My First tank - Did the LFS mislead me?

Definitely so you have more surface area for gas exchange.

Acclimating is a process where you change the parameters in the animals water to more closely match yours. This includes temperature as well as the water. To temperature acclimate just float the bag in your tank for about 15 minutes. To acclimate to your water chemistry slowly add your tank water to the bag until you have added about 3 times what was in the bag. Dump the bag and animal out in a net and then put the animal in the tank. Add salt water to replace the water lost. If you are acclimating a fish it is good to turn off the light while acclimating and at least 1 hour after placing it in the tank.

 

search youtube or google on acclimating fish i an almost guarentee thats why your fish are dying and get a test kit goodluck

 

There has been ALOT of great info for you to follow on this thread. IN MY OPINION,..... you should stop where you are and do more research on saltwater aquariums. Once you have the knowledge, you will understand that the tank that you have chosen will only give you problems. It is possible to have a 6g saltwater tank, but your tank is not designed for saltwater. It is designed for freshwater with a beta or a few tetras. Even with a powerhead and/or air stone, I believe gas exchange will continue to be a problem with an enclosed tank. Secondly, there is nowhere to place a protein skimmer. You can have a nano tank without a protein skimmer but you will have to keep up on water changes, top offs, and with such a small tank, you need to be very precise in your parameter stability. If I were in your shoes I would upgrade your aquarium. If money is an issue, a cheap 10G aquarium (no fancy design like the one you have just a simple glass aquarium) will provide a great start to a nano reef. I and many others have had very successful 10 gallon reef tanks. This will allow you to customize lighting, skimmers, powerheads and filters. If you have a bit more money to spend, a 29 gallon will give you MUCH more freedom to choose livestock as well as tolerance to parameter changes. Get yourself a good book (as researching on the internet is great, but sometimes you just dont know WHAT to research). Get test kits for pH, ammonia, nitrites, nitrates for a start, this way you dont have to get your water tested by the LFS. You should always know what your parameters are every day. Next, I recommend using a refractometer. Im not sure if you have one yet or not but it will give you far more accurate readings of salinity over a cheap plastic hydrometer.
To conclude,
-research more
-consider a different/larger aquarium
-be patient
-invest in test kits/refractometer

Doing things right in the beginning may be more expensive and require more research, but will pay off financially and be more rewarding in the long run. Dont give up, and KEEP ASKING QUESTIONS. The best way to learn, is from the ones who have already made your mistakes for you, so you dont have to.

 

Have you made any decisions as far as where you want to go with this tank having taken in the advice given?

 

I have this tank in my master bathroom and I use it as a fresh water tank. It has 2 halogen 10w bulbs that create a lot of heat, which in turn heats the water and there is very little oxygen exchange in the water. I have 2 goldfish I won at the fair this year in it and they are doing fine. People have modified these tanks for mini reefs but they have made major modifications, such as an LED upgrade, filter upgrade and have added a surface protein skimmer. I thought about making this a SW tank until I did my research and realized i had no idea what I was doing.

But have you check the waters salinity, water temp, and the other parameters your self?(water temp being real big in these tanks along with everything else with it being so small)

 

+1 to blue falcon's post.

 

If I may,

There are some really good people here that know a ton of info, so do what they tell you for the most part.

But....What is your water source for this tank? Are you using tap water or RO/DI water? What type of salt mix? What is the SG of this tank? How are you cleaning the filter? What is the average tempreture of the tank?

I have seen no one suggest to you that you set up a sump system for this lil' tank- it would help tremendously.

A sump is a seperate "over flow" tank that is hidden away, where all this recomended "extra equipment" can be placed, but more importantly, adds water volume to your system so that the water parmeters do not swing so wildly.

IMHO, these tanks should be only for fw systems (fresh water). These are tough to keep in a sw enviroment. None the less, Fluval makes a skimmer for this set up I belive- a good skimmer will do 2 things- first-remove organic waste, and, secondly- help oxegenate the water.

Lighting is only important when doing certian corals or certain inverts. Do not buy any of these "light requiring" critters for the tank you have- they will die.

My suggestion- get the tank's water stabilized- using a mini sump- easy to do and not very expensive, if not this, then a skimmer for sure, if not this at least an air stone in the filter area where the water is returned into the tank (as Black Raven suggested). DO NOT USE TAP WATER- use only pure RO/DI water.

And BTW, when topping off for evaporation, again use only fresh RO/DI water- do not add salt to your top off water.

 

OK, where to begin. First of all there is a TON of great information that has already been given in this thread, you guys are doing a great job. I have a fluval edge myself and as previously stated, the edge was not built with a reef tank in mind. First off, the lighting MAY be ok for a few zoanthids or mushrooms, but other than that you will be limited to your coral selection. I took it upon myself to modify the lid with a maxspect 60w LED fixture. The full fixture will fit insid the canopy, however you will need to cut the back side of the lid out for the lid to sit completly down on the tank. (fixture does not clear filter without removing rear part of lid.) Second, if you do regular WEEKLY or even BI-WEEKLY water changes then the skimmer is not needed. Heat is a BIG fight to get right, with the top of the tank being almost fully closed there isn't anywhere for the heat to go therefore a reliable thermometer is a must. There are a few people who have elected to retro fit the canopy with the corallife screw in 50/50 flourescent lighting, I prefered the led due to the shimmer effect and no bulb heat. As far as your stocking list, a goby pistol shrimp pair may be your best choice. The gobies are very fun to watch and have great personalities. There are also a few small gobies that do not burrow and will be out in the open more for your viewing pleasure (trimmas, yellow or green clown gobies , as well as a few others.) If you prefer the goby/shrimp combo, the yahsa, or watchman gobies are great choices, high fin gobies are an option also. MOST IMPORTANT : please do your research and never hesitate to ask questions before you purchase any fish , coral, or invert; if you do not know what it needs to survive then go home and look it up before purchasing. (this will save a ton of headaches, money, and the embarassing chore of posting a "What did I just do?" thread. The filtration that comes with the edge is a decent filter for that size of tank, but I would pull out everything except the carbon, then place a small ball of chaeto in with the carbon. If you do that, i woud find a small submersible refugium light to put in the filter with the chaeto to help it grow. With this being your first SW tank be ready for some very discouraging times. You have to realize that the smaller tanks are MUCH more work than a larger system, its the same type of work, but you must pay very close attention to anything you do. What may seem like just a small mistake is actually a HUGE mistake in a system this small. The best advice I can give you is TAKE YOUR TIME, NOTHING GOOD EVER HAPPENS FAST. If you are woried that you did something wrong to the tank, your best bet is to do a water change. ALWAYS have fresh RO water, and fresh slat water ready for emergency fixes.
Well that should be the end of my rant for now. Hope that helps.

-Bryan

P.S. - invest in an auto top off system, it will save you a lot of time and help keep your system stable

 

Where are you Sammyp?

Are you digesting all this new information? If you feel overwhelmed, don't worry it's only an aquarium. We're not fusing atoms or curing cancer.

It will all make sense and seem real easy for you soon enough.

 

Hey sorry I've been pretty discouraged by all that's happened it sux. I want fish... But iv already invested more than I can afford. So a new tank isn't an option. I'm still saving up for a test kit since my last fish died iv been letting my tank sit I figure I will do alot more research on acclimating my fish b4 putting them in. From the research iv been doing it seems like that and oxygen might be my biggest killers. Iv been planning on getting a test kit soon so I can start recording data.