Help!!

[bigcolorado]

Hello everyone,

I have a tank which is 36 inches in length 12 in width and 14 in height.....I do not know how many gallons....I have live rock in there with what was live sand. The filter is a Rena xp3 filter, I have normal generic lighting. Fish include blue Chromis x4, and red and blue crabs. I put a picture so you guys can see what I'm working with....I want to get this tank up and running completly, artificial reef setup or not, whichever is more reasonable for this type of tank....im open to any suggestions.

 

[little_fish]

You have 26 gal tank there. I wouldnt suggest adding any more fish, you want to only have 1 fish for every 10 gallons. This number can be stretched a bit when the tank is well established, but for now, i would keep it at max of 3 fish.

I would ditch the canister filter, unless you clean it every 3 or 4 days it will lead to water quality issues. Instead get a good skimmer. Some great ones for the money are the reef octopus skimmers or hydro bubble skimmers. You are going to want to get one that is rated for twice your water volume and be wary of cheap skimmers.

If you want to keep fish only the light you have is fine, but if you want to do a reef you will need to upgrade the lighting. I would look for either a metal halide pendant or a 4 bulb t5 lighting fixture.

I personally would suggest making the tank a reef. With a small tank you cant have very many fish and there arent a ton of fish that will live happily in that size tank, but you can make up for that with all sorts of awesome corals. Many corals are easier to take care of fish too IMO

 

[ZyberGoby]

not a bad set up now your light what are you running? bulbs wise that is. I.E. 50/50's, T5 ho x1actinic x10k or what have you? and your current/circulation whats that like in the tank? . but looks like a really good start

 

[ZyberGoby]

leave it to little fish :D she's awesome :D +++1

 

[bigcolorado]

thank you guys.....It just looks so plain and blah......nothing exciting going on...my live rock is turning black also....i'll take a look at the products you guys suggested....

 

[NanoReefer]

too me your light lloks like a current sunpod, if so it would be plenty for corals

 

[little_fish]

+1 NanoReefer

The only problem with that light is that it only covers a short portion of your tank, so you are going to limited on coral placement.

Also i would uncover your tank for better gas exchange (very important!!)

 

[NanoReefer]

i agree with you lil fish but actually on my 37 i have a 20 inch light, and i bought it like that caus i put shrooms on the outside wheres theres less light, but thats just me.

 

[AdeptMrSniffles]

+1 everyone

That looks like a Sunpod, a pretty significant light. It'll certainly grow corals for ya if your interested in doing a reef tank. In fact, NOT having a reef tank with that light would be under-utilizing its capabilities. Do you know how old the bulbs are? You may want to look into replacing them, there are plenty of options.

 

[bigcolorado]

Hi guys.....no i dont know wxactly what bulbs it has....should I also re-arrange the rocks? and the issue i have is that the water evaporates quickly, I find myself adding water everyother day....is that right?

 

[little_fish]

Ya, i lose about 3/4 a gallon a day. It slows down in the winter though. Everyone deal with evap, it just another part of the hobby

 

[Marines_Wife]

Honestly I would say that I loose about a gallon a day! Damn evaporation haha

 

[bigcolorado]

so what i usually do is just add tap water....is that right?....at a local store someone will tell me yes thats fine as long as its cold tap at another they say absoulty not...:frustrat:....im at a lost....idk if should just empty the tank and start "fresh"....the rocks are getting black too...im getting frustrated with it....the last time I had a great setup and i had a fire in the room and exploded my tank....

 

[little_fish]

You really dont want to use tap water in our tanks, it can lead to endless problems. Tap water has all sorts of nasty things that can fuel algae growth and poison the more sensitive creatures we keep.

Instead you are going to want to use RO/DI or distilled water, both for top off water and for making saltwater for your water changes.

 

[NanoReefer]

not many people on the forum use tap water for their tanks, but i do haha. but if your live rock is turning black i would suggest to get a reverse osmosis water filter, it will purify your water so it is cleaner and healthier for your tank:) also the bulbs should be labeled. how many bulbs does the fixture hold?

 

[bigcolorado]

hey guys....the light I have are the following, power compact CLS#05140,65W,ultraActinic.
the second one is Power Compacts CLS#05142, 65W 10000K....please let me know if this is suffiencient for my tank...and recommendations......hopefully the lighting will help my black live rock issue.....

 

[bigcolorado]

never mind guys.....there is a short in the whole light system, it blows the fuse and the actual power cord at the connectors is burned. It would have been nice....it also included moonlights....oh well....im gonna try to find another.

 

[Ulta]

I would ditch the canister filter, unless you clean it every 3 or 4 days

I dont know where you get these numbers from....

It would be ok to clean the canister filter about every month or so, and replace the carbon. Matter of fact I reccomend it if that is the only thing you have for filtration.

With the lights, thats a bummer there is a short in them. Personally I would take it apart and find out where the short is! ;)

 

[little_fish]

it only takes a couple of days for the detritus collected by the filter to rot and then be washed back out into the water column as nitrates, phosphates, dissolved organics etc