Moved it to a 10 gallon

RocknRollMoCo

RocknRollMoCo

Can I get bigger livebait?
Jun 1, 2004
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Hi thanks for reading my post..
Two weeks ago we moved. At the time I had a 29 gallon saltwater tank that was VERY neglected.. 3 big pieces of live rock & two damsels My filtration was a hot magnum with a bio wheel (250 gallons per hour).. I truly only fed the fish... They must be hard to kill. I also had a 55 gallon that housed 3 Oscars and my Catfish..
We set up a 150 gallon for the Oscars and I really didn't want to take a chance at moving the 29g set up completly.. so what i did is I made my old 10 gallon my new saltwater tank. I moved the pieces of live rock and the damsels along with enough crushed coral to cover the bottom. I got 10 gallons of water from my old tank and moved my Hot magnum with bio wheel to the 10 gallon also. It now sits on my kitchen cabinet and boy is it looking good. This may have been the kick I needed to get it going like I like it. Anyhoo.. I have looked at a few of your posts.. am I supposed to do a water change daily?? If so how much? My LFS has saltwater you can purchase.. can I get a 5 gallon bucket and add a little as the week goes on?
My husband got frisky and bought me a feather duster and a shrimp for my birthday. He says the feather duster and the shrimp do not need to be fed but the shrimp will come and grab as much food as he can when we feed the damsels. The feather duster is supposed to filter the water to get its food.. I have such a big filtration system on my tank now.. do I need to get him something else to eat? does that even make a difference?
Ok.. I have about laid it all out there.. did I do good or should I be shot?
I will try to put a picture on that I took last night.
I would appreciate any input you can give.
Thanks in advance
Lyn

Saltwater 005.jpg
 
You did okay. The shrimp and feather dusters will need to be fed though--the feather duster especially. Find some invert food for it, and give the tank a squirt every other day or so. The filter feeders can be tough to keep alive, since they get all their food from particulates in the water column--something not common in setups with much mechanical filtration. The shrimp, as you've noticed, will happily scavenge whetever is available.

You might want to monitor the damsels and make sure they don't fight--they are very territorial, and can be aggressive to each other.

With a bio-wheel on the tank, you'll need to monitor nitrates closely and do water changes to keep them in check.
 
Do you suggest I take the biowheel off the tank. I thought it was helping.. not hurting the situation. It does help with the water circulation.. The damsels were a cheep way to keep colorful fish in the 29 gallon.. I had problems with other fishes.. (clown fish and a tang RIP) I wish I had taken them back to the store when we moved.. I dont know how I would get the little buggers out now.. they have made little tunnels all under the liverock and only really come out to eat.

Thanks again,
Lyn
 
And if you add top off water make sure it is fresh water and not salt water. That will just increase the salinity in the tank as the water evaporates and leaves salt behind. Top off daily if needed and then use salt water for full water changes.
 
As for the biowheel it really isn't needed. What you need is lots of water movement (circulation). The filtration is mostly done by the live rock in the tank. The fish won't be hurt as much by higher nitrate levels but inverts are generally less tolerant. You can just use the filter for water movement and take all filter media out. You could even stick a small piece of live rock in the filter if possible.
 
Ok.. now I am way way confused.. It seems that I was told.. or I got the idea from somewhere that you needed all this extra filtration for a saltwater tank... Was I dreaming?
wet/dry filter... protien skimmer.. aerator.. I know its a small tank.. but dont you still need a heavy duty filter to keep the wastes down?
Have I been messing with freshwater so much that I have combined the two?
Also.. here is a better picture of some fungus that I have on my sanddollar.. is it ok

Saltwater 004.jpg
 
Live rock is filtration. If you try to do saltwater without live rock, then you need heavy duty filtration. A fish tank without live rock was quite common only a decade or two ago and a lot of saltwater "experts" haven't kept up with the changes in the hobby. The key is just that leaving wastes about in a saltwater tank will kill the tank and something needs to clean them up. Live rock and a DSB can handle this naturally, but may not be stable without maintenance for years at a time (like that's different from any other filtration system... ;) )
 
Looks like a bit of diatom algae--not uncommon in a tank that's been disturbed or recently setup. It should clear up on it's own.
 
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