She has it originally as a reef aqaurium but the reef died amost half a year ago. We have a blenny, a clown and some damsels in there now. We recently just bought a zonathid but it still hasn't opened up..it's been about 5 days. Is it still alive? Also when we take the damsels out what are some other fish that would go good in this setup? One more thing..there is algae on the bottomof the tank around the sand..how do I clean this off?
Answers:
Someone above mentioned putting tangs in your Nano aquarium to get rid of algae. DONT DO THAT. Tangs need at least a 75 gallon tank, they get really big. That person gave some good bits of advice but they also gave some incredibly bad advice, too.
Check out the website www.reefcentral.com . That is THE BEST salt water aquarium website in the world. No one will steer you in the wrong direction there, trust me. Post any questions you have in their "newbie" section, you'll get lots of really good advice. Make sure you list all the specs on your tank, though. Not just how many gallons, but what kind of lights, the salinity, ph, nitrates and nitrites, the substrate, all those things. In freshwater that's not a big deal, but it really matters for salt.
i never knew there were saltwater aquariums.
Welcome to the wonderful hobby.
First what color is the algae. If it鈥檚 green great, red or brown, you want to take care of that before introducing more fish. If it鈥檚 green, and you still want it gone, then Tangs is a great hardy and wonderful addition and will gladly take care of and keep the problem down, As they need green in their diet or just turn the lights off in the tank for a few days, remember if it鈥檚 true algae, it鈥檚 a plant and plants need light to grow. Cut off the light source and you kill back the plant.
If it鈥檚 brown , then it鈥檚 not a real algae at all in fact it鈥檚 called diatoms a delicate unicellular organisms that have a yellow-brown chloroplast that enables them to photosynthesize. Their cell walls are made of silica almost like a glass house(like you even cared to know that,lol)anyways the causes of brown algae are鈥?Diatoms
Excess silicates %26 nitrates
Inadequate light
Low oxygen levels
Have your water tested, so you know what鈥檚 going on. But when you do this, make sure you go in the store educated, so they won鈥檛 take you for a ride and having you buying very unnecessary things. Make sure it鈥檚 not red and slimy, that would be red algae and that鈥檚 a mess.
Try increasing your water flow, by adding a few bubble lines in the back of the tank and all through the live rock, it makes for a wonderful display as well, and is relatively inexpensive to get and set up. Don鈥檛鈥?let them talk you into a huge pump, it鈥檚 just not necessary. A small simple and appropriate one will do the trick just fine.
You may want to try and increase the lighting to a Blue purer form of lighting. That will all help the zonathid to open up, so will the increased flow of water. I鈥檓 sorry you鈥檙e loosing the damsels, they are actually fun, yet aggressive at times, depending on which type and how many you have in a tank.
For a new tank mate, again I say Yellow tangs. They are hearty, so if there is anything wrong with the tank, other then just a few adjustments, these guys can hang on and go through it better than so many others. However if your going to or want more than one it is highly recommended you add them at the same time and , no matter what, never ever ever add more than 3 fish at a time and give it about a week in between so the tanks has some time to adjust itself to the changes. Your clown fish will be ok, but will not be all that happy without a nice full healthy Anemone. The two just go hand in hand, but if your going to do that you need to rethink your tank, to accept corals and such, which may mean money, depending on what you have already.
Make sure you stir up the sand every other day to also help release some of the toxins so that they can be trapped in the filers or caught and absorbed by the media in your filters. Do this until your tank has had time to establish itself well.
A Salter water keepers secret to a nice balanced tank鈥YCLE bacteria. Amazing stuff works wonders and will not hurt the fish, but it will help keep your tank nice and balanced. When I did have smaller tanks, I would pour an entire bottle of it weekly, Til this day I have lost but three of my babies, I swear it鈥檚 by my bacteria build up being so wonderful. I maintain my tanks naturally, I only use Melifix, garlic,Cycle and prime in my all of my tanks. So Prime is the only thing I use that is a chemical.
Melifix is Teatea Oil and will help with bacteria and funguses.
Garlic help and will eliminate any parasites, such as ick and other creepy crawlies.
Cycle is that wonderful useful and helpful bacteria, needed to keep the tank in check. Prime, well it鈥檚 is a declorinator, for water changes and such.
If you need more help, email me, I鈥檒l glad help out, as I want you to enjoy you new hobby, it鈥檚 so addicting. LOL
Good Luck.
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