Salt Water Aquarium and Occ. Clown Fish Questions.

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Discuss all topics related to saltwater / reef tanks.


megski
 
Posts: 39
Joined: Fri May 08, 2009 6:15 pm

Salt Water Aquarium and Occ. Clown Fish Questions.

by megski

I'm very curious and confused about a few things and hoping that some one can help me!

First, a little about my tank, I have a 20 gallon tank, a filter thats supposed to provide mechanical and chemical filtration, a heater, and the gadget that spins the water to create bubbles (forgive my newbness, I can't remember what its called). Now, my first question, do I need an under gravel filter? I read that it provides excellent biological filtration, but my dealer said that my two fish, and live rock would help that along. My second question, how am I supposed to clean the filter media without damaging the essential bacteria? Finally my third question, am I potentially harming my fish and tank environment by not having a protein skimmer, and if not, at what point does a protein skimmer become crucial for the tank? I haven't decided yet if I will ever add more fish or try to create a reef for them, so I don't know if the protein skimmer is needed.

Now that I have expressed some of my aquarium concerns, I have some questions about my clown fish. When I tested my aquarium water yesterday, the ammonia levels were a bit high and I was concered because the test indicated that those levels were toxic if exposed to for extended periods of time. Is this where the clown's 'hardy' disposition comes through and they survive the cycling of the tank? My dealer explained to me that the high levels were part of the process and would spike up and then down. My second clown question: How often should they eat? I feed them once a day, is this okay? I read they have a bit of a high metabolism, and I have the time to feed them smaller meals more than once a day if need be. And my last question, is there a book on clown fish or any collective information thats more affordable? The only book I can find is $70-$80 and I would like less extensive information, but still learn in detail about their behavior. Any personal observations would also be helpful!

Thanks in advance for helping and answering my questions!


Snowboss4492
 
Posts: 2098
Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2008 11:24 pm

by Snowboss4492

under gravel filter questions lead me to believe you have gravel or crushed coral as a substrate.....................big no-no in my opinion. i started my 20 long tank with crushed coral and after 6 months of fighting crazy violent swings in nitrates and amonia and basically mini cycleing all the time i switched to sand {arag-live is an awsome brand and affordable}

your filter should move about 3 times your tanks capacity per hour for a FO {fish only} tank and thats a minimum again in my opinion {i have 2 clowns in my 20 and my filter does 700 gallons an hour

a protien skimmer is not needed but sure is a blessing to have when you can afford one go ahead and get it and a small one should be fine - -ive been running a redsea prizm on my tank for 2 years - - i will never buy another one for anything larger but its just fine for a FO tank

feeding - keep your feeding to a minimum especially while your cycleing {which you should be beaten about the head and face for doing with fish lol} but you have them in there so we have to deal with it i guess - try to stay away from flakes and pellet foods as they have a lot of phosphates in them which will grow green hair algae like you've never seen {i have it right now rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr} frozen misis a cube every couple days even 3 days if your clowns are small {under an 1 and a 1/2}

cleaning the media - - i would run 2 filters and just clean each one seperately - -week 1 clean the left week 2 clean the right and so on giving you a 2 week cycle on each filter plus it will boost your flow in the tank - - a couple aquaclear 60 or 80s would be beautiful - - - -again i started with a 110 and a 40 on mine

do you have live rock in there and how much, what kind of lighting

books..................70-80 bucks is half of what a fully matured healthy clown will be worth ...............pretty cheap investment now

BUT try wetwebmedia.com - - -awsome information sight


welcome to the hobby bud

Snowboss


megski
 
Posts: 39
Joined: Fri May 08, 2009 6:15 pm

by megski

Okay, so its a good thing that I skipped the u.g. filter because I am using living sand. I was confused under what circumstances they were needed for, thank you for clearing that up.

Thats good to know about the filter, my husband and me don't like the one we have now and we're talking about replacing it anyway. I had no idea of exactly what to look for when looking at the numbers and what not, thanks for that advice.

And protein skimmers make life a little easier for me and the fish? I think I got ya. I'll start making plans for one of those.

I'm feeding them frozen cubes, not a whole cube about a third or less of the cube, and they do their best to eat it all, ha. If I would have known it was so risky for the fish I would have gotten them later! I figured as much though, and have been keeping an eye on them, they <i>seem</i> to be doing okay. They're swimming vertical, color is good, eyes are bright. I sure hope they stay that way! Should I be cleaning the sand or would that damage the whole process?

And I have about a 2.5 lb live rock with the live sand and flourescent lighting. I figured that I could always invest more once my tank leveled out and the fish were settled in okay.

And the book, I always feel so guilty for buying expensive books, but I know I would enjoy it and I'm sure the fish would too. I was suprised to see that there wasn't more material about clown fish, they seem to be very popular. While I'm writing this, I was searching and came across the same book, minus the breeding and what not, for only $20, so I don't know what I found before!

Thank you for all your help!


Snowboss4492
 
Posts: 2098
Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2008 11:24 pm

by Snowboss4492

to clean the sand _ get a turkey baster and gently blow the "crude" of the rocks and sand so that its suspended in the water colum and let the filters take care of it ................you can "stir" the sand bed once in a while {like the top 1/2 inch or so} but would be better off getting a few cleaner hermit crabs {tiny ones} and some snails {nassarious} live in the sand bed eating detritus and naturally stiring it up

10-15 nassaious snails and 2-3 hermits for your 2.5 lbs of rock should be a good start

clowns are damsel fish in prettier clothes,lol and damsels are what most all LFS'swill push to use in cycleing tanks - so yes you have some tough lil fellas in there {i had one end up down in my sump filter in 1/4 inch of water for a week, i thought he jumped out of the tank and a cat prolly got him, found him and put him back into the tank and he was fine and is as healthy as ever}

on the books.................other than its interesting to read about the breeding of clowns - unless you bought a breeding pair, they will probably never breed so that particular information isnt really important right now

i have a satilite current light fixture on my tank dual 65 watt 10,000k white with actinics{blue} and an led - - -ive seen em on ebay for 150 bucks and its almost a bullet proof fixture .............might even be less for your tank as my 20 long is 30 inches i think if you have a standard 20 its like 24 inches long .........right?

like this one

http://cgi.ebay.com/Current-USA-Dual-Sa ... 7C294%3A50



Boss


blueshoes2208
 
Posts: 1077
Joined: Sat Apr 12, 2008 4:01 pm

by blueshoes2208

ok sorry to interrupt the conversation but since were talkin about water levels and such i figured this would b a good place to jump in. To save my life i CANNOT figure otu what is goin on..... i think my test kit might be expired, my nitrate readings were about 30-35, took it to my lfs and they said it was fine, around 10-15. Not quite the optimal zero. But my readings stand as so... new nitrates - 0, ph, 8.1 ( a little low), nitrites 0, ammonia tad above zero, temperature of mostly 78 but it does spike at about 81 on hot days, calcium is about 480, i think my tank is going through a crash. The past 3 weeks have consisted of my nem changing color to a clear/ white color and moving to hte back of the tank for no reason, my xenia pretty much dieing, my anthia looking like a skeleton with scales........ i dont get it, im doing 10 gal water changes weekely, my skimmer is pulling out plenty of shit, the water is clear, same light cycle, still same diet ( every other day varying from mysis to brine shrimp w/ spirinula (sp)) , all my other fish look and act healthy as a horse. My zoos and clove polpys are out like normal, zoos actually look like they are thriving........ help??


Snowboss4492
 
Posts: 2098
Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2008 11:24 pm

by Snowboss4492

sounds like a calcium, or other trace missing .................im not a coral guy but i knw zoo's are the damsels of corals so they will take a lot more - - could also be the temp not that 81 is high but how fast does it get there and back....might be shocking them

definately get a new test kit ..............you could be on and the LFS wrong or vice a versa...............not a game worth playing ............i promise


fihsboy
 
Posts: 1837
Joined: Wed Mar 19, 2008 4:20 pm

by fihsboy

http://aquariumwatertesting.com/

I swear by these guys.......you only need to do this test maybe twice a year....but its worth the 40 bucks. The results are DEAD ON. There is no guessing. its a lab and they test it with computers and spectrometers. it doesnt get any more accurate than that. Blue.......it sounds like your live rock may have copper? 480 in calcium is a little high. Mine stays around 350-400 and I have a couple of new sps colonies. :) I know this sounds stupid......but it could be your light.....They dont put in (quality) bulbs with ebay fixtures, which was my concern about buying one. A friend of mine in the local reef club bought a fixture on ebay, and loves it. But he had to buy all new bulbs for the beast.....because the ones it came with sucked. which could explain your bleaching and die off. a lot of xenia doesnt like halides. as you know....i have 300 watts of vho....well it thrives in my tank......took a rock full of it to the lfs.....and its all dying under the metal halides. theres a ton of variables....just gotta test one at a time. Look at the bright side though blue......at least your not losing $45-$60 half in frags. I got an ORA blue ice millipora frag from a guy in the local reef club.....he paid 95 bucks for an inch.......I bought a 2 inch piece from him for 20 bucks. :) hell of a deal......If I ever lose it im going to cry,


blueshoes2208
 
Posts: 1077
Joined: Sat Apr 12, 2008 4:01 pm

by blueshoes2208

ok im pretty sure i found the answer..... my old hydrometer measured out the sg to be about 1.024 in which broke about a week ago so i havent added water since........... so i got a new one and befroe i put any water in, it measured hte sg off the scale ......... AFTER putting in 5 gallons of pure RO water it still measured 1.030......... holy hell........... how muhc water do i have to take out to get it down to 1.023?


megski
 
Posts: 39
Joined: Fri May 08, 2009 6:15 pm

by megski

I will use the turkey baster tomorrow and try to run down to the store and buy some hermit crabs or the snails. Would it be too risky to add a shrimp or would he be in jeopardy just like the fish?

And thats a tough fish you have there! I read an article recently about caring for cephalopods, and the author bought a small octopus and was afraid of him escaping, he bowed the tank lid with so much weight. The next morning the octopus was gone and he gave up searching his home. A few days later the author decided to clean the aquarium and found the creature hiding in some component of the undergravel filter! Although I don't know if the octopus survived or not.

Today while out running errands I found a small book on clownfish, and was on sale, haha. It explains about their natural history, their care, and had some good advice. Unfortunately it was published in 1998 so some things were a bit outdated but it had a wonderful explanation of a protein skimmer. I also read that maroon clown fish are recommended to be kept solitary, so could a single marroon clownfish and the occerlaris pair I have now coexist together? I would add the marroon clown later, but I was wondering if the pair I have would try to be overly dominate and harm the marroon clown or make him miserable.

And I like the light. Does a lumen bulb essentially provide 'moonlight' or is that just the type or brand of the bulb? My top priority is creating as much of a natural environment as I can, and I like the idea of different types of light. I realized today when reading my book, that another use for the powerhead is to create something like an ocean current, adjusting it so it moves the water in a certain way. Mine is just kind of dangling in there blowing bubbles! And I also read that in smaller tanks its better to make a lagoon type environment, thats another thing I will change once I get the opportunity. I'm also looking for something that has a dimmer switch, its only for a moment, but I don't like how my fish are frightened when I switch the light off. I have a friend thats an electrician, so I'm sure I could work something out if the light I like doesn't have one.

Again, thanks for all your help and advice! I am listening.


megski
 
Posts: 39
Joined: Fri May 08, 2009 6:15 pm

by megski

Thanks for hijacking my thread! :p

But I'm glad your issues have been resolved. I know I don't want anything bad to happen to my fish and its unfortunate that happened to yours right after you got them, and it was just a malfunction of your equipment! Before I got my fish, I would take my son across to street to petsmart to look at theirs. There are always dead fish in more than one tank there. I was even thinking of applying for a summer job to take care of the fish because I feel so sorry for them, they really need some TLC.

Salt Water Aquarium and Occ. Clown Fish Questions.

13 posts • Page 1 of 2

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