- Location
- Brooklyn
So I recently took on the task of taking care of my friends sisters tank. She has a 45 gallon tank pretty much fish only at this point. She has a 36" Coralife PC light and her filter is a Marineland Emperor 400.
She's had the system for about a year and half, but has had someone else taking care of it that whole time. She knows nothing about fish tanks, meaning she only feeds her fish, the rest has been done by someone else.
I tested her water the other day and her alkalinity was a bit high and her calcium was a bit low. Next time I go there I am going to test again and dose the tank accordingly. Her pH was about 8-8.2. Calcium about 320 and alkalinity 10 dKH. I will test magnesium as well next time I am there.
I am a bit concerned about the fish that she has in the tank... She has two black ocelarris (sp?) clownfish, one large yellow tang, and one medium-to large hippo tang. I told her definitely not to get anymore fish as the tangs both need more space already. All of the fish looked healthy, the clowns mostly stayed together and then the two tangs were swimming very energetically in and out of the rocks.
She also has one Yuma colony, they look pretty healthy although a little browned out and possibly a bit shrunken up. She mentioned that she wanted to get a few more corals. I told her if she really wanted to get corals she could start by looking at zooanthids, mushrooms or maybe hammer corals. Is this a bad idea? I also mentioned that if she wanted to do corals that it might require a bit more work on her part daily by possibly having to dose the tank.
My main issue lies in the fact that she does not have an RO filter. I don't have a car so there is no way that I can take pre-made saltwater to her apartment for water changes. Also I read that store bought pre-made saltwater needs to be aerated for a few hours before used. I don't think that money is too much of an issue for her, so although I'm sure it's expensive, does anyone know if you can actually buy pre-made saltwater?
She's had the system for about a year and half, but has had someone else taking care of it that whole time. She knows nothing about fish tanks, meaning she only feeds her fish, the rest has been done by someone else.
I tested her water the other day and her alkalinity was a bit high and her calcium was a bit low. Next time I go there I am going to test again and dose the tank accordingly. Her pH was about 8-8.2. Calcium about 320 and alkalinity 10 dKH. I will test magnesium as well next time I am there.
I am a bit concerned about the fish that she has in the tank... She has two black ocelarris (sp?) clownfish, one large yellow tang, and one medium-to large hippo tang. I told her definitely not to get anymore fish as the tangs both need more space already. All of the fish looked healthy, the clowns mostly stayed together and then the two tangs were swimming very energetically in and out of the rocks.
She also has one Yuma colony, they look pretty healthy although a little browned out and possibly a bit shrunken up. She mentioned that she wanted to get a few more corals. I told her if she really wanted to get corals she could start by looking at zooanthids, mushrooms or maybe hammer corals. Is this a bad idea? I also mentioned that if she wanted to do corals that it might require a bit more work on her part daily by possibly having to dose the tank.
My main issue lies in the fact that she does not have an RO filter. I don't have a car so there is no way that I can take pre-made saltwater to her apartment for water changes. Also I read that store bought pre-made saltwater needs to be aerated for a few hours before used. I don't think that money is too much of an issue for her, so although I'm sure it's expensive, does anyone know if you can actually buy pre-made saltwater?
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