Now what... (part 2)

[1journeyman]

Originally Posted by RichardPryor
Well, the guy who gave me the tank had it for 5 years, and the clown is 4 years old. The Yellow Tang is 2 years old. Not sure about the anemone, but why would I take it back to the store if they are ok?
What kind of anemone do I have?
I can't tell the anemone from that pic.
The Yellow Tang, if 2 years old, should be much larger. It is probably suffering from a poor diet. Tangs are grazers that need lot's of rock to graze on as well as specific feedings.
I suggest "starting over" once you decide what type of tank you want.

 

[derekc]

im not a smart@$$ or ne thing but i started my reef with tap water and have been using tap water since then and i have tons of softies and NO hair algae and very little but some lps and a condy anemone and everything has been great....besides my mistake of using so much purple up and calcium went off the charts but besides that ive been using tap water...i guess mine must be great for this consdiering noone uses it cause of a theory that has yet to be proven by a picture.....

 

[lexluethar]

Originally Posted by derekc
im not a smart@$$ or ne thing but i started my reef with tap water and have been using tap water since then and i have tons of softies and NO hair algae and very little but some lps and a condy anemone and everything has been great....besides my mistake of using so much purple up and calcium went off the charts but besides that ive been using tap water...i guess mine must be great for this consdiering noone uses it cause of a theory that has yet to be proven by a picture.....
That is an exception to the rule. Just because it has worked for you doesn't mean you should do it. You don't have to prove it by a picture, test for EVERYTHING in tap water, then do the same test in RO/DI water, tell me the results. YOu will see things like copper and harmful minerals in tap that is not found in RO/DI - things that can be a detriment to corals.
Just because i've been driving around without a seatbelt and haven't had any problems thus far doesn't mean i should continue to do it.

 

[1journeyman]

Originally Posted by derekc
im not a smart@$$ or ne thing but i started my reef with tap water and have been using tap water since then and i have tons of softies and NO hair algae and very little but some lps and a condy anemone and everything has been great....besides my mistake of using so much purple up and calcium went off the charts but besides that ive been using tap water...i guess mine must be great for this consdiering noone uses it cause of a theory that has yet to be proven by a picture.....
Many others have said the same thing...
It could be that you are fortunate and live in an area where the tap water works for tanks.
Consider this, however. What if your tap water has trace amounts of heavy metal. With every top off you are adding a bit more of that metal to your tank. At some point it will reach toxic levels....
Many unexpected tank "crashs" occur where the underlying issue goes undiagnosed.

 

[mie]

Ultimately the longgevity and health of your tank WILL suffer from prolonged use of tap water. This is a fact, not an opinion.
When i first started in this hobby i bought a purple condyalctic anenome and it died in about a week in a half.
I waited and researched and after purchasing a quality ro unit i now have the same type of anenome and it is very healthy, and looks twice as big as when i bought it.

 

[swalchemist]

Not all water is created equal, each city, country etc has water supplies that have many different ranges of TDS, in other words if you are not sure about your tap water test it with a TDS meter. Why guess? Use RO/DI it's not that much anymore and units are cheap now. You want an anemone tank here's a list of what you will need IMO.
1. Patience
2. A good book on reef tanks and anemone care.
3. Light I agree 300-400 PC will work on a small tank Halide is better.
4. Good filtration I suggest a sump, modified canister, or a Tunze comline unit.
5. Skimmer
6. RO/DI unit
7. Heater
8. Temp controller

 

[jawdubb]

I highly recommend more live rock if you plan on keeping any anemones or any corals of any type. The main reason I recommend this is because the rock also will act as filtration for you as it grows the good bacteria and will help to keep your tank clean. It seems expensive, but in the long run if you are going for a reef set-up you can never go wrong with live rock. It also looks as though you can add more sand to the bottom of the tank for more critters to burrow and this will be beneficial for you as well Richard.

 

[derekc]

ok i understand it all but ive been doing it for 3 1/2months now...ive had the anemone for 2 mths now and its great the fish r great and the algae control is great along with its parimeters. So maybe i just get lucky and have good water then cause ive done the testing...ive had it tested ....and ive researched the water filtration at our local plant, so this is a FACt not an OPINION. (for my source at least)

 

[mie]

Originally Posted by derekc
ok i understand it all but ive been doing it for 3 1/2months now...ive had the anemone for 2 mths now and its great the fish r great and the algae control is great along with its parimeters. So maybe i just get lucky and have good water then cause ive done the testing...ive had it tested ....and ive researched the water filtration at our local plant, so this is a FACt not an OPINION. (for my source at least)
Like stated before city water peramiters are different in every city.
However i am not aware of any city in america that use ro/di water.
This being said your anenomes will suffer in the long run.
I to started with tap water and had no alage problems.

 

[stdreb27]

lol, I think some people are really being grumpy these last few days. This all depends on what you are thinking about doing with your tank. We do know that we can't do several anemones in your tank, but if you can only have 1. What else would you like to do with your tank? Do you want to have a few corals in there? Or will you be happy with the one anemone, some inverts like a sexy shrimp, cleaner shrimp, ect, and a couple more small fish like a pajama cardinal maybe a fire fish.
If you want to have corals ect, I'd start looking at building a sump, researching skimmers, finding an mh pendant ect.
With what you have now and just a couple more fish, then you might be able to stick with your hang on back (hob) filter, maybe a couple powerheads, and maybe a hob skimmer like a remora. I've seen people with lite bio-loads just have a skimmer and powerheads, and hob filters, as long as you have enough live rock.

 

[stdreb27]

I remember when I first came on here, one of my questions that I asked was what is so bad about tap water? Never really got a good answer just oh it is bad ect.
But here is my 2 cents, it is not absolutely vital, your fish will most likely live, with declorinator. Your clown is a pretty hardy fish. The problem is as stated earlier, depending on your water quality you may have some serious contaminates in your water, piping ect. Such as copper ammonia, and other undesireable stuff in your water. The problem is most people including me don't change your water enough, and every time you top off your tank, you will be adding more of this into your water. And that just increases these contaminates in your tank. Likewise some of the contaminates feed algea and can fuel algea growth. so for the small price of a couple bucks you can avoid all this hassle it is worth it.
I know in my water before I changed over to a ro/di filterI had enough ammonia to kill my tank with a 10 % water change and learned that the hard way.

 

[richardpryor]

Well, I've been doing some research...
I would like corals, but I thought you needed cooler temperatures to have them.
I've been researching some skimmers, and that's probably what I'll buy next (after some LR).
I have a friend who has a 55g tank with corals and some heavy equipment. I'll probably give him Nemo, the anemone & the Yellow Tang while I start the cycle in my tank.
I'll also buy RO water and get rid of the tap water just because I want to have corals.
Three questions:
The LR I have, which has been in this tank for many years, has always been in tap water. It has lots of fire worms and some green stuff (I assume algae) but not much at all. It was taken from a beach that is rarely visited by tourists or boats... question is, if I change to RO water, should I get rid of this rock just because it has been in tap water so long? Could it mess my 'new' system?
What kind of filter should I be looking to get? I don't want to spend a lot but I'm aware that if I need to invest in something, it is a good filter. I don't plan on upgrading to a bigger tank anytime soon, and the tank is in my room so I don't want anything too noisy.
Finally, as you can see the furniture that came with the tank is built for these kind of lights. I'm really not spending $400 in lights (those metal halides) and I read in a book that they are not necessary unless you have some type of coral or a bigger tank. So, if I buy the same kind of lamps but with more wattage, will they be enough for my tank?
Thanks for the patience and time.
All the best.

 

[swalchemist]

derek you got luck, it's as simple as that. What is your TDS level from the tap I'm curious?
I have seen people do what you did with terrible results, I have been at my LFS when people come in complaining about how there tanks are horrible and cant figure out why the stores tanks look so good. They told them to use RO/DI, so did I and they flat out ignored the advice because everything looked good, they had no idea what was really going on in there tanks. BTW things go wrong fast, you will likely find that out eventually. Just because something looks good does not mean it will stay that way. Like I said though if you are having good results you are simply lucky. Nothing personal but experience in this hobby is measured in years not weeks or months.
Back to the serious question here, eaht filter, low noise good filtration I posted it above, a Comline will do wonders in that tank and compare to the results of a much larger sump IMO. Your lights look to be fine for most soft coral and some anemone. I kept my RBTA under 2 96 watt PC for over 2.5 years until sending him to his new 150 gal with 3 150 DEs. What a difference that made in his appearance though. Now I can see why they are called bubble tips.

 

[lexluethar]

I think it could, because if you have something like copper in your tank it will leech into things like the sand bed and rocks (someone stop me if i'm wrong). And for a 30 gallon tank the cost of new LR won't be too bad.
I hear a lot of people saying to create a fuge or sump of some sort, and if i had the money and time i'd want that too for my 30 gallon, but i don't. I think a HOB filter is sufficient, even for a reef tank, but if you can afford it go with a fuge.
Hope this helps!

 

[richardpryor]

It's hard to keep up with all the abbreviations, specially if they don't appear on the list provided by this website...
Could you provide me with some specific models on filters? I think a sump might be too expensive and complicated for such a rookie like myself?
Regarding skimmers, is the Eheim brand any good?

 

[stdreb27]

Originally Posted by LexLuethar
I think it could, because if you have something like copper in your tank it will leech into things like the sand bed and rocks (someone stop me if i'm wrong). And for a 30 gallon tank the cost of new LR won't be too bad.
I hear a lot of people saying to create a fuge or sump of some sort, and if i had the money and time i'd want that too for my 30 gallon, but i don't. I think a HOB filter is sufficient, even for a reef tank, but if you can afford it go with a fuge.
Hope this helps!
It is possible, but is this even likely? I personally wouldn't worry about it.
I personally like fluvial canister filters, I'm not sure of the smaller model numbers.

 

[mie]

I have had problems with my sons fluval. They break easy.
I also have arena xp3 and love it 10 times over the fluval.

 

[lexluethar]

Here are those pics you requested - i forgot to add that i have a sunpod MH light system.

 

[richardpryor]

Very nice, Lex. Thx.
I was looking at the Enheim 2213 model, which says it's good for tanks up to 66g. I then researched it on the forum and some people say you pay for the name and not the product.
I think I like canister filters unless someone points me in another direction. I think i don't want to spend more than $100 on the filter since I'll also have a skimmer and LR. Am I correct thinking this way?

 

[richardpryor]

mie: I don't get any hits when I search for arena xp3 on google.