My Fish is sick...

[dachkie]

by the way a important equipment for nanos is definately an auto top up, evaporation rate is way too fast for a nano , thats probably what is causing parameter swings, and u must remember u cant keep too much lifestocks in ur little tank

[agnescyj]

Hi all, first time I posted my humble little tank...

Please help comments and advise so tat i can learn and improve my tank...

Will be adding more LR soon, can I change my rcokscape with my fishes in the tank?

[agnescyj]

by the way a important equipment for nanos is definately an auto top up, evaporation rate is way too fast for a nano , thats probably what is causing parameter swings, and u must remember u cant keep too much lifestocks in ur little tank

I may sound stupid but wat is an auto top up? After the death of my blackie, i dun even dare to think to add anymore fishes till my whole tank is stable.

[vt_snowman87]

your tank is actually looking good, you'll need time to let ur sand become 'live' to house beneficial bacteria, and more liverocks will definitely help u stabilise ur system more..

an auto-topup is something which helps u top up freshwater to your tank, because as the water evaporates off (even more due to fan), the water becomes saltier as salt is not evaporated.. this will help u maintain a certain salinity in ur tank..

an alternative is to have a hydrometer, something which measures water salinity, and take measurements very frequently and manually top up with distilled water to maintain the level..

oh, and i am guessing your cleaner wrasse won't last long, because they clean off parasites from large fishes, and have low survivability in homes..

you can definitely do rock scapes with fishes inside, no worries, just be careful not to squash any fishes that may be hiding under rocks..

[Underwater]

Thanks for the pic. It helps us to share some of our views/experience.

If your temp is 29 or below, i think you dun need a fan cos yr tank is small. And if you still want to have corals, go for easier ones like soft corals. The fan will cause rapid evaporation of yr tank water and causes the salinity to rise. Btw, you have chosen a sea fan which is difficult to keep for your tank.

Add more LR as a bro here has suggested, it helps in water purficiation and for good bacteria growth.

Auto top up is an equipment that automatically draws water from another source (or tank) and pump into your main tank when the water drops below a certain level. If the evaporation is not too much and since you do not have an overflow system, a top up may not be needed.

From yr tank size and existing nos of fishes (5?), i would say yr bioload is already on the high side. Dun add anymore fishes. If you want, add a snail and/or hermit crab to help in algae control. The fishes are hardy, except the cleaner wrasse which will not survive long in yr tank. In fact, this fish does not survive long in captivity (home tank) except for a few reefers, and shd be left in the ocean.

i think reading more from the 'Nano Reef' thread would help you alot.

Cheers...

[agnescyj]

Thanks for the pic. It helps us to share some of our views/experience.

If your temp is 29 or below, i think you dun need a fan cos yr tank is small. And if you still want to have corals, go for easier ones like soft corals. The fan will cause rapid evaporation of yr tank water and causes the salinity to rise. Btw, you have chosen a sea fan which is difficult to keep for your tank.

Add more LR as a bro here has suggested, it helps in water purficiation and for good bacteria growth.

Auto top up is an equipment that automatically draws water from another source (or tank) and pump into your main tank when the water drops below a certain level. If the evaporation is not too much and since you do not have an overflow system, a top up may not be needed.

From yr tank size and existing nos of fishes (5?), i would say yr bioload is already on the high side. Dun add anymore fishes. If you want, add a snail and/or hermit crab to help in algae control. The fishes are hardy, except the cleaner wrasse which will not survive long in yr tank. In fact, this fish does not survive long in captivity (home tank) except for a few reefers, and shd be left in the ocean.

i think reading more from the 'Nano Reef' thread would help you alot.

Cheers...

Ok, will take note... Will not be adding more fish in the meantime as I have learn my lesson... When u all mean distilled water does it mean the mineral water we buy from supermarket?

Is there any other type of LS tat will help clean up my algae except snails? Will Algae Blenny (read from another thread) do the job?

[agnescyj]

your tank is actually looking good, you'll need time to let ur sand become 'live' to house beneficial bacteria, and more liverocks will definitely help u stabilise ur system more..

an auto-topup is something which helps u top up freshwater to your tank, because as the water evaporates off (even more due to fan), the water becomes saltier as salt is not evaporated.. this will help u maintain a certain salinity in ur tank..

an alternative is to have a hydrometer, something which measures water salinity, and take measurements very frequently and manually top up with distilled water to maintain the level..

oh, and i am guessing your cleaner wrasse won't last long, because they clean off parasites from large fishes, and have low survivability in homes..

you can definitely do rock scapes with fishes inside, no worries, just be careful not to squash any fishes that may be hiding under rocks..

Thanks, my sand starts to change colour leh... Like got brown hairy things growing on it. When i first set up, the sand is so white and nice.. Issit harmful to my LS in the tank? How to differ good or bad bacteria?

So i cant top up water from my tank using tap water? So when topping up, water should be pour in the tank or in the pump?

[Underwater]

Ok, will take note... Will not be adding more fish in the meantime as I have learn my lesson... When u all mean distilled water does it mean the mineral water we buy from supermarket?

Is there any other type of LS tat will help clean up my algae except snails? Will Algae Blenny (read from another thread) do the job?

Distilled water are different from mineral water. Buy those that are Distilled Water for top up.

For your tank size, snails would be ideal. But NOT algae blenny cos your tank will not have sufficient algae to last him. Even for medium tanks, they could starve and die once there's no more algae, unless it feeds on pellet food.

[vt_snowman87]

yupps dun worry, the hairy brown colour stuff are just algae, they wil grow because there are excess nutrients in the water.. (from food, fish poo, etc)

there are a few types in the supermarket, some are mineral water, and others are "distilled water".. get those distilled ones.. if u dun have a separate compartment, u can just top up inside the tank, dont think it matters..

dun use tap water because it will contribute problems like phosphate..

[Navyblue]

Btw, that is a crazy amount of fish to put in a tank of that size, not withstanding that the tank is new.

IMO putting more new liverocks which are probably uncured at this point of time is inviting for more trouble, unless the liverock is fully cured.

Those fishes can often tolerate sky high nitrate level for a while, if the fish is killed so soon most likely it is due to ammonia spike.

My advice is:

1. Sell/give away your fishes and keep at most two, preferably one, and ideally none at all till the tank is stabilised.

2. Read and read and read, you seems to have plenty to catch up in the basics, maintaining a tank is a science, if you know what you are doing it's not that hard (but requires hard work).

3. Start curing liverocks, add denitrifying bacteria to your current tank.

4. Get a proper and sustainable setup. I suggest visiting some of the more experienced members here with proper set up and see and get them to explain how their system work, sometimes seeing it in person is much easier to understand. (You could see mine if you wish, but it's no-tank-of-the-month material) Some shops can give terrible advice, either out of desire for profit making or pure ignorance.

Good luck!

[yikai]

A cleaner wrasse is the last fish u should put in a nano tank. It needs to be housed with many fishes so it can pick parasites and necrotic tissue from many fishes. If you can feed ur cleaner wrasse prepared food, then the chances of survival will be much much higher. I bought a cleaner wrasse from marine life, and has since eaten everything i throw into the tank, except pellet and flake. Hope this helps, but even so, i still wont reccomend this fish for a nano tank.

Do add more rocks, it not only will help beautify ur tank, but it will provide assistance to denitrify ur tank, and also make ur fish feel more at home and secure. The sea fan u have added looks non photosynthetic to me... which means u will have to feed it and this will increase ur bio load...

If u wan corals, try something easy which requires little maintenance and feeding, such as mushrooms and zoos. Hope this helps. In the mean time, jiayou and strive towards a successful tank. Everyone starts out small at some point and grow and learn as u make more mistakes. If u dont make mistakes, u will never learn. The reefers here in RC forum are more than welcome to share pointers and tips, along with knowledge on how you should do things. I look forward to seeing a healthy lively tank!

Dont give up!!

[iskay]

Solution to you problem is simple, READ. Do your research first BEFORE buying anything. I read tons of articles from various forums weeks before even buying my nano. Like any new reefer, the urge to buy LS is almost overwhelming, resist it, allow the tank to cycle properly. That could be between 2 weeks and 1 month. Once cycled, make sure not to do any drastic changes else you're tank will restart the cycle process and LS will die. LS must be added singly and allow at least 3 weeks before adding the next. I've personally learnt this lesson with a leather coral and saddleback clown loss and I don't intend to lose more.

If in doubt, keep asking and listen to the answers given. One response to you was to stop buying new fish until your tank stabilizes. In fact for the size of your tank, you should not have more than 3 fishes. Forget about about the algae blennie unless you give away some fishes.

Remember that these are all living organisms. Even the live rocks contains a large amount of living things. It's our duty as reefers to do our best to keep losses to a minimum.

With all said, I'm glad to hear that you've not given up. Keep it up but please do loads of research before anything else.