New to Salt Water Tanks

[b33]

I have had a fresh water tank in one size or another for twenty years; however I recently bought a twenty gallon long salt water tank. It came with live sand, live rock, a couple of hermit crabs and a few snails. The tank had been set up for two years prior to me obtaining it. Because I am new to keeping salt water I would like any advise that could be shared.

The light is a Coralife with two 50/50 55 watt bulbs. The filter is a hang on without Bio Wheels, however that will change out as soon as my order arrives. I bought a Marineland 350B filter for the tank as well as a Powersweep Power head to increase the water circlution. The tank contains three Damsels (two blue with yellow tails one black and white stripped) one false Percula, one Lawnmower Blennie, and two Sea Anenomes. One is white, almost clear with a brown foot and seems to perfer to live in a crevise. The other is very small only about two inches in length. It has green tenticles and a flesh colored (light pink) area around the mouth. It is attached to a small piece of live rock.

If there is any information that I have left out let me know and I will attempt to provide that information. If there is any information that you can share with me to help me maintain the tank and make it thrive I would be thankful. Also, I was wandering if two different species of clown fish could live in the same tank? Thanks in advance for all of your advice and help.

I attempted to post a few pics however all the files were too big to fit. Sorry. If there is any advise on how to post pics let me know.

 

[Entacmaea]

Hey there, welcome to reefs.org! Below is a link to a guide to reefing for newcomers.

http://www.reefs.org/library/newbieguide.html

It will get you started and cover the basics. Since you didn't mention anything about water, I would suggest your first purchases would be a water test kit (pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate at the very least), a good RO/DI filter, and a refractometer for testing your salinity. The RO/DI filter is to be used to make all your saltwater, and used exclusively for top-off (replacing water that evaporates). After that, I would consider buying a protien skimmer to replace your biowheel. (or just send it back now and get a skimmer immediately- which is what I would do).

Do your best to identify your anemones using online resources or post pictures here. In a 20 gallon tank, I would not mix species of clowns but that is just my preference. I would suggest not getting any additional fish for your 20- you have 5 fish already in a relatively small tank.

Hope that helps and is a place to start.

Best, Peter

 

[b33]

I am sorry I forgot to mention that I do have test kits for both Ammonia and Nitrate and I have a home water purfication system that purifies through RO. I also have a refractometer. All of the test I have done has indicate that the levels were good. Just for my information is there anything wrong with the Bio Wheels? and what sixe and model of a protien skimmer would you recommend?

I attempted to post pictures but it said that the files were too big. I am working on correcting that problem.

Thanks Peter for your help the link you provided has answered many questions.

 

[Blue Tang]

hi mate, I downloaded an image reziser for free , its called VSO image resizer, give it a go, its free!!

 

[b33]

Thanks Blue Tang for the help. Here are the pictures of my tank if anyone can help identifythe occupants pictured in photo 2 and 3 I would appreciate it. Thanks. Sorry that the pics turned out blurred.

 

[metalac]

Picture 2 looks like a frogspawn coral, and 3 is some sort of a bleached anemone, possibly a bubble tip. Either way the anemone doesn't look all that happy, something is wrong when they look so bleached. Did you try target feeding it? and is there enough light for it?

 

[cindre2000]

pic two is a probably a mushroom, pic three is definitely a bleached bubbletip.

 

[Entacmaea]

Hey b33, glad to hear you have the test kit, RO filter and refractometer. It is also advisable to set-up some auto top-off or drip system for fresh water replenishment , which will keep your levels more stable than adding water only at night or in the morning.

There is nothing really wrong with Biowheels, but people don't really use them for reef tanks. They add additional biological filtration (and some have other carbon or media cartiridges as well)- but that is what you have Live rock for. As with canister filters, they can be a pain and accumulate detritus. A skimmer is far more efficient at removing organics, and I would guess is actually less expensive and low maintenance in the long run, with no media to buy, change, etc. If you don't have a sump (which might be advisable to add in the future) you can go with a "hang on" skimmer such as the turboflotor multi, remora pro, or cpr bakpak. These skimmers will also add some water flow to your tank, which is great. If you only have the biowheel (or skimmer eventually) and powersweep for water movement, you might want to add another powerhead. Clean the "gears" in your powersweep regularly for best performance.

Hard to tell picture 2 (can you post a sharper picture?)- but 3 is a bleached anemone, as others have said. From your set-up, with two 55 watt bulbs, it is not quite enough light for that anemone. Try feeding it small meaty foods like whole mysis shrimp and see if it reacts and eats the food. Because it is bleached, it will need help getting energy since its symbiotic algae are low. Reading up on anemones would also be a good idea- there is a short book (24 pages!) by Ron Shimek called "Host Anemone Secrets" that will give you a primer on keeping your anemone. As you might be finding out, if you are new to reef tanks, read, read, and read some more!