linda
New Member
Hello 
Last December I was given a 20 gallon saltwater aquarium in bad-looking condition (I'm a newbie, maybe it only looked bad to me... but the water was tea brown, light fixture broken, etc). It has 25 lbs of live rock. It has black sand (I was told it was "live sand" but I have no idea). It also has a submerged power head, heater, thermometer, seaclone protein skimmer, and a completely empty backpack filter (I just have that one put away in the cabinet).
The first thing I did was some water changes over the course of the first few weeks. That helped the water not be so brown. I also went out and bought a Coralife light fixture with two bulbs (10,000k and actinic blue). The man at the fish store where I bought the light told me to wait a few months to do anything to the tank to let it cycle. It's been just over 4 months. I have a salinity tester and have made sure that it stays within the marked area. I only add distilled water when evaporation occurs. I take a water sample to petco weekly for testing (they are right around the corner from my house and they test for free). They tell me the water is ok, ph is just slightly off but hardly so.
The fish have managed to survive (except for the green chromis, that one died). Currently there is an ocellaris clown fish and a red firefish.
Compared to how it was when I first got it, it looks 10x better. But I need some direction. My main concerns at this point are my cleaning crew and water clarity.
Cleaning Crew:
There is a lot of algae. Brown and maroon colored. Some stringy looking. I went to the local fish store a few days ago and they sold me 1 turbo snail, 2 margarita snails, and 6 red legged hermit crabs. After I came home, I read that the margarita snails might climb out of the tank because they don't like warm water. But they've stayed in there so far. They are already making a dent in the algae, a couple of the live rocks look a lot cleaner. Is this a good cleaning crew for my size tank and amount of live rock?
Water Clarity:
I'd like to get the water more clear. I had not been using the seaclone protein skimmer because every time I turned it on, it flooded the tank with bubbles (making it difficult to even see into the tank). The first time I turned it on last December I was so desperate to clean up the water that I left it on for a couple of hours. The clown fish swam funny for about a day or so afterwards (with his head up, I thought he was a goner but he survived, I have no idea if it was even really related to all the bubbles but I was afraid that it was), so I didn't turn it on again after that. This last Friday, I discovered a tube on the protein skimmer that if I turn the top of the tube there are no bubbles coming into the tank. So I've had that turned back on now for a couple of days. I've noticed a very slight improvement in the water (the surface of the water is noticeably cleaner) but there is nothing in the top of the protein skimmer (I thought bubbly water was supposed to collect in the top?). It just is sucking water in, putting it through a cyclone looking thing and sending it back into the tank. I'm not sure if I have this working correctly. Is the live rock and seaclone protein skimmer enough filtration for this tank? While I am happy overall with the improvement in water clarity since December, I feel like there still could be a some improvement in water clarity. It still seems slightly off. How often should I be doing a water change and how much of the water should I change? Will this help with the water clarity?
Eventually I would like to add a couple more fish (perhaps another green chromis and a mandarin dragonet) and some small coral but I'd like to make sure the tank is truly ready first before I do any of that (I also realize the dragonet has different dietary needs that I need to learn about first, as well as the care and feeding of coral). Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Thanks so much,
Linda
Last December I was given a 20 gallon saltwater aquarium in bad-looking condition (I'm a newbie, maybe it only looked bad to me... but the water was tea brown, light fixture broken, etc). It has 25 lbs of live rock. It has black sand (I was told it was "live sand" but I have no idea). It also has a submerged power head, heater, thermometer, seaclone protein skimmer, and a completely empty backpack filter (I just have that one put away in the cabinet).
The first thing I did was some water changes over the course of the first few weeks. That helped the water not be so brown. I also went out and bought a Coralife light fixture with two bulbs (10,000k and actinic blue). The man at the fish store where I bought the light told me to wait a few months to do anything to the tank to let it cycle. It's been just over 4 months. I have a salinity tester and have made sure that it stays within the marked area. I only add distilled water when evaporation occurs. I take a water sample to petco weekly for testing (they are right around the corner from my house and they test for free). They tell me the water is ok, ph is just slightly off but hardly so.
The fish have managed to survive (except for the green chromis, that one died). Currently there is an ocellaris clown fish and a red firefish.
Compared to how it was when I first got it, it looks 10x better. But I need some direction. My main concerns at this point are my cleaning crew and water clarity.
Cleaning Crew:
There is a lot of algae. Brown and maroon colored. Some stringy looking. I went to the local fish store a few days ago and they sold me 1 turbo snail, 2 margarita snails, and 6 red legged hermit crabs. After I came home, I read that the margarita snails might climb out of the tank because they don't like warm water. But they've stayed in there so far. They are already making a dent in the algae, a couple of the live rocks look a lot cleaner. Is this a good cleaning crew for my size tank and amount of live rock?
Water Clarity:
I'd like to get the water more clear. I had not been using the seaclone protein skimmer because every time I turned it on, it flooded the tank with bubbles (making it difficult to even see into the tank). The first time I turned it on last December I was so desperate to clean up the water that I left it on for a couple of hours. The clown fish swam funny for about a day or so afterwards (with his head up, I thought he was a goner but he survived, I have no idea if it was even really related to all the bubbles but I was afraid that it was), so I didn't turn it on again after that. This last Friday, I discovered a tube on the protein skimmer that if I turn the top of the tube there are no bubbles coming into the tank. So I've had that turned back on now for a couple of days. I've noticed a very slight improvement in the water (the surface of the water is noticeably cleaner) but there is nothing in the top of the protein skimmer (I thought bubbly water was supposed to collect in the top?). It just is sucking water in, putting it through a cyclone looking thing and sending it back into the tank. I'm not sure if I have this working correctly. Is the live rock and seaclone protein skimmer enough filtration for this tank? While I am happy overall with the improvement in water clarity since December, I feel like there still could be a some improvement in water clarity. It still seems slightly off. How often should I be doing a water change and how much of the water should I change? Will this help with the water clarity?
Eventually I would like to add a couple more fish (perhaps another green chromis and a mandarin dragonet) and some small coral but I'd like to make sure the tank is truly ready first before I do any of that (I also realize the dragonet has different dietary needs that I need to learn about first, as well as the care and feeding of coral). Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Thanks so much,
Linda
