iodine?

[ctgretzky9]

Originally Posted by chadman
i have a 30g tank with six fish total about 10 hermits 4 snails a scallop and a couple feather dusters and a couple corals...so i would say my bio load is high!! i feed my fish once a day abot a pinch of flake food or half a cube of frozen, i also feed my tank zooplex or phyto feast everyday for my filter feeders....i ususally top off about a quarter of a gallon a day, i have a hop filter box which i run carbon in, i have 130w pc lighting with actinic,i use a glass top but the back is open for gas exchange, i have good surface agitation with one of my maxi jet 600's pointing directly at the surface also my hob breaks the surface....i have a 21 exchange rate....
i do not know if this is enought info to tell anything...i just do not know what all types of supplements i should be adding to my tank....should i do a greater than 10 percent change due to the fact that 10% is only 3 gallons

Does everything in there look healthy? Been a long time since anything died?
If you answered yes to both, dont change anything.
Do you test for your quality? Post them one day, we can run down the list and see where anything may need improvement.
I can comment on your feeding...flake is not meant for a marine fishes main diet. You need to give them mysis shrimp or other foods similar to that as a regualar diet. They need a variety. Also, make sure to give any herbivores (such as tangs) some kind of algae or seaweed diet...you may want to list your fish.

 

[chadman]

i appreciate u helping me out
there is a story behind my tank....one day i decided a wanted a fish tank about two months ago...i went to my lfs not knowing anything and bought what i needed....they did not tell me other wise and only one day after putting water in my tank i purchases seven fish....i only lost one so far.....
i have
2 yellow tailed damsels which i would love to get out
one black and whitel striped damsel
2 clowns
1 lawnmower blenny
1 cleaner shrimp
i have had the scallop and feather dusters for about a month....but two weeks ago i got a larger scallop and that has since died....but the first one is still going strong....the only other fatalities were some hermits which were eaten by my blue leg hermits

 

[chadman]

i put a sea weed sheet in every other day but my shrimp is really the only thing that attacks that

 

[chadman]

every few days i have been giving my tank a half of a cube of san francisco brand marine cuisine....it seems to make such a mess of my tank though cause it breaks up and tiny pieces go everywhere...

 

[ctgretzky9]

Originally Posted by chadman
i appreciate u helping me out
there is a story behind my tank....one day i decided a wanted a fish tank about two months ago...i went to my lfs not knowing anything and bought what i needed....they did not tell me other wise and only one day after putting water in my tank i purchases seven fish....i only lost one so far.....
i have
2 yellow tailed damsels which i would love to get out
one black and whitel striped damsel
2 clowns
1 lawnmower blenny
1 cleaner shrimp
i have had the scallop and feather dusters for about a month....but two weeks ago i got a larger scallop and that has since died....but the first one is still going strong....the only other fatalities were some hermits which were eaten by my blue leg hermits
lol...good story...thats how people usually get into this hobby.
Damsels are hardy, they can survive almost anything!
Not sure about the blenny( to be honest-never kept one and dont know much about them)
But flake is good enough for the damsel with some supplementation...the clowns would need more variety.
Shrimp eat almost anything
I would suggest getting some Mysis shrimp, and use 1/2 to 1 cube a day, and cut back a bit on the flake. You dont need algae sheets for what you have in there, but you can get some omnivore frozen cubes. Sometimes damsels will eat a bit of plant-type foods.
Variety is important for marine diets.
What is your filtration?

 

[ctgretzky9]

Originally Posted by chadman
i put a sea weed sheet in every other day but my shrimp is really the only thing that attacks that

yea, you dont need to use this...you dont have anything that really requires a lot of that type of food. Better off getting an omnivorous type food that would include some greens and feed it sporadically.

 

[chadman]

i have a hob tetra tec 150...again something i purchased the first day before i new anything...i run carbon in it....i purchased a skimmer but i have like 75lbs of lr and there was just no room for the skimmer....if i can find a very compact one i would think about getting it...

 

[ctgretzky9]

Originally Posted by chadman
every few days i have been giving my tank a half of a cube of san francisco brand marine cuisine....it seems to make such a mess of my tank though cause it breaks up and tiny pieces go everywhere...

Dont sweat it! Right now, your tank does not have a lot of life in it, but eventually, all of that excess stuff will be consumed by an ever increasing food chain that will develop over time. Benchmark for a tank to be getting pretty stable, imo is about 1.5 yrs.
Just watch you arent overfeeding yet, because most of it at this point will only add to your nitrates and phosphates etc...

 

[chadman]

alright another random unrelated question for u....i am gonna take a stab in the dark here judging by your pic there....is it bad to have a tank in a room where there is a moderate amount of smoking in?

 

[chadman]

the frozen food which breaks up when i put it in the tank will my trumpet coral and sand polyps feed on the small bits?

 

[cain420]

lol do like me.. and get an air purifier! LOL

 

[ctgretzky9]

Originally Posted by chadman
i have a hob tetra tec 150...again something i purchased the first day before i new anything...i run carbon in it....i purchased a skimmer but i have like 75lbs of lr and there was just no room for the skimmer....if i can find a very compact one i would think about getting it...

You can get a hang on back skimmer...the coralife super skimmer or aqua c remora etc...they hang on the outside of the tank. A skimmer will make a big differenc ein the long run, once you decide that you want to go to more "exotic" fish and especially coral.
The tetra one you have now...it will eventually cause problems with nitrates, phosphates and general parameters. The media "traps" particulate, and it accumulates. Almost as if you have a rotting fish in the tank.
Right now everything you have (again, i dont know about the blenny though) is pretty hardy. But moving on, you may want to consider a change.
Chadman...if you get a chance, post all of your parameters, se eif i can help

 

[chadman]

i have an ionic breeze going

 

[chadman]

could i do away with my hob totally and just get a small skimmer? do u think i would be better off?

 

[ctgretzky9]

Originally Posted by chadman
alright another random unrelated question for u....i am gonna take a stab in the dark here judging by your pic there....is it bad to have a tank in a room where there is a moderate amount of smoking in?
lol...fish like to have some fun too, ya know!
In general, I dont think "smoking" will harm anything. Open a window if you can while smoking. Other opinions may vary. I dont have any personal experience on any problems though...i do all of my "smoking" out in the grage, or on the back deck.

 

[ctgretzky9]

Originally Posted by chadman
the frozen food which breaks up when i put it in the tank will my trumpet coral and sand polyps feed on the small bits?

Yes. This is why the more coral you have, the better off your tank functions eventually, I believe.

 

[ctgretzky9]

Originally Posted by chadman
i have an ionic breeze going

Next air purification system, get an ecoquest breeze if you are going to smoke in enclosed areas...take it from a former college clam bake specialtist.

 

[ctgretzky9]

Originally Posted by chadman
could i do away with my hob totally and just get a small skimmer? do u think i would be better off?

I would empty the hob out of any filter media, and use it as a place to put carbon, or phosban etc in. More thna likely, the unit you have now provides great surface agitation (very important), and it provides more flow-especially erratic flow.
It is also a good place to "dose" anything since you and I dont have a sump. When I dose my b-ionic, I dump it into the hob I have. Mine is empty, except for a small bag of carbon, and a small bag of phosban. Here is a pic of my "filtration" set up. Note how the HOB provides good surface rippling, and the skimmer here is working on a good wet skim: