I have a question about my aquarium!

[Scampy]

You have nothing to be scared of. I dont think I have seen a new tank not go through this process. You can clean the glass and vaccum the sandbed and tomorrow it will be back. The benaficial bacteria that lives in the rock and sand is growing and when it stablizes it will be able to consume the diatoms faster than it appears and problem solved. You might want to consider adding a little more rock also. 1 to 1.5 pounds per gallon is the general rule of thumb. The rock and sand is the biggest part of your filtration. Now I got a bunch of questions for you. Is the hob filter the only form of circulation? What kind of media is in it? What kind of lights do you have? Do you have a test kit? If so what kind? What are the water parameters, and source of water? What are your plans for this tank? That should get us started..lol. By the way I have a 10 also. Been running over 2 years now. Very rewarding and demanding at the same time. Big changes happen fast in such a small volume of water so be patient and go slow.

 

[bubbles07]

Looks like ill buy a few more pounds of rock tomorrow. yes the filter is the only style of circulation. Not sure what you mean by media. Lights are 2 5" 6500k/10watt bulbs. yes on the test kit, its the 5-n-1 test kit. where you dip a strip in the water and its got a color chart. everything checked out fine on that. water parameters im a bit confused on what you mean. we get the water from out kitchen sink, pre mix it than dump in the tank, wait a little bit and than test it. reads real good. plans for the tank are making it look as nice as those huge tanks you see out there. not sure how many fish or even what combonation of things to put in it. i hope this helps, ill be going to the pet store up north in spokane and in post falls idaho depending on the roads.

 

[Scampy]

The first thing I would do is look at getting a better test kit. I started out with those strips and found out the hard way how horribly inaccurate they are. For 30-40 bucks you can get a good kit. As for media..I mean whats in the filter...rings,bio-pellets,sponge,carbon,etc. The media can become a nitrate factory in a hurry if not cleaned religiously. Your light may be fine for a fish but thats about it. I've kept a bunch of soft corals alive under 50/50 power compact flouressents. They are 5" long and cost about 10 bucks each. I didnt get growth like I do with t-5 lights but it worked. Tap water isnt reccomended,to many pollutants,check your local wal-mart or such to see if they sell RO water. The params are the test results of the water..ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,etc. Thats all I can babble for now. Off to work

 

[bubbles07]

went to the pet store today and get alot of good info. 1. we are using the wrong type of lighting. we need the 50/50 bulbs. 2. since its a ten gallon tank rinse out the filter about twice a week.
we picked up 4 hermet crabs. 2 small and 2 about the size of a penut m&m and a horse shoe crab. already im noticing a difference. they are going crazy over the algy on the sand.

I ordered a cleaner shrimp so that will be here in a couple weeks also thinking of getting a small jet to circulate water.

Im still stuck on what kind of fish to get. any ideas?

 

[Scooterman]

small tank for a fish!

 

[Scampy]

I wouldnt put more than 2 fish in a 10 gallon. The bio load put on a tank that small can create serious problems in a hurry. A small (CUC) ,clean up crew, isnt a bad thing to add at this point. Did the (LFS), local fish store, tell you to buy extra shells for your hermits to move into as they grow? A 10 gallon is no place for a horseshoe. Did you know they grow to 12" across? They also require a suplemental feeding of squid and shrimp. I would love to help you on your way but you cant buy first and ask questions later. Not fair to you or the critter. Can you post your water test results? Did you know that copper is lethal to inverts. Does your tap water come through copper lines? I really want to see you succede at this so I need to tell you the 3 most important things in reefkeeping...RESEARCH,RESEARCH,RESEARCH. Before you buy.

 

[bubbles07]

i was told this one will only get to about 4 inches. and that they'll eat food that was not eatin and at the bottom. no he didnt say anything about the shells. s***. i have yet to find a good test kit besides the test strip ones. And when i checked they all showed good. the water no does not come threw copper lines. im thinking of getting one of those purrifiers for the foset.

 

[the6goat6man6]

bubbles,
Take it from someone who has made critters suffer! SLOW DOWN. Listen to these guys. yourI too went way too fast, listened to the LFS (most are trying to make a sale!), and bought before I researched. I had my tank crash and lost all, like dominoes. I was very sad and discouraged! The more animals you put in there so fast, the more strain you put on your system, it won't be able to keep up.

If you need to, you can use distilled water in the mean time. Not as good as RO/DI, but next best, I use it. I like it better than buying Ocean water.

LISTEN TO THESE GUYS THEY WILL STEAR YOU STRAIGHT, TAKE YOUR TIME! THAT IS VERY, VERY IMPORTANT IN THIS HOBY.

Good luck

 

[Scampy]

Hope we didn't scare you away Bubbles. But honestly...untill you get your knowledge base up a little..you should slow down and be asking a lot of questions. We would rather here you say "This is what I want to do--can you help me" other than "This is what I just bought and dont know anything about it". None of us here have anything to gain by helping you out and are more than willing to point you in the right direction. We just want you to become a responsible reefer.

 

[bubbles07]

thanks scampy. just an update.. the tank is doing really good. picked up our first anenome this weekend. its looks so cool. i did some research on them but what i dont understand is why do they flip over? ill have pictures of it up in about an hour

 

[bubbles07]

so i cant get a picture up and loaded cause it keeps saying its to big. but its a purple tip. i just read that it does this to release water waste? or just to hide. now he did this with the light off and once i turned it back on this morning he imediatly started turning back over. Do you guys leave the light on 24/7?

 

[user 26995]

Just posting the pic for bubbles07