Aqua Boy's 11 Gallon Nano Tank Thread

[Aqua Boy]

This is my first marine tank so be patient, I am still learning how to screw it up..:D

Just to get started here are the specs:

Tank: 11 Gallon All Glass Open Top from Via Aqua
Lights: OEM Fixture, Raised with Dual 18 Watt Coral and Actinic Bulbs
Added another single raised 18 Watt fixture with a Blue/White Bulb
Total 54 Watts Available/All three bulbs controlled separately.
White Twin LED Moonlights over surface water
Heat: 100 watt Titanium Thermastat controlled submersible - 78 Degrees/No variance
Skim: Bak-Pak
Flow: Provided by Bak-Pak/May add head later but seems sufficient

Inhabitants:
Various Types of Live Rock
Live Sand
4 Hermit Crabs (Blue and Red)
2 Turbo Snails
1 Firefish
1 True Percula Clown
1 Blue Tang (Not intended to be permanent)
1 Diamond Goby
2 Sea Stars (Surface and Subsrate Dwelling)
1 Anemone Crab
8 Various Specimen of Coral (Pictures to be added)

First Couple of Pics:

 

[Aqua Boy]

And a couple more:

 

[dcantucson]

It that's screwing up you're doing a great job!
Nice looking tank.

 

[Aqua Boy]

It that's screwing up you're doing a great job!
Nice looking tank.

Thanks!!! I appreciate that. I have about 20 Years experience with Fresh Water fish and plants and understand the basics of Salt but I can't even explain how nervous I was when I finally said it was time to switch. I actually thought it was so much harder than it really seems to be. My good friend was even laughing at me when I explained that to him. He actually MADE me buy the tank during a frag swap he took me to in order to get started knowing if he didn't I never would have done it. I got a great deal on the tank and he supplied me the cycled water, sand and rock. I literally placed stuff in the tank the next day after setting it up. the funny thing is for me, whenever I would visit the LFS I would always spend more time in the marine sections looking and reading.

 

[Smitty]

Very nice set-up you have...

 

[yote]

Thats a great looking tank.

 

[Cathic]

Wish I could get my 15g to do that :grumble:

nice looking tank at any rate.

 

[Aqua Boy]

Thanks Smitty, Yote and Cathic. I will be adding some more corals by the end of January. I am alsolooking at adding a small Black Tang too...:bounce: But the blue will prolly need to go.

 

[Bifferwine]

I would suggest not adding any more tangs to your tank, and looking for a new home for the hippo tang ASAP. It is impossible to keep any tang in an 11 gallon tank long term. Minimum size required for even the smallest of the tangs is 55. They need a lot of swimming room because they have very high metabolisms. Basically, they are suffocating to death and stressing to death in a small tank.

 

[yote]

Biffs 100% right about the tang.
You'll have more problems with it in that small a tank than its worth.

 

[Aqua Boy]

I agree with you both. The Hippo is temporay and will be moved soon to another tank. For now it is doing very well as a baby (2"), is feeding very well and is swimming and hiding normally. It also seems to enjoy swimming around with the Percula and sometimes the firefish. The Black Tang is a present for my best friend but will be housed for a few days to make sure it is feeding. It too will be a baby.

 

[dcantucson]

Just watch yourself! :bounce: The Tang Police will get you.

 

[Aqua Boy]

Just watch yourself! :bounce: The Tang Police will get you.

You jinxed it....call the ich police too. :frustrat:

Woke up this morning and noticed the tang rock scratching and saw the start of ichydoodoo. No chances here....the toilet gods called. I had a feeling it would happen with Hippo track records with ich. Not such a big deal as it was not that expensive. Good thing we didnt put it in the larger tank or it would have never been caught.

 

[dcantucson]

You could treat it in a QT :(

 

[Smitty]

Dang...you flushed it? Why didn't you try to treat it in another tank?

 

[Aqua Boy]

Dang...you flushed it? Why didn't you try to treat it in another tank?

Unfortunately I do not have a QT tank ready. I am actually using this tank to hold a couple fish for my friend. I get the fish practically free through him at wholesale ($8) so it is actually cheaper to not treat it. If it was more expensive then I would have for sure. It is almost expected to get ich direct from wholesalers overseas.

I prefer tank bred for this reason but not everything is available.

 

[dcantucson]

Aqua Boy a fishes life should be of value whether it's free or costs $100. A life is a life and when it comes to these animals we are responsible for their lives. I hope you will consider that in the future.

 

[Picasso]

Your rock stack looks awesome but your fish list is way overboard. A clown, a goby, a tang and a firefish in a new 11 gallon tank? The tang needs to go back asap. Also, that's a lot of corals in a new tank. I would take all the fish and corals back until your tank cycles. After a couple months you can add one coral at a time slowly. Next, you can pick one fish for a tank that size. After it's well established if you keep your water under control then you might be able to add another small fish. In my opinion, you're setting your tank up for a crash and you'll kill everything in the process. Reefing is a fabulous hobby but you need to go slow!

Also, you shouldn't set up a tank unless you've got a QT available. Fish are animals not decoration.
C

 

[Picasso]

This is my first marine tank so be patient, I am still learning how to screw it up..:D

I have little patience for someone that flushes a fish without trying to save it.

C

 

[Bifferwine]

Any tang that you put in an 11 gallon tank is going to get ich -- like I said before, they just cannot survive in such a stressful environment. If you can't provide them the habitat that they need to live in, then don't get the fish. These animals are taken out of the wild for your viewing pleasure, and if you can't be responsible in your caretaking methods (i.e. keeping it in an 11 gallon tank, it inevitably gets sick, you flush it instead of trying to save it, and say "It's okay, it was just a cheap fish"), then you need to find a different hobby that does not involve live animals. It's not the fish's fault it got ich -- it's YOUR fault.