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figdish
10-10-2011, 01:44 AM
Hi all, I am new to saltwater tho have been running freshwater of all types for years. I have googled, been to every fishstore in town and have been givin all sorts of info. I have a 30 gal that was already established when I received, have added a few fish and some live rock. I was told that a back filter is sufficient for this size of tank but my water looks slightly cloudy even after 25% changes.
What is a nano, what is a sump pump and what do I need?
If anyone can advise what type of filters, sumps or whatever it is I need I would be greatly appreciative.
Also I have some algae/fungus that I am not sure if nuisance or to leave it.
How long does it take before you start seeing growth on live rock. Can I introduce plants? What fish will not eat what plants? How many fish in saltwater is too much for 30 gal?
So many questions, so little time.:question:
thanks again for any/all advise
figdish

wingedfish
10-10-2011, 02:45 AM
Your algae is aptasia, (get rid of it) and you already have too many fish for a thirty gallon.

A sump is a tank under the display to hide the ugly stuff, nano means small, it is debatable on where to draw the line between small and nano. You can add plants whenever you want, most fish will eat them, depending on the plant.

You can get by with a simple canister on a small tank with fish only but with time your going to want more, and bigger.....

syncro
10-10-2011, 03:28 AM
There is a ton of great info in this forum and others like nano-reef.com or reefcentral.com. However, it will take many hours to mine all the information you need. I suggest a good book like:
The Reef Aquarium, Vol. 3: Science, Art, and Technology (http://www.amazon.com/Reef-Aquarium-Vol-Science-Technology/dp/1883693144/ref=pd_sim_b2) to get all the basics.

abcha0s
10-10-2011, 03:38 AM
I have googled, been to every fishstore in town and have been givin all sorts of info.

I'm not sure you've been to our store? I guess it's more of a warehouse, but we've got 10 times the inventory of any other shop in Calgary and always the best prices. Were always up for a chat over a cup of coffee.

Come say hi or shot me an email (address in my signature).

- Brad

figdish
10-10-2011, 05:37 AM
how do i get rid of aptasia?

monocus
10-10-2011, 07:13 AM
it doesn't look like you have a lot-turn your power heads off and cover them with kalkwasser or joes juice(same thing but kalkwasser is cheaper).you can inject them with lemon juice,you can make a zapper,or if you have alot you can use berghia.remember to attack them in the morning as they will release daughter cells at night when stressed.you can take the rock out and hit it with boiling water,but this will turn your live rock dead.some fish will eat aptasia-matted file fish,copperband,bannerfish as well as pepermint shrimp-but they are all hit or miss-and they don't get the hidden ones

figdish
10-10-2011, 03:24 PM
Thanks for the link to reefcentral.com Syncro I found it very informative, also did not know there was a warehouse in the NE that I had never heard of. I have my homework cut out for me thats for sure. Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

fishoholic
10-10-2011, 03:56 PM
Just so you know a 30g is way to small for a scopas tang, they need at least a minimum 80g tank. He will add a lot to your bio load and mostly likely cause a lot of algae issues, water quality issues and mostly likely stress himself out and the other tank mates from being in to small of a tank.

Here's a link
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+43+381&pcatid=381

They actually recommend a minimum of a 125g which was surprising to me as I usually find that sites tank size recommendations usually on the small side.

Also looks like you could use more live rock in your tank, most of what you have in the tank is dead coral pieces or barnacles which do nothing to help filter the water. Kinda looks like you have only 2-3 pieces of live rock, try to aim for around 20-30 pounds of live rock.

here's your 1st pic for you
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=8324&d=1318211062

figdish
10-12-2011, 12:50 AM
i thought i needed more rock, probably enuf fish, can anyone tell me if that is bad fungus on top rock. it is brown and doesn't seem to have any life in it except tiny black shellfish of some kind

monocus
10-12-2011, 04:07 AM
probably hair algae