Hi All Nice To Be Here

Hi Guys, My Name Is Josh im from the UK And I am new into the world of keeping marine tanks, ive had a keen interest in them for quite a while but never managed to get one until now. I Have just bought a second hand 40 Gallon Tank (3Feet Long) and i am looking to put my own mark on it. Obviously there is the starting 'teething' issues with it being second hand, which i will explain a little bit further on, all advice given from you guys will be much appreciated.

Okay So I Bought The Tank and all the hardware it has came with Was A Heater, Internal Pump and obviously 2 lights a normal glow light and a 'Blue' Light.

It Currently Houses;
4 Damsels
1 Clown Fish
3 Crabs
2 Snails

It Has Obviously Got Live Rock In It which has Got quite alot of green Algea Growing On It, and has a Sand Base Again has A bit of algae on it, Which I Could Do With Your Advice To Help Irradicate This Issue.

I Know This Is A Work In Progress And Will Take A While To Get Sorted Out Fully. But I am fully prepared for the challenge and Aim To make it a Tank To amaze people when they come round.

It Currently Needs A Full Water Change So Im Going To Try and Get That Done Over The Next Few Weeks Without putting the fish under too much stress (or worse).

This is Where i could do with some advice from you guys (the Experts ).

Whats The Best Way To do a water change ?
Make My Own With Tap Water and Dechlorinator in a Tub A Get My Ph levels to around the 8.2 mark?

Or Buy A Few Gallons Directly From A Shop?

What Equipment Shud I Buy Obviously Im Not Bill Gates And i Am Limited on funds But I Appreciate That In Order To Get To A Stage That I Would Like It, Money Will Have To Be Spent.

Also What Fish, Invertebrae and addatives (if any) Should I Put in to mantain a healthy tank.
My Target For Future Is To Sustain a tank that is running mostly off the living organisms in it rather than mechanical equipment.

Sorry For Such a long introduction but im hoping with the information im giving you, you can help me make a tank ive dreamt of for years.

If You Can help with providing links to any equipment such as skimmers ect then that would be appreciated. I Have had a look around myself for skimmers and it seams to be the aqua-c is a very well rated one but as i am in the UK i cannot get it .

Nice To Meet You All and Im Looking Forward To Hearing Your Suggestions and Advice.

I Will Try Upload A Picture Of My Tank At Some Stage.

Many Thanks,
Josh

 

Nice to meet you mate. Just a few quick points that I have learned along the way as I am relatively new also.

1. Buy an RODI (Reverse Osmosis De-Ionisation) filter. This filters all the total dissolved solids such as phosphates, nitrates etc from your water. Otherwise tap water contains nastys that cause mega algae build up and others that can harm fish.

2. Dont do a full water change. 10% every week or two will suffice. When you do it, try to use RODI, or buy distilled water (not as good, but better than tap) and mix your own salt water mix. Make it up to the right temp and make sure its dissolved and do a water change.

3. A clean up crew always helps. I .e. many snails, hermits etc. That can clean your tank of detritus. Read more about this.

4. A protein skimmer is worth its weight in gold.

I am from Australia, so there are many things I cant get either. But find a good online site that will send to your country and go from there. When you find good ones post it on here and we can discuss them and what is best for your tank.

5. Ultimately, the necesssary equipment will determine on whether you want to keep coral and what coral you would like to keep. I.e. Softies, vs LPS vs SPS.

6. PICS ARE A MUST!!!

These are just a few quick points. Go into the beginners thread and look through some of the previously prepared posts and already discussed threads. This will save you asking some questions. If you have others, post away.

Look forward to seeing your tank!.

 

Welcome to 3reef!

As far as water changes go, I would use RO or RO/DI water. It would help with the algae problems You can either buy it from your LFS or you can buy your own unit and salt.

If possible, I would recommend that you set up a sump for your tank. It would help hide equipment and would give the tank more water volume, thus keeping the tank more stable. You could either buy one pre made or make your own. You would also need a pump to run the water back into the tank. You can use PVC for the plumbing.

Do you know what type of lights you have? I'm guessing T5's?

It sounds like you have a really aggressive tank right now with the Damsels and the Clownfish. I would either sell the Damsels and keep the Clown, but put him in a different tank for a while, and then add the fish you would like to add (let us know what fish you would want, so we can help you out ) and then add the Clownfish in last, or you can keep the tank the way it is. You can also sell all of your fish and start with new ones.

I would definitely add a LOT more snails to help fight the algae problems. What types of crabs do you have?

 

You beat me to it, Ryan! lol

 

ahha too quick buddy

 

Hi Thanks For the quick replies guys Camkha im not too sure on the lights i will have a proper look when i finish work tonight and find out for you.
As For the crabs im not entirely sure on what they are as i have only seen one which i think is a red legged hermit but im not too sure.
As For the fish they seem to be getting along quite well and having no issues (so far) i am planning on slowly getting rid of them and bringin in my own 'touch' of fish. Havent decided on what yet but i think this is where you guys will be able to help, i am wanting a really bright colourful tank that i can sit there and watch for hours on a night.

Thanks Ryan i will look into the RODI and Is there any protein skimmer you could advise ? I am Also Looking at Replacing The Internal Pump For A External one To Allow A Bit More Room In The Tank and Keep A 'Cleaner' Look if you know of any that will be good starting point ?

Many Thanks

 

Sounds good 8)

Are you planning on turning it into a reef tank?

 

To be honest im not too sure what im wanting yet think i just want to progressively grow it into a tank with coral fish and a bit of everything if that is possible, but for now just want to get the tank to a nice clean clear state and get equipment ready for future additions

 

Welcome to 3reef.com Josh.

Just out of curiosity how old is your tank?

 

As far as im aware the tank is somewhere between 6 months - 1 year old, the previous owner had started to lose interest with it i think hence the algae build possibly.