Check my fish tank.
- Thread starter apatia77
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what do you do with things like the crabs?
excuse my noobishness too but what's bad about the crabs/star fish?
I'm looking at getting into fish tanks and live rock etc... just looking for some decent info right now
Most crabs are unwanted hitchhikers to a marine/reef tank and as they grow can become a real danger to your fish and inverts. They should be removed if possible. Many crabs are omnivorous and and predatory in nature.
And starfish can eath your corals/coral tissue.
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The thing with crabs is that you never know what will happen when they grow up, and I dont want to risk my clownfish or other inverts. Most people recommends to remove crabs you are not sure about from display tank if possible.
There are hovewer some good crabs like porcelain crabs and I have 2 in my tank. They are very shy though so far.
Time to sleep though.
There are hovewer some good crabs like porcelain crabs and I have 2 in my tank. They are very shy though so far.
Time to sleep though.
Man of Honour
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very cool looking tank that - love the way the reef is built up in the middle so you get a good view around it
whats the Maintenance like on a marine over tropical freshwater?
whats the Maintenance like on a marine over tropical freshwater?
Soldato
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Some bad crabs. I have managed to catch 8 crabs in total, then I got plenty of tiny snails, some small starfish (the good ones), and plenty of other tiny creatures, I still spot new living things every few days.
I had one just like that living in my old tank of years till I lost the whole setup to a power cut. The crab never caused any problems and would only come out ever now and again. Its things like that which add the real interest to marine tanks. Your cleaner shrimp put your hand in the tank close to it and hold it still, the shrimp will try to clean your hand. Enjoy your tank.
There are many questions here which I don't know the answers to 
as I am still new to the marine fish.
Best bet would be checking various marine fish forums, I think UltimateReef.com is the biggest UK marine fish forum, use google and you will find plenty of fish forums in no time
as I am still new to the marine fish.Best bet would be checking various marine fish forums, I think UltimateReef.com is the biggest UK marine fish forum, use google and you will find plenty of fish forums in no time
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Associate
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Nope, all about the same.
Either add more, or switch to T5.
However, sometimes more is less. For example, I have 2x T5's and a Powerglow T8 on during the day, which is great on a nice sunny day. But, on a dark cloudy day it can be too bright. Same applies at night, so my T5's go off at dusk and the T8 Powerglow stays on till about 10pm.
Then it's onto LED night lighting.
Associate
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Essentially you need more watts!
Now, this will depend on what tank you have. Does the manufacturer offer T5 lighting systems for the tank?
If not, it looks like you will have to DIY it. T5 tubes give a lot more watts for the same size (actually, T5 are thinner!).
How many tubes do you have now? If it's only one, is there a possibility of setting up another?
Also don't forget that plants don't just need light. They need ferts and Co2!
Flourish Excel is very good and is liquid form, so you just dose the tank every day or two. Red plants need Iron, so Flourish Iron can help there. You may also want to use Fert tabs under the plants. You can also get what looks like gravel, but it's a Fert. You use a base layer under your gravel.
Co2. You can get Co2 Injection systems to automatically insert Co2 into the aquarium. This is the best method, but is pretty expensive. It's the most controlled method though. You can buy a Nutrafin System, which used warm water, yeast and sugar to make Co2 and using a bubble ladder, you can apply it to the aquarium. You can also make a home made version, but if you do be carefull with the amount of yeast you use or it will end up in the tank. Don't forget though...... Co2 alters you PH of the water, so too much could be a disaster.
and that's it.......in brief! I suggest you have a look around on the net and do some reading. A sucessfull planted tank is a lot of work.
Now, this will depend on what tank you have. Does the manufacturer offer T5 lighting systems for the tank?
If not, it looks like you will have to DIY it. T5 tubes give a lot more watts for the same size (actually, T5 are thinner!).
How many tubes do you have now? If it's only one, is there a possibility of setting up another?
Also don't forget that plants don't just need light. They need ferts and Co2!
Flourish Excel is very good and is liquid form, so you just dose the tank every day or two. Red plants need Iron, so Flourish Iron can help there. You may also want to use Fert tabs under the plants. You can also get what looks like gravel, but it's a Fert. You use a base layer under your gravel.
Co2. You can get Co2 Injection systems to automatically insert Co2 into the aquarium. This is the best method, but is pretty expensive. It's the most controlled method though. You can buy a Nutrafin System, which used warm water, yeast and sugar to make Co2 and using a bubble ladder, you can apply it to the aquarium. You can also make a home made version, but if you do be carefull with the amount of yeast you use or it will end up in the tank. Don't forget though...... Co2 alters you PH of the water, so too much could be a disaster.
and that's it.......in brief! I suggest you have a look around on the net and do some reading. A sucessfull planted tank is a lot of work.
Associate
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Try some ferts first and see how you get on. Replacing the lighting is the most expensive thing. How big is the tank? 30 watts total would be ok for a smaller tank usually. The bigger the tank, the more watts you need.
Ferts might just boost them! I would certainly recommend Flourish Excel out of all the things you could try. It's not cheap, but it does last quite some time.
EDIT: Also, what fish do you have? Are the plants just going brown and rotting? Fish do like to eat plants sometimes, I know I can't can't certain plants because my Bristlenose Plec loves to munch on them. If they have rotted, you may not be able to save them no matter what you do. Might be worth trying some new plants with Flourish. Also, rotting plant matter isn't good for the water quality, so go careful there.
Ferts might just boost them! I would certainly recommend Flourish Excel out of all the things you could try. It's not cheap, but it does last quite some time.
EDIT: Also, what fish do you have? Are the plants just going brown and rotting? Fish do like to eat plants sometimes, I know I can't can't certain plants because my Bristlenose Plec loves to munch on them. If they have rotted, you may not be able to save them no matter what you do. Might be worth trying some new plants with Flourish. Also, rotting plant matter isn't good for the water quality, so go careful there.
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I have a 115 litre tank (30 US gallons) it is quite a deep tank, however, with a depth of about 21 inches. I have been using the flourish carbon substitute and that has made a difference but the red plants are bare apart from about halfway up. I am assuming this is because not enough light is reaching the bottom of the tank.