My 150G Tank

[fist_wich]

Hi all. I'm new to SWF.com and need some help. I purchased this setup back in March of 08:
*150g tank
*Rena XP4 canister filter
*2 Rena Smartheaters
*100lb of live sand
*150g bucket Coralife salt
*Small powerhead (not sufficient but it circulated the water a bit)
*Kent Buffer
*Tap Conditioner
*Stress Zyme
*Purple Up
Started cycling it March 8th and it finished cycling 3 months later. I started reading in different sections of the boards and noticed i made a couple of mistakes due to not having enough knowledge on saltwater setups. I know a little but not a lot. I read that while cycling the tank i shouldn't have had both live rock and damsels in at the same time. A LFS called Noah's Arc recommended it but I assume they said that to

[hr]
my wallet.
5 days into the cycle I added about 10lbs of live rock, 6 damsels and 10 black mollies(which they acclimated to saltwater). Noah's said it was okay to do that. Mollies were like a buck a piece and damsels ran me about 24 bucks. They said that the more i have in the tank while cycling the faster it would cycle due to their waste.
After 3 months of cycling, i ended up losing 5 damsels and 6 mollies. One of the mollies had babies but they were quickly eaten by the yellow damsels. So let's fast forward to after the cycle. After my tank finished cycling I added in a clownfish and a lawn mower blenny and let them roam around for about a week with 4 mollies and 1 damsel. After that week the water quality was still good. I took out the mollies (cause they were ooglay and the yellow damsel because they seem to be aggressive)I then added in a coral beauty, flame angel, flame hawk, ? anenome, a red star, a dragon goby and a coral banded shrimp. Waited about 2 weeks and everything was still good (parameters,grav,and temp)
Then I added in a cleaner shrimp and a bicolor angel (1/2 yellow, 1/2 blue). Waited a week and all the fish were getting along. Then I needed some cleanup crew workers. I got 2 turbo snails, 2 other type of snails, 2 crabs(red legged ones), and a sand star.
Now after the last newbies were added is when I started to have problems. 2 days later my red star ate away at my sand star. The sand star only had 2 legs and it ended up dying. Fish started to breathe heavy. I had my water tested and my trates were high. I did a water change the day after and the next morning the fish were better. That was my first water change since the cycle. Test my water and all was good. 4 days later my clownfish died. I couldn't figure out why. 3 days later my bicolor died. I was like okay, what the hell. 4 days later my Goby died. I had my water tested and everything was good still.
The water circulation is better now. This LFS called Wetpets II in Macon, GA hooked me up with a real strong powerhead. They seem to know a whole lot more than Noah's. The only thing that looks odd is that the top surface of the water looks a little oily. Like an oil residue. I don't have any sprays near my tank or anything. I don't spray aerosole in the house either. Has this ever happed to anyone before? I will post pictures of my tank later on. Right now I'm at work and don't get off til 4.
I'm not sure if this went in this section and I apologize if it didn't. Also I realize i made some mistakes in the beginning and I have learned from those mistakes. It's just too bad that so far i've lost around 70+ dollars worth of aquatic life...poor little fellas

Thanks for reading.
-Johan

 

[fishkid13]

It sounds bad. The oily stuff could be a couple things but I have never seen it on any tanks so it is differcult for me to help you with that,but it also sounded like you added you fish a little to fast,plus dont beleave everything LFS say they mostly just want you money.

 

[spanko]

Okay so you have learned a few things along the way, good. As for the biggest problem(s) I see with what you have right now I would change the following.
"I did a water change the day after and the next morning the fish were better. That was my first water change since the cycle.'
You need to get into a water change rythm here. Water changes do a few things including removing nutrients and replacing elements. Get in the habit of 10% per week and you will see some drastic changes in your tank.
"The only thing that looks odd is that the top surface of the water looks a little oily. Like an oil residue. "
This is reducing the amount of gas exchange in your tank. Do you have any powerheads in the tank? If so either one of them or the returns from you mechanical filter needs to be pointed upwards some so that you get a little turbulence on the water surface. this will help to get the film back into the water column for removal by the filter and to get the gas exchange enhanced. This could be the reason your fish were breathing heavily, lack of oxygen.
Hope that helps a little. Other will surely chime in here with more.

 

[fist_wich]

spanko, yes I do have a powerhead in the tank. It's a 1/4 deep from the top of the tank. I can see the water circulating the top and also circulating at the bottom. As for water changes, I was planning on doing a 25% every 1st of the month. Do you think that will be okay is that too much time to wait?
REason I ask is because it's so hard to find that much freetime after work with my 3 month old son

keeping me busy.

 

[spiderwoman]

With a new tank you need to do your water changes at least once every 2 weeks and make it a 20-25% change. At least that I'm going to do with our 150 which is now ready for action.
How come it took 3 months for your tank to cycle??

 

[spanko]

Originally Posted by Fist_wiCh
http:///forum/post/2681612
spanko, yes I do have a powerhead in the tank. It's a 1/4 deep from the top of the tank. I can see the water circulating the top and also circulating at the bottom. As for water changes, I was planning on doing a 25% every 1st of the month. Do you think that will be okay is that too much time to wait?
REason I ask is because it's so hard to find that much freetime after work with my 3 month old son

keeping me busy.

Okay, the water just can't circulate, it needs to actually get some rippling effect to it. Enough turbulence to disturb the water and break up the film.
Pick a day and time and change the water each week for a while. This hobby does take some time to ensure a good healthy system. A saltwater tank is not something you can just set up and enjoy without putting some time and energy and money into it. Water changes don't take long if you get a pattern down. I can change out 5 gallons in my 29 gallon tank in about 15 minutes. I take longer because I also blow the rock work with a turkey baster, change the mechanical filtration pads, scrub down the glass, rotate the cheato and clean the stand. All in all I spend about 30 - 45 minutes every Saturday on it.

 

[fist_wich]

Originally Posted by SpiderWoman
http:///forum/post/2681619
With a new tank you need to do your water changes at least once every 2 weeks and make it a 20-25% change. At least that I'm going to do with our 150 which is now ready for action.
How come it took 3 months for your tank to cycle??
Okay, I will get into the rythym of a 25g water change once every 2 weeks so basically the 1st and 15th of every month. The LFS told me that a tank my size would take about 8-12 weeks to finish cycling. If they were wrong then it's a good thing I listened because I'd rather wait a while than to think it's finished earlier than expected.
Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/2681626
Okay, the water just can't circulate, it needs to actually get some rippling effect to it. Enough turbulence to disturb the water and break up the film.
My powerhead is actually causing a rippling affect on the surface. I am uploading the pictures to my comp right now so I will post em up soon. Thanks everyone for your advice.

 

[fist_wich]

Alright here are the pictures of what I have
Here's my tank and some close up shots starting from the right end to the left end.

Here are my rocks. Notice how the first two have some purple spots but the others don't. How do I get the others purple???

 

[fist_wich]

Here are some snails that are still alive. I also have a ground in the tank.

Here's a shot of the water rippling

Shots of the critters

 

[veni vidi vici]

2 suggestions:
1-Stop using tap water.
2-Get a protien skimmer.

 

[fist_wich]

What about filtered tap water? I read that the filter is supposed to remove nitrates. Is this true?

 

[veni vidi vici]

Originally Posted by Fist_wiCh
http:///forum/post/2682650
What about filtered tap water? I read that the filter is supposed to remove nitrates. Is this true?
You should be using Reverse Osmosis and Deionized [RO/DI] water,or at the very least RO water to filter out as much TDS as possible.There is all kinds of very bad stuff in tap water that isnt bad for human consumption but is deadly to saltwater inhabitants. Most of the time it creates poor water quality and feeds nuisance algae.

 

[peterpaul]

I think I see 2 anglefish in that tank - coral beauty, flame angel. You should get rid of one of them or one might kill the other.
One of the things you should invest in is live rock (as much as you can afford - a modest estimate is about 1 pound per gallon) - This will be a natural filtration system for your tank and give your fish room to hide and so on.
A skimmer is the most important equipment for a saltwater tank. Perhaps you can get an overflow box and make a sump with a return pump (perhaps with a refugium). For your tank size I don't recommend a hang on back skimmer. This will help the filtration of the tank.
Get a couple of power heads (at least 3 powerheads) to circulate the water of your tank (a suggestion would be at least 15 to 20 times the tank volume)
Once you get sufficient live rock, water pumps to circulate the tank, a skimmer you can do away with your canister filter which are nitrate factories.
From the looks of it (I could be wrong) I do not think your lighting is sufficient for your anemone (it will die soon if you do not get proper lighting). You should have either T5s or Metal Halide (Metal Halide would be the prefered choice given your tank).
Also use RO water for your water changes (get a RO filter)
It is important to research further to improve the setup of your tank. Unfortunately for your tank size it will be expensive to setup.

 

[invertcrazy]

also the scotter blennie needs live copepods to feed on so with no live rock and a new tank he will soon starve and the anemone needs a well established tank (6 months or longer) and as stated by Peterpaul needs T5 or Mh lighting or it will loose its color(bleach). Anemones get 90% of their food from the lights.
In this hobby you need to slow down. nothing good ever comes by being rushed. It will save you a lot of aggravation and money in the long run. there is no such thing as a stupid question so ask away. and research all you can. hope this helps and good luck