20g nano 3 weeks then AHHHH!!!

[Koby!]

Hi everyone....
im new to talkingreef...well at least i just joined today...ive been a "forum lurker" for quite awhile now! haha

well on the first of july, my bday, my parents split a 20g long saltwater set up with me!
-20g glass aquarium
-biowheel
-salt
-hydrometer
-heater
-fluorescent lighting
-3 lbs of LR

^^ all for $200 (i thought it was a deal)

well that night i set everything up and got it running.

then a few days later i added 8.5 lbs LR.

in 2 weeks i got my water checked at LFS and everything looked great except my phosphates...used tap water i didnt no ne better... so he told my i could add some livestock...i added 2 true percs, 6 hermys, 2 snails..

everything was good

a week later i did a 50% water change with LFS premixed saltwater... to lower phosphates..

everything was GREAT up until then prolly cus i have read soooo much on this forum!

well on the 21st..... we had a HUGE!!!! storm tornad0!! ahh... well our power went out...and i had nooo back up power source... we not expecting to get power back for 3-5 days... so that day i just every once in a while would go and blow bubbles... using airline tubing to just get something going in the tank... so on sat. a family friend who worked at a car dealership..had power sooo i loaded all my LR snails, hermys, and of course fish into a bucket with the filter hangin on the side and took it there..

well of course this would happen!! 2 hours after taking the bucket to the dealership we got power back!!! ergggg and the dealership was closed until today (only one day) so i just had to wait it out!

today i got the bucket back and everything is living and happy!!! yay... so they all went back into the tank which had a bubbler in there while everything was gone. and i found bristle worms in one of my LR like 3-4" eekk trying to figure out how to remove them!!

thanks for reading....
any suggestions would be apprieciated!!!!

-kenji

[Rob]

welcome to talkingreef...
sounds like you had an interesting few day...
im happy to hear your livestock survived the ordeal.

as for the bristle worms, dont worry about them, they are great scavengers, and wont harm your fish, snails, or crabs.

[Koby!]

i am planning on updating my lighting sometime also and maybe getting some corals...will the bristle worms harm them??

[Rob]

nope..
there are only a few rare species found in the aquarium hobby that will harm anything. 99% of them are harmless

[gwen_o_lyn]

to TR Koby! Looks like you had quite an adventure!! Glad everything turned out ok.

Your setup looks fine for fish only. If you want corals, then consider removing the filter, adding a skimmer (check out the AquaC Remora), you know about the lights, and adding more flow. Rob covers basic setups in the early podcast shows- just check those out for great information. Also look into an RODI unit- might save you money in the long run.

Bristleworms are good- keep them around. They help clean your tank and eat stuff just laying around that would otherwise rot and make your water worse.

On my recent frag swap with Duane, I sent him 3 bristleworms since he dind't see any in his tank!!

[Koby!]

thank you for the quick reply! well i was just wonder the reason for removing the filter and replacing it with a skimmer...just bc my budget is very limited being in highschool and all... i was gonna ask for a lighting system for christmas! thinking ahead! lol any suggestions i wasnt thinking top of the line $$$ but idk... im planning on getting a powerhead or two in the near future.

[fat walrus]

start cleaning your room and mowing the lawn now, its gonna take a long christmas list. lol.

[gwen_o_lyn]

I'm not very good at explaining this, but let me try. Best to listen to the podcast- maybe show 20, 21, 22? - look for the nano show and u will hear Rob saying no biowheel and I think he explains why.

But those type of filters will hold in nitrates and they just keep building up and building up. Which means you will have major hair algae. The hair algae will grow over your corals and kill them, and you won't be a happy camper. The majority of reef tanks have skimmers- I personally wouldn't run a reef tank without one. Fish only is different however. When it comes to skimmers they always say, "don't skimp on the skimmer" which means *learn a lesson I learned the hard way* if you buy a cheap skimmer you will be replacing it a few months down the road. Get plenty of positive feedback on a skimmer before you buy one.

[Koby!]

ok thank you!! i think i understand now. ive been researching protein skimmers and i think they r out of my reach as of now.. so i think ill just keep fish with live rock for now...<but ill keep looking and trying to figure out something> who knows unless i somehow get ahold of a ton of cash lol. well i do have a couple of ?s bout my current set up.....
1. Do i have enough live rock in my tank? i was told by LFS that i should get to 20# but another hobbyist told me it was ok not to have that much?? (i only have 11.5 lbs now)
2. Can i add more livestock to my tank or am i already pushing the bio load?? (my aunt wants to take me to LFS to get more livestock but i am afraid that i will be overstocking)
3. Should i take the actual Bio wheel out of the filter?

[CarmieJo]

Hi Koby,

to TR.

I think that you need more live rock *LR). Since you are on a budget you might buy base rock instead of LR. Base rock will become LR and save you lots of $$.

[Small Fry]

i have (had) two fish and three shrimp (pushing it) in my 12g nano. Sure, it crashed, but not for that specific reason, i think you'd be perfectly safe it you wanted to add a pair of shrimp. Maybe another small fish, i'm thinking maybe a firefish?? good fish for nanos i hear. However i am no pro by any means so don't take my word for it (btw, how old are you actually, im pushing grade 11 meself )

[gwen_o_lyn]

It really depends on what kind of rock you have. Marshall Island is very porous and 11lbs may fill your tank. But other rocks are like boulders and it may take a lb/g to fill the tank.

Do you have a picture?

How about adding a shrimp to your tank?

[gwen_o_lyn]

Josh- we had the same idea!!