HELP! my first marine tank, and im having trouble!

[little_fish]

+1 North

I would be concerned about your corals. If you do indeed have brown jelly disease on your LPS corals, you might end up losing them all. Brown jelly can be very hard to deal with.

Mushrooms normally slime up and will detach to go live someplace else if they dont like where they are currently. But this in combination with your plate coral dying makes me concerned that you have another problem with the tank. The corals you listed are pretty hardy and shouldnt be dont this.

 

[Northstar24]

I also forgot to add in my original post that puffers are also not a good match for reef tanks. They will eat whatever clean up crew you have, as well as snack on your corals.... don't ask me how I know

 

[sco0011]

hmmm, ok. The corals seem to be going well now except for the mushroom that has detached, i put him into a rocky place so hopefully he can re-attach but i think its not going well for him. The coral with the brown jelly on it appears to be going fine now but i guess time will tell. The plate coral also just has the 1/8 that is bone bu tthe rest of it seems to be going well. I have a blue light in which i think is T5 and a white light which is T8, the man att he LFS said it was one of the brightest ones you can get for your tank.

The water as of today appears to be fine, the ammonia is at 0 and the nitrites and nitrates are very low so it appears to be going well.

Also with the puffer i plan on giving him away when he gets a bit larger as i recieved him as a gift when i first got the tank so i couldnt really not accept him haha.

 

[Northstar24]

Also with the puffer i plan on giving him away when he gets a bit larger as i recieved him as a gift when i first got the tank so i couldnt really not accept him haha.

This is a poor habit to get into, as many of the fish that get too large for most tanks need large, large tanks for a long term home. This makes the fish much harder to re-home when it is nearing its adult size. If there are people that will buy you gifts for your tank, you need to give them a list of things that are safe to suprise you with, and they need to be things that you have researched ahead of time and will be prepared to accept.

You really need to think about re-homing that puffer now, especially if you have corals. I tried one because my wife really likes puffers. I choose the one that was supposed to be one of the most reef safe choices (no puffer is truly reef safe) and while it was fine while it was settling in, once it was established it ate almost all my hermit crabs, hundreds of zoas, and a brain coral literally overnight. They grow fast and have voracious appetites

As far as lighting goes, T8's will not be sufficient to maintain anything but low light soft corals such as mushrooms and zoanthids. Are you sure they are not T5 lights?

 

[little_fish]

Also a 2 bulb fixture isnt going to be bright enough to keep corals

 

[Bifferwine]

I agree with everyone else. Your current lights (one bulb of T5, and one bulb of T8, correct?) is not strong enough to keep any corals, even low light ones. Whoever is telling you that is one of the strongest lights you can have for your tank is full of BS. That's about as low as you can go for lighting.

Your corals are already suffering, and will continue to suffer without proper lighting.

 

[SarahSmile]

The man at the local aquarium said that this was normal and the best way to speed up the process was to add more fish. so i purchased a puffer fish (baby) and over the next few weeks i ended up with 7 fish in my tank as per the mans instructions. Callum.

Hi Callum, I wish you lots of luck with your tank. You did say you purchased the puffer fish yourself to "speed up the process" and everyone is just trying to help you and your tank by telling you to get rid of the puffer. No need to now say it was a gift or something and that you'll return it at some point. Everyone here wants to help you have a succesful tank. Sometimes when starting out you have to swallow your pride, return things you didn't research, and upgrade other things that aren't suitable. We've all been there. :)

 

[chuysvt]

if you want to have a good tank with no problems you have to take everything step by step with time... sorry for all the lies that guy told you he just wanted to make money ....welcome to the site.

 

[Bifferwine]

Sadly, the only process that adding a lot of fish in a short period of time speeds up is the process of your tank crashing. :(

 

[sco0011]

Hello everyone!. Just thought i should write a post to let everyone know how my fishtank is going! The water is perfect and all of the fish are going fine, also my two occelaris clownfish have started laying eggs! i have bought a breeding box for them and have moved the rock which the eggs are on into the tank, i have also put three anenomes into my tank and they are going very well, although i would like the clownfish to host the anenome but they dont seem to want to go near it. Any ideas anyone?

 

[Nonfamous]

More bad news for ya, anemones are the hardest things to keep even for experienced aquarists with long established tanks. When and if they die, they release toxins that can and will kill everything in your tank. I'm too am new to the hobby, but I strongly suggest you slow down and do a bit more research and ask questions before you take another step.

Good luck.

 

[raylmaier]

you have done more stuff to your tank in one month then people do in a year. patience is the key to this hobby. I am not even at 6 months yet and I dont have half of what you have. Slow down and enjoy things you buy. Technically you should have just now been done with your cycle and have a clean up crew and maybe (i said maybe) one fish!! or two clown fish!!! That is it. You shouldnt have corals because you dont have the right lighting. I am saving up my money to get the right lighting. And even if i did have the right lighting I would still wait just because I am making sure my fish are going to survive. It takes a while for your tank to be stable it doesnt happen over night.

 

[chichimom79]

I am curious as to why you are asking for advice if you aren't going to take it. Everyone here wants to help you succeed. An anemone probably isn't going to live in your newly established tank even if the water quality is good. They need an established system of a year or more to do well, along with intense lighting to keep the algae in their tissue alive. Your lights are insufficient for your soft corals, and definitely will not keep an anemone alive for long. Please return them to the store and research BEFORE you buy.
I know you are anxious to see your tank full of beautiful things, but if you keep adding things before doing thorough research, your tank is doomed. Research, research, research.