New 6g Tank Issues

trem52

trem52

New Member
Hi Everyone,
My first post so take it easy on me. Have done freshwater in the past and wanted to get into saltwater. Got a 6g Eclipse tank three weeks before Christmas. Have 5lbs of live sand and no live rock. It went through the N2 cycle and everything seemed fine so I added a clown. Only a couple of fake decorations, nothing live. I added three snails and four hermit crabs (2 blue legged and 2 red scarlet) after a couple of weeks. They seem to take care of the algae and any food that hits the bottom.
About a month ago, the clown had white spots and treated for ICH by adding a non copper treatment. Didn’t work and I lost the clown. Now the tank has been fish free for about a month and I’ve read that the parasite that caused the ICH should be gone after 6 weeks. So in two weeks, what would you recommend? Here are my water parameters:
Temp 75F-77F
salinity 1.025
ammonia 0ppm
nitrite 2ppm
nitrate 10ppm
ph 7.8
Seems like my nitrite are high and I don’t even have fish in there. Do you think there is a problem with the biowheel? I see that many here have live rock, would that help? What fish would you start with?
Thanks and I look forward to joining the group.
 
coral keeper

coral keeper

Active Member
Welcome to the boards TREM52!! First, you should take out some or all(if you want) of your decorations and add some live rock. Then you should wait 3-4 more weeks to make sure the ich is gone before you add any more fish. Do weekly water changes until your nitrite is at 0 and when your nitrates are low. After you add the live rock and wait 3-4 more weeks to make sure the ich is all gone, check your parameters and if there all good(when your ammonia is 0 and your nitrites are at 0 and when your nitrates are low) then slowly start adding your stock. I'd recommend on setting up a QT tank to QT all your new arrivals. Is this tank going to be a reef tank or FOWLR(Fish Only With Live Rock)? Good luck with your new tank!
 
subielover

subielover

Active Member
Welcome
You will find a wealth of information on this site, all you have to do is ask. The advice from coral keeper is a good example of that
Good luck and post some pics once you get some LR in there
 
trem52

trem52

New Member
Thanks for the response. This 6g tank only have 8 watts of light. Would that be ok? How much live rock would you suggest?
My intent is to have fish only w/ live rock. I'll get pictures up after I add the rock.
Thanks!
 
rtspeed

rtspeed

Member
i personal would get a better light as fish have some use for goodlight aka fake sunlight. As for live rock see if you can get about 10 to 12 pounds in there and let it be as stated above.
 
trem52

trem52

New Member
Hey Guys,
Thanks for the advice. Yesterday I added the live rock to the 6g. I take some pictures tonight after the debris settles and upload some pictures of the aquascape. Let me know what you think.
So I'll watch the water parameters over the next 2 weeks and add a fish. What do you recommend? Right now only a small clean up crew is in there (4 snails and 3 hermit crabs).
Also, this tank only has 8 watts of lights. Could you recommend some corals that could do well in low light? Zoos maybe?
Thanks again for all of your help!
 
trem52

trem52

New Member
Agreed

What I meant was after another 2-3 weeks and I confirm that the water parameters are good what then do you recommend for fish and if any corals would work with the lighting that I have (8w).
Thanks
 
coral keeper

coral keeper

Active Member
Originally Posted by TREM52
http:///forum/post/2537535
Hey Guys,
Thanks for the advice. Yesterday I added the live rock to the 6g. I take some pictures tonight after the debris settles and upload some pictures of the aquascape. Let me know what you think.
So I'll watch the water parameters over the next 2 weeks and add a fish. What do you recommend? Right now only a small clean up crew is in there (4 snails and 3 hermit crabs).
Also, this tank only has 8 watts of lights. Could you recommend some corals that could do well in low light? Zoos maybe?
Thanks again for all of your help!
Like subielover said, you should hold off on putting anything else in for awhile except LR. Your lights are too low to keep and low light corals like shrooms or zoas. You should add at least 19 more watts then you could keep any soft coral and some types of LPS corals(like candy canes, torch, ect). If you add 19 more watts, it will be a total of 27 watts. What kind of lighting do you have? PC(Power Compact)?
 
coral keeper

coral keeper

Active Member
Originally Posted by TREM52
http:///forum/post/2537742
Agreed

What I meant was after another 2-3 weeks and I confirm that the water parameters are good what then do you recommend for fish and if any corals would work with the lighting that I have (8w).
Thanks
Oh ok. I would suggest some kind of small goby like a clown goby, or some kind of goby that stays small. A Bicolor Blenny would also work.
 
trem52

trem52

New Member
What comes with the Eclipse 6g is a T5 and provides 8w. I'll look into upgrading the lighting. Maybe something like this...2x18watt corallife fixture
Small goby sounds good. Pictures to come later...
 
coral keeper

coral keeper

Active Member
Originally Posted by TREM52
http:///forum/post/2537802
What comes with the Eclipse 6g is a T5 and provides 8w. I'll look into upgrading the lighting. Maybe something like this...2x18watt corallife fixture
Small goby sounds good. Pictures to come later...
A 2x18watt coralife fixture will be perfect! How long, wide, and high is the tank?
 
trem52

trem52

New Member
Here's the size...
Overall: 16" long x 9 1/2" wide x 15" high
Front: 16" long. Tapers to 13" long in the back.
 
coral keeper

coral keeper

Active Member
Originally Posted by TREM52
http:///forum/post/2538026
Here's the size...
Overall: 16" long x 9 1/2" wide x 15" high
Front: 16" long. Tapers to 13" long in the back.
15 inches high is pretty darn high for a 6 gallon tank... A 2x18watt coralife fixture will be good for any soft coral, but if you want to keep some LPS, you'll need to put the LPS higher up on the LR. The 2x18watt coralife fixture you want to get will be PCs or T-5s?
 
alyssia

alyssia

Active Member
I like the way you have your LR. No matter how much I rearrange my LR I never get it just the way I want it.
 
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