Help with My 125g FOWLR Tank Please

tanisheily

tanisheily

AC Members
Jul 13, 2005
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I was told by my lfs that the only kind of bed i wanted was puka shell sand, it has the consistency of small gravel. I originally wanted a sand bottom, maybe even black sand. They said it would not work with sand, and I was confused because I have seen many tanks with sandy bottoms! But I went with the Puka shell sand. Reading this has helped me know how to change it out if I decide to do that but I was wondering, can I just take out some of the puka and add fine sand on top? I realize that it will eventually get mixed up by the crab( see below) and by siphoning. Do you think this is a bad thing to do, do you think it will look bad, And is it in the best interest of my tank? I have no Plans to have a reef tank because they do not sell coral in my state. And most of what people say on here is related to reef systems. I would like the biological filtration as good as possible, and from what i have read that works better with more surface area ie. smaller substrate. So can I mix it in?
Also, on another subject...

My 125g fowlr tank that I cycled and left it for 3 months with my "started fish" (4 chromis and one yellow tail damsel are all that survived the cycle) I added the live rock 2 weeks ago. The levels are all good. ph 8.0 Amonia 0, nitrite 0, and nitrate around 20. I think that the live rock had anemones that hitchhiked on it, that is what they look like but the size of a pea and smaller. Then 3 days ago at the lfs I fell in love with this really cool hermit crab with Anemones on it's shell... about 2 1/2 inches across including the anemones stuck to his shell, of witch there are 2 quarter sized, 2 dimes sized, and several other tiny ones all clumped about on his shell. Now i am not sure but I think this Crab has started eating all the anemones that were on my live rock... if that is what they were, off of the live rock because I have seen him go over by one and then when he leaves it is gone. He has eaten all but maybe 3 that I can see and he can't reach those ones. I was reading elsewhere in this forum that anemones are not good to have in young/ newly set up tanks and will die! So will the ones on the crab die? Should I take him back or can he survive even if they do die... Not that I want that to happen cause he looks so cool with them. I will do anything to keep this guy if I can but I don't want to kill him. Also, I am having a hard time getting food to him. The LFS said that he would eat the frozen brine shrimp that the other fish eat but they scoop most of it up before he can get very much of it! Could I throw in an uncooked bay shrimp or coktail shrimp? Are there and veggies that he would like? Any help would be so great.

And one last thing...
All of my starter fish have what looks to me like scales missing from there heads around the eye area. It is worse on some than on others. They do not show signs of ich... ie white spots on the fish. My LFS has no idea what it could be, although I bought all the fish from that store at the same time. They had this condition prior to the live rock addition so I don't think that is a factor. Do you have any idea what it could be? Or how to treat it? I am hesitant to spend money on more exspensive fish with out trying to fix this first. The fish are still eating and behaving mostly normal. The only thing they show some signs of stress like breathing heavy, but they are still eating and have lived about 2 months with the missing scales and are not dead... but it is not getting any better either. Any Ideas?

Additional info
I have 2 Magnum 350 canister filters. 1 with Charcol and one with the other regular filter in.
Also 1 seaclone 150 protien skimmer
and extra makijet pump for circulation.


Thank you in advance for any help anyone has with these problems, sorry so long winded but I wanted to explain my situation fully!
TanisHeily
email: Montminyt001@hawaii.rr.com
 
Let's see if we can get you some ideas here...

tanisheily said:
I would like the biological filtration as good as possible, and from what i have read that works better with more surface area ie. smaller substrate. So can I mix it in?
Click to expand...

IMO, smaller grains of sand on the bottom of your tank does not equal a better bio filter. Unless maybe it was LIVE sand, properly maintained. Even then, without a fresh flow of oxygen, (like the flow in an old undergravel filter) I would not consider the average sand bed to be an effective biological filter. Your live rock is a more effective bio filter; it's exposed surfaces are going to be rich with aerobic bacteria, esp. if you have a proper turnover rate and vigorous water movement in your FOWLR. Sand beds can be good or bad for your system; you need to research them carefully. If you want a really effective addition that will boost your nutrient export, consider adding a macro algae filter (i.e. chaetomorpha) in a lighted sump under your tank. A deep sand bed can be incorporated into the sump also if you like. Once this is installed/stabiized you could probably delete the cannisters; they are old school dinosaurs.


tanisheily said:
Then 3 days ago at the lfs I fell in love with this really cool hermit crab with Anemones on it's shell... about 2 1/2 inches across
Click to expand...

That's a big hermit, IMHO way too big for the safety of your small fish.
Hermits can be real problems in fish tanks. I would return it and go with other options; try a scarlet cleaner shrimp or two. Anemones are very problematic for most aquarists; leave them out.

tanisheily said:
And one last thing...All of my starter fish have what looks to me like scales missing from there heads around the eye area. The fish are still eating and behaving mostly normal. The only thing they show some signs of stress like breathing heavy, but they are still eating and have lived about 2 months with the missing scales and are not dead... but it is not getting any better either. Any Ideas?
Click to expand...

Hmmm, this is more difficult, esp. without a photo. Could be stress related, maybe HLLE, I have seen HLLE in damsels but usually in older systems.
Keep an eye on that PH, would not medicate at this point, just observe and increase quality/variety of diet. Try soaking food in Selcon, water changes, see if that helps. Drop in a big airstone; this will add oxygen and burn off CO2 which will help maintain your PH. Aragonite sand would be good, but keep it less than an inch inside the display. Do take note of what I said about proper turnover rate and vigorous water movement in your FOWLR.
 
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Thank you for all the advice...
could you clarify exactly what you mean by turnover rate? I do have what I think is vigorous water flow. I have one canister outflow at each end and they are pointing out towards the side. then i have another maxi jet that is low in the water, 4 inches from bottom, in the back and pointed across the tank. I know that stuff (like food, and bubbles when my seaclone is on the fritz) really gets moving around and hardly any of it settles that I can see. Is this what you mean?
Also, I am curious why you think the crab is too big? His shell with the anemones is 2 1/2 inches across but a lot of that is anemone. He tends to get stuck a lot too, like the anemones are catching him up on things. As for the fish, they do not go near him as they mainly swim around the top and he stays at the bottom. Almost everyone has hermit crabs! what can be the problems with them?
Thanks!
 
I have some pictures but I can't seem to make the file size smaller... email me if you would like them to see what the missing scales are! Thanks :huh:
 
Turnover rate refers to the number of times your total water volume is filtered in one hour. Many filters such as cannisters, retutn pumps, skimmers, etc. are actually moving a lot less water than they are rated to move... this is usually because of the amount of head lift involved (a pump located below your tank that has to lift water 4-6 feet high will move less than the rating shown on the label; in fact, the flow will drop dramatically as the height increases) and clogged filter media, which can also create a detritus or nutirent trap which will boost your nitrates and lower your water quality. To determine your true turnover rate, time how long it takes to fill up a one gal milk jug from each return and do the math; you might be surprised how much water you're really filtering in an hour. The reason I bring this up is because you noted your fish were breathing heavily and seemed stressed. Dropping an airstone in should help a lot. Regarding the hermit crab, just remember this; your small fish sleep at night, your hermit starts hunting at night. IME, many "mysterious" fish disappearances can be contributed to hermit crab predation. For this reason I have always left them out of my community tanks with smaller fish.
 
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Thanks, I will try that with the water. My nitrates are high even after water changes, I tested the tap water and it was between 5-10... so I am sure that is another reason... just can't aford that much bottled water! We do top off with bottled. Is there any chemical that you could recomend to help with the tap water? Can't afford a fancy RO machine. And actually the fish seem to be doing better, we did 2 water changes this week, both 40 % because the nitrates were at 40 or maybe more. Also I tryed some different food and the crab loved it! So did the fish so I think i will try to vary the diet of what we give them!
Thanks again!
 
Water changes alone will NOT fix your nitrate problem. Removing one cannister and replacing it with another skimmer will help. Nitrates are not a big problem in your case, and RO water is not required for your success, but if you want to seriously get nitrates down and keep them down, take the advice I provided above about adding a macro algae filter (i.e. chaetomorpha) in a lighted sump under your tank. A deep sand bed (in a sump, not your display) can also be very effective at removing nitrates quickly. Plenty of info throughout the web for you to research on this. This, combined with no overfeeding and a 25 percent water change every 4 - 6 weeks and your nitrate/water problems should be rare.
 
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