Need some help.

calhoun82

New Member
allright, hope i'm in the right area... sitting at the local library trying to research this new salt water tank that was dumped into my lap. My brother gave me his tank, its only a 10 gallon salt water tank with 8 lbs of live rock, been going for over 18 months, as far as fish he has a Green mandarin goby ( yes i know you odn't believe it, but it was the first fish he got and it takes frozen brine every day), a tomato clown, a blue cromie? ( spelling), and An Eblii angel ( spelling again?) as well as two blue leg hermit crabs, a red leg hermit, a regular hermit, a sally light foot crab, a flame scallop, two condilactus anenome's ( man i'm horrible at spelling,) and 3 olive snails? He's running a penguin 170 bio wheel filter as well as a whisper 5-15 filter on the tank, a submersible heater, an 18k light bulb. Now the problem, besides what i've been told about the obvious over crowding, I"m looking to get a much bigger tank for these fella's but am having a hard time at the moment with Amonia levels..., my local pet shop suggested these drops and after one week it did drop them, but not as much as i'd like to of seen. Any suggestions that i could use as a quick fix so that nothing dies? My brother has had this tank and every thing in it for over a year, the mandarin and the cromie were the first fish he had, he started with 1 bag of "Live sand" and 10 gallons of water from a local pet stores salt water tanks, as well as the live rock all at once... i'm really surpised that it has done this well but am afraid it won't last. Someone help.
 

clarkiiclo

Active Member
Make sure you are using good water- RO or RO/DI water.
Find out what kind of water your brother was using- did he make his own or still buy from the LFS?
Do small 1/2 gal water changes everyday untill the levels drop.
I would really really REALLY consider getting a bigger tank quick or giving most of the livestock to a LFS to hold for you until you get a bigger setup.
Water quality can swing sooo fast in a little tank and that is way overstocked.
 

krux

Member
i whole heartedly believe that it is due to overcrowding, and that there are too many fish for the live rock and the filter to properly process the waste.
i would start with getting some more live rock, as that can always move with you to a larger tank, and then start looking around for a deal on a 29 or larger... check the paper on the weekends.
 

maeistero

Active Member
wowsers! did you ever see this tank like this? your brother must've been a genius to do this. i'd get at least a 29, but a 55 would be much cheaper in the long run. i don't know, it might be better to just sell it all and start over.
what was that.... 4 fish, 5 or so crabs, 2 anenomes!!!! and snails in probably about 6-7 gallons of water after displacement? :help: i can't breathe.
bigger tank for sure, otherwise water changes every 2 days. testing every day. the bigger tank would probably be cheaper than the test kits over a month period.
btw,,, you're tempting me to go get another mandarin. :scared:
 
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