Need at home service 4 saltwater tanks

[djmc7300]

i have 2 tanks at home that i need help fixing asap. my 12 gallon nanocube crashed. i'm thinking about starting over on that one. but don't know how. i have a 55 that i'm trying to make better. but would like advice on how. i also have a 75 gallon that i would like to trade with for these services and necessary supplies to fix both tanks. it includes the empty tank, wooden cabinets, and custom wooden canopy with lights. 4'8" tall, 1'6" width, 4' lenght. with wet/dry filter.

[dow]

Sorry, I can't help you with that, but I do have a question. Why are you mixing upper and lower case letters in your topic headers? It makes them harder to read, and frankly, makes me at least less likely to read the post in the first place. Not flaming you, man... just curious.

[djmc7300]

just thought it might catch attention...us gyrls just like to do different things, that's all...

[Polkster13]

Where are you located? That might help in getting someone to come over and help you if we knew a general area. South Texas is a big place!

[djmc7300]

northside SA (281 & 1604) i'm off all day

[Polkster13]

I am in the Austin area. But I will be at the meeting this Sunday. Are you planning on attending? You will find plenty of free advice there. Check the announcements page for directions to Alex Wolf's house. I will be available after the meeting as well if you haven't found someone by then to come over and take a look at your setup.

As far as the nano goes, you just need to have patience and let it cycle again and then start slowly adding inhabitants back to it. I would stay away from LPS corals because if they die they create a big mess and with such a small tank, it will turn sour very quickly. I would stick with mushrooms and polyps and maybe even green star polyps. It is very hard to kill them. Just have to watch them as they are very aggressive and will over grow just about anything. A couple of small fish and some inverts (snails, shrimp, et cetera) and voila you back in business.

Also, check out the TOTM as I believe this month's winner was a nano tank. Look at what they did and the inhabitants it has and then do a lot of Google searches. Read, read, read and sprinkle in a lot of patiences and you will have a successful tank again.

[djmc7300]

but how do i let it cycle again. with the old water and sand? do i need to buy a carbon filter to help clean the water. i'm stupid sorry but what's LPS stand for?

[alexwolf]

I am trying to help via PM as we speak!

[Henry]

sent pm,

[djmc7300]

you guys are great! i feel so much better that i can overcome this. i'm a beginner, obviously and it just killed me seeing all my livestock so defensless. i hope to learn more. even if it's the hard way.

[dow]

K. Just curious. Hope you get your tanks running better. The biggest thing with saltwater tanks is that you almost never change ANYTHING fast. That'a about the only hard, fast rule there is. Also, notice that I said "almost." Yep, that's right, even that one isn't always the case. The advise that you've gotten on your 12 gallon are pretty good. Get it cleaned up, and let it cycle again, along with frequent water changes. As for the 55... What seems to be the problem there?

[djmc7300]

55, i know that i need to bring the temp up, but the heater like stops at like 76-78, no higher. i dunno houw to fix that. also i know i need more live rock, so i'm off to fin-addict's sale rt now. and i most likely need a water change, but i need to buy some salt. so gotta get that too. and that's about it. oh and change the filters on both tanks. ahhh, too much work and money. but that's ok...so far, that's the plan.

[GaryP]

You might want to get one of us to take a look at your systems before you go running off to the LFS. It'll probably save you a few trips. Its hard to diagnose a system by remote control.

That's why doctors don't diagnose by email.

[djmc7300]

true

[dow]

dito what GaryP said.

[DeletedAccount]

Most reefs are aat 72-78, so we normally strive to keep our tanks there.

[AlienAnchovies]

haha girls get extra attention, times like this i wish i was a girl... er no scratch that im rather content being a guy

[farrah]

Don't add any uncycled live rock to your tank, either.. you'll end up killing what you already have.

They keys to keeping your 12 gallon happy are waterchages, waterchanges, waterchages... waterchanges export toxins and nutrients, which is especially important when you don't have a skimmer. They also replenish calcium and other elements used up by your critters. I do weekly 20% water changes on my 12gallon. When you are having problems (like now) I would run carbon and something like purigen, but not on a regular basis. Also, I wouldn't bother dosing... if you overdose, you can cause more problems... just keep up with your replenishing waterchanges. If you have a nanocube, get rid of the ceramic rings and only keep sponges in the first chamber. Make sure that you clean these each time you do a waterchange (don't use soap! just rinse them in RO or salt water and get all of the gunk out). If you have an eclipse 12, then don't run the filter media all of the time... just put a new one in once every week (or couple of weeks depending on how much particulate matter you have in the tank) and run it for a few hours. If you leave it in there, it just becomes a nitrate factory. When you do waterchanges, use some airline tubing and suck detritus off of the rock and sand. You don't want gunk sitting around in there. Keep up with topoffs (make sure you are topping off with fresh water) so you don't have salinity swings. Your temp sounds like its fine, just make sure that its not fluctuating. Make sure that you have enough light for the corals that you are keeping. If you are keeping high-light corals or anemones under stock nano-cube lighting, then they are goign to die and crash your tank. Keep your bioload low. Three fish create more toxins one. The more fish you have, the more likely you are to have problems. I just have a single damsel in mine. Lastly, make sure that you do NOT overfeed. I just feed my fish and shrimp two to three small pellets each. You don't want any uneaten food in the tank. A small system just can't handle it.

Hope that helps...