Hello to all

My name is Mical (Micheal). I bought a 12 g tank from my lfs as a christmas present for my daughter. She wanted a star fish, and to tell the truth I have always wanted a saltwater tank. My husband said it was a bad idea and so did everyone else I talked to. I am determined to make this work but I have about given up a couple times. As I previously posted I have 6 lbs LR, CC, hermits, snails, a colt polyp that has lasted through a lot, a green star polyp that has died back. I add Nano AB. I change both my charcoal and h20 every three weeks (with water out of my brita filter). I test my tank and my replacement water and the PH is usually 8.2/3. Nitrites, nitrates, ammonia are all consistantly negative. My salinity is in the green on the hydrometer, I don't remember the numbers, .22 to .26? I have not had more than three fish at a time. I had a neon goby and a fire goby both lasted a long time, maybe three months. I have killed three nemos, (tank raised percula), a sexy shrimp, a coral banded shrimp, a pajama fish, a pulsing fresia, two star fish, two feather dusters, I sure there are a few more. I have a few questions. Where do you guys get your fish. Online or your lfs? Is my brita filtering my tap water enough? Should I give up on my 12 g tank? I have seen some of your amazing pictures. Thanks for your help

 

Hello and welcome to 3reef!
You have your work cut out for you with that small a fish tank. Also you have quite a large bio-load as well. The bigger the tank the more forgiving and room you have for error. Can you invest in a larger tank?
Some suggestions to help you out are as follows:
* Do some reading about the saltwater hobby
* get a protein skimmer
* get a bigger tank, at least to start with til you get comfortable and gain
the essential knowledge for success.
* in the near future invest in an RODI filter.
* do a water change more than once every three weeks. I do a water change every week(5%-10% of total volume)
As far as where I get my fish, I have always bought my livestock at local pet shops. I am going to try purchasing livestock on line and see what happens. Alot nicer fish and corals can be found on line. I'm just a little weary about them arriving stressed or dead etc. Plus alot of times I may not be able to get here when the fish etc. get to the house!
Good luck! The saltwater hobby is a very rewarding and beautiful hobby.

 

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I hope this picture posts okay. Now that I bought the tank I feel pretty stuck. It is a lot of money to upgrade and husband is already gritting his teeth when he sees what I have spent. I would like to make this tank beautiful. I was doing h2o changes every week, after my tank had cycled, and I was having a tish of ammonia. things were dying. Now that my tank is more established and stable I will try 10 % instead of 1/4. every week. I will also age my water 48hrs or try distilled. No more new fish or inverts for me for awhile. Thanks for your help

 

oops no picture I'll try again later

 

You can upload pictures right to 3reef if you wish. At the top left click on "Photos" then click upload.

 

I agree with coral reefer - do small water changes weekly on your nano. I have a 20 gallon nano and recently due mostly to a business trip I went 3 weeks without a water change and I lost a fish I had for nearly 2 years and my hard coral. Stick to weeklies!

Welcome to 3reef too!

There is info on uploading photos here:
http://www.3reef.com/forums/faq.php

 

Thanks Bruce thanks Matt. Do you guys have protien skimmers for your Nanos? Ar they just quarentine tanks? What kind of lighting? I have not upgraded my Nano Cube dx. From what I can find to read about the Nano is provides moderate flow and light. I don't have an overgrowth of algae, my corals look good. What do you mean by a heavy bioload? parrot head paradise guy are you refering to my LR, cleaner crew, corals? What it seems like a few people have a lot more stuffed in their nano. Last question what do you have in your nano, FO, reef, ect? I live as mainland as you can get. No oceans. LFS around here do not always have what I am looking for. I think saltwater.com is good, they have the only 15 day gaurantee. I haven't actually ordered corals from them just some hermits and snails. I can't imagine ordering on line is a good idea without a quarentine tank.
Thanks for letting me pick your brain

 

welcome to 3reef

 

thanks

 

I have a Turboflotor 1000 multi hanging on the back of my sump. A bit overkill. BUt it works nice. You might want to check out one of those new Remora nanos someone posted about the other day here.

I have a 70w halide fixture with T5s - it's nice for nanos.