Starting a new reef tank 3 1/2 gallon.

[Erika_4404]

I am stating a small reef tank 3 1/2 gallons already have water setup and live sand, live rock, lights and filters but just wanted some feed back on what not to do and what to do.

Thanks )

i have a 20 gallon salt water fish tank fish only. i had a star fish i there he was doing great and then he just fell apart?

any way need some help with my reef only
thanks

 

[jams.alaskan]

Wow, 3 1/2 gal is so small - the experts here like bigger for several reasons. Best of luck with it and I'll be checking here to find out how it's going

ALASKA

 

[ste2k3]

hi thats EXTREMELY SMALL! good luck on keeping things stable. it's hard but not impossable. I wouldn't put a skimmer on that tank, but would get some calerpa in there to export some of the organics and will also mop up some of the nitrate and phosphate. Obviously you won't be keeping fish inther so i'd go for pleanty of cleaners such as snails and hermits but not shrimps as these are not as hardy.

What lighting do you have?

as for the starfish, there are two common possable problems.

one- a disease, starfish can gt a disease which causes legs to fall off or completely disintigrate.

two- S.G. shock if your S.G is suddenly lowered (or raised but would be very hard to raise quickly ) thenthat can have simular effects. also, if the S.G. is permanently high/low, this can affect them also. check it with a few hydrometers, conductivity metre or even better, a refractometer. I check my S.G. with a refractometer weekly and with a hydrometer daily to keep an eye on it.

ste

 

[ostrow]

The 20 undoubtedly crashed and that's what hurt the star. Probably not only s.g. but pH, ammo and nitrite. The 3.5G you can probably expect to crash a couple times a year unless you are super-meticulous on a daily basis. You say reef, but I can't see SPS in there. You'll have calcium and alkalinity bouncing like yo-yos in that small a tank, with adverse pH and maybe even s.g. effects as well trying to supplement.

Good luck!

 

[Adrinal]

 

[Erika_4404]

My 20 is fine i evern checked al my levels I don't konw and he was the only one who died.?

Thanks for the advise on the nano tank i can give it the dailt attenetion it needs so i'm sure i can make it work.

 

[Landlocked]

I am stating a small reef tank 3 1/2 gallons already have water setup and live sand, live rock, lights and filters but just wanted some feed back on what not to do and what to do.

Thanks )

i have a 20 gallon salt water fish tank fish only. i had a star fish i there he was doing great and then he just fell apart?

any way need some help with my reef only
thanks

If you haven't read the above posts, you ought to. I would quickly drop the idea of having a 3.5 gallon nano. Even if it was fish-only, it would be incredibly difficult. I would, if you have the funds and the space, get a 40 gallon of 50 gallon marine showtank.

Use the twenty gallon tank as the quarantine tank, and start a real, much more stable reef. You will have a lot more success, and with a lot fewer tears over lost livestock.

With my 75 I have to top off every 3 days! (If I run it closed top much longer... but then the gasses arn't getting out I would guess).

I agree. Salt water evaporates just as fast as fresh water does, and with a 3.5 (or even a 20) gallon tank, you will need to be constantly topping off the supply.

With a nano tank, that water you put in will have to be at EXACTLY the same parameters as the tank water. This means the same levels of nitrates, calcium, phosphate, magnesium, chloramine . . . salinity . . . ph . . . ! The list goes on and on.

One last note, if you neglect to read any of my other comments, is heat and lighting. Any light you get will overheat your aquarium. There is no way you can get enough wattage for corals and invertebrates without cooking your tank. Even having it in a patch in your house where there is sunlight all, part, or even a little of the time will bake your livestock. A chiller wouldn't work with so little water, so that is out of the question. A change of the house thermostat, or a slight heater malfunction, will instantly spell disaster for your aquarium and stock.

Get a bigger tank.

 

[Erika_4404]

Thank you ... Just to lets you know this is not my first or even second tank i have a 150 gallon reef tank and a 75 gallon reeftank fish plus my 20 gallon it my say newbie but i'm not.

 

[Landlocked]

Thank you ... Just to lets you know this is not my first or even second tank i have a 150 gallon reef tank and a 75 gallon reeftank fish plus my 20 gallon it my say newbie but i'm not.

Sorry about that. The "newbie" is based only upon how many posts you have. Still, I would be very cautious about setting up the tank.

 

[RamJet]

Thank you ... Just to lets you know this is not my first or even second tank i have a 150 gallon reef tank and a 75 gallon reeftank fish plus my 20 gallon it my say newbie but i'm not.

WOW, you must have alot more time and money than I.
Sounds pretty cool, how about some pics?

 

[Great Lakes]

The most trouble I can see you haing is lighting. Quality lighting as you know will be intense enough to really heat things up.

Is there any way you can plumb the little one into a larger tank?

I wish I had the top off trouble you guys do. I add about ten gallons a day!!!

GL

 

[Landlocked]

The most trouble I can see you haing is lighting. Quality lighting as you know will be intense enough to really heat things up.

Is there any way you can plumb the little one into a larger tank?

I wish I had the top off trouble you guys do. I add about ten gallons a day!!!

GL

I've heard of some setups with small show tanks, but relatively large sumps hidden away underneath the tank, or in a nearby cabinet. This is supposed to help keep the water stable (by adding a lot more) without making your tank look too big.

I suppose that, if you keep your tank on a cabinet, this could perhaps help. A 3.5 gallon tank on top, and a 10 gallon sump underneath?

 

[Hazmat]

I add about ten gallons a day!!!

GL

Holly CR*P.......Why so much?

 

[ste2k3]

I wish I had the top off trouble you guys do. I add about ten gallons a day!!!

wow, and i though I was adding a lot with 3 gallons a day .

GL- do you use RO for topping up?

ste

 

[Landlocked]

Looking at the above articles, I have noticed that a lot of people really have to top of their tanks a lot.

wow, and i though I was adding a lot with 3 gallons a day .

I wish I had the top off trouble you guys do. I add about ten gallons a day!!!

I only have to put in about 1 gallon a week. I understand that my tank is probably smaller than yours, but that's still much less.

Does anyone have any idea why this is?