Why Why Why??

[timjoemak]

Hi I have just started my marine reef not long too long ago bout 3 weeks and its a 1.5 gallon pico.. 9"x7"x6" .

So everything went well until when i came back from the holidays my tank turned into an ugly piece of crap...

My fishes died.. shrimp died... candy coral died

ithe corals don't want to open currently i have live rock, a small red mushroom, yuma, organ pipe coral, and a feather duster.. now none of them are opening.. gosh..

another problem is that, i put my tank in my room whixh is airconditioned and in the morning when i go to school its 26.7 degrees but when i sleep it drops to 24 degrees... i put a heater but it fluctuates too much causing all my fish to die of white spots... can anyone help me solve this problem??? tonnes of thanks for anyone who can help me...

[Rosseau]

You have a few problems.


What fish do you have!?

The white spots is a parasite called Ich.

You probably shouldn't have anything in there after 3 weeks, have you been changing the water?

[lpsluver]

I'll try not to sound like I'm on a soapbox here. You are new to the hobby and my rule of thumb is that tank size should be inversely related to experience. A 1.5 gallon Pico requires diligence to keep it healthy. Almost dailty water changes would not be a bad thing. I am also concerned that you said "fishes". More than 1 small fish it too much for this size tank. Maybe other can chime in too.

[mahalamata]

1.5g?thats what 6 liters?my goodness that is small!hmmm
there are many parameters to consider.what kind of water are you using?i think we all agree that RO/DI water is the best way forwards(you can prob get this at you local fish store).what is your water change regime?on a tank that size i would do every other day 10% changes.if you don't want to mix your own the something like Nutri-SeaWater (8litre cintainer should last you ages and you should be able to get it at your LFS)as far a temp goes i know that stability is what is needed so a good quality thermostat should be able to sort that for you.are you using any type of filtration?is so lets us know what it is..as mentioned above i don't think you will get more that 1 small fish in there...maybe a small clown fish?if you put too much in too quickly it can overcome the tanks capacity to break down nutrients.also did you cycle your tank or did you just jump straight in?(i know i made that mistake when i first started out).

and finally sorry about the essay but the more you can tell us about your system the easier it will be to come up with a solution.maybe a pic or two:)?

[NanoReefWanabe]

3 weeks is no where near long enough for a cycle to have sufficiently run its course..unless you used fully cured rock and sand that was transported in water to prevent die off...

IMHO 3 weeks is far too soon to have added fish and corals..

PICO tanks are very difficult to keep and maintain...your first thing to do is buy atleast a 10 or better a 15-20 gallon tank...

there are a hundred threads here on builds for small tanks that wont break the bank and they can be as simple as a HOB fuge and sump...allow the tank to cycle, test your water parameters, good husbandry are essential to a healthy tank..

[timjoemak]

Yes i have a small hang on filter
two 13 watt blue AND white lights.
a small heater
sorry when i meant fishes i meant a fish in the sense one small clownfish... it died not too long ago though..

now i change my water 10% everyday using reef crystal salts.. is that ok?

[3fins]

uh oh.

[mahalamata]

reef crystrals is a good salt!i do you have any Live Rock in there?if i where you i would keep up the changes and keep monitoring your parameters(nitrite, nitrate,ammonia,phosphates etc)give it a few more weeks if not abit more and when they are stable then introduce maybe one small fish give it a few more weeks when stable then again look into corals. I must agree with the others in saying that a tank that small will be a challenge but if you really don't want to invest in a 10g-15h tank then patience is the name of game my friend!lol
let us know how it goes!

[Bernie21]

TEMP IS REALLY HARD TO REGULATE IN A TANK THAT SMALL. KEEP THE HEATER ON AT ALL TIMES, DO REGULAER WATER CHANGES AND BE PATIENT, YOU SHOULD BE FINE!!

[Rosseau]

Please don't buy anymore animals until you read some more. Then after that, go crazy.

[zack85]

you need to do allot of research before jumping into the saltwater aspect of fishkeeping - otherwise you will waste alot of time and money...

[timjoemak]

thanks guys but see whenever my temperature goes down. my heater will heat it right/??? BUT THERE IS TOO MUCH OF A FLUCTUATION THERE how do i stop it??

[Rosseau]

Your heater may not be precise enough. Perhaps you need a better one. Check and re-check that it is set properly.

Maybe there isn't ample flow around the heater to provide it with well mixed and isothermal water.

[timjoemak]

Ummm yea maybe but i just added two small clowns like 1 inch is it okay??? they look pretty happy and started to host the organ pipe coral... i was just wandering how small an anemone can go.... hmmmm...

[Rosseau]

Realistically I don't think an anemone can go. Especially not for a while. Before you even think about adding one at least make sure your tank is very stable.

Last time you posted you had large temperature swings and likely a couple of other problems.

Also, I don't know of an anemone which will live under the lights that you have.

[reef2]

who was watching ur tank while u where gone? and how long where u gone? with a pico its going to be looked after every day maybe twice.

[SPARTAN VI]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11205825#post11205825 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by zack85
you need to do allot of research before jumping into the saltwater aspect of fishkeeping - otherwise you will waste alot of time and money...

...and marine life! :(

[scottydo]

Got any pics?

[seapug]

2 clownfish in a 1.5 gallon with coral? Poor little fellas...

The only thing that's going to live in there for more than a couple weeks is the smallest goby you can find, like a trimma or eviota. The neons might even be too big for that.

[timjoemak]

Well yeah maybe my part time maid will take care of it by adding freshwater ever 6 hours when i come back i'll just have to clean the walls of the tank,,, that should be okay though...

[blackheart]

are you joking?

[Rosseau]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11277805#post11277805 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by blackheart
are you joking?

I've considered this. . .

[timjoemak]

hey no need to worry!!! woohoo i got a new 3 gallon tank for my birthday so basically just to know how do i shift everything to the new one???

[Rosseau]

Just pour everything in from the old one. Like as if you were pouring a glass of milk.

[GrandeGixxer]

Should ba able to have your maid run out and buy at least another half dozen clownfish for that 3 gallon. You could probably get a small Dori fish to go in there too.

[jamiep]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11299391#post11299391 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by GrandeGixxer
Should ba able to have your maid run out and buy at least another half dozen clownfish for that 3 gallon. You could probably get a small Dori fish to go in there too.

Please note the sarcasm!

You say you are at school timjoemak - what age are you? Yea don't buy anything more for that tank livestock wise except maybe a bit of live rock! Sorry to disappoint you!

[racksteris]

if it were so easy...

[Rosseau]

lol...

[ACBlinky]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11292299#post11292299 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by timjoemak
hey no need to worry!!! woohoo i got a new 3 gallon tank for my birthday so basically just to know how do i shift everything to the new one???
You'd be much better off with a 15-20g tank, as someone mentioned earlier. The difference between a 1.5g and a 3g in terms of care is minimal - tiny tanks need a lot of attention and much more expertise than larger ones.

My advice is to return the fish for now and start fresh with the new tank (or better yet, get a larger one). Have someone (hobbyist or the LFS) babysit your corals for now.

1) Place the sand and rock from the old tank into the new one. If you add new sand, put the old sand on top of it.

2) Add some new live rock, then let the tank sit and cycle - do nothing but top-offs for a few weeks.

3) When ammonia and nitrite measure 0 and nitrate begins to rise, do a water change and add something small. I'm talking about a hermit, or a small snail, not a fish.

4) Continue to monitor water levels, including temperature, phosphate, nitrate, ammonia, nitrite, KH, pH, salinity and calcium. If everything is spot-on and your hermit/snail is doing well, add your corals back to the tank.

5) Once the tank has been running for a while and is stable (as a rock), you might consider adding a very small fish like a clown goby or some of the other tiny gobies mentioned. Personally, I don't recommend it if you're still new to the hobby - a fish will add a great deal of bioload and make the tank much more difficult to care for.

6) Add small corals and a few more small inverts if needed, and keep a very close eye on the water parameters. I'd suggest getting some kind of auto-topoff system, unless you can be extremely diligent about topping off - with a tiny tank, even half a day's worth of evaporation can cause a giant swing in salinity if the room is dry or there's a fan near the tank.

Sorry if this sounds harsh, I just want to see you succeed, rather than starting with a very difficult aspect of the hobby and getting so frustrated you end up quitting.

[3fins]

:eek1:...like i said before.

uh oh

[Rosseau]

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1264031

Why don't we offer advice here. He's into anemones now.

[blackheart]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11298070#post11298070 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Rosseau
Just pour everything in from the old one. Like as if you were pouring a glass of milk.

I laughed at this for a good 20 minutes easy :lol::lol::lol: