another newbie w/a ? here

[cfondie]

My tank is about 4 months old, It is a 35 gal. I have two Damsels, that have been in the tank about 2 1/2 months and two catfish that have been there about 1 week. I also have about 20 - 25 pounds of live rock, two hermit crabs and three snails. My tank has gone through what I think is two cycles, one where there was a lot of brown alge and cleared and and then some green alge. I have done one 20% water change about a week ago and everything seems to be doing well. My question is... Is it too soon to add something like a scallop or feather duster? I have regular lighting.

 

[ryebread]

Hi there ~ Welcome to the board!
Couple o' questions for ya.
Are you having your water parameters tested? Are you testing them? This is one way to figure out why you are having certain problems in the tank.
Are you aware that Coral Catfish grow quickly anywhere from 10-16" long? Big guys that need lots of space......way more than 35gal.

 

[cfondie]

no I was not aware that they grew that fast. I have a 55 gal tank started, but it is not ready to move anybody over yet. I did not realize I was having problems. My question was, is it too soon to add a scallop or feather duster to my aquarium since it is only about 4 months old??

 

[goldrush]

Feather duster probably O.K.. Scallop probably not. Of course,even that depends on your water conditions. What are they?

 

[richard rendos]

What people are looking for here in order to help you are things like:
pH, levels of ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, temperature, specific gravity.
without knowing what these levels are, no one will be able to help you. these are the things that will determine whether you are ready to add anything else.
by the way, you really will need to move those cats to a bigger tank, and even a 55 is not not big enough. they get big fast and need lots of swimming room...like a 125 gallon tank or larger preferably.

 

[cfondie]

thank you very much for the info so far. I will get back with the pH, levels of ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, temperature, specific gravity.

 

[cfondie]

ok, my ph level is 8.4 - amonia less than 0.25 - nitrate 20-25 - nitrite 0 and temp is 78 and the specific gravity is 1.023.

 

[mousers68]

How often do you do water changes?
I noticed your trates are a little high. You may want to do a 10-20% water change to get that down.
I have trouble with my levels. I have started using activated carbon and it seems to be working well.
the goal is 0 0 0 on ammo, trites and trates.
Ph looks good. You may want it at 8.3. Are you using tap water?

 

[cfondie]

actually I have only done one 20% water change since I started the tank. It was about 1-1/2 weeks ago. How long should you wait between water changes? I realize I probably waited to long before I did the 1st one, but being new at all this I was a little nervous about doing it and probably put it off too long. Also I was wondering what is the big difference between have LS and a CC bottom? In reading the message boards I see that alot of people use LS. I also noticed that when I go to the LFS most of their tanks have Sand in the bottom.

 

[cfondie]

hello??? anybody still reading ths? I looking for advice here...

 

[richard rendos]

With ammonia still in the tank, and nitrates at 20-25, I would do another partial water change before adding anything else. Once the tank is cycled, you should see ammonia level of 0. Try to keep your nitrates at or below 20ppm. A lot of people like LS, but it works best at a depth of 4" or more. CC is good for fish only tanks, but must be gravel vacuumed often to keep it clean and free of debris. I base my water changes on nitrate levels.

 

[cfondie]

I have a friend that has a 55 gal tank w/ 30lbs LR, 1 yellow tang, 1 lion fish, 1 striped damsel, 1 common clown, 1 gold band maroon clown, 1 hermit crab, 1 snail. His tank is 8 months old, everything is doing fine, but his nitrate level has always been 30 and nothing seems to change it including water changes of as much as 40%. What else can one do to change the nitrate level?
everything else is 0 and temp is 78 - 79. Lighting is power compact 65 watt and 15 watt power glo. Specific gravity is 1.022. Any clues???

 

[cfondie]

anybody???

 

[cfondie]

ok, I'm very excited. I bought two semi small lr from my lfs about 3 days ago. I was just admiring my tank and realized one of the pieces of lr has about 10 feather dusters on it. They are very small and I guess that is why I did not notice them when i first put the rock in my tank. Plus I'm old and did not have my glasses on. lol My question is...do you need to do anything special for them? how fast do they grow? The biggest one on there is about 1/2 inch long, the rest of them are 1/4 to 1/16th of inch long, so like I said they are very small.

 

[cfondie]

 

[mousers68]

Sorry for the slow reply. The little feather dusters in LR are filtering the water for their food. I have added phytoplankton occassionally but they will use what is already there. They are so small that if you use the plankton you can get algea. LR is fun, you can get all kinds of little things on it. I got a clam and a crab and a snail and a lot of the little feather dusters.
As for the other questions on the trates. Your friend may be feeding too much.
As I read more of the description I also see that this person should try and add more live rock. The formula is 1-2 lbs per gallon. I know it sounds like a lot but that will help with breaking the trates down. Also adding more in the way of a clean up crew. Take a look at what they recommend on this site and you will see that there is room to add there.
Feeding seems to be a big cause in an unstable tank. I feed every other day or every third day. The LR will also be a source of food.
I would not try doing the 40% water changes that often. That will really shock the fish. It will also start the cycle all over again. If it is that bad then I would do 20% every third or fourth day. After the second change you will see a reduction.
I do a 20% change every week to 2 weeks. Check your level and you will start to see when it needs to happen. I usually do checks every 3-4 days and more if things are goofy.
I hope this is helpful but I am no expert but these are some things that I have found helpful.
good luck

 

[cfondie]

thank you all very much for the info