Advice on Small Tank Sizes for a Newb

[HClH2OFish]

Welcome to the hobby, and good luck w/your tanks!
I got into the SW hobby when my g/f saw a poor little bowtie damsel at Petco (don't say it) Poor fish had one eye and 1/2 her tail gone. Told the g/f no way, no how...I didn't wanna put the time/effort into a lost cause.
:roll: Well, needless to say, she got it....all in the bag and her giving me puppy dog eyes before I knew it.
Sooo...I notice it's a damsel. I don't have a SW tank, only a 2.5gal minibow that once had a betta. After picking up salt, aragonite, marine test kit, food for the damsel, I got her setup.
She did very well in the 2.5 and then I transferred her to an Eclipse 1 that was on sale at my g/f store (she used to work for Petsmart)
This was about a year and a half ago. Damsel is doing great...was about size of a nickel when we got her and now she's about 2 1/2" long and ornery :lol: We got a cinammon clown to keep her company, but in a tank that small she got very territorial as she got larger.
So now I have my 15H and a 25H that I got for $10.
The 25 has about 25lb LR, 25lb LS, 5lb soft sand....Tetratec 150(has a cool surge feature and drop in heater)...Prizm skimmer, Powersweep power head, and 28w Corallife PC. Recently added a 1/2 black pygmy angel and everyone is happy
Got great coralline going, got clams and featherdusters...spotted one or 2 bristleworms. Also have 7-8 mushrooms on a rock under an overhang that open to about 2" wide during the day. Everyone all happy.
The biggest thing I've learned about small tanks is *very* regular tests. IME, small tanks can be just as successful as large tanks. The *only* difference IMO is that you need to really pay attention to the water quality and you will have less choice of tenants (dont' even think about adding a Dory for Nemo..lol)
My tanks have given me hours of pleasure and I'm sure yours will too
If you can afford it, I'd get some hi quality cured LR....not for the benefit of bacteria formation, but more towards adding diversity to your tanks...that's where the jellyfish in my 10 gal came from!

*ahem* and as usual, I've been rather verbose in what was meant to be a short post.. :roll:

Summation: Small tanks are no worse than large....you just need to monitor things more often and you're limited on livestock.

 

[ChrisRD]

How do you compare the AquaC Remora skimmer to the Bak Pak?

IME the Remora is a bit better performer, but either one will work fine on a tank your size.

 

[SnowManSnow]

As to the Remora and Bak Pak.. I vote for the Remora.. but the Bak Pak is a good 2nd ....from things I read on the net...and havin' a Remora

 

[Anonymous]

Ok, equipment so far:

-Filter: 170 filter
-Heater: 100 Watt Ebo Jager
-Lighting: 24" Corallife 65x2 watt with moon light
-Protein Skimmer: CPR Aquatic BAK PAK Bio-Filter

Hey Steve,
You could dump the filter and get a refugium (cpr) to go with your bakpak and be hummin'. If you run an airline threw the bakpak and add a limewood airstone, it will "suck" much better :lol:

I have the 30" model coralife and the flimsy legs to go with it. It works well, but the temp in the 20L is a little high for my liking. Your's being a deeper tank may not have that problem. If it does, just point a fan in that direction.

I'm using at the moment two different sized power sweep powerheads. Which by the way, pretty much suck. I'm in the process of redoing both tank setups and going with a sump/refugium for both. But in the mean time, I plan on installing the smaller powersweep upside down, near the bottom of the tank. I seem to be having some build up of crap and waste that I don't need.

Plan on the lights, the filtration, and circulation not being to your liking :lol: We all go threw growing pains and financial hurdles when we start out. One more thing, don't add your fish for about 6 weeks, let the good stuff grow first

 

[cdeakle]

Does anyone have any advice on power heads?

yuppers...can't go wrong with Maxi-Jets!! I'm partial to the 1200's.

How do you compare the AquaC Remora skimmer to the Bak Pak?

I actullay had a bakpak2 a few years back then upgraded to an Aqua-C Urchin. I liked them both as they both performed well but I favored the AquaC urchin slighlty over the Bakpak for ease of use and maintnace. Basicly I didn;t have to tinker with the AquaC like I ahd to with the BakPak....

HClH2OFish, thanks for sharing you damsel story man, glad it turned out for the better!.

 

[HClH2OFish]

Glad you liked...if I ever get a @#$@#$ cable for my old Olympus camera I can take some pics. She's really nice and fat...comes out and says 'Hey' when you walk by the tank. We put one of those cave decorations in the tank and she calls it home...really cute in the morning to turn on the tank lights and see her poke her nose out seeing what's going on...

She regrew most of the damaged fin..has a little 'notch' but doesn't slow her down!

And I was really surprised that her eye didn't get infected or cause problems..I'm not sure if it was damaged or if she was born like that, cuz there's a small 'stalk' where her eye should be. Sorta looks like an optic nerve with an atrophied eye on it...

And her name is Priscilla

*ahem* and so as I don't hijace..

I heard the AquaC Urchin is really good, but it's the insump model of the Remora IIRC ... heard lotsa good things about em

 

[cdeakle]

haha

Damsels have a bad rap and they shouldn't. Triggers don't have a bad rap for being the awesome predators that they are blah blah blah

As long as there by themselves they can be one of the coolest fish to have...with others though they can be mean SOB's lol

 

[HClH2OFish]

That's why in a small tank a damsel is a poor choice. We had to get a diff. tank for our cinnamon, as our damsel got very territorial as she got older. Was chasing him all over the tank tail slapping him.

 

[cdeakle]

small tanks are ok for damsels but would have to be a species only tank lol

Was chasing him all over the tank tail slapping him.

I'm rick james bia..... :lol:

 

[stevenp]

knowse,
You were right about the light. I was suprised how much it raised my temperature (77 to 82 over a matter of 12 hours). I mounted a fan so it circulates air both under the light and under the glass top and now everything is back to normal.

So far, the tank looks great. I've added live sand and 10 lbs of Fiji LR from teh LFS. I'm building up a list for Premium Aquatics including a refractometer and 20 more lbs of LR. I performed my first test and all levels are stable, so I assume I can see a cycle starting in the next few days. I've got all the time in the world to wait for the cycle and can do some further reading in the meantime.

I now have a 4 books on marine aquariums. It amazes me how much each book differs in terms of opinions and recommendations. There really doesn't appear to be anything 'black and white' about this hobby, except for you can spend as much money as you like

Steve

 

[Anonymous]

I now have a 4 books on marine aquariums. It amazes me how much each book differs in terms of opinions and recommendations. There really doesn't appear to be anything 'black and white' about this hobby, except for you can spend as much money as you like

Steve

You got that right!
When you do start stocking your tank with livestock, go slow. I'm not talking about the clean-up crew, I'm talking about fish and inverts. One or two at a time, can make a difference. Each "individual" puts the tank into a mini cycle.

Glad you got the refractometer, that will save you some headaches in the next few weeks when you start your water changes. I forgot to ask, did you get the pre-skimmer for the bakpak? It's something to think about when you actually start feeding fish. The water surface get's a nasty film that is ugly to see and airbubbles get stuck to it causing problems with oxygen exchange.

Something else to add to your list is a pH monitor. I think marine depot has them at a reasonable price. It's not uncommon for low pH to be the cause of death for snails, and trust me, your gonna go threw some snails I had problems with pH at first. Then found out with the help of my pinpoint that I had a CO2 problem.

There is just so much to learn and so many different products out there, it get's frustrating :x Hang in there and as some people I know like to say, "Take it one day at a time."

 

[HClH2OFish]

stevenp:
With the addition of the fans, you'll want to keep an eye on your water levels. Having the fans keeps the temp down, but increases evap.

 

[stevenp]

HClH2OFish,
I've already noticed. I wonder if going topless would be any better for evaporation..

Steve

 

[HClH2OFish]

I asked my g/f that and she just gave me a blank look.... :lol: :lol:

I think removing the top would add to the evap...I've got a glass lid on my 25 and it usually has a film of water on it from evap collecting on it.

 

[stevenp]

I meant lose the fan first, then go topless. Probably would be just as bad, if not worse...

 

[HClH2OFish]

Hmmm....no fan and remove top...

I'd *think* it would probably be more...not really sure..

Someone who's done this please post??? I'd be interested to know as well

 

[Anonymous]

No glass, no fan lots of evap. More than in my other tank with top.

 

[stevenp]

I left both the fan and lights off today (except for the moon lights and we won't count those) and my temperature still raised almost three degrees. Seems that the heat generated from the pumps can't be dissapated with the tank being partially covered.

I'm either going to have to put up with the slight noise of the fan or the slight irritation of having to top off daily.

I have my temperature at a stable 76.5 - 77 degrees. I've read that for different systems, you may need to adjust temperature. I figured that this temp is a good starting point?

BTW, today I ordered 7 more lbs of Fiji (15 total now), 8 lbs of Marshall and 7 lbs Kaelini Tonga (all cured).

Cheers,
Steve

 

[Baianotang]

My advice to newbies is to get a big tank 100g+ this hobby is too hard as it is.

 

[HClH2OFish]

My advice to newbies is to get a big tank 100g+ this hobby is too hard as it is.

I humbly disagree. If they take the time to read enuff and learn what to watch out for and not rush, they can have great success.

Larger tanks are just more forgiving for newbie mistakes.