Help next to Saltwater Tank?
Where to begin...First off I jumped into a saltwater cistern with the wrong advice from a co-worker. I rushed it and completely skipped the bacteria start up. I enjoy a 20 gal tank. He sold me a CRP protein skimmer, and a powerhead jet, about 7-8lbs live rock, and 2 inches of live sand. I solely ran that setup for about a week then he ordered fish from an online fish store. This is what I started next to:
1 blue hippo tang
1 yellow tang
2 clown
2 sand sifting starfish
5 turbo snails
2 diamond gobies
1 anemone (not sure what kind)
I acclimated them with my cistern and put everything in together. 2 days later one of the starfish died. The next daytime the blue tang died. About a week later one of the clowns died. Currently I have the yellow tang and I purchased another clown. The fish are doing ok but the anemone and starfish are inert or about to die. Since starting the tank and getting fish I done alot of research and now I deliberate I have a better understanding of my problems.
1. No bacteria to break down ammonia. I do 5 gallon dampen changes every weekend.
2. No heater
3.Not proper lighting for anemone. Was using just 1 fluorescent. Since I enjoy purchased a 50/50 fluorescent. I can't afford anything more powerful now.
Basically I'm just looking for help and suggestions for what to do within the future and where to go from here. I know my reservoir is too small to add any fish, but are their other things (equipment) I need to keep my cistern happy?
All help and suggestions appreciated.
what big gourami said. seriously.
after you acquire all the fish and starfish out, you need to get a electric fire and get the tank up to 76-80 degrees, and buy a saltwater check kit. wait for the ammonia and nitrite to get down to 0. that'll come up on its own in time, but nitrate will go up. when you only own nitrate, do a big enough water change that the nitrate go to 20 or less.
then you can start adding fish. whether you want a pair of clowns, you'd be able to keep them surrounded by your tank. maybe one other fish, but don't add adjectives three at the same time, it'll raise the ammonia too much. and the clownfish don't have to hold an anemene, they can be happy without ever having one, so you don't own to change your light. you put back one sand sifting star and the snails, and I'd go and get a couple of hermit crabs to help keep the container clean. that'd be about it.
just keep hold of an eye on the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate, don't add anything new until ammonia and nitrite go absent from the last animals you added, and do water changes to save the nitrate down.
and get a good book on saltwater aquariums. I use the Conscientious Marine Aquarist, lots of good warning in it.
if your ammonia won't drop even with dampen changes like you say, that's the rationale why you need to get rid of the fish. all the stuff you hold dying in the tank is what's making the ammonia and ammonia will kill what you hold left in the tank. until the ammonia go away and the tank finishes cycling anything you have surrounded by it's at risk of being the next to go. whether you know somebody with another saltwater tank that can take your clowns or goby afterwards you wouldn't have to seel them or give them away, but whether the tank has a lot of rock contained by it, good luck catching them again.
the only other thing you could try is to pack a couple of buckets halfway with water out of your container and put what live rock you have in one and the fish and snails and starfish in the other one while you lug out any dead or dying animals and any food or stuff that may be caught under the rocks. make certain you keep a lid on the one with fish in it so the fish don't go underwater out. and do a 75% or more water change to bring down the ammonia. the bacteria for cycling is surrounded by your filter and on the live rock, so it won't hurt your cycle that much, then fill the tank near new saltwater and put the rock back. when you go to put the animals posterior, use plastic bags like ziplock bags and float them for a while and give new tank water rather at a time to their bags just like you're supposed to do when you bring them domestic. the water with high ammonia might be lower surrounded by pH and when you add the new water for a moment at a time it doesn't shock them like just plopping them into the new wet. a big water change like that might be satisfactory to help bring the ammonia down enough they could survive if you still do 5 gallon change once a week. but you seriously need to get rid of the anemene and tang, and i'd say one of the starfish and one goby. you don't own enough room for the tang in a 20 and probably not for all the other animals you get, and the wrong lights for an anemene. I wouldn't keep more than 3 fish total, the clowns and one goby, and even that's pushing it. don't feed the fish as much during the next week because this brings up the ammonia too. a moment ago small meals once a day at most. if you use the frozen cubes cut them surrounded by half and give the other half the subsequent day
Just sell adjectives the living things you have... NONE OF THESE are going to survive without a heating system... Ever... You need a filter, and a much stronger light. A 50/50 flourescent is nothing for saltwater. Anemones and corals stipulation MUCH stronger than that. Power compacts or metal halides for sure. A 20 gallon tank is WAAAY too small for any tangs. NO tang should be kept in anything under a 75 gallon. You need to do a LOTTT of research.
Forget what BG said. After you mess him up a bit, detail him he's paying for all of it.
BG, Just FYI- Anemones aren't corals. But you are right, that is not NEARLY enough lighting for photosynthetic organisms close to anemones or corals. Definitely no stars for a while either. No tangs ever. Stick with clowns, gobies, and other small fish.
Answers: next time you see him, punch you co-worker as tricky as you can and tell him he's splitting the bill...
for now... sell everything thats living, plentifully of it is inapropriate for the tank anyway... a local petstore that sells SW stuff should do so...
50/50 floro isn't any more powerful than your infirm light.. just a different color...
start off next to just a master SW test kit (not as intricate as it sounds) it's only just an ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate (probably also pH) tests for the tank
there should be adequate ammonia from the dead stuff and live rock to finish the cycle.. but you're going to ultimately want about 10-15 pounds more live rock
once there is NO ammonia or nitrite. do a colossal water change to get rid of some nitrates after add your clean up crew, snails, hermits, shrimp, crabs, etc.. no echinoderms close to starfish and urchins yet, and no corals like anemones, softies, LPS or SPS.. your lighting is insufficent for anything photosynthetic right now..
after the verbs up crew (about a week, feed them a small pinch of food every other day to get them by..) you can start bad with one or two small hardy fish.. gobies make a good choice, as would firefish, cardinal fish, or jawfish
over the coming weeks make a payment a few more fish slowly, working from least agressive to most..
depending on the specific fish you could get between 0 (but who wants that) and possibly 4-5 fish
fish to stay away from:
puffers, angelfish, wrasses, lionfish, triggers, eels, anthias, butterflyfish, squirrelfish, rabbitfish, and tangs (yeah there's ALOT of fish that CAN'T go contained by a 20 gallon)
fish to look for:
occelaris clownfish
royal grammas
bangaii or spotted cardinalfish
jawfish
firefish
watchmen gobies
pygmy (cherub) angelfish
clown gobies
cleaner gobies
smaller (peaceful) dottybacks
oh.. and get a heater
john anemomes are corals.. they are co members of the course Anthozoa (whos description dscribes all that i is to be a "coral"), it's just that most "corals" fall contained by the sub-class Zoantharia and softies into Alcyonaria, while nems fall into Hexacorallia... their main differences being number of tenticles.. even gorgonians are corals
ANYWAY.
keeping the fish medium regular and frequent water changes which means a slower cycle time.. adding together some FULLY* sured rock would speed this up
getting rid of the fish for now (maybe the store will board them for you and let you have them stern when you're done cycling) keeps them alive.. the ammonia and nitrite growing in your tank will achieve a level where it's veryeasy fatal tot he fishes.. whether not then health altering, negitively, and possibly permenantly...
