Help with tank setup

jdennysgir

jdennysgir

Member
Hi all,
I have a 44 gal. corner tank. It has been up for a couple of years. I had started with seahorses, (I know, not good for a beginner to do) However, I had better luck with my 2 horses than I have had with saltwater fish. My horses live approx. a year to a year and a half before they died a week apart. After that, I decided to try fish. I did pretty well for a while with the fish so I decided to get a metal halide pendant light which I have done. I tried adding mushrooms twice and also a leather. The leather got "lost" in my tank and both times the mushrooms turned to slime. I gave up on that. My tank crashed approx. 2 weeks after that and all I have left is a watchman goby and another fish which I can't think of the name of right now. Snails, hermit crabs, and emerald crab are all gone. It has been about a month or longer now that that has happened. Both fish that survived are doing fine. The water paremiters are ph 8.2, ammonia 0, nitrates 0 and nitrites 0. I have approx. 60 lbs. of live rock and approx. 3 in. of live sand. I believe the light is 175 watts? Not real sure on that. I have a fluval filter. Not sure of the size of it either. I would really like to get my tank going again, but I need your help. Any and all suggestions will be very much appreciated to get me going again. Thanks beforehand.
 
cannonman

cannonman

Member
well, take it slow. I would personally want to know what caused my mushrooms (an otherwise hardy species) to turn to slime and find out what caused the tank to crash (could have been the dead mushrooms). I would add a skimmer and test and watch the water quality for quite some time before I would risk adding anything.
 
jdennysgir

jdennysgir

Member
Cannonman,
Thanks for your prompt reply. I was wondering if the mushrooms didn't turn to slime because I placed them towards the top of the tank and maybe they got too hot? Also, what would be a good brand skimmer for my tank? I will get the skimmer and go from there. Do you think I should get more snails and hermit crabs yet? As I said it has been a month or more that it has happened. Again, thanks a bunch.
 
renogaw

renogaw

Active Member
that should be good enough to keep a cleaner crew alive, unless the die off created an ammonia/nitrite/nitrate cycle that killed them.
how old is your rock? was any new since your horses?
 
jhebi

jhebi

Member
Hey Jdenn....sorry for all your loss. Any ways, first I would suggest not to add anything else until you know what the problem is. Also try to take your water to an LFS and let them check if all your parameters reading are good. Wait a couple days until you know nothing is wrong than add some mushrooms, which is one of the easist corals, try to aclimate the shroons under the metal halides light. Good Luck....
 
renogaw

renogaw

Active Member
i'd also suggest trying some snails/hermits (only a couple though). maybe with everything dying you went into another cycle, and if you're not reading anything you may just have to start over. i'd see how some inverts do before adding some $50 mushrooms.
 
jdennysgir

jdennysgir

Member
Thanks everyone. Does everyone agree that I need a skimmer? If so what kind would I need for my 44 gal. that is a good one but not the most expensive?
 
renogaw

renogaw

Active Member
you will never ever ever go wrong with a skimmer unless you fail to keep it clean. the amount of CRAP you will empty from it will make you repulsed by thinking your fish were living in it.
 
daninct

daninct

Member
I use coralife super skimmers and for the $80 or less I think it is a good deal. It out performed my aqua C Remora which was about $200. The SS can work HOT or in sump.
 
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