SeaFish Posted October 6, 2002 Share Posted October 6, 2002 i have a 12 gallon flat back hex tank, with a built in overflow and wet and dry filter. the current power head that is in my tank is a 145gph penguin 550. This power head pumps water back into the tank from the wet and dry filter. i have about 20lb of live sand and about 15lb of live rock. i keep the temperature at about 84 degrees F. currently i have two cleaner shrimps, 2 hermits, one blood shrimp, and one pistol shrimp. I also have a clarki clown, small watchman goby that has bonded with the pistol shrimp. My lighting system is two retrofits from custom sea life. Each of the retro fit has a 50/50 light and each puts out 32 watt for a total wattage of 64 watts. Currectly there are no corals in my tank. Curently i do a water change every week and about 2 gallons each time. the tank has been running for about 6 months now. all readings are within normal. My question is, do i need another power head? If so how many more and what rate should it be pumping the water per hour? should i add some more live rock? Should i add some more live sand? Is the lighting system enough for any kind of corals? if not what kind of corals can i keep in his tank with this lighting system? Do i need another filter for this tank? if i need another one, what kind do you recommend? How often should i change the water in this tank? and how much water since this is a 12 gallon tank? Do i need a skimmer? I need some clean up crew that will eat left overs thats not eaten and need something that will eat algae of any sort. What do you recommend that i get? Well, if anyone have anything that they can suggest weather if its good or bad i would like to know and hopefully correct before its too late. please share opinions freely. thank you all in advance. Link to comment
SeaFish Posted October 6, 2002 Author Share Posted October 6, 2002 sorry for multiple post...still getting use to this . Link to comment
chufa Posted October 6, 2002 Share Posted October 6, 2002 can u post a pic? Add live rock if you have room, the more the better. Everything else sounds fine. Lots of shrimp; do they fight? I would not add anything else except a few snails. No need for a skimmer IMHO. Your waterchanges sounds fine. For lights, I would keep anything except SPS and clams. Looks like you are doing fine, although I don't know how old is your tank; hopefully you added all that stuff gradually. You will find lots of helpful info here. For all your questions, you can find good answers by using the search feature on this site. I think you will be strongly encouraged to do so! Link to comment
SeaFish Posted October 6, 2002 Author Share Posted October 6, 2002 thank you for your help. the tank has been set up for the last 6 months. i added the live rocks and sand all at once, but the fish and shrimp was added gradually. if anyone have any other advice, please share with me thank you all Link to comment
Ford_Prefect Posted October 7, 2002 Share Posted October 7, 2002 IMO I think 20 lbs LS is a bit much, no? I would add more rock though....and the 64watts should be fine for a bit of soft corals. Dont need a skimmer IMO either. Water chanes just siphon out with air line tubing or anything else that would work..1.5-2.5 gallons a week. And as long as your nitrites etc are in good range... go for it but lower the temp to 76-78 yours is kinda high for corals. Clean up crew hm...maybe a few blue legs...but not many because you have quite a bit in the already. Link to comment
printerdown01 Posted October 7, 2002 Share Posted October 7, 2002 Perhaps I have developed a psychological disorder... I thought I had posted a reply to this..... ??? ??? ??? That's REALLY scary... Do you have another post around here that looks similar!?!?!? Anyway, for the 2nd time (-I HOPE, otherwise I'm loosing my mind-): get your temp lower... 78-80 F somewhere about there, 84 seems really high... For the first time: try doing a gallon a week... I do 1 gallon change bi-weekly on my 12, if you are producing more waste than this, there is a problem... 1) your water flow is probably fine 2) your rock/sand level is fine... if it looks like you need more (visually) add it, if not, no worries 3) lighting if just fine for all softies, most LPS (doubt you will have a problem here), you will probably be able to get away with clams (it has been done before) 4)The penguin will work just fine! Correct me if I'm wrong, but there is room for chem filtration if needed right (-nice little benefit)... 5)lol, I have already addressed the water change issue above 6)no skimmer needed... if you do add a skimmer, pull your bio-wheel... w/o the skimmer your bio-wheel won't be a problem 7)Clean-up crew: sooo many choices!! NOT recommended: serpent stars/brittle stars (can be a problem in a nano), cucumbers, turbos, and urchins. The latter two have a tendency to knock things down... If you are looking for a cut and dry clean-up crew plan: Algae control: 7 astrea, 3 margarita or black turban and 2 cerith -diversity is the key in algae eating... astrea is just a decent "all around" algae eater... You can through in a conch too if you want it to help keep algae out of your sand bed. Detritus/left-overs: either 6 blue-legged hermits or 6 nass snails (bumble-bees can be mixed in but focus on nass). Your pistol will help out here, and actually may be sufficient, for they are excellent scavengers! Link to comment
Brianc_4 Posted October 7, 2002 Share Posted October 7, 2002 This does look familiar, perhaps you were worried that no one would see the other post.:*( Link to comment
SeaFish Posted October 7, 2002 Author Share Posted October 7, 2002 hey printerdown, what do u mean by enough room for chem filtration? i am new to this hobby can you explain? from your post "4)The penguin will work just fine! Correct me if I'm wrong, but there is room for chem filtration if needed right (-nice little benefit)..." Can you explain to me what that is? sorry to post couple extra posts. i was trying to figure out if i did the posting right. i accidently put too much and didnt know how to delete the extra post. sorry. Link to comment
SeaFish Posted October 7, 2002 Author Share Posted October 7, 2002 hey printerdown, what is this? what do u mean? can u explain it to me? From ur reply post : "4)The penguin will work just fine! Correct me if I'm wrong, but there is room for chem filtration if needed right (-nice little benefit)..." Can you explain to me what that is? thank you. Sorry that i have put some repeating post. i am still getting the hang of it. pleae forgive me if i gotten annoying. as soon as i figure out the function of posting. i will keep it to only one post. thank you all for ur help and patience. Link to comment
spectre Posted October 7, 2002 Share Posted October 7, 2002 Hey Sea, chemical filtration = carbon, ammonia chips, etc.. HTH and praying Dave ESPI doesn't see your post :o Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.