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algae anemone aquarium buy clown clownfish cube feeding filtration fish huge hydrometer inverts lighting lights live live rock metal pump rics rock salt tank top water changes
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nvsbandit

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
ive had my tank up for a little more than a month now.

10g all glass
aquaclear 20
heater
koralia powerhead
15.5 pounds live rock
20 pounds live sand
(no goodies on either)
1 clown
1 emerald crab
2 scarlet hermits
28w pc coralife fixture 20"


i want to keep ricordea's and green star polyps for now so would i need better lighting?

since i just added a fish two days ago would adding an anenome or a tube worm be a bad idea? and my clown is NOT eating flakes...whats my next approach?

gotta wipe down the glass and ill take some pictures later


this isnt my first tank
i have a 40g long tall planted with a ton of fish (shoulda gone cichlids)
and another 10g with a couple of guppies neon danios ramshorn and 2 dwarf frogs.

i really like saltwater thus far


OH and tapwater yay or nay? ive read mixed things and i was told by the LFS that tapwater would be fine to do.

Thanks in advance
Drew
 
#2 ·
Hi, Welcome to MR.

Sounds like you are on the right track. I would not add an anemone until you upgrade your lighting and the tank is more established. Your current lights would be fine for ricordeas and GSP.

Nay on the tapwater. Buy RO water or invest in a ro/di unit.
 
#3 ·
Welcome to the club Drew! I second the no tap water, you can purchase RO water at alot of LFS if you don't want to purchase an RO system, or you can use distilled water from your local grocery store.


I would wait at least a year and an upgrade before trying an anemone at all, ans tube worms are notorious for dieing off if there is any fluctuation in the water parameters so I'd stay away from those also IMO

Darrell.
 
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Discussion starter · #4 ·
well my parents are finishing our basement within the next year which means i have the ability to throw an in wall tank up (prolly a 125 but what would you suggest?) so i think an RO unit would be a proper investment.

well i have alot of swimming area so i kinda want something thats gonna be on the sand thatll just hang out there instead of on the rocks.

with the extra open area what i think im gonna do is cure a small peice of LR and then grow split ricos on it then sell the rock or individual mushrooms....i dont know its just ricos are my favorites on looks alone so i really dont plan on having much else but a few different colors in the tank.

the only thing im having a somewhat hard time with is the salinity i adjust it by mixing alot of salt into a drinking glass of water and raise it that way...how else should i do this because i dont want to have all this livestock and mess something up really bad with the salinity...
and thanks! im so glad i found this site. the one guy at Kee's told me about this.

::edit:: and what do i do about my clown not eating. he wont eat flakes...what should i give him
 
#5 ·
For your salinity...

I would suggest going to meijer buyingand buying the following:
1x 5gal bucket
2x 2.5 Gal jugs of Meijer Brand Distilled water

Going to a LFS and getting some salt mix. a 50 Gal bag should be fine for a 10 Gal tank for a long time.

Also, pic up a refractometer or a hydrometer, these can both help to measure your salinity. I would suggest the hydrometer for now, until you know that you want to invest more money in this hobby.

after, mix one of the 2.5 gal jugs with the sea salt as directed. Test the water in the tank, if the salinity is too low, make the 2.5 Gal mix a bit stronger. A lot of reefers like to keep their water more concentrated than suggested. 1.023 - 1.025 is what a lot of people prefer.

The hydrometer will be your dear friend with such a small tank. BTW, you will need to add fresh water every day (not salt water), because it's such a small water volume your parameters will change very rapidly.

As for your lighting, eventually (again if you decide to stick with the hobby) you will want to upgrade this.

If you live in my area I can show you all the fun places to shop, by fun I mean cheap. IMO each store has certain items cheaper than others.



Are you dosing anything in your tank yet?

What type of flake food are you feeding your clownfish? I prefer the omega one series of food... but, like most everything else in this hobby it's a matter of opinion.

also, IMO the tube anemone has a nasty sting... at least to me it has one of the worst stings of all the creatures in my aquarium...
 
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#6 ·
You can try feeding the clown mysid shrimp, frozen is fine, just thaw it out in some tank water. As for the salinity, I would suggest setting up a top-off system, you can DIY one for relatively cheap and it makes a huge difference to the tank to always be stable. Also, what do you mean you've been mixing salt in a glass and topping off? You should be topping off with fresh water, only adding salt when you do water changes. When the water evaporates it leaves the salt, therefore your salinity should go up and adding freshwater will bring it back down to the right numbers.
 
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#7 ·
No on the tap water - you'll get algae problems. As for the clown, try different frozen foods. Since you only have the one clown, you can thaw a little bit of the cube, then put in in a ziploc bag until next feeding time. Clowns are pretty good eaters, if you try several different foods and he still isn't eating than something's wrong with the clown (maybe he's sick).

You'll also need more live rock than just a piece, even if you just do rics. The rocks act as your main biological filtration source.
 
#9 ·
nvsbandit said:
ive got 6 peices all totalling to over 15lbs

the one rock by itself is 7.5lbs

could i get a link to a "top off" system? or a diy
Click to expand...
This is the one I use, it hasn't failed me yet.

http://autotopoff.com/products/DS1/index.htm

you'll need that, some kind of pump, and a reservoir for the water.

There are other options, maybe someone else can chime in, I just got home from a crazy heavy metal concert I'm hitting the sack, I can barely walk:D.
 
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Discussion starter · #10 ·
yikes...i have no idea what im even looking at haha

me and wiring/electrical currents of any kind im so lost....give me a wrench and a hammer...and i shall fix it.

any more of an explination?

p.s. who was in town for the concert?
 
#11 ·
Hit your LFS and ask them to recommend a frozen food.... once your clown gets a whiff, he'll dig into it.

After a few weeks, once he's used to being fed in your tank, he'll take the flakes as well if you still want to use them from time to time. However, the Spectrum pelets are a great dry food, much more robust than flakes. Might want to check it out.
 
#12 ·
yes upgrade lights then wait for a while for the tank to establish a little more then you could probally add it, I second spectrum pellets, my clowns love them( I feed formula one and formula two) I also second the frozen foods, I feed brine, mysis, and marine cusine and emerald entree.

on the subject of tap water, its ok to use, in fact i have read a report that anemones in specific do better when tap water is used. see when you use ro water it also removes some of the trace elements found in tap water and also found in the ocean. some salts come with some trace elements but it really matters in your tank. i use tap water and remove the chlorine and mix salt and let sit with a power head for a week and its working fine.
 
Discussion starter · #13 ·
so today i got a pepermint shrimp and two turbos

what can i get that is sand sifting? because i feel im pretty much done with cleanup crew

i really want a starfish or maybe an urchin. but im super open to suggestions on what to get next for inverts
 
#17 ·
idk i acclimated a peppermint shrimp in like 20 minutes, i just floated it then took a bunch of tank water and put that in the bag. its fine. but later on when your tank is mature you can get a diamond goby, or a sand sifter starfish mine do a good job
 
Discussion starter · #20 ·
okay so great news. ive been keeping everything in my tank alive!
2 clowns (1 black and white 1 false perc)
1 Emerald Crab
2 mexican turbo snails
3 cerith snails
2 scarlet hermits
1 green star polyp frag
2 zoo frags (the one frag is watermelon zoos)

got a protien skimmer and a way better light.(96W power compact)
Image

Image

Zoos
Image

Image
 
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nvsbandit
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