started a new tank need some advice

[ubasst]

hi i started a saltwater fish/live rock tank it a 20 gallon i have a eheim 2213 with the surface extractor hooked up to it.i have a rena 400 air pump with 2 airstones for extra circulation,a heater and a coralife 2 bulbs vho lighting fixture.one bullb is a 10k 65 watt and the other is a 65w actinic bulb. i had the tank cycle for 2 weeks with live sand then after the 2 weeks i put in 12 pounds of live fiji rock which is unbelivebly beautiful the rocks have red purple green and yellow -orange coraline on it i let it cycle for another week.i now have all this nice stuff living on the rocks its great! i just added 2 yellow damsels and 3 hermit blue crabs.to test my water .i have a seatest ph,nitrate,nitrite and ammonia kit..for the water i used poland spring water with tropicmarine salt. my nitrite is 0 my ph is 8.3 my ammonia is 0 salt is 1023-1024 the friggin temp goes up and down by 2 degrees everyday which is driving me nuts....i would like to know what else should i buy for this tank and im thinking of adding 2 small perculas and 2 small pieces of live coral...i know the tank is small but i would appreciate some tips thanku and sorry for the long post :)

[Jimbo]

I dont think the airstones are a good idea in a reef tank. The bubbles can irritate corals and cause fish to get popeye. two damsels and two clowns in one 20g = trouble. :evil:

[Condiman]

I personally see no real problems with the airstones. I used them in my setup. The only thing about them I didnt like is the fact that I had more salt creep build up with them. I would only stick to only two fish in a 20 putin 4 in will cause to many problems. What kind of lighting do you have? What are the pieces of coral you plan on getting? One thing you should keep in mind is that with a smaller tank means that there is less room for error so a small weekly water change would be good in keeping your water specs in check.

[ubasst]

FOR LIGHTING I HAVE A CORALIFE LIGHT FIXTURE WITH 2 65 WATT BULBS ONE IS A ACTINIC AND THE OTHER IS A 10K....I HAVE A NEW PROBLEM TODAY I ADDED 8 POUNDS OF LIVE ROCK TO MY TANK BUT BEFORE I DID THAT I GAVE THE ROCK A SALT WATER WASH TO MAKE SURE THE ROCK DIDNT HAVE ANYTHING WRONG WITH IT..THE THING IS THE CORALINE ON THE ROCK IS TURNING WHITE ON THE PURPLE BUT NOT ON THE GREEN YELLOW AND ORANGE AND FOR SOME REASON MY AMMONIA JUMPED UP TO 0.6 AND MY NITRITE IS AT 0.2 DID I DO SOMETHING WRONG HERE?LET ME KNOW THANKU FOR THE ADVICE SO FAR

[ubasst]

THE TOTAL SIZE OF MY FISHES THAT I WANT TO KEEP IS 4 (THATS ALL 4 OF THEM BY THE WAY) THE PIECES OF CORAL I WANT ARE THE ONES THAT WILL BE THE EASIEST ONE TO KEEP IF U CAN RECOMMEND SOME LET ME KNOW BUT I DONT THINK I WOULD HAVE A PROBLE WITH 4 TINY FISH?

[SaltyDawg]

Do you mean that between all 4 fish you have 4 inches of fish? Each fish 1 inch long?

Remember that fish do grow, and it's an old wives tale that they will only grow as big as the tank will allow for. I have not had experience with other damsels but my Black Neon Damsel grew to over 5 inches long in 18 months.

Damsels are very territorial when the get older, that's why people are recommending against 2 damsels in a 20 gal tank.

As far at the temp is concerned, what is the room temp doing? Plus with that much light on a 20g tank you are causing a considerable amount of heat. Do you have mini-fans to help cool the hood? With the lights on the water heats up, with them off they water will cool down to the temp that the water heater is set to.

[ubasst]

i try to keep the water at 78-80 the lighting has 2 fans on it iwas thinking of getting a third fan from coralife one of my crabs died today im pissed if i make a water change on this how much should i take out thanku

[ubasst]

by the way my room temp is always different from 75 to 80 but i try to keep up with it

[tnguy86]

i'm not saying that it can't be done, but to save you a lot of heartache, i reccommend upgrading to a larger tank. a small tank will give you a lot of problems like temperature fluctuations, and lots of fluctuations in your water parameters. i think the nano's snould be left to the experienced.

[ubasst]

belive me if i had the room i would have gotten the biggest tank i could have but thats all the room i have right now maybe next year the thing that is killing me is that the lr that i just bought is giving me problems and the lr that i had is still fine...i dont give up too easily and thanku for your help

[SaltyDawg]

Normal temps on a reef in Florida is 82 degrees, that's what I keep my tank at all year round and have had no problems. If your heater is not keeping it warm enough then you might want to get a better heater. I have used a Visa-therm heater ever since I set my tank up and it has never failed me. My water temps remain constant no matter what the room temp. It's pricey but I have learned that in SW tanks if you don't get the best, you will regret it later.

I hope you can get your temps under control.