very new to this..

[aabiuso]

hey my names anthony
I've always loved fishtanks and have had fresh waters for a few years..finally decided to go ahead with salt and i don't regret it at all. i have a 20 long set up and it has been active for about 3 weeks with a couple of coral frags( names still confuse the crap out of me..have a lot to learn) and a couple of fish..2 baby clowns a mandarin and a dwarf lion..kinda regretting the lion it was a spur of the moment buy and now is limiting my tank mates(i think) i also have a harlequin shrimp who i found out only eats starfish so theres a small chocolate chip in there he's been going to town on for a couple of days. i have no idea what kind of clean up crew i should start building and I'm gonna need one very soon so any advice would be well appreciated along with advice on compatible fish for my tank. as said i am very new to the salt water and new to the forum just joined about an hour ago any help is appreciated thanks

 

[fishman1069]

Welcome! You really shouldnt have anything in that tank right now, being its only 3 weeks old. Besides that, the tank is way to small for the dwarf lion and the mandarin is most likely gonna starve. Im sorry to be so blunt but its all fact. You shouldn't add anything else for a lil while and do a lot of reading on the nitrogen cycle and the livestock you choose to keep. Good luck and welcome to the addiction!

 

[skene]

That's a lot of fish in such little time... poor guys are all gonna die.
I see a gigantic ammonia spike coming soon.



Why are all of these noobs rushing to kill fish immediately!!!

 

[aabiuso]

ahh should have specified a little bit more..the tank already cycled and has been good for about 3 weeks not just started 3 weeks ago..and yea I'm not sure what i was thinking with the lion might bring it back or try to sell/trade for something different..as for the mandarin he was eating frozen shrimp prior to my purchase and has eaten every time I've fed him

 

[skene]

I still stand by my statement.
a lot of fish for a starting tank...

 

[aabiuso]

i have checked my ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels just about every day and nothing has drastically changed and when it did move up just a little it went right back down within a day.. i have yet to see any huge spikes

 

[James983]

Hey Anthony, welcome to MR. Unfortunately, your seeking advice after the fact. Like Fishman and Skene said, your fish are in jeopardy. Usually, the clean up crew (CUC) goes in before fish and definitly before corals. First to go will probably be your shrimp. I would suggest taking everything back except for maybe the clowns.

Every time you add livestock you must allow your tank bacteria to grow to be able to handle the extra bio load. When you only have a 20 gal tank you have very little water volume, so four fish right away will be too much too soon.

After a month you might want to consider another fish. I wouldn't consider more than 3-4 fish total however, and definitly not a Manderin or a Dwarf Lionfish.

Good luck.

 

[E.intheC]

In addition to the advice above.. watch the chocolate chip star. Harlequins are awesome shrimp, but they have a tendency to add a huge bioload to a small system like a 20 gallon. I would keep an eye on the star fish and be ready to remove it once it's dead.

Good luck. Keep posting questions. We were all noobs once.

 

[Josh]

Welcome to MR. How about a photo of your setup?

 

[aabiuso]

thanks josh and eric..i wish i could post some pics..i mean i would love to just have no clue how to lol and the only ones i have are on my iPhone

 

[meloncoral]

Anthony
From what you have said the only thing you didn't mention was live rock?
I assume you have at least 20 lbs of live rock ?
Now you say the tank is cycled and your ammo and nirtite went up and down already, I can only assume you did that with live rock and live bacteria or both?
Anyway if you have the rock in the tank(sounds like you do?)and your through your cycle,Then you should be fine.
What these guys are forgetting here is that all these fish and crabs ect combined equal almost nothing in bio load. Compare that amount of biolaoad to 20lbs of live rock(assuming he has approx that many pounds) you have more than enough to handle that load of fish. Otherwise the tank would have crashed in the first 48 hours after you added all of thiem.
Don't sweat it just keep testing and stay on top of the water quality.
Anyway you have plenty of room for the dwarf lion,if you feel it gets too big(btw it will take a while) trade him in down the road. The mandarin eats like a pig if you feed him frozen OVA most local stores carry it. As far as a clean up crew add some(12) blue leg hermits and about 12 turbo snails also some nassarius snails for the sand
And that should be a good start,there plenty of fish you can still add.
Just take your time add them slow and keep them small
Consider getting rid of the choc chip star if hes big , if he dies that could easily crash your whole tank. Its hard because with those Harly shrimp thats the only thing they eat. Maybe see if you can trade the shrimp and the star in and that eliminates all the delicate/annoying livestock and then put it towards your clean up crew?

 

[E.intheC]

You can use a site like photobucket. You have to first send your pics to your phone. It's pretty simple from there.

 

[Gabe]

Hey welcome. You sound just like me when I started.... Well besides all the truth everyone told you thus far, my personal experience, a good skimmer is basically the life of your tank, the other one that is the hardest when you start is patience, do not over feed and don't rush. Nature takes time to create wonders, and that's basically what we all are trying to replicate.

 

[KathyC]

You can use a site like photobucket. You have to first send your pics to your phone. It's pretty simple from there.

Welcome to MR

I think he meant send them to your computer, from there you upload to Photobucket (it's free when you set up an account with them) and then you can upload the pics here using the tags.

Can you tell us more about the tank?
Is there live rock? Do you have a skimmer, what other equipment are you using? Rodi? What lighting do you have?

I am with the group that believes you'd be better off with the Lion & Mandarin out of the tank and you do need to get a clean up crew in there asap.

 

[aabiuso]

thanks melon coral..yes i do have about 30-35 lbs of live rock and when i was seeing up the tank i used 20lbs of live sand..probably could use some more sand but it seems to be a good amount..as for the dwarf lion i think I'm going to set up a second tank kinda like a predator tank as a fish only with a few live rocks and put the lion a niger trigger and a snowflake eel in it..havent done to much research on it yet so don't know if thats good to do or not but it was just an idea..the mandarin was doing fine and seemed to be eating the frozen shrimp but then i noticed he wasn't really moving to much so i added live copepods to the tank and he loves it back to normal!..my clean up crew I'm working on gradually i don't want it to be too big where things will start to die off of starvation so right now i have 1 cleaner shrimp 5 turbos 2 nass. 2 blue leg hermits and 5 red legs...i kinda really like the harlequin shrimp it just sucks he only eats stars and that was the only reason i got the chocolate chip it was small and for food he was eating it for about a week and a half non stop till he walked away yesterday finally so i took what was left of it out..i don't think i will be getting another one for a while the shrimp has plant of those little pesky stars that i seem to have acquired throughout my tank...ive been checking my water almost daily and nothing bad just once it bumped up to about .25 in the morning when i checked and by nighttime it was back to 0

 

[aabiuso]

thanks gabe..
and thanks kathy.. yes i do have live rock and plenty of it as for a skimmer not right now..im using a hob filter from my old freshwater that i took everything out and put a sponge in..the guy at the store told me this would be more than fine so i assumed it would be and thought it was pretty cool he didn't try to sell me anything i didn't need..also have a small heater and my water is at 78(around there it moves up a couple during the day my room gets real hot this time of the year) as for lighting i have an led system with 46 10000k white and 8 blue for actinic and its 3200 lumens total..i have no clue if this is good enough or too much but i wanted led and the corals seem to love it..i just wish the would grow a bit faster bu nothing happens over night..

 

[masterswimmer]

Anthony, welcome to MR. This is a great community with some very knowledgeable reefers.

You've asked some good questions, albeit a bit late because you're asking after the fact. You've gotten some great advice already. Like Kathy, I am from the belief that you should return the lion and the mandarin....but I also think you should remove the harlequin shrimp. The ONLY thing they can do is help to foul your water because of the fact that they will slowly, VERY slowly eat and kill every chocolate chip star you put in there.

The biggest issue I see at this time is the fact that everyone who's posted on your thread has basically suggested the same thing, except for one person, and it seems you've elected to listen to the one person who supports what you've done. Most likely because it is what you want to hear. I hope you take the advice of the experience that you're seeking from everyone here.

Best of luck,
Russ

 

[E.intheC]

Welcome to MR

I think he meant send them to your computer, from there you upload to Photobucket (it's free when you set up an account with them) and then you can
Can you tell us more about the tank?
Is there live rock? Do you have a skimmer, what other equipment are you using? Rodi? What lighting do you have?

I am with the group that believes you'd be better off with the Lion & Mandarin out of the tank and you do need to get a clean up crew in there asap.

I meant to the computer :lol2: They're already on your phone.

And a big plus one to Kathy and Russ (Masterswimmer)'s advice..

 

[reefprobe]

Ok
Anthony we have a lot of very cautious people who are concerned and I understand y they are makes sense. But you have the proof in front of you and you have even more live rock than I thought so in my past/vast experience (32 years) in setting up tanks you have nothing to worry about. I would just keep an eye on your tests and don't over feed and you should b fine barring no misshaps.
Please keep us all posted

 

[Veronica]

Welcome to MR. I hope your experience is enlightening and Fulfilling! Years ago I had many salt water tanks. With moving and etc every so many years, I just now entered back in the Salt Water Passion and set up a 20 Gallon Tall. I only introduced 2 Damsels to help cycle the tank as I used Live Sand and a Few Live Rock. I currently have 4 brackish fresh water tanks running 75 gal, 55 gal, 20 gal long, and 5 gal fresh water. I also have four (4) fish bowls of Betta's.

Years ago I had Lion Fish and etc. Actually today, I would not introduce a Lion Fish in a small tank nor would I recommend purchasing a Lion Fish new to this Hobby. They are very beautiful fish indeed. The Mandarin, I would have waited 6 months to a year before purchasing one to allow time for proper food to inhabit the tank for the Mandarin. Like I said I had for years salt water tanks, left the hobby for some years and just came back to it again. I missed it. You will totally enjoy moving over to Reef Tanks. Its a true addiction that never leaves.

PS: I never would have been able to come back to salt water so soon if it wasn't for my wonderful brother who gave me the entire set up. All I had to do is purchase salt, sand and etc and wella, its back!!!! Boy did I miss the hobby.