Lighting / heat

[nicksreef]

:? I have a small, 20 gal reef tank (20 high). I have one actinic and one daylight flourescents in a hood, and one 60 watt compact flourescent about 6 inches from the water line.
The temp of the water stays around 78 degrees. Ambient temp in the room is around 70.
I have had trouble keeping shrimp (I read they like it cold) and I can't seem to get much growth of coral. I have healthy anemones, fish, clams, tube worms, in fact all kinds of stuff that recently "sprouted" from my rocks. The rock had blue and purple algae on it when I bought it, which has disappeared. I have some nice green algae that almost looks like a moss, and some yellowish algae spreading on the underside of rocks.
Am I gonna have to get a coller for my tank if I want to grow corals? I don't want to make any expensive addition of live things that are going to deteriorate and die. (I don't particularly like killing the creatures either!)

The tank is very healthy, and needs almost no maintenance. I do routine additions of kalkwasser, iodine, nutrients, and filter feeder food.. but when I see pics of some of the tanks other members have, I wonder why mine isn't growing into that? :roll:

 

[Anonymous]

most shrimps should do well around your temperature. What type are they? Is there any predator in the tank?

what is the Ca level? what about ANN (amm. nitrite, nitrate), and how often do you do water change? what about alk level?

 

[Len]

Shrimps collected for our hobby are all tropical and do well in temps ranging from 76-85 degrees. I would guess it was a predator, or perhaps a toxin that is especially toxic to crustaceans (my bet would still be predators though). One other question: are you topping off the water with RO/DI? If it's tap, that could be a possible culprit of your problems.

By the way, how old is this tank? It usually takes a while (6-12 months) before tanks really begin to bloom.

 

[nicksreef]

It's a little over a year old. Amonia and nitrite are 0. I use filtered R/O water, and I put it into the tank through a UV filter.
Maybe they were sick or shocked when I got them. I bought them a couple of days after the store got them in. They WERE peppermint shrimp. Someone since told me you have to take great care aclimating them to the tank. I think I just treated them like fish..

I haven't checked Ca levels. Tank stays at 8.5 Ph.
Maybe I'll try again now that the tank is well aged.

Thanks everyone.

 

[StevenPro]

Salinity shock could have been the cause of their demise. A drip acclimation is best for any shrimp.