My 20-Gallon (Tall) Softie/lps Nano-Reef!

[Acielot]

Royal Gramma

Would be good.

Lawnmower blenny

Maybe if you like those fish. Some people say that they can become aggressive.

Firefish

Would be good but keep a lid

Six-line wrasse

Sure but like the blenny they can become aggressive.

Green mandarin (I know they can be difficult to feed but my LFS can get frozen trained ones IF I decided to go with that)

Absolutely not. With the history of this tank so far trying to keep one would cause more issues than you can fix.

I've also considered clowns as well as spotted/pajama cardinalfish or Kaudern's Cardinal.

Clowns are always okay. Cardinals can get large and may not be suitable for a 20 tall. I wouldn't personally put a cardinal in my tank unless it was a tiny one.

[Fishgirl2393]

Thanks! I've had royal grammas, six-line wrasses, clowns, firefish and the lawnmower blenny before so I kinda know how they "act". The ONLY way I would CONSIDER adding a mandarin would be if it was the absolute LAST fish I added (and only after the tank has been stable for a WHILE). Any specific stocking suggestions?

[Acielot]

Thanks! I've had royal grammas, six-line wrasses, clowns, firefish and the lawnmower blenny before so I kinda know how they "act". The ONLY way I would CONSIDER adding a mandarin would be if it was the absolute LAST fish I added (and only after the tank has been stable for a WHILE). Any specific stocking suggestions?

Only get 2-3 fish max.

 

 

Unfortunately though unless you have a way to supply live food to a mandarin in a 20 gallon the cost of live food would become prohibitively expensive for most hobbyist unless you could sustain it soley on frozen and pellet food which is not very common. Mandarins can easily clean a 20 gallon of all pods in basically no time otherwise I would have one in mine.

[Fishgirl2393]

OK cool. Thanks! I know I don't want more than a few fish (corals are the main show in my mind!). I really like the royal gramma. I know they like little caves. Any suggestions on making sure any caves are secure and won't fall on and crush the fish?

[jmorriso001]

Picture update

[Fishgirl2393]

Since my moonlights on my fixture went out, I'm looking for a new moonlight. I know this is not TECHNICALLY a moonlight but I thought it might work. The Tetra GloFish 8inch Blue LED light. Here's the link. It comes with everything to install it.

http://www.tetra-fish.com/Products/glofish-black-light-aquariums-products/glofish-lighting-plants-accessories/glofish-led-aquarium-stick-light.aspx

You guys think that would work?

[jmorriso001]

Cool idea on the moon light. My kessil is only on and off, it would be nice to have some moon light now and then.

[Fishgirl2393]

The reason I considered this is because walmart has it for about $16 for everything you need to install it. Since it is meant to make glofish look good, I figure the blue is very good color-wise.

[Fishgirl2393]

Changed 12 gallons of water today. I vacuumed the sand and made sure not to let any detritus get into the water column. The tank was NOT cloudy when I finished so I think I succeeded. Used RO/DI. Tested (to be SURE) before adding and it was all good (0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 0 nitrates, pH 8.2). Tank looks better now. I finished peroxide on the rocks today (did the last one I'm going to for now) and after the water change, I added a bottle of BioSpira to take care of any die-off/ammonia/nitrites that may occur after the peroxide (I have noticed a minor spike in nitrites after each rock has been done though I suspect this is because I had so much algae to kill on each rock). Nitrates are probably still too high but they are coming down. Corals look good.

[Fishgirl2393]

Nitrates still too high. Another water change is coming (in a day or two). Detritus is still in the tank too much but with every water change, I'm removing it. Regenerating Purigen right now. I've already soaked it in the 1:1 bleach/water solution for 24 hours. Now (after rinsing well) I'm soaking it in the water/Prime mixture (2 tbsp per cup) for at least 8 hours (will actually be longer because I'm leaving it overnight). It looks white again! I'm still baffled about why the nitrates are so high when I don't put food in the tank and there are only a few critters in there. Wondering if it just built up and also the detritus is breaking down in the tank and causing more nitrates. Well, water changes always work (though apparently not so well on my tank for whatever reason!).

[Fishgirl2393]

OK. I just bought a Cascade 700 filter (used) for $25 because the owner upgraded to a new tank with a built in sump. So, here's my question. I COULD use it for the reef OR my 47-gallon freshwater tank. Would the cascade be better than the HOB filters I'm currently using in the reef? Could I stick rock rubble in one of the media trays (would that even be a good idea???)? Would it be better to use it for the freshwater? So, let me know! Thanks!

[jedimasterben]

Nitrates still too high. Another water change is coming (in a day or two). Detritus is still in the tank too much but with every water change, I'm removing it. Regenerating Purigen right now. I've already soaked it in the 1:1 bleach/water solution for 24 hours. Now (after rinsing well) I'm soaking it in the water/Prime mixture (2 tbsp per cup) for at least 8 hours (will actually be longer because I'm leaving it overnight). It looks white again! I'm still baffled about why the nitrates are so high when I don't put food in the tank and there are only a few critters in there. Wondering if it just built up and also the detritus is breaking down in the tank and causing more nitrates. Well, water changes always work (though apparently not so well on my tank for whatever reason!).

Don't bother soaking it in Prime or anything. Just let it air dry, and then drop it back in the tank.

 

You'd need to clean out the canister at least weekly, if not more often, or else you'll have even worse nitrate issues.

 

You could have stuff built up in your sand or in your rock. Pretty much the only cure for that is time (or a muriatic acid bath).

[Fishgirl2393]

Thanks. Could I put rock in the basket?

[LarryMoeCurly]

A canister filter would do more harm than good IMO, just more maintenance and another place to trap detritus.

 

You should have enough biological filtration with the live rock in the tank, there shouldn't be a need/benefit to adding more by way of the cnaister filter.

[jedimasterben]

Live rock rubble in a filtration system does little more than trap detritus, and is difficult to then remove from it.

[Fishgirl2393]

Thanks guys! I decided to put it on my freshwater tank (at least for now) that needed a little more flow. It is very quiet and adds MUCH more flow (very much needed in a tank that deep).

[Fishgirl2393]

Tested (with new kits!) my dKH and calcium last night. The kits are Salifert calcium test and API KH test. Here are the results...

dKH: 10

Calcium: over 500 (Salifert maxes out at 500 but the color was NOT quite blue, almost but not quite).

[Fishgirl2393]

About to test my water again. The tank looks pretty good but there is some cyano on the substrate. Nitrates are going down and that is a good thing. Will post results of tests (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, calcium, dKH) ASAP.

[Fishgirl2393]

UPDATE. Got my results (after testing the water myself) and I do NOT like what I see.... I confirmed ALL results except Calcium and dKH

Ammonia: .50ppm-.75ppm

Nitrite: 4-5ppm

Nitrate: 60ppm

pH: 7.7

dKH: 10

Calcium: over 500

Specific gravity: 1.026

 

Is my tank crashing? I am tired of putting money into this tank trying to fix it when it doesn't seem to be helping. I'm not getting out of the hobby but I am tempted to restart this tank. Please give me some suggestions. What could be wrong? I have not done anything recently except refreshed my Purigen but I made sure to use extra Prime afterwards (to get rid of chlorine) and have tested since then with no problems. I have cyano on my substrate again. The corals look OK but since they are soft corals (and they have looked fine through other problems too), I don't think that is a sign that all is well. I just am not sure what to do from here... HELP

[jedimasterben]

Are you still using API test kits?

[Fishgirl2393]

Some. But like I said, I double checked. I've even triple checked before. I've checked against Salifert, Hanna, and Red Sea Pro. The only kit that I've found is NOT accurate (API) is the pH one. It ALWAYS reads low even when the others say everything is where it should be.

I have noticed that (if I stick my finger in the tank or something), I get a VERY mild shock. Can stray voltage cause bacteria (nitrifiers) to die? What else could cause a tank crash (if that is indeed what is happening).

[TheKleinReef]

Something organic is the problem I think. If something is dying its gonna release ammonia into the water but the tank can only process so much.

 

Also the pH seems low. Even my tank which I noticed has a low pH is still 7.9-8.0.

[Fishgirl2393]

I agree with you on the organics. The thing is, I don't feed the tank (really, at all right now) and there are only a few corals in there (candycane, kenya tree, mushrooms of two types) and all are healthy. The only other critters in there are hermits (8), a nerite snail and a cerith snail. Like I said, I agree that organics are the issue (simply because of the high nitrates if nothing else) but I don't know where they're coming from. My rock MIGHT be bad I guess. What are the signs of "bad" live rock?

[TheKleinReef]

If you take it out of the water and it smells like ammonia. That's one sign. I'm sure there's more but I can't remember them all. Google might help there.

[Nano sapiens]

I have noticed that (if I stick my finger in the tank or something), I get a VERY mild shock. Can stray voltage cause bacteria (nitrifiers) to die? What else could cause a tank crash (if that is indeed what is happening).

 

Stray voltage is never good for a tank. If you truly have a voltage leak, you can test with a voltage meter. If you don't have one, simply unplug everything and stick a finger in the water. If no shock, plug in each appliance one by one and finger test each time until you find the culprit.

 

Based on your ammonia and nitrite, the tank is either cycling and/or something of decent size has died and is decomposing. It looks like you need to let the system settle and readjust. Sometimes we have the tendency to try and do too much too fast, but these reef systems don't take well to massive upheavals.

 

I'd suggest keeping up with a basic maintenance schedule (weekly 10% WCs, gravel vacuuming, LR basting) and manually remove any algae growths. If all other parameters are within range (temp, salinity, flow, etc.) and feeding is light-moderate, then it should stabilize within a few weeks.