FIRST SALTWATER TANK, NEED HELP

[1epauletteshark]

I would recommend an ATO (auto top off), otherwise you are going to have salinity swings if you are not around to add water as it evaporates.

You may want to add a tiny wave maker to the display for some surface agitation and flow.

Oh I was just rereading the messages and this seems to be what is happening, how does an ATO work?

 

[1epauletteshark]

I just found one online for cheap I’ll try to purchase it Andy hopefully that will help

 

[1epauletteshark]

The possum wrasse is doing great, it is bigger than the clowns and the baby clowns are so shy they just run away from everything. I know I added everything in very quickly but everything has been doing amazingly my hermits are just cleaning up the rest of the red cyano and it isn’t regrowing. I just had some concerns about my salinity. One day I’ll do a water change and my salinity will Ben a time 1.025 then the very next day water has evaporated and it’s has jumped to 1.027 what I saw going on? Is it because of the heater? I keep my Chile right on 12/7 because when i am not home the AC isn’t on and therefore the fish would overheat so the heater is working a little bit to make sure it doesn’t get get too cold.

Everything so far
Fish:
2x baby ocellarus clowns about 3cm in length
1x yellow banded possum wrasse 5cm in length
And I don’t plan on adding anything else

Inverts:
8x blue leg hermit crabs
5x turbo snails
3x nassarius snails
1x skunk cleaner shrimp
1x tuxedo urchin
1x small BTA
Still waiting for 5x sexy shrimp to restock

I am working on/have made a very helpful nano tank stocking chart if anyone is interested in giving any feedback:
Thread 'Announcing: Nano aquarium fish compatibility document!'
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/announcing-nano-aquarium-fish-compatibility-document.958538/

Forgot about my two hitchhiker friends

 

[1epauletteshark]

Can anyone confirm?

 

[1epauletteshark]

Stocking!
Fish so far:
2x Baby ocellarus clowns
1x Baby possum wrasse

Inverts so far:
7x Blue leg hermit crabs
1x Small skunk cleaner shrimp
5x Astrea snails
1x Bubble tip anemone
5x Nassarius snails
1x Tuxedo urchin


I am hoping to get at least 1 more fish for the tank what would be best? Here is a list of the fish I am able to get here in terms of a 15 gallon aquarium.
Yellow clown goby
Black clown goby
Orange spotted goby
Wheeler's whatchman goby
Pinkbar goby
Yasha hase goby and tiger pistol shrimp pair
Candy basslet


*Still waiting for anywhere to get 5x sexy shrimps back in stock

 

[jabberwock]

Stocking!
Fish so far:
2x Baby ocellarus clowns
1x Baby possum wrasse

Inverts so far:
7x Blue leg hermit crabs
1x Small skunk cleaner shrimp
5x Astrea snails
1x Bubble tip anemone
5x Nassarius snails
1x Tuxedo urchin


I am hoping to get at least 1 more fish for the tank what would be best? Here is a list of the fish I am able to get here in terms of a 15 gallon aquarium.
Yellow clown goby
Black clown goby
Orange spotted goby
Wheeler's whatchman goby
Pinkbar goby
Yasha hase goby and tiger pistol shrimp pair
Candy basslet


*Still waiting for anywhere to get 5x sexy shrimps back in stock

Any of those would be fine except the Basslet. That would directly complete for real estate with the possum wrasse.

 

[1epauletteshark]

Any of those would be fine except the Basslet. That would directly complete for real estate with the possum wrasse.

Ok thanks

 

[1epauletteshark]

I found out that a fish store near me sells Pom Pom crabs that are about 1cm big and I really want to get two is that too much or will it be ok? I feed a quarter cube of frozen music a day as I have lots of inverts and everything I have added since the beginning (except one baby clown and one blue hermit crab but those were for reasons other thank problems with the tank) would I need to start feeding half a cube a day or stick with what I am doing now?

 

[1epauletteshark]

Every one doing great! Added a blue eye royal dottyback who adds much needed color. Here is a timelapse of everyone.

 

[1epauletteshark]

Planning on purchasing a yellow clown goby in a few weeks and adding copepods and tigger copepods and tips of the goby?

 

[Tamberav]

Every one doing great! Added a blue eye royal dottyback who adds much needed color. Here is a timelapse of everyone.

This fish can turn extremely aggressive and kill others. A royal gramma is a much better option for the same colors.

They also tend to eat small shrimp like sexy shrimp.

Basically what happens is baby fish do not stay babies.. they grow and some do them get very mean and some of them start eating small inverts.

 

[1epauletteshark]

This fish can turn extremely aggressive and kill others. A royal gramma is a much better option for the same colors.

They also tend to eat small shrimp like sexy shrimp.

Basically what happens is baby fish do not stay babies.. they grow and some do them get very mean and some of them start eating small inverts.

Hmm, ok thanks, ill see about returning him. I really want to add sexy shrimp and I am not very attached to him as he bullies Taco the possum wrasse and picks on my skunk cleaner shrimp and I have to return my last two electric blue hermit crabs in preparation for the big update (Adding and culturing copepods, 1x Yellow clown goby, 5x Sexy shrimp and 2x small pom pom crabs).

 

[1epauletteshark]

This fish can turn extremely aggressive and kill others. A royal gramma is a much better option for the same colors.

They also tend to eat small shrimp like sexy shrimp.

Basically what happens is baby fish do not stay babies.. they grow and some do them get very mean and some of them start eating small inverts.

Correction, I figured out today that it is actually a bicolor dottyback do those fall under the same category? I would have gotten a royal gramma if they weren’t 100$ and this guy was only 1.5$

 

[1epauletteshark]

sorry double message

 

[Tamberav]

Correction, I figured out today that it is actually a bicolor dottyback do those fall under the same category? I would have gotten a royal gramma if they weren’t 100$ and this guy was only 1.5$

Yes they are still mean and invert eaters. Almost all dottybacks are a no go in a nano. Small shrimp is a natural food for them.

They can actually kill your cleaner too. I had a dotty kill two cleaner shrimp I thought were too large for it.

 

[1epauletteshark]

Yes they are still mean and invert eaters. Almost all dottybacks are a no go in a nano. Small shrimp is a natural food for them.

They can actually kill your cleaner too. I had a dotty kill two cleaner shrimp I thought were too large for it.

My dottyback has been nipping at my skunk cleaner this entire time! Thanks for the heads up.

 

[1epauletteshark]

Do your self a favor and skip the clownfish. They will eventually become aggressive and likely kill all the other fish in your small tank.

I was just re-reading the thread to make an update and I am happy to confirm the clowns just squabble with each other and never pay any attention to the other fish.

Ues. Best foods and alternate are:
Mysis shrimp
Spirulina brine shrimp
LRS nano blend or Fish Frenzy
Chopped krill
small plankton

Add Selcon vitamins to the foods occasionally

I am still working on food as all I am feeding is nori on a clip and a quarter cube of mysis a day. Today I added 1L of tigger pods 500ml of "normal" pods and 500ml of rotifers. I am expecting an algae bloom with all the new nutrients in the tank from that many copepods. Feeding 60 drops of phyto a day.

Clownfish are notoriously aggressive once a bonded pair gets to breeding size. They are not the cute cuddly fish that people believe they are.

I wont have this tank long enough for this to happen thankfully as they are only about an inch long and I'll only have this tank for another 10 months.

You wanted crabs, these are free!

They are great except I also got three not so amazing crabs... the infamous gorilla crabs one of witch ate one of my baby clowns that were pretty much bonded and after I got a new one they never really hit it off but now they are better.

This fish can turn extremely aggressive and kill others. A royal gramma is a much better option for the same colors.

They also tend to eat small shrimp like sexy shrimp.

Basically what happens is baby fish do not stay babies.. they grow and some do them get very mean and some of them start eating small inverts.

I have since replaced him :)


OK now I have a few questions now that my tank is coming along two months old.
I have added a little GSP frag as the tank was doing so well with everything thriving as my tester coral and he is doing amazingly but I really want to start adding some other beginner corals, I had hammers, zoas and mushrooms in mind but I would love some other suggestions. I am aware that I will need a different light to the one I am running currently and was wondering if a spectra aquaknight V3 is good and if it would be good for my tank as it is a cheaper light?

I still have the two small clowns and the small YBPW plus a new addition of a small Lawnmower blenny and the inverts are a small peppermint shrimp, skunk cleaner, tuxedo urchin, 5x nassarius snails, 6x turbo snails, small pom pom crab and no more hermit crabs. Plus as I stated the small GSP frag.

I am suffering from dinos (I think) should I purchase a sand sifting starfish to keep the sand moving? I am not sure about this especially because of tank size.

Also please let me know what else if anything I still need to add, thanks in advance!

 

[Tamberav]

I was just re-reading the thread to make an update and I am happy to confirm the clowns just squabble with each other and never pay any attention to the other fish.

I am still working on food as all I am feeding is nori on a clip and a quarter cube of mysis a day. Today I added 1L of tigger pods 500ml of "normal" pods and 500ml of rotifers. I am expecting an algae bloom with all the new nutrients in the tank from that many copepods. Feeding 60 drops of phyto a day.

I wont have this tank long enough for this to happen thankfully as they are only about an inch long and I'll only have this tank for another 10 months.

They are great except I also got three not so amazing crabs... the infamous gorilla crabs one of witch ate one of my baby clowns that were pretty much bonded and after I got a new one they never really hit it off but now they are better.

I have since replaced him :)


OK now I have a few questions now that my tank is coming along two months old.
I have added a little GSP frag as the tank was doing so well with everything thriving as my tester coral and he is doing amazingly but I really want to start adding some other beginner corals, I had hammers, zoas and mushrooms in mind but I would love some other suggestions. I am aware that I will need a different light to the one I am running currently and was wondering if a spectra aquaknight V3 is good and if it would be good for my tank as it is a cheaper light?

I still have the two small clowns and the small YBPW plus a new addition of a small Lawnmower blenny and the inverts are a small peppermint shrimp, skunk cleaner, tuxedo urchin, 5x nassarius snails, 6x turbo snails, small pom pom crab and no more hermit crabs. Plus as I stated the small GSP frag.

I am suffering from dinos (I think) should I purchase a sand sifting starfish to keep the sand moving? I am not sure about this especially because of tank size.

Also please let me know what else if anything I still need to add, thanks in advance!

No sand sifting starfish, that just ends with a dead starfish polluting a small tank. You can take a turkey baster and squirt the sand to stir it yourself.

I would not add more corals until the Dino’s are resolved. Usually it’s low nutrients/imbalance in a young tank.

 

[Lionfish hunter]

I was just re-reading the thread to make an update and I am happy to confirm the clowns just squabble with each other and never pay any attention to the other fish.

I am still working on food as all I am feeding is nori on a clip and a quarter cube of mysis a day. Today I added 1L of tigger pods 500ml of "normal" pods and 500ml of rotifers. I am expecting an algae bloom with all the new nutrients in the tank from that many copepods. Feeding 60 drops of phyto a day.

I wont have this tank long enough for this to happen thankfully as they are only about an inch long and I'll only have this tank for another 10 months.

They are great except I also got three not so amazing crabs... the infamous gorilla crabs one of witch ate one of my baby clowns that were pretty much bonded and after I got a new one they never really hit it off but now they are better.

I have since replaced him :)


OK now I have a few questions now that my tank is coming along two months old.
I have added a little GSP frag as the tank was doing so well with everything thriving as my tester coral and he is doing amazingly but I really want to start adding some other beginner corals, I had hammers, zoas and mushrooms in mind but I would love some other suggestions. I am aware that I will need a different light to the one I am running currently and was wondering if a spectra aquaknight V3 is good and if it would be good for my tank as it is a cheaper light?

I still have the two small clowns and the small YBPW plus a new addition of a small Lawnmower blenny and the inverts are a small peppermint shrimp, skunk cleaner, tuxedo urchin, 5x nassarius snails, 6x turbo snails, small pom pom crab and no more hermit crabs. Plus as I stated the small GSP frag.

I am suffering from dinos (I think) should I purchase a sand sifting starfish to keep the sand moving? I am not sure about this especially because of tank size.

Also please let me know what else if anything I still need to add, thanks in advance!

I would just let the dynos run their coarse. You will get algae in a new tank no matter what for the first year. I don’t touch my sand ever and it stays perfectly white. But for the first year there will be algae.

 

[1epauletteshark]

I would just let the dynos run their coarse. You will get algae in a new tank no matter what for the first year. I don’t touch my sand ever and it stays perfectly white. But for the first year there will be algae.

Ok thanks