Newbie question about lighting

How big is the clown and how often do you feed him?

Black lights are not used in aquarium trade.... long term exposure will hurt your fishies.
Actinic lighting is what is used. Looks roughly the same, but without the UV output.
Moonlights are just for looks but also pretty neat.

Well, if you had lots of bristle worms... I know your CBS did not starve.

 

My mistake didn't know about actinic lighting, well id have to guess roughly 1.75" to 2" long. I just recently changed its feeding habit. I reduced the amount of food by half and I feed it every day. Once again I'm just doing what I was told by someone who has more experience than me...

 

Well I got home and got the low down on my tank. 10 gallon tank, emporer 280 w/ bio wheel, top fin power head 30 (95gph), 15w light, live sand/crushed shell, and 3 decent sized peices of live rock. Idk the lbs of the rock. The only things I purchased for the tank is the live sand/ shell and the power head, the rest is hand me down lol. Checked my params: cal is 460ppm, kh is 161.1, phos is 25 ppm, and nitrates are at 20ppm. The nitrate kinda scared me so I did a gallon and a half water change. After change salinity is 1.0235. Any advice would be great!

 

Remove the bio wheel they are nitrate factories in saltwater. The crushed shell is also a nitrate factory. Replace the media in the filter every two weeks and clean it well each time.

 

Media in the filter? So do I need to replace the bio wheel with something?

 

The bio wheel is the part on top that spins when water flows back into the tank. There should be a carbon cartridge that drops into the filter somewhere behind the biowheel. That cartridge is the media he is talking about.

 

Oh ok, should I replace the bio wheel with anything?

 

Nope... just leave it out.

 

Oh ok thanks

 

Good advice on the bio-wheel. Also, the smaller the tank the harder it is to obtain stability. You will no doubt fight things for a while with a small tank. However, there aren't many problems that will come up down the road that you can't at least temp fix with a proper 5 gallon water change (50%)!
Also remember the importance of ro-di water, and watch out for wild temerature swings when doing your water changes on the small tank(salinity being equal).,

Also, if you attempt another invert such as a CB shrimp, be sure to acclimate the crustacean for at least an hour b4 putting in tank. They are very sensitive to salinity changes.
And most of all, don't give up the hobby. Find what works best for you. it does take time...time.
Greg