Quote:
Originally Posted by CarmieJo  What's the stocking list? Are you using bio-balls? What/how much/how often are you feeding? Do you rinse frozen foods? What kind of lights are you using and how long are they on? How old are the light bulbs?
Sorry for all the questions but it will help get to the bottom of this. |
No problem.
It is a 30 gallon tank, probably more like 20 gallons of water if you count the
live rock & sand.
I have a few hermit crabs and snails Most died, I used to have 30 or more and it is now down to just a few. The main critters are a brittle star, peppermint shrimp, fire fish, 2 pajama cardinals and what was 2 clown fish is now just 1 clown fish after last night.
I have a Penguin Bio Wheel filter, the kind you hang on the back of the tank. I do not have a canister filter. I also have a protein
skimmer that is good for up to 65 gallons.
I feed once a day, frozen food that I have previously rinsed and thawed. I put about a 1/2 teaspoon in the tank. It is gone within a few minutes. Sometimes I may drop pellets in and do enough that they float to the bottom for the brittle star and crabs.
I have a 36 inch lighting
ballast from Coralife. Two bulbs, 1
actinic and the other regular daylight. I'd have to look up the specifics to tell you the strength, but they are both 96W. I think the daylight bulb is the one that came with the
ballast, the other is a replacement bulb. However, the bulbs are on at most for about 4-5 hours per day. I usually only let the
actinic bulb stay on and turn the daylight on when I'm feeding. I've had them for about a year, purchased last spring. Since I don't use them heavily, would they still affect the algae? Part of my issue with the algae has been that the bulbs are so bright. They're bigger than my little tank and I noticed more hair algae after I switched to this new
ballast. So, I cut back on the time I had the lights on. The tank is mostly dark - where's the fun in that? Very frustrating.
