need some help with temp control

Hi everyone. I am new to the whole saltwater thing. I have a new tan(20 gallon) that i have had set up for about 3 weeks now. Its in the cycling proses. I have 3 goby's and 2 clows, and one damsel(devil). first week and ahalf i had great water readings. now my ammonia sky rocketed( 2 ) ive been treating the tank with some natural bacteria and im down to a .50 now getting better! it didnt sky rocket till i added this live rock from a different store that i dont normal get from. now i have algae i do believe(brown rusty color over my live rock and live sand. my problem is keeping my tank at a good temp. with my heater on i can keep it between 79 and 81. but if i turn my lights on in the tank it jumps up a good couple degrees quick. am i really going to have to adjust my heater everytime i turn my tank on? someone help if possible I am new to this. if needing pics let me know. thanks everyone

 

Well when I did my light upgrade from Nano tuners my temp would go from 78 to 83 in a about 45 min. I kept my lip open and installed two small computer fans blowing onto my water. I am going to be installing LEDs in a few days to stop my heat issue in summer.


When I was @ 86 for a few days my fish and coral were not to happy but alive.

 

Welcome to 3reef.

The brown you are seeing is diatoms normal part of a cycle.

If this is indeed a 20 gallon tank, you are over stocked unfortunately.

It's always best to allow the tank to cycle completely before adding any live stock, I am thinking your local fish store did not tell you this.

You will need to probably do a soft cycle to prevent disease from setting in.

Try setting the heater at 76.

 

Sorry to hear about the troubles. But like stated youve been ilinformed about the hobby. your tank isnt ready for fish, not 1 let alone 5. I have a 20 and only have 3 fish and i feel like its crowded.

but thats beside the point. try buying a fan and have it blow across the surface of the water. It will help with the temp.

 

what kind of gobies do u have? because some of the gobies are very territorial and need a lot of space.

 

i dont remember what the goby's name is. its black with white strippes down it. i dont even see them very often, they burrow under the live rock. when reading up on starting a tank. alot of people online and at the stores recommended some small starter fish to help with the cycling. Thats what i was told anyways. i am setting a 75 gallon tank up as we speak, im going to stock it with live rock and let it run for about 6 months before i add any living to it. im just glad i got my ammonia level down. it scared me for a few days, there were a good 4 days where the level wouldnt go below 2. i lost a snail, and 2 damsels( cant honestly say im sad about the damsels. they are mean as ****, and the pet store told me they were great with other fish. , but better the $2 snail than my $15 clowns. they said to not worry about the nitrites and the nitrates or how ever you spell them untill the ammonia is dropped down.

 

Yeah you need to come here or another forum before visiting or depending on local fish store for advise. Some local fish stores are great, some just need to survive or worse make a buck.

Nitrites are nearly as toxic as ammonia so that is very bad advice.

I recommend you get some Dr.Tim's product or Microbacter7 and some Prime.
You may get lucky with this tank but you will probably use it before it goes bad.

 

The microbacter is a good idea but why not be proactive and get rid of the fish? The cycle will then complete and you can add a fish. I'd recomend never returning to that LFS. 5 fish in an uncycled tank... I don't know how there still in business.

 

do you think that is a good idea what i said i was going to do with the 75 gallon tank? or should i not have to wait that long?