My First tank - Did the LFS mislead me?

Equipment

OEM filter
OEM lights 12v 10wat (2bulbs)
Water heater


Does anyone think I might have too much live sand or not enough live rock?

 

ok was gonna say if you didnt have a filter. might wanna look at some ideas for LED's or MH's (lighting) depending on your corals but thats advanced perfect amount of both IMO

 

Fish stores like that tend to overstock tanks not because they arre doing right for the animal but they plan to pass it to the customer faster. The animal is not ment to stay at the store so they go in smaller tanks that will suffice for a short period of time.

Most stores try to sell products as fast as they can. Money is money yah know to them.

Small tanks are easier to have problems go wronger with them faster. Less water makes it easier for nitrite, nitrate and ammonia to rise faster.

Suggestions, Try a smaller goby, like the watchmen as posted or a clown goby. They are quite active and fun to watch. and You can always have inverts such as scarlet skunk cleaner shrimp or blood/fire shrimp. They are quite fun to watch and even will interact with you.

On the note of corals. Make sure your light will be good enough for the corals you wise to house in the tank. Dont wanna go spending money on corals that will die because of insufficent light .

a handfull of snails will do the tank wonders, Nerites/Ceriths/Astreas to go along with your cleanup crew ( they will clean algea and other issues in the tank)

Another thing is most people dont realize that saltwater stuff needs flow. So a Small powerhead would do wonders for the tank as well as create an oxygen source.

In the future a Skimmer would work well to. Cleaning up nasties by it skiming the water. And a Filter of some sort. Hang on back, cannister, sump, or refurgium.

 

Som3 - what are MHs?
And Is live rock considered coral?
And what is IMO?

 

+1 to what everybody has said thus far. K+ to each...

Definitely change stores...I would say maybe one fish & some corals. try the "nano fish" section of Live Aquaria to see what kind of fish might work for you...something small.

Aquarium Fish: Tropical Freshwater Fish and Saltwater Fish for Home Aquariums

 

Get ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate test kits of your own. Dip strips don't cut it (inaccurate); get drop kits. Get an air stone or skimmer (preferably a skimmer). Be prepared to do an insane amount of maintenance to keep a tank this small.

 

IMO-in my opinion
no coral isnt the same as live rock
and MH is metal halide (its a light)

 

I'm sorry for your issues, but your problem could be many things. The disadvantage of a small tank is that they're prone to wild parameter swings in short amounts of time. We've probably all seen little 5 gallon nanos on the counter next to the cash register at the LFS. In it might be a clownfish or a goby or a shrimp and single fish of some sort, even with a coral or a few.

Are you familiar with cycling? If not, stop right there and don't kill off any more fish until you buy a book and do some research. If you are, then you know that bacteria will grow in accordance with the bioload (waste produced by your fish/livestock). If your source of ammonia exceeds the system's ability to catch up and nitrify (get rid of) the wastes, then the ammonia and nitrites will accumulate too quickly creating a toxic environment--and kill everytyhing in the tank.

Thing is, when you brought your initial sample in for testing and they gave you the green light, they should have told you that with 6 gallons of capacity, no more than one fish at a time could be sucessfully acclimated. You might get away with 2 or even 3 fish (in the long run, and only when your bacterial colonies are in sufficient number to overcome ammonia and nitrites produced) but only small fish, and certainly not added at the same time. In the end, you might be able to keep 3 fish and a few corals, but that's your limit, and only after you've spent lots of time learning the hobby.

If you're going to start over, try one small fish, and feed maybe once every 3 or 4 days at most.

You can find success, but with such a small tank you'll have to take it slow even more than most of us. Not to pile more bad news on ya, but invertebrates like shrimp are even more sensitive to poor parameters. It's surprising the shrimp is alive.

Familiarize yourself with the hobby--especially with regards to getting started. Don't expect instant gratification. You will not find it with marine tanks.

Good luck.

 

Sammyp, you are the greenest of green. welcome to 3reef, hangon tight and keep reading, we will help you get dialed in.

1) Tomorrow, buy a very basic beginners saltwater book and read it, and then read it again.

2) http://www.3reef.com/forums/reef-aquarium-articles-how-tos/common-acronyms-abbreviations-54351.html

 

Thanks for the advise Red would you throw down a link of a skimmer you would recommend , also I thought that the filter that came with the want was a good flow system for getting oxygen into the tank ect. The fluval edge does come with a filtration system and media to go in it.