My first SW Tank - Fluval Edge 6 Gallon

[hayoto]

Good Evening Everyone!

I just thought I would take some time to do some learning, and sharing.
I got my first saltwater tank as a hand me down gift from my sister for Christmas.
The Fluval Edge 6 Gallon.

It game with the live sand, two Percula Clown Fish, One Neon Gobby, 3 Live rocks, and 3 normal Rocks.
AS far as lighting she was using a marine land LED light, (looks like it was for freshwater)

I have since performed multiple upgrades on the Tank, which I will timeline in multiple posts for simplicity.
Here is the tank when it was moved to my house On Christmas.

 

[hayoto]

From here - I went to my Local fish store with the above pictures, and they mentioned the above lighting is OK for fish, but not for corals - of which I wanted to get into.

So, I purchased a Solar Flare LED light.
With Two 6700k Whites, two 10k whites, and one 460nm Royal Blue 3watt LED's.

I also purchased a thermometer, and a batch of snails and hermits to help me get the tank cleaned up.
I also Purchased a 500 GPH off brand Blower from Craigslist, which was replaced Today with the Hydor Korelia 250 GPH fan... (Pictures in later post)

 

[hayoto]

Later, I then received my first soft coral!
A Green Start Polyp, Here is the Polyp after introducing it to my tank.

My hermits kept knocking it down - so I had to Get a wire-tie, and secure it to the rock I would like it to cover at some point.

In the below pick (Taken Today) I also recieved as a gift from visiting family a HammerHead, and another LPS (I think its an LPS?) that I do not know what it is yet, and a cleaner shrimp.

I also installed the New blower.
The bottom Picture shows the most recent movement, changes, and equipment.
Plan on leaving everything alone for a while and let it get settled.

PS: I also purchased a testing kit today, and got the below readings.
I'm a little nervous about the Nitrates.... Any advice would be great!

Salinity = .024
NH3/NH4+ = 0.25 PPM
N02-= 0 PPM
N03-= 40 PPM
PH = 7.8

Temp = 78 F

 

[GregT]

I'm not sure why but I can't see your pics?

With a small nano easiest way to adjust is to do major water changes weekly.
Are you mixing your salt or using NSW?
cheers

 

[hayoto]

What does NSW mean?
I get them from My Local Fish store, I believe thats LFS

 

[DaveK]

NSW = Natural Sea Water. Unless you live near the ocean and collect it yourself, it's seldom used in SW tanks.

"... two Percula Clown Fish, One Neon Gobby..." is was too many fish for a 6 gal edge. I'd recommend only 1 fish at most or a much larger tank.

 

[GregT]

NSW = Natural Sea Water. Unless you live near the ocean and collect it yourself, it's seldom used in SW tanks.

"... two Percula Clown Fish, One Neon Gobby..." is was too many fish for a 6 gal edge. I'd recommend only 1 fish at most or a much larger tank.

Thanks Dave for the definition.
I'm lucky living in New Zealand, sea's not far away. I did use Red Sea salt for a while but economics of free water won out. I do have to add 10% rodi to adjust though first.
I agree, too many fish for a 6 gallon.

I'm still deciding what to put in mine - and will probably be a hermit or shrimp.

 

[michaelis88]

i would say two clown is max, espeacially you have all these hermit crab and snails etc. crab might eat your fish that is sleeping.

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

looks like Dropbox won't let you copy a url - give this a go...

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums...ay-post-pics-photobucket-nanoreefing4fun.html

 

[hayoto]

Ok - I got the Pictures fixed, and updated the posts. Thanks for the tip!

I figured the three fish were too much - I've been trying to catch the Goby to take to my LFS for credit, but I can't catch the bastard.
Regarding my water Perameters, is 40 ppm for Nitrate too high?

I've been hearing/reading mixed things where 40 is good, and where you wanna keep it below 20.
Any further advise would be apprcieated!

 

[aphawkins]

What is the light? I can't seem to find one online?? Been looking for new lighting for my Edge...like the look of yours! Good looking tank!!!

 

[hayoto]

What is the light? I can't seem to find one online?? Been looking for new lighting for my Edge...like the look of yours! Good looking tank!!!

Thanks Apha!
Here is the link for the light.
I personally don't like it so much - ruins the look of the edge I think.
I'm making a DIY one, so if you want mine and live in the states I'll sell it to you, just PM me and let me know

 

[hayoto]

Update: I thought my new cleaner shrimp Died!

Turns it - it just molted. What do I do with the remains? Do I remove them from the tank, or let nature run its and risk it raising my already high nitrate level?

 

[sheavens]

I dont bother with my molts, I just leave them in there unless they are easy to get at, I don't think they will make any difference to nitrate levels.
A quick question on your nitrates. How often do you feed your fish?
Nice pics BTW

 

[mcentire1123]

Nice tank!

 

[hayoto]

Thanks Shavens!

I feed them once every other day - alternating between flake food, and frozen brine.

 

[hayoto]

Update - I just picked up a Long Tentacle anemone for my clowns today at my LFS - currently waiting for him to attach.
I also just ordered some LED's from ledgroupbuy.com as well as a DIM4, and will be starting my project when they arrive.
I will take photos and video's of the process. As I had to do a LOT of research before hand for something I felt shouldn't be that difficult.

Wish my Luck! Will be posting again VERY soon.

 

[hayoto]

It is my regret to inform everyone that my tank has been nuked.
I was out for the day working, and I lost power at my house.
I had an APC battery on it, that I have tested on a full charge and lasts about 1 hour.

My Hammerhead, Green Star Polyp, and my Torch are still ok... But my mated clowned have passed as well as my neon Blue Gobby.
never thought it would have been so hard losing fish.... They became part of my family

Any advice on what to do to avoid in the future.
Is there a device that will notify me on power failures in the future?
I don't have a server, and don't want to set one up just for the APC and what not.

Any advice on how to deal with the loss and how to learn/move forward will be much appreciated.... Thanks.

 

[JoeCanada11]

Hey Hayoto. Sorry to hear about your loss. Don't give up. This is a great hobby and I have had times where I have lost killifish colonies when I was big into freshwater fish. It was hard and sometimes you feel beaten, but its all a learning experience. One thing I might suggest for the future is keep your stocking super low. I know the clowns were nice and healthy but one thing about keeping the bioload low is that you have better chances during power outages and other swings in the tanks parameters. Keep up the good work I know you care about the creatures you keep so get back in the game.

 

[whippetguy]

Not sure about your electric company, but my company (Entergy) allows you to sign up for text alerts for power outages. It's worked well for me. They also send updated as to when it will be restored.

Sorry to hear about your loss.



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