallons, but not ridiculous.> For the substrate, I have 1 inch of fine crushed coral and 20 lbs of live rock. I have a Penguin Bio Wheel 125 HOB filter for chemical filtration and a Berlin Airlift 60 as my skimmer (rated for 60 gallons). <The Bio Wheel is probably not helping you much (except for some water movement). I would consider removing it (or at least the wheel). Also, 1" of substrate, unless it is sugar fine, is probably not contributing much biological filtration. Do consider a finer substrate or aggressively vacuuming the substrate you have to avoid detritus build up. When it comes to substrates, think very fine (sugar fine/oolitic) or very coarse (3-5mm and up) sizes in between do not support much life.> My water parameters are as follow: PH - 8.2 - 8.3, Ammonia - 0, Nitrite - 0, Nitrate - around 10ppm, calcium - around 390-410, KH - 10, Salinity - 1.24 to 1.25, and temp - 81 (all test done with Salifert and refractometer). <All sounds OK, but I hope the salinity is 1.024-1.025! Your BioWheel is probably contributing to your nitrates.> Oh, and my tank has been up and running for almost a year now. My issue has been with algae and Cyanobacteria. I recently had a very very little outbreak of red slime algae (Cyano, actually thought it was coralline algae growing) but most of it was consumed by my snails and I also think with the help of a chemical called "Chem-Clean" by Boyd Enterprises (used it only once). However, I am still battling turf algae (hair algae?) growing on my live rocks. <Based on your substrate and the nitrate accumulation from the bio-wheel, I would guess that you have some easily rectified nutrient accumulation. I always warn against chemical solutions to these kind of problems... It is always best to solve it at the source, in this case the nutrients.> I have done everything that you guys have mentioned on WWM. I understand that nutrients, phosphate, and lights are the main factor for algae growth. However, I feel that I have done almost everything to my best but still having problems. I am on the brink of giving up this hobby but I have spent so much and I don't want to just give up. Although, It is very discouraging when something is worked at with so much dedication yet, the results are still ugly. Here is what I do: I feed very sparingly to only ONE fish and the cleaner shrimp (once a day or even maybe once every other day), lights are on for 10 hours a day (spectrums are 7100k white, and 12000k blue, fairly new lights), skimmer on 24/7 (dark skimmate produced), 10% to even 20% water changes TWO times WEEKLY on a consistent basis with RO/DI water using IO salt, adequate water flow (2 Rio 400 pumps causing wave like action and havoc in the tank with no dead spots), I suck out detritus with a turkey baster as soon as I see them on the floor or floating around, I change the filter cartridge on the penguin filter every 3-4 weeks as recommended, every night I wipe down the salt splash on the covering of my PC lights, I add top off water every night with RO/DI water buffered with Kent super buffer DKH to 10kh to my tank, and my calcium levels are maintained with SeaChem's Reef Complete (only additive added to tank). <Filters like your Biowheel should be cleaned every 3-4 days rather than every 3-4 weeks. In this case, I would either eliminate it or remove all of the filter cartridges/BioWheel and use it only for current or occasional activated carbon. These kinds of filters are notorious sources of nitrate, especially when infrequently cleaned.> I just don't get it. I researched all over the internet and I see some nice reef tanks that are setup without any algae problems whatsoever (nice clear crisp water, clean glass and nice coralline algae growth instead of nuisance algae like mines). Every time I look at those tanks on the web, I tend to go straight to their water parameters and maintenance routines and ponder to myself, what are they doing that I am not. Furthermore, all of their tanks are zero in nitrates. <Do any of them use bio wheels? I would bet not. Your maintenance routine is amazing (other than the bio wheel). The problem is that algae require only trace amounts of phosphate and nitrate to grow, and the stuff trapped in the bio wheel and your sand are supplying plenty.> I have done so much but still have nitrates and I believe that I am doing the same exact maintenance as they are. Maybe if I can get my nitrates down, then my algae will go away (this is the only source of algae growth I can think of). At first, algae wasn't a big deal to me, but now, it is because I see little colonies of turf algae growing on one of the branches of my frogspawn coral. Soon it will overtake this coral and I will give up this hobby because I have tried everything there is and now I am bummed out. I want to enjoy looking at my tank more rather than working on it. Please help me with my algae woes and if you have any tips, please let me in on it. <I think you can tell that I am anti-BioWheel! I would also suggest that your replace your sand with either 3" minimum of very fine grained sand, 1/2" or less of coarse crushed coral or eliminate sand all together. If you choose to go bare bottom or with coarse substrate, you should be able to remove lots of detritus with your water changes. Please hang in there! It may take a couple of months to turn things around, but with your aggressive water change schedule and eliminating sources of nitrate, you will eventually win. Best Regards. Adam>

How do I top off water in my Nano Reef? Hi Crew, << Hi there >> I have a 10 gallon saltwater tank. I replace 1 gallon every week. Since the weather has heated up the tank temperature started climbing into the low 80's so I got a small fan which keeps it around 78. But now I get a lot of evaporation, as much as a gallon a week. So I need to add a gallon of new unsalted water. << Yep, this is very common, just keep adding freshwater (not from the tap, but dechlorinated of course) as needed to keep the tank level filled. >> Do I still need to remove a gallon and replace it since evaporation does not remove any pollutants? << Yes this top off water doesn't count towards the water changes. A 10 gal is very easy for water changes, considering one gallon of freshly mixed salt water is a 10% change. Just be sure to slowly add the new water, make it is well mixed with the correct temperature before hand. >> << Blundell >>

A model mini-reef 8/26/04 Hello to all the fine folks at WWM, you guys are top notch! <thanks kindly... Anthony Calfo in your service> I will try to make this email as concise as possible, as I know you are a busy bunch. So.....I have a 20H reef set-up, with a 2x55 W PC hood (one 50/50, one 12,000K bulb), <very good wattage for this sized tanks... and a good color choice. Most folks make the mistake of using too much blue light> a 10 gallon sump containing a Berlin air lift skimmer (surprisingly efficient, for this set-up at least), power filter with PolyFilter (say that 5 times fast), and a 5 gallon gravity fed fuge. 4 gallons of water are changed weekly, <excellent> and all mechanical media is rinsed in conjunction with H20 changes. <very impressive too> I use distilled water for top-off (buffered), <spot-on> and I dose C-balance as necessary. I dose no trace elements or snake oils, as I have not felt the need to thus far. KH is stable at 10, calcium 350 or so, spg. reads 1.024, temp. fluctuates from 76 to 80 degrees daily (I know, whip out the red flags), and the ph is stable at 8.4. <outstanding overall... but yes, do try to wrangle that temp flux to be tighter> I know the temperature is an issue, as natural reefs vary less than 2 degrees on a yearly basis, so I am coping with that. <yes... or at least that stable temps in aquaria are better husbandry> It may even be the primary cause of the slight issue I am having, but I will let those who know more than I be the judge of that. At any rate, the issue I am facing is little to no appreciable coral growth for the past 6 months or so. Inhabitants are as follows-1 purple frilly gorgonian, one lime green softie from IPSF f (a Neptheid I assume, although I am unsure of it's exact identity...if you wish to venture a guess, please do :)), one small colony of yellow polyps (Parazoanthus, not Tubastrea...just to avoid confusion), and one small rock with 3 green Ricordea polyps (damn these guys grow sloooowly). <yes... they do not feed organismally and as such depend on dissolved organics. Do try to allow some nitrates to linger by heavier indirect feedings (more food to fishes or other corals)> All of the corals "look" healthy, there is indeed great polyp extension and color....no signs of distress. They just don't seem to grow though, and it really baffles me. <arguably the slow growth is a blessing in a tan this small though> The gorgonian does show more growth than the other corals (what?!), since it's propagation 6 months ago it has grown a half inch taller as well as encrusting onto the rock which it lives on (a quarter size patch, neat to look at). It regularly sheds it's mucus coat a few times a month, which I have grown used to now... used to think it was dying! So, all in all, this specimen is on the right path. However, my very beautiful (albeit diminutive in stature) Neptheid seems to have stagnated in the growth department, it just isn't growing anymore. The polyps aren't either, though they are plump and healthy....have even witnessed the on-set of fission, only to see the tiny bud re-absorbed by the parent (points to lack of feeding/lighting, I s'pose). The Ricordea are growing, if you want to call it that...hehe. I know they are notoriously slow growers anyway, so it isn't a huge concern. <correct> So. Is the lighting scheme I have partly to blame? <well... perhaps a warmer spectrum would be better - one daylight lamp and the other no bluer than a 10K bulb. The other issue is lamp life... after 6-10 months, they are weakly effective/useful> I'm beginning to think that I should use a 6700K bulb and a 50/50 bulb, instead of the bluer scheme I have now. <true> That is really all I can think of, as the tank parameters (minus the temp) are acceptable, not to mention stable. <Hmmm... water temps don't bother me either here BTW re: growth... but I wonder if you have enough water flow? It is a far greater influence on coral growth> I'm guessing the PAR reading is not very high, as only 1 of the 4 bulb halves is 10,000K, the other three are all blue lights. I also fear the tank may be a bit too "clean", as in overfiltered. <not really... just underfed perhaps. One of the benefits of having a hearty fish load> I know corals, specifically softies and all the filter feeders, benefit from the presence of some organics in the water (absorption, right?). Could this be an issue? <very much so> It's not like the water is so clean it's devoid of organics completely, it just has a light load. <exactly> The smaller system does not permit me to experiment with organic concentration as freely as a larger system would, for obvious reasons, so I am not sure what to do. <agreed> Maybe I'll yank the PolyFilter for a bit......but the buildup of allelopathic compounds scares me a bit there. <don't reduce filtration aspects like this... instead simply increase food and feeding opportunities. You can even do it in a controlled manner with sodium nitrate solutions that can be added/dosed and tested for to provide a 5-10 ppm constant solution> On a side note, my lamps are a scant 2 inches or so from the surface of the water (yikes?), <very good... the closer the better> so I'm wondering if they are too low to permit proper penetration of the light, but that is just a guess. <on the contrary... with fluorescents, if you are 3" or higher it is a waste/compromise> I really do not have the credentials to even guess with confidence when it comes to lighting analysis! Anyway, sorry if I started rambling a bit toward the end guys. It happens :) Any suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated, and I thank you in advance for your time. This site has proved to be an invaluable resource....Peace. Dave Conners P.S.- Almost forgot my most important query. Could the purple frilly be releasing a lot of toxic compounds into my system? Since it seems to flourish while the others stagnate I was pondering this. <it could very well be an influence particularly in a smaller tank like this... but still may be manageable with your outstanding husbandry and water quality. Few worries here. Do increase water flow and feeding opportunities and give that at least 8 weeks for a chance to make an impact. kindly, Anthony>

- Dosing Kalkwasser in a Small Tank - Sirs/Madams, <Good evening, JasonC here...> Is a 30 gallon reef tank too small to attempt using Kalkwasser? <If not too small, certainly on the small edge of small... I'd be very careful.> I have been using two part Bionic for months with fair success. I have no sump so would have to dose directly into the tank. <If you must, use very small doses, and monitor the pH like a hawk.> Thanks <Cheers, J -- >

- Hair Algae & pH Issues in a Nano - Hi guys & gals! I sure miss chatting with you and answering all of the fun questions that get sent in but now that I've let go of some things my life is much more relaxed so I think I did the right thing. Anyway, I am writing with a purpose. I have a terrible hair algae problem and my PH is slightly low in my nano. The specs on the tank are: 10g, 2x13w PC bulbs (1 actinic) run from about 8am to 5pm (I'm getting a timer soon so I can leave these on longer!), about 15lb LR, 2 small Ocellaris Clowns, 1 small Yellow Watchman Goby, 3 or 4 Cerith Snails, 3 or 4 Nassarius Snails, lots of feather and "coin" Caulerpa, 1 cucumber, Ammonia/Nitrites 0, pH 8.0, Nitrates <5, temp 78, crushed granite substrate approx 1" thick, water changes, 1 gallon every week or two and I use RO water for all water changes. Filtration is a trickle filter that's built into the tank (Via-Aqua) with the round bone looking filter media. I don't have a skimmer because with the style this tank/filter is I can't add one without adding a sump which involves plumbing I'm not ready to do. The first problem is my pH. I'm getting a couple of corals and want to make sure they live but I think my low pH may be a problem here (everything else is thriving!). How can I safely bring this up? <I'd start with baking soda... add a little [1/8 tsp.] to a cup of tank water, then add to the tank and test the pH. Repeat as often as necessary until the pH is in proper range.> I know the granite doesn't provide the buffering that other sands and stuff do and I'd much rather have a DSB but I'm afraid of shocking my tank by removing everything and adding sand. Would I be better to use baking soda or just go ahead and do the sand? The second problem is hair algae. I was told that phosphates can cause hair algae problems so I bought some PhosGuard and have been running that for 4 days. I don't know what my phosphates were when I put this in but they are now 0. Now I'm assuming (and we all know what that does!) that if my phosphates were actually high enough at the start to cause a hair algae problem, they wouldn't have dropped to 0 in just 4 days so this leads me to believe something else is causing the problem. Any suggestions? <Perhaps too many nutrients present, not just phosphate. Likewise, problem algae is almost always an issues in areas of low circulation, so you might want to add a powerhead, give things a scrub and then see where you stand after that.> Thanks in advance for the help! Ronni <Cheers, J -- >

- Ahhh! Confusion! - Hehe. Evening folks :) Alright, here's the deal. I've been reading so much on your site in regards to KH/CA maintenance and trace element dosing, and I feel as though I may be a bit more confused about it all now than before I started my research. I also have a few more questions in regards to the tank, but I'll try and take it easy on ya :). I have had many successful marine tanks in the past, but they have all been seahorse/pipefish tanks, and I've never had to pay attention to some of the more in-depth husbandry techniques that a reef requires. I have a 20 gallon nano reef, which is very young, btw, and I have come up with a regimen that I believe will satisfy this tanks requirements. I currently am housing a pulsing xenia colony, a yellow polyp colony, a green Ricordea polyp, a blue mushroom rock, and a couple button polyps that came in on my LR. The only fish inhabitants of the tank are a Firefish goby and a little neon goby, both of which are happily gobbling on frozen Mysis, Selcon/Zo?enriched live brine shrimp, and ocean nutrition pellets (I'm huge on a varied diet after seeing the incredible results with my syngnathids!). I also have 20 lbs. of Marshall island, Fiji, Kaelini island LR (Premium Aquatics rules... I thank your site every day for introducing me to them!). I have an AMiracle overflow draining into a homemade 10 gallon sump/fugium, returning through a Mag 3 into a DIY return manifold. This refugium has a 6 inch DSB (grain size ranging .02 to 1.4mm), which will be seeded with the kit from IPSF (arriving in 4 days), and will house Gracilaria (sp.?), Halimeda, Ulva and Chaetomorpha algae... heck with the Caulerpa. I also am going to take some of the hundreds of Cerith snails I have now (started with 4 six months ago...hehe) and put them in the DSB as well. Onto the lighting. I built a hood with 2 55W PC fixtures in it, which is just about perfect for the coral livestock I intend to keep, I believe. I am using one 10,000K bulb and one 12,000K bulb, which really gives the tank a blue appearance. It may be a bit too blue for me, but I think I'm getting used to it... I don't want to drain out the nice yellows/reds and such, which this lighting scheme seems to a bit (not much, maybe a hair... can't rightly say to be honest). Anyways, that is the overview of my set-up. Now onto the questions. First off, is it safe to say that all my trace element requirements could be easily satisfied with a strict regimen of water changes......say, 2 gallons every 5 days? <Sure.> Will this also satisfy the CA/ALK requirements of this tank? <Probably, it doesn't sound to me like you have any heavy calcium consumers, which might require additional supplementation.> I will be housing strictly soft corals/mushrooms and MAYBE a LPS (an open brain, if anything), although I am not sure. I guess I was figuring with the abundance of fine sand between the display tank and the refugium my CA and ALK levels would be partly maintained by the dissolution of the aragonite. <My thinking as well.> My main question about CA levels is all this talk about calcium chloride and it's ill effects when over-used. I have C-balance, and I was going to dose it in small amounts, but after reading all the posts here, I'm worried that I will skew the ionic balance very easily in such a small tank. <If I'm not mistaken, C-balance is a two part system. As long as you use both parts in equal measure, you should be fine.> Is it safe to say that the regular water changes will remedy any potential imbalances that may be experienced when dosing with the calcium chloride? <Not sure... depends just how out of balance you are.> I'm just trying to figure out if I need to dose anything at all, with the exception of iodine, if I employ frequent water changes. <Even with the iodine, you're best off to test for things you think you might have to supplement.> I know if this was a SPS tank I would have to dose Kalk and all that jazz, but I do not want to get anywhere near that stuff, and I don't think I need to given the CA requirements of the proposed livestock. I figure, given the small size of the tank and the absence of stony corals (well, there are a couple wee pink fuzzy frags on my LR...which are growing!), I could get away without dosing anything at all and simply change a few gallons of water every couple days. I will say that I plan on dosing Seachem reef calcium for my coralline growth, as I love a nice coralline growth as much as I love the corals. I know I need to dose carefully with it...I plan on halving the recommended dose to start, and SLOWLY increasing the dose to one that seems to work without causing any algae blooms. My only fear with this is that the gluconate calcium is in chelated form... if it is, it is safe to say that a problem algae bloom would be a sign that it is too late and I am in store for weeks of battling? <Not sure about the formulation of C-balance, but you could send a query to Two Little Fishies and get a clarification.> Would it be better to dose it daily as opposed to 2x weekly, as listed by the manufacturer? <I'm always in favor of at least starting off by following their directions - they are written for a reason - and then follow that up with testing to make sure that whatever it is has the desired affect.> Alright, enough of that. Last question. I am planning on trying to go skimmer-less with this one, as I plan on keeping a very light fish load, and I have a lot of macro growing in the refugium. It seems as though I still should use a skimmer though, after reading what you guys all seem to concur on here. When I say light bio-load, I mean really light, as in what I have now and that is it. I have always kept my tanks as such, and I've always had healthy, clean tanks due to it. I understand that an increase in bio-load on such a small system would most certainly require the employment of a good skimmer, but for my set-up, I'd like to at least try going without it. Any comments/criticisms on that notion would be welcomed :) <Sounds good to me.> Sorry for rambling on and on guys, but I figured I'd get it all out at once. I appreciate your site more than you know....it's been such a huge help, so....thanks! Sincerely, David <Cheers, J -- >

- Nitrates in Micro-reef - Ok, after a year and a half of slowly learning and drifting into salt water tanks (after years with freshwater tanks) I have upgraded from tinkering with a 15 gallon "nano" which I have completely taken down after a year. I have moved everything into a 29 gallon tank since July. Yes, I'd love a bigger tank, but for now this is what I have. I've read so much online and in books (the new Fenner "Reef Invertebrates" book is incredible) For the past 6 months the organisms in the tank have looked healthy. But looking at what I have set up now I'd love some second opinions on what I have done, and any advice to make the tank as stable as possible over the long haul. <Well... do keep in mind that 'stability' comes with water volume and that usually via tank size. You've chosen a size that will be inherently unstable so there may not be much else you can do except upgrade the tank at some point.> The nano had a large population of macro algae which only a small portion is left of now. The reason I mention this is because in the nano with about a 3" sugar grain sand bed my Nitrate readings were always zero. The macro seems to hardly grow in the new tank. The new 29 Gallon Tank: Livestock 50+ pounds of live rock 6+ inches of sugar fine aragonite sand DSB <Good grief... after the rock and the sand, is there even room for a gallon of water in this system? Ok, sorry... two gallons. Really... you'd be better off to lose some portion of either/both in favor of more water volume.> 2 Ocellaris Clownfish 5 Peppermint shrimp (Added to kill off Aiptasia, which they did very well. Then they finished off any small fanworms they could find.) 6 hermit crabs 6 Astraea snails 3 Turbo Snails 1 Small Caulerpa plant A few very small brittle stars that came with the rock Equipment 1) 29 Gallon Tank 2) Glass top to allow maximum light through 3) 130 Watts of power compact lights 50/50 4) Bak Pak -R Skimmer 5) An Aquaclear 500 HOB filter with nothing but small pieces of live rock basically to add to the water circulation. I keep a small PC lamp over this filter. 6) I keep the temperature right around 80F 7) Salinity near 1.024 8) I am not using any additives beyond replenishing the tank with fresh saltwater. 9) I do use dechlorinated tap water that sits for days with an airstone running in it. Getting RO water regularly was becoming a large hassle. Lastly, the equipment I am most skeptical of: 10 gallon wet/dry filter fed from a hang on the back overflow, into a prefilter (cleaned weekly), through some polyfill that is cleaned weekly, though bioballs in the wet/dry, though a sponge which is also cleaned weekly with a Rio 600 return pump. Occasionally I will place a bag of activated carbon in the wet/dry. Concerns: 1) With "normal" amounts of water changing my nitrates still creep up. They hover around 20ppm. I take out a few gallons a week. I could more aggressively change the water, but this wasn't my initial plan. <Well... the wet/dry is the most obvious source, so more frequent water changes are likely your only option if you don't ditch the wet/dry.> 2) I wish my coralline algae looked more vibrant. <This seems to be a universal wish... time, patience, and calcium additions are the key here. If you're not adding calcium, your coralline will wane.> 3) The visible air bubbles in the DSB don't seem to go below 2 inches. Below that it looks very barren. Does it just need more time to mature? <Yes.> Once it is more mature will it also begin to drop the nitrate level? <Probably not - it's not really large enough to counter the efficiency of the wet/dry.> 4) Should I slowly pull the bioballs and replace them with live rock rubble? <You could, but if the rock is still exposed to the air, it would have the same effect.> Would this help my drop the nitrates? <I'd scrap the wet/dry in favor of a proper sump. The design of most wet/dries is such that they don't convert well to other duties - not designed for this.> 5) Do I need to seek out more creatures to sift the sandbed? <Perhaps a Nassarius snail or two.> I personally tend not to disturb the sandbed myself more than necessary. 6) There really isn't much space for a proper refugium. Unless I somehow convert the wet/dry into one, or if I modified or got rid of the AC 500. Any other good suggestions? Thanks so much! Dan Ashland, MA <Cheers, J -- >

Water quality and stocking of small tank OK, thanks to the crew at WWM for having the patience to help the novice. The more research I complete, the more I recognize that, well, I have a lot to learn. <That doesn't stop until we do my friend! Keep living and learning!> I am most unhappy with the amount of "good marketing" that I have succumbed to so far. I have been promised a copy of Mr. Fenner's book for Christmas but in the interim I would really appreciate some advice on the health of this system. If you can provide any distinction between choices of products with effective performance and products with good marketing I would really appreciate it. <The best way is to learn from others' mistakes. Read the chat forums at WetWebFotos, there is all kinds of personal experience there for your benefit.> (A) Tank & current equipment: 29g tank - aerated, Penguin 170 power filter with Biowheel, 200 watt heater, 2 inches of 50/50 small gravel/crushed coral, misc. decorations. (B) Stock: 2 three stripe damsels (1.5 in) introduced at week two. Stock added in week 10: 1 cleaner shrimp, 1 Percula clown (1.5 in), 1 large piece of extremely porous rock (12in X 6in X 6in) was added. Unfortunately I did not ask what type of rock - but it was purchased from a LFS with good review from local (unbiased?) aquarium clubs. Description of rock: extremely porous, beige, and crumbles if mishandled- should I be concerned about what type of rock this is?. Stock added in week 11: 5 Turbo snails. <Should be a porous Fiji type live rock. 29 gallons requires somewhere between 29 lbs and 45 lbs for adequate biocapacity from LR.> (C) Current water conditions: Ammonia (NH3) - between .016 and .019 ppm, Nitrite 0 ppm, Nitrate 5 ppm, Phosphate 0.2 ppm. Following a successful nitrogen cycle the diatom bloom lasted about a week (week 8) and there is now a slow steady growth of diatom and I have noticed a couple of minute areas of purple algae (coralline?). I believe the following items are/have contributed to the Ammonia level: addition of new stock, "over cleaning" of top 1 inch of substrate, collection of detritus in bottom 1 inch of substrate. How should I clean this current substrate? <A course substrate will accumulate and trap wastes contributing to ammonia/nitrite/nitrate problems. Ammonia is from fresh wastes/source water/overfeeding/overstocking/poor filtration/no protein skimmer. Likely overfeeding combined with coarse substrate, no skimmer. Please look into deep aragonite sand beds on WetWebMedia.com...just search on DSB or go directly to the marine set-up section.> (D) Planned changes to tank & equipment: Add skimmer (CPR BakPak2), replace substrate with 1/2 inch deep 2.0mm sand. What type of sand has good performance? Can I place the sand directly on the bottom or should I have a plenum? <Directly on the bottom, aragonite sand of varying particle sizes from approx. 0.18 to 1.5 mm or so. Can be larger on surface. With fish you will need to remove them to a QT tank while you install live sand. Dead dry sand can be used on the bottom layer, but I would look into purchasing live sand from your LFS or a friend or culturing my own beforehand.> (E) Planned stock additions: remove 2 damsels, add 1 Flame Angel, add 1 sea cucumber, add 1 puffer (if less than 3 in. full grown). Will 1 Percula clown, 1 flame angel, 1 puffer, 1 sea cucumber, and 5 turbo snails be an excessive bio load? Thanks for your help. <The flame angel may or may not get along. Drop the Sea Cuke idea. Unstable and many are toxic. Please research your wish list searching on each specifically at WetWebMedia.com. Especially puffers. Most of the smaller puffers are actually brackish or freshwater. There is also a lot of good information in the marine set-up section. Craig>>

Nano Reef Hello again, <Hi!> I have an A-Life 7 gallon tank that I have had since January. It is using a Rio 600 for filter circulation. Filtration consists of a sponge filter. a Poly-filter, and a bag of carbon which is replaced once a month. It has 10 Lbs live rock and a live sand bed. Tests as follows: pH: 8.10 <A little low. Needs to be 8.3-8.5> Ammonia: 0 Nitrites: 0 Nitrates: 0 Phosphates: 0 Calcium: 570 KH: 5 dKH <8-12 would be better> Temp: 80 SG: 1.025 Lighting is a 27 watt 1/2 10,000k and 1/2 Actinic, set for 12 hours. Tank inhabitants: Pulsing Xenia Green Mushrooms Purple Mushrooms Orange Ricordea Frogspawn Blastomussa Coral Feather Duster Star Polyps Yellow Polyps White Pagoda Coral Pink Zoanthid. <IMO, you have a lot of stuff in a 7 gallon tank. Do you have fish also?> Here goes: I started the tank with the Green Mushrooms and Xenia. They thrived for a while and I slowly added a coral or two at a time. Recently, my light burned out and I bought a 2 lamp fluorescent hood and was running a 9 watt white and a 9 watt blue. <Any lighting change can have a negative effect.> After 25 days of this the replacement bulb came in and I replaced it. Around the same time I replaced the filter pad with a poly filter. The animals are still not looking good after 2 weeks. I slowly increased lighting from 8 to 12 hours, no change. <Well the 570 Ca is a concern and so is the 5 dKH. On top of that, there have been fairly substantial lighting and filtration changes. All of these can and in all probability will impact coral health.> The worst looking are: Blastomussa, Pink Zoanthid, purple mushrooms, Pagoda, and the Star Polyps. The star polyps are still coming out, but they are looking thinner and not as plush as before. The Pagoda hasn't even been coming out. I have been adding phytoplankton every other week, Iodide once a week, <Are you testing the iodine levels?> water changes once a week. The pulsing Xenia is, however growing fast and actively pulsing, better than before. I have read all throughout your site and I am leery of doing anything drastic due to the tank's small size. The KH has always been low, but I am adding Reef Builder to slowly raise it. Any recommendations to making this a more successful reef? <Get a bigger tank!> Are there supplements I need to add? Do I need to feed anything more than I mentioned? <Personally? I don't play the supplement game. I only add calcium and buffer. Feeding? check out WetWebMedia for suggestions on feeding the corals in your care.> Thanks for your help, Michael <You're welcome! David Dowless>

Small Tank Water Quality Thanks to Scott F. for putting my mind at ease about the territorial behaviour of my damsel and the health of my newly acquired Percula. "Bully Damsel" is slowly becoming more accepting of his new neighbor and the Percula has come out of hiding and begun to eat (his color is much improved after 4 days). <Glad to hear that!> About water quality....29G tank, Penguin 170 filter with bio-wheel, 200 w heater, fluorescent light (now to be on 12 hr timer),2 in bed of mixed gravel and crushed coral. 2- 2in damsels 1 2in Percula 1 small cleaner shrimp (1 flame angel planned for future, possibly remove "Bully Damsel") Phosphate 0.2ppm, Nitrate 5ppm, Nitrite 0ppm, Ammonia between 0.25 and 0.50 ppm. <Yikes- measurable ammonia is not good!> pH 8.3. Approximately 10 gallons of make up water (from tap) maintained in a covered rubber maid tote at 76 deg F and aerated 24/7. <Nice technique> The Phosphate level of the tap and make up water is 0.1ppm. The Ammonia level I question. The tap and make up water both test at almost the same color in the test kit. The color differences between this and tank water are very small. Possibly the ammonia test kit is outdated? <A possibility- liquid reagents, especially, tend to degrade over time. Try another kit with fresh chemicals-and re-check.> This is an Aquarium Pharmaceuticals kit but I can find no date stamps. I want to improve the water quality. What incremental change in equipment will be of long term value, immediate impact, and cost about $150 USD? Would you be willing to make any recommendations? I am contemplating a DIY project: wet/dry sump, Berlin sump skimmer, etc. My glass tank does not have a pre drilled overflow. And the idea of a sump and overflow box does not make me very comfortable. Thank you for any advice you are willing to share. Rex <Okay, Rex. I like the idea of the sump setup, but I can understand if the overflow idea makes you a bit uncomfortable. Over-the side overflow box kits can be unreliable at times (losing siphon). Perhaps you might want to try one of the "hang-on-the-tank" trickle filters, with the bio media removed. That would be a cool starting point. Or- you may want to use a good "hang-on" protein skimmer, like the Aqua C Remora, or the CPR Bak Pak. You may want to convert to a deep (3" plus) sand bed, using fine grade live sand. A properly established DSB is a great natural nitrate reducing vehicle! Last, but certainly not the least- you should look into an inexpensive RO/DI unit, which can give you good quality source water to start with. Lots of cool projects that you can do to make your neat little tank an even better environment for your animals! Have fun, read up on the WetWebMedia.com site for more ideas! Good luck! Scott F.>

Little Tank With A Big Problem! Hello, hope you are having a good day, I have a 10 gallon reef which specs are: Built in refugium/sump (takes up around 2 gallons) 32watt CSL SmartLite 20lbs Gulf-View Live Rock 9lbs live sand 3 blue legged hermits 1 turbo snail (added today) 10% Water changes are done weekly with Distilled water and Instant Ocean Nitrites, Ammonia = 0ppm Nitrates = ~10mg/l Here are the problems I am encountering: Large scale Cyano outbreak around 1 month after tank initially was setup Tested RO water for phosphates, found @ 2ppm Switched to store bought distilled water and did a 30% water change. Retested one day later and phosphates still @ 2ppm Hair and Cyano growth continue. Original live sand was crushed coral type from Gulf-View. Replaced that last night with equal amount of aragonite, and siphoned off about 1 gallon of detritus. (Thinking nutrient export problem). Added large turbo today to help deal with algae, and added Kent's Phosphate Sponge. Am waiting 8 hours (per directions on Kent's packaging) to retest for phosphates. Do you feel that the high levels of phosphates contributed to my problem, or was it the buildup of detritus? Anything else I should do before continuing? Thank you very much for your help, and this great service you provide. Peter Maag <Well Peter, it certainly seems that the phosphate is a major contributor to your algae problems. Keep in mind that the major concern here is excessive nutrients. You are absolutely correct in thinking about nutrient export, but you need to do some things to assure continuous export of nutrients, such as aggressive protein skimming. Using phosphate-reducing media might help- but I think of it more like a "band aid", which provides a temporary fix, but does not address the long-term problem. Getting rid of the larger-sized crushed coral substrate was smart, as it can function as a nutrient/detritus trap. Switching to a finer-grained substrate with a depth of 3 or more inches can go a long way towards processing of nutrients. I would not disturb such a sand bed by siphoning, as you are disrupting the very processes that you are trying to foster. Other possible considerations: If you are using mechanical filtration media, such as pads or filter "bags", make sure that these are cleaned and or replaced regularly (like, several times a week), or the resulting detritus/organic accumulation will be a major contributor to your problem! Also, investigate means to increase circulation within the tank, as water movement can help as well. Also, revisit your feeding practices. Feed very carefully, and under-stock this small tank. In very small systems, bad things happen very quickly! Think long-term, and study the many FAQs and resources on the WetWebMedia.com site for more information on water quality and nuisance algae control. Good luck to you! Regards, Scott F>

Falling pH Happy Holidays from Denver, CO! How the heck is everyone? Everything is swell over here, except for my pH, which is sitting around 8.0-8.1. It's just a wee little 10gal. reef with a single damsel. I perform 25% water changes weekly and do not overfeed. I even tried a pH buffer just for kicks and it didn't budge it. WWM Staff, please send help soon as I can't bear the loss of any of my beloved soft corals. Thanks in advance. Kyle P.S. Do you guys sleep? Is this your only job? Where are you guys? <Happy Holidays Kyle. Everyone seems to be just fine. Not to worry, 8.0-8.1 isn't too bad. Your soft corals won't die at 8.0. Are you buffering your top off water? If not, I suspect your carbonate alkalinity is low contributing to a slightly depressed pH. Also, test pH in the evening when the lights have been on all day. In the AM the pH will be low. You don't mention the type of water you are using, this could be it as well. Yes, we sleep, most of us hold down real jobs and we are all over the place! I'm on an Island in the South Puget Sound of Washington State. No worries, Craig>

Water Changes And Elbow Grease! Hello and good evening, <Good Evening to you! Scott F. with you tonight> First off I would like to say that your web site has been an invaluable resource to myself and others that I have referred. Your scientific and professional approach to research on anything marine has been a great benefit. I have learned more surfing between classes than I have in years of school :^). Recently (Sept. 02) I have started a nano-reef, 20 gal long acrylic, with 30 lbs of premium cured live rock, a CSL 65 watt 50/50/actinic, modified SeaClone skimmer, and a few well placed booster pumps for flow and circulation. I have numerous little soft corals that came along with the rock, and a large amount of "freebies" that have come along for the ride. <Sounds cool!> After about a month all of my chemistry had stabilized, 0-0-0 on the basics, pH is always stable, and my calcium is always over 400ppm. So as it seems everything is very stable, everyone loves the tank, and everyone inside is having a ball. <Excellent!> Though I did have one concern, I have been cleaning the front of the tank with a acrylic scrubbing pad because there seems to be the small colonies of hard to remove algae. I know that it's not calcareous <sp?> algae (I have that growing all over the back and sides) but it seems to be dark green/dark brown and very hard to remove, it requires a good amount of elbow grease. I end up having to drain out about 10% of the water and scrub the heck out of the front about once a week so we can see all of the magic that is going on in front. Based on what I have been able to tell you, can you identify what this may be? <Sounds like some kind of diatom to me. In the absence of other nuisance algae (i.e.; hair algae, Cyanobacteria, etc.), I'd say that this is a fairly normal occurrence. Usually, aggressive skimming, water changes, and lots of elbow grease are required to tame this. You'll probably always have some of this algae; it just needs to be scrubbed away regularly> I am using RO water that I mix in salt with and bubble overnight. <FYI- try aerating the water before you mix the salt, then mix the salt, and use the next day. A bit longer process, but generally yields a more stable pH, etc, in the long run when using RO water> Other than that the only complaints that I seem to have are the occasional loss of a blue leg hermit, and the somewhat stunted growth of my xenias. <Give it time, this too shall pass! these corals do grow like weeds when the conditions are right!> Any advice you could offer is more than appreciated. Thank you and your teammates for your most valuable of resources. Ben <Thanks for the nice words, Ben. It sounds like you're on the right track here...Just keep up the basics- good skimming, regular water changes, observation, careful feeding, and a little scrubbing when needed. You're doing fine! Good luck! Regards, Scott F>

- Nano Reef Questions - Hello and good evening, <Good morning, JasonC here...> First off I would like to say that your web site has been an invaluable resource to myself and others that I have referred. Your scientific and professional approach to research on anything marine has been a great benefit. I have learned more surfing between classes than I have in years of school :^). Recently (Sept. 02) I have started a nano-reef, 20 gal long acrylic, with 30 lbs of premium cured live rock, a CSL 65 watt 50/50/actinic, modified SeaClone skimmer, and a few well placed booster pumps for flow and circulation. I have numerous little soft corals that came along with the rock, and a large amount of "freebies" that have come along for the ride. After about a month all of my chemistry had stabilized, 0-0-0 on the basics, pH is always stable, and my calcium is always over 400ppm. So as it seems everything is very stable, everyone loves the tank, and everyone inside is having a ball. Though I did have one concern, I have been cleaning the front of the tank with a acrylic scrubbing pad because there seems to be the small colonies of hard to remove algae. I know that it's not calcareous <sp?> algae (I have that growing all over the back and sides) but it seems to be dark green/dark brown and very hard to remove, it requires a good amount of elbow grease. I end up having to drain out about 10% of the water and scrub the heck out of the front about once a week so we can see all of the magic that is going on in front. Based on what I have been able to tell you, can you identify what this may be? <Uhh... algae... not really a big deal beyond the cleaning you have to do. Is part of a normal, healthy system.> I am using RO water that I mix in salt with and bubble overnight. Other than that the only complaints that I seem to have are the occasional loss of a blue leg hermit, and the somewhat stunted growth of my xenias. <This could be due to the small water volume in the tank.> Any advice you could offer is more than appreciated. Thank you and your teammates for your most valuable of resources. -Ben <Cheers, J -- >

Nano- Nano! I have a friend that wants to know if he is doing a water change or topping off his tank. Is he taking out so much salt out of his tank that he needs to add it to his RO Water each time to replace what he has taken out? This tank is a nano 3 gal. Please let us know. <well- it sounds like what you are describing is the process of topping off evaporated water. Keep in mind that the salt remains in the water, so the specific gravity (particularly in a small tank) can increase to dangerous levels if top-offs are not done regularly and methodically. Regular water changes ( Removing a set quantity of tank water and replacing it with newly prepared saltwater) and constant attention are mandatory with nano-tanks! Hope I clarified things? Regards, Scott F>

- Dosing Calcium in a Teacup - <Good morning, JasonC here... > This is a great website, and I feel guilty for asking so many questions. Your wealth of knowledge has been incredibly helpful to me, and I can't express enough gratitude. Now, on to my situation. I've been using Kalkwasser for about a month now with my 12 gallon tank. <Good god! That doesn't seem safe to me at all - not enough water.> Before that, I was using Kent's Liquid Ca and Superbuffer. I switched to the Kalkwasser because of all the benefits I have heard about using it as well as the ease in keeping the alkalinity, [Ca], and pH in check all at once. In addition to the Kalkwasser, I dose in Iodine, Kent's Essential Elements, Strontium, and Molybdenum. This may be standard procedure for everyone, but I find it somewhat excessive to have to dose all these materials. <Not standard procedure for me... I don't dose any of those myself. Especially with less than 12 gallons of water, you can 'dose' all those by changing the water.> Recently, I inquired to my LFS how they managed to get such an abundance of coralline algae in their display tanks. The guy tells me that all he uses is Tropic Bio Marin Ca and nothing else since it contains "all the essential elements of sea water" already in the mix. He actually huffed when I told him that I use Kalkwasser, saying it was a waste of time and energy to be doing all the dosing I have been doing. All my parameters are where they need to be, but I haven't seen any significant coralline algae growth in the two and a half months I've had my tank up and running (first month I was using the two part, second month using Kalk). <Your tank needs to run a little while longer... at a certain point, you will have to beat back the coralline with a stick, but your system is quite new and will need some time to mature.> I'm wondering if I should drop my routine (i.e. stop dosing everything I'm using now) and give this Tropic Bio Marin Ca a try exclusively like this particular LFS. I can't dispute the fact that store's tank has great coralline algae growth and everything looks healthy. <Their tank has likely been running much longer too.> It just seems like it might be too good to be true. Also, I've been reading up on Bio Marin Ca on the site, and I'm a bit confused. Is it a balanced additive like Kalk or does it need some kind of additional buffer in equal amts to keep the balance? <I've never used the stuff, but I do use their salt.> If it does need buffer, how do I keep the balance in check...do I just use a 1:1 ratio (e.g. 1 tsp Tropic Bio Marin to 1 tsp Kent Superbuffer) at each daily addition? Like I mentioned earlier, my parameters are just the way they need to be right now so I don't want to throw that off. <So don't.> I'm also of the impression that I'm just not being patient enough with the coralline algae since it's only been two months with the tank. <This would be my pitch to you - do some deep breathing exercises and relax.> But even still, I think that's plenty of time to at least see SOME coralline algae growth, right? Also, it's a hassle dosing everything and not seeing any results when I could just dose Tropic Marin Ca only and know that I'm on track to getting the great growth that the LFS has. <Work on that patience thing...> Any advice would be appreciated and thanks in advance. <Cheers, J -- >

At my wits end Hi Bob, <You reached Steven Pro this fine morning. I am part of the WWM crew and taking my turn answering some of the daily mail.> I have been attempting to keep a reef tank for about 5 years now. I have had very little success. I am currently running a ten gallon tank with about 20 lbs of live rock. <Truthfully, it is very difficult to successfully keep such a small tank.> I have a plenum and a power compact light. <How much light?> The chemistry is good as far as I can tell. The Spg is 1.025, ammonia-0,nitrites-0,and nitrates-0. Supplements with Calcium, Iodine, Strontium/Molybdenum. <This sounds good. Calcium and alkalinity would be also nice to know.> Filtration is a hang on the back Aquaclear. I know that sounds funny but it is a mechanical/biological filter isn't it? <Yes it is.> The water quality is good, but I am getting red slime algae and nothing is flourishing. <Red Slime Algae is a type of Cyanobacteria, usually associated with elevated levels of nutrients.> All the inhabitants are is two very small polyp rocks and a Percula clown fish. I must say that I have a ninety gallon tank waiting in the wings to be set up. However, after my repeated failures and frustration I am seriously reconsidering even going the route of a big tank. This is something that I have always wanted, but I am tired of not being able to maintain livestock and wasting money. I have been reading lots of articles and doing research, but no matter what I try I can't seem to succeed. Sorry about the length of the letter, I am just at my wits end. Any suggestions? <I can give you a few suggestions. Whenever I setup a reef tank, there are a couple of must haves for me. 1.) Purified Source Water (reverse osmosis or de-ionized) 2.) Efficient Protein Skimmer 3.) Good Lighting (minimum of 3 watts per gallon, sometimes more depending on the corals kept) Thanks, Valerie <I hope you do not give up yet. Respond with your lighting and perhaps I can give you some more advice (what wattage, how many lamps, what kind of lamps, how long since they have been replaced, etc.) -Steven Pro>

Micro reef scavenging hey Robert, <Anthony Calfo in your service> I have a sally light foot and believe he has eaten a fish of mine......... <very unlikely if at all possible with healthy fish. Will scavenge the dead and dying though> so I want to rid my tank of him/her..........first........how to rid the tank of him/her.......... <sink an open mouthed glass jar with meaty food in it... lean it against the rocks... it will scurry down in, but not be able to scurry up and out as easily> second what crab/shr. etc......would keep the tank and/or live rock clean............ my tank isn't terribly huge............it's quite small actually.....only 15 gallons..........so I don't need a huge amount of cleaning.......but something.............I already have 3 snails................had 5 but two died...........but do you have any other suggestions.............I'm planning on getting a few peppermint shr. because they are cheap and can be kept in a group <you honestly don't need another crab... three snails and three shrimp and you are already pushing your luck. If you must, some tiny blue leg hermits would be fine> but I'm assuming they won't do much for my rocks <depends: what is growing on your rocks?> if I'm wrong please correct me.......but if I'm not please suggest something that'll keep the rocks clean. thanks a lot... Shayne <hold out for a bigger tank, my friend or do not be tempted to stock with too many dependant scavengers... perhaps the two snails starved to death as the tank is unlikely to grow enough microalgae to sustain 5 snails. One rule of thumb is 1 snail per 10 gallons!!! So you should be grateful to have 3 still living. To then make another crab and three shrimp also compete for food is asking a bit much. Best regards, Anthony>

FAQ small system Hi Mr. Fenner, <Steven Pro this evening.> I got a 20 gallon tank because of space, I want to have a fish-only tank. I'm using sand, like 20 lb, I also have like 10 lb of live rock, 150 watt heater, AquaClear 201 powerhead with a Quickfilter ( I plan to add another), a Lee protein skimmer, I have a Coralife Hydrometer and a Tetra complete test kit. Right now I have a blue Damsel, and two brackish fish, it has been running for like a week. <Too many fish for such a new tank. You are going to be best off taking back all three for right now. I saw below where you wish to return them all anyhow.> I added packed bacteria "Cycle" to make the process faster. <Maybe of minimal benefit. Will not speed things up though. The best you can hope for is it added beneficial bacteria, but that comes with liverock, too.> After the tank is cycled I going to get rid of the fish and get a Clownfish, a bicolor blenny, which other fish can I add? -Rene <You can add one more fish total after the other two. Possible ones include a Firefish, a Cardinalfish, a Hawkfish, a tank-raised Pseudochromis, etc. -Steven Pro>
Re: FAQ small system Hi again I got rid of the two brackish fish, got the other powerhead, and got running the protein skimmer, also got the light. I forgot to add in my last mail that the tank was filled with water from a friend's mature tank. <Of no real benefit.> I kept the damsel, today I checked levels, the ammonia is near to 0 and the nitrites are < 0.8 I going to get a clown fish, and I was wondering if I can have an anemone in that tank. <Please do not add another fish until ammonia & nitrite are both zero. No, I cannot recommend an anemone for your tank. Tank is too small, anemones are too challenging, and are not needed to keep your fish happy, healthy.> Do I need more Live rock? Do I have to let the protein skimmer running all the time or can I have it running in 12 hr shifts? Rene <24/7>

5 years in marine now new tank troubles Hi Bob, I know you probably get tons of emails. <Not that many. Electrons don't weigh much anyhow> I have combed the web, read most all of the WetWebMedia site, but an very worried about the cause and riddance of a persistent problem. Some background first. I have a Reef Aquarium for the last 5 years, I would not consider myself a beginner, but the problem I will get to shortly has me re-thinking my knowledge. My reef tank is 125g with a 35g sump. I have many corals, some hard to keep that are flourishing. I don't have many fish about 9 in this tank. Most I have had for 5 years, and none have even been sick (touch wood). I have a hippo (pacific blue) tang, yellow tang, Percula clown, Pseudochromis porphyreus, royal Gramma, flame angel, arc-eye Hawkfish. I even waited three year to add a dragonet to ensure they was plenty built up to eat, he is doing great. So here's the problem, I now have a home office... what a great time to put in a second tank, I've always wanted a predator tank. I bought a small 40 gallon curved front, put in 44-60lbs live rock 30 lbs reef rock (that I let sit in my reef sump for a week) and 1- 1/2" aragonite, Prizm skimmer, and power head. I let the tank sit for two weeks only as I salted the sand with about 10-15lbs from my reef tank. I added a few mushrooms and polyps from my reef and they are doing well. Then I bought three fish, and put them in all at the same time (never again). 1-yellow longnose butterfly, 1-spotbanded butterfly, and 1-clown trigger (also a small blood shrimp and a few hermit crabs). <Yikes... this mix... all at once... in a forty gallon system? Who got eaten, died first?> They all ate fine for a few days then the longnose developed what I believe was Cryptocaryon ( I believe he brought whatever this is into my tank). Due to my never have seen this I was slow, and this disease moved fast, the next day all were infected, the longnose stopped eating and died that day. The next day the second butterfly went and the clown trigger stopped eating. They were all dead in three days maximum. So I spent the next week reading, reading, reading. I dropped the salinity and raised the temperature on the empty tank (except for the shrimp and crabs) and left it alone for 32 days. In the mean time I purchased a hospital tank, and bought a blue chin Trigger. I really fattened him up with three daily feeding to ensure he was strong. After he had been in the hospital tanks for two weeks, and showed no signs of illness, I added him to the 40g. I then purchased another clown, and in the hospital he went. He was added in after two weeks and they were both great. After one month, I saw spots on the clown. This time I moved, and bought Kent RXP and in it went. Within two days all was fine no spots fish eating Great!! (I continued to use it for the full term) after the 14 days all still seemed fine, and stayed that way for maybe two weeks. Then I noticed a dusting on the top of the clown, and the next day could see the spots on his upper body. My shrimp was actively cleaning him and I added RXP immediately. This time things got worse much quicker like the first time, he was badly covered in two-three days even with the use of RXP. So after reading your suggestions, (btw at this point the blue chin had showed just a few spots) I gave them a three minute fresh water bath, moved them into the hospital tank, lowered the salinity, and started a copper treatment. By this time the clown had blotches on him that I assume was a secondary infection, and the blue chin looked not bad. The clown trigger died after one and a half days, and the blue chin is somehow still holding on (he looks like he has blotches but no spots-secondary infection?). I hope I have caught him in time, but he will not eat. So finally here is my question. I am really discouraged, I feel it is my responsibility to ensure that the fish have a good environment to keep them happy/healthy. To have killed these fish is very upsetting. What would you suggest, for the 40g? Do I leave the tank empty for two months, I don't want to kill the live rock with copper, but I don't want whatever is in this task to strike again. <Leave it w/o fishes for the two months, lowered spg, elevated temperature... in the meanwhile develop a "mini-predator" stocking list (no Triggers in a forty) and stock one at a time (most easygoing to least)> I now purchased a 90 Gallon tank, I think the 40 was too small. <Yes, the size was a large impediment to success> I will let the 90 settle for a while before thinking to add any livestock. I want this to be mainly a fish only with a few mushroom, polyps but I would like to add maybe two triggers, and Angel (Koran), a wrasse and possibly a lion to the 90g. It has 50lbs reef rock, 75lbs live rock and aragonite seed again from my reef. I have been sure to not let anything that touched the 40 get near my 90g or my 125g reef. <Mmm, make those triggers smaller species and start them small. The Koran should go in first.> Thanks for your time...Larry Pyykko <Thank you for writing, relating your experiences. You are on a "right" path, understanding much of the situation. Bob Fenner>

Alkalinity and pH Problems Hello Bob and Co., Bob and Anthony; I have CMA and the Book of Coral Prop. Both are great, thanks. Now onto my problem. I have an 8 gallon reef tank, LR, sand, and a sump with some sand and LR as well. Total water volume is approx. 10 gallons. I have 2 tomato clowns, 2 cleaner shrimp, one pistol shrimp, one emerald crab, one sand stirring star, <Tank is far too small for this starfish. Will starve to death in time after eating all the live parts of your live sand.> a few blue leg hermits, and a few snails. I also have one Capnella, some brown button polyps, anthelia, and some green star polyps. The tank has been set up for almost two years, however it was changed from a crushed coral substrate to live sand about 4 months ago. There is a Seaclone skimmer hanging on the sump, and an airstone in the sump (the airstone is a new addition). I have two 36watt PC's (one 6300K and one blue) from AH supply. About a month ago I started having a lower than normal pH. I was typically running between 8.0 and 8.1. I wanted to raise that up to an average 8.2 so I added the airstone in the sump. About the time I added the airstone, pH readings were down to about 7.8. I cut back on my calcium supplements and tested a few days later and pH was down to about 7.7. Calcium levels were higher with each test, now at about 500ppm. I stopped adding calcium at this point. At the first sign of the lowering pH, I started using NatuReef's hardness plus and alkalinity plus. I felt that a balanced two part additive may help. After my pH reached 7.7, I stopped adding the hardness plus and have only been adding the Alk. plus. I should also mention that I did a water change with day old, aerated water (4 gallons over two days). Alkalinity before I started the water changes was 9dKH. After each water change, and an addition of Alk. plus, alkalinity has not changed. It is still at 9dKH. Oh by the way, my Mg was low at the time pH was discovered to be low, hence the water changes. I have also added some Mg additive. Why, with a significant water change, addition of a buffer and Mg has my alkalinity not been coming up? <Are you sure that your new water has the parameters you want?> I tested Alk this morning; 8dKH. Added two ml of buffer about two hours ago. Just now tested Alk again; still 8dKH. <Do make up more water as before; aerated, heated and such. This time confirm that the pH, alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium levels of this new water is in the ranges you want. -Steven Pro> Confused in Florida, Mark (spearo) Joseph

Cloudy water Hi Mr. Fenner. I have a 10 gallon starter tank (saltwater) with two Damsels. I was wondering what t type of bottom feeder you would recommend to help keep my tank clean? The tank floor is half sand half rock a little smaller than marble size rocks). Thanks from Jesse Jr. & 3rd. <Maybe a small Blue Legged Hermit Crab... Bob Fenner>
Re: cloudy water Thanks for the help. I was unable to find a blue legged crab so I got a red legged one. Will it due till I'm able to get the blue one, and will they work well together. <This one will do for now... but actually, there are several species of Red Legged Hermits and some are eater-uppers (especially when large) rather than cleaner uppers... I would remove, trade this one back in when you can get the more peaceful Blue Leg> Also how do you fill about chemicals to clear up cloudy water, do you have one you would recommend or do you disapprove? Thanks from your newest readers; Jesse jr. &Jesse 3rd. <I am not a fan of water clarifiers for most all types of tanks and applications. For one, some of them are hard on livestock, but mostly their use masquerades the need to address the root cause(s) of the tank water cloudiness... Figure out why your system isn't clear and solve the imbalance. This is more often than not due to placing livestock too much, too soon, but overfeeding, misfeeding of the wrong foods, inadequate filtration, circulation, aeration are also common causes. Bob Fenner, who says to read the set-up articles on the website: www.WetWebMedia.com>

Tank (new, small, marine) Hey, Robert maybe you can HELP me out. I have a new 10 gallon tank. it is cycling on day 26 now my pH is 8.5 my ammonia is way high at 3.0 ml/l the nitrites are at 0.3 ml/l I have 1-2'' fish left at this level. <Yikes... why have any fish present while establishing nutrient cycling? Please read: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/estbiofiltmar.htm and don't feed this system for now!> I have a whisper power filter plus a corner filter. I clean the filters every 2 weeks. <Do not change the filters at all till the system has cycled completely AND a few weeks have gone by.> I do water changes every 3 day to keep the ammonia in check 20%. I ALSO VACUUM EVERY WEEK the temp is 81. I also have 3 live plant in there. I can't seem to keep the ammonia at a safe level??? I used cycle to get going. it seem like it is not working my biofilter is not established or is something else wrong. also my water has been treated with conditioner and the hardness is 8. do you think my tank maybe oxygen depleted. I can't seem to pin point the problem???? I HAVE A 8'' AIR STONE. THANKS MICHAEL MATTHEWS <Michael, please read through the set-up sections on the Marine Index posted on the WetWebMedia.com site, including the linked FAQs files. Much background you need to understand, be successful, enjoy your system. Bob Fenner>

Ten gallon marine system algae problems I have had my ten gallon salt tank set up for years and two months ago I decided to switch the animals in it. I had a lot of anemone's in the tank and took them out and put polyp rocks in. I have a body clownfish, blue star, snail, two scarlet hermits, two emerald crabs. ever since I put the star polyp rocks in I have gotten algae problem and can't get rid of it. I have a sea clone skimmer and a millennium filter, I clean the cup for the skimmer every day. the green hair algae came first and it started to die off and like dark brown algae grew over it then it died out a little and the green came back a little, but it is not really green its kind of dark brown too. I clean the millennium filter pad more often and I tried changing the water more then once a week and it didn't really help. I have to use tap water because I don't really have a choice, so could that be the problem? <Yes... at least to some extent... It's hard to manage such a small volume as ten gallons... and you did a big change in switching out the life in such a long-established system... In fact, it may take changing out the gravel/substrate and/or adding/changing a bit to a bunch of live rock to re-establish some sort of balance here.> should I get a small powerhead and put it in there just to see if even more water flow would make a difference? <It might well> the two filters I have in there move the water good though. the polyps are all acting fine but the xenia polyps are on a tree like frame and on the top they get the dark brown algae on it? the crabs don't really help at all, I even stir up the sand but the algae will still come back. I even got rid of a lot of the sand so the layer isn't as thick. one thing is that the tank is in almost direct sunlight for a couple hours during the winter with the tree's leaves not being there to block the sun. please help!! <Please read through the various algae, control, maintenance sections posted on WetWebMedia.com starting here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/algaeconMar.htm to gain a better understanding of what you're up against, what your choices in developing a control strategy are. Bob Fenner>

Mature fish and a Good Aquarist Hi Robert, <Anthony Calfo in your service> I used to have 10 salt water tanks many years ago --like 15 or more---I finally gave all my fish to Sea World of Texas and kept 2---a cleaner wrasse and a tiny angelfish Koran--it was the size of a dime when I got him --- <very cool> I put them in a 10 gallon tank I had and got rid of all my other tanks. This is eight years ago. So all I had is 2 fish (new ones and the ten gallon tank) Now it is 8 years later and the fish are fine and healthy and the Koran is in the midst of a change to an adult. <magnificent... kudos to you for excellent husbandry!> Lately I noticed that the water level is down a 10 cup coffee pot filler every day. I don't know where it is going but fill it daily with fresh water from a carbon block filter water treatment system I use for the fish water for past 8 years--contains no chlorine etc. <could simply be a change in relative humidity affording evaporation> I wonder where the water is going? And how would it be possible to change over to a new 20 gallon tank? <probably would be too much trouble especially if the new tank is going in another place (giving you more time to transfer and prepare> I would love to use the water in the existing tank if possible? <yes, agreed and helpful> I am paranoid to do anything for fear I would disrupt the 2 fish <don't clean filter media before move...we would want mature/undisturbed media moved on a normal water change/scheduled routine...but this time we will be ADDING new water to ameliorate the transferred water to fill the new larger tank> and after 8 years in a 10 you know I must be doing something right---I very rarely ever lost fish----I always used a formalin dip I made myself for most any diseases and never put chemicals in the tank ever--- <agreed...beautiful> I raised Emperor Angels and Queens etc to maturity from juveniles and had great success---never used tap water either----always a carbon block filter---Would REALLY appreciate how to make a changeover with these two fish into a new 20 Thanks a lot, Red (Chuck Van Alen)


Small Marine Aquariums Book 1: Invertebrates, Algae New Print and eBook on Amazon: by Robert (Bob) Fenner	Small Marine Aquariums Book 2: Fishes New Print and eBook on Amazon: by Robert (Bob) Fenner	Small Marine Aquariums Book 3: Systems New Print and eBook on Amazon: by Robert (Bob) Fenner

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