[souper_powers]

I recently moved back home and have decided to become caretaker of mom's saltwater tank. Not that she doesn't take care of it, she's just not very active with it and is always behind on water changes.

I know very little about his tank... make/model, light type, watts, etc. I do believe it's 35 gallon. It's a cube with the pumps and filters behind a black plastic wall that has an adjustable Y jet and a propeller pump. A friend of mine who owned an aquarium shop set it up so I'm assuming this setup is ok - although his tank cruises compared this one. Obviously he has all top notch equipment and has his tank dialed.

There's a blue hippo, yellow tang, fire shrimp, turbo snails, pink/rose bubble tip anemone (that has stayed relatively small but has split twice now - there's 3). I now know that the fringed thingies are button polyps, but I still don't know what that other one is (pictured below the BTA) - green pagoda?

There have been casualties with this tank - 2 clowns and a flame angel have leaped to their death after the original glass cover broke and was waiting on a new piece to be cut. I'm not sure what happened to the arrow crab, goby, sand sifter star or harlequin star. There was also a long tentacle anemone but that had some weird issue when it was put in this tank and only lasted a week or two. It relocated a few times until it turned into itself and looked terrible/dead (wasn't really doing anything at all) and got flushed.

There was a frag of (green?) blasto that didn't make it because "it fell and i couldn't get it". There was also 1 piece of orange cup / sun coral and a small cluster of candy coral (caulastrea) that died for whatever reason.

Obviously done buying things for this tank other than cleaner crew and stuff to get it back on track and dialed in. Then maybe I'll put more critters in it (or start a new tank).

^ originally 1 BTA. was a lot bigger and brighter pink. after moving it from the shop (45mins) to this tank, it shrank to about the size of a Sharpie cap (half the length) and was pretty much just the foot as the tentacles were completely retracted. after some time spent feeding it directly, it relocated then split. not once, but twice - about a month apart?

^ concerned with the white patches and the dark color. the original BTA was the size of a baseball in the store. all three of these are barely the surface area of a cardboard drink coaster.

^ green pagoda?

filter/pump area in the back. the protein skimmer hasn't been bubbling. apparently it spent some time not properly set up and now no one knows where to set the depth.

powerhead? flow is directed into the pile of rocks and circulates through and around them.

The remaining swimmers (plus a fire shrimp).

The aquarium room is on an elevated wood floor and I assume the sound/vibration from footsteps sends them into their hidey holes. That and sudden movements or if you get close and they notice you. They always hide unless you're watching from outside the room. Any other tank I've seen, when someone gets close they think they're getting fed and all come out or pay attention in case food drops.

 

[souper_powers]

I'm learning I should have done some research on salt tanks before having this one set up. But I figured my aquarium shop -owning friend would have done it right. Also, I should have thought a little more about how mom takes care of her animals before buying this for her.

Basically, there was too much put into a new tank too quickly. But like I said, I figured my aquarium friend would have said something. I guess he didn't really care. Which is probably why his shop no longer has a location and is all in his garage now.

 

[souper_powers]

This tank/setup is about a year old. Mom didn't always do water changes on time although the LFS she's taken her water to for testing has said the parameters were acceptable. It's currently overdue for a water change, which I will be part of so I actually know what's going on with this tank.

 

[souper_powers]

...

 

[Geoff]

have you been directed to read through this thread yet?

the tank does not look that badly setup. though the skimmer is probably not necessary and does not look like it is doing much good now anyway. i would just remove it and leave that area empty. then once a week when doing water changes siphon out any detritus that accumulates there.

G~

 

[Spridle]

The tank actually looks pretty good!

 

[souper_powers]

yeah, the tank isn't desperate for attention... it could just use more and i'm anxious to figure out this tank and the things in it.

this setup was chosen for it's simplicity. i knew mom wasn't going to be into it like most enthusiasts. she mostly just wanted something pretty for the room. she's got her hands full and doesn't have the time or energy to be completely on top of her tank, which is why i want to take over.

first thing is obviously first... water change and siphon detritus. after that, more snails, a sand sifter and a crab or two for cleaning crew. After that, if there's any money to spend, pick up a couple small prop pumps for more flow. Which I'm assuming would kick up, or keep detritus from settling and possibly put the protein skimmer back to work... just gotta figure out the right depth to set the little collection container so it actually bubbles up the tube and collects the junk.

Now, with this crazy light (that I currently know nothing about), it evaporates water quickly if the glass top isn't on. But I've read that only water evaporates and the salt stays. If I were to do weekly water changes anyway, there wouldn't be a whole of reason to keeping the lid on, right?. I could just siphon and add RO water, unless it was just evaporating the water too quickly. I know, I really need to find out the light specs, test and make adjustments if needed.

 

[souper_powers]

I'm curious about the colors of the sand under the surface. Like what's visible through the glass. It's an assortment of purple, green, almost-black, and has what looks like bubbles in it.

What's normal and what isn't?

I've tried reading through the massive "reefkeeping made easy" thread but i totally get lost in technical jargon, specs, numbers, acronyms, ratios, etc. I'll keep browsing the thread and I'll eventually catch on, but for now it's pretty much all gibberish.

 

[Geoff]

that is normal. that is the cyanobacteria working. perfectly normal. though when the colors stop going very deep into the sand, it means that your sand is getting choked by the detritus and should be deep cleaned or replaced.

G~

 

[FutureDoc]

Hey, I second Geoff. For a neglected tank, it looks pretty good. I think consistent water changes are key (for any tank).

The Green Coral is a type of Mushroom coral, not a pagota.

The lighter areas in the nem are normal.

However, lets talk fish...

Two tangs in that Solana are starting to get problematic. While they might be a reason why you are not seeing much algae, they are getting to be too big for the tank. I think it is in the best interest to see if you can sell them to another local reefer (through a club) or take them to a LFS for credit (should fetch about $25 for the yellow and maybe $35 for the Blue depending on demand). Those fish need about 100g+ of a tank to really thrive.

 

[souper_powers]

The tank isn't terribly neglected, but neglected enough. Mom likes her fishies but i'll talk to her about them. May end up being a selling point on affording things the tank needs (money is extremely tight). There's been talk of trying to trade/sell some of the live rock that's covered in button polyps - they're pretty much the only thing that's done well.

There's a 'plan' to go to the LFS tomorrow to get water. I've been told the employees are pretty busy and often don't have time to stop and discuss things. Then again, mom and her friend are probably just going with whatever they say and not making them answer questions and stuff. I have pretty limited knowledge of aquarium keeping but I understand more than the person who actually owns the tank, so I may be able to discuss things better. I'll at least make them talk to me and try to get some help.