S.O.S. 3 day old noob here

[PowerPufferGirl]

Hi everyone. I just finished setting up my first ever saltwater tank. Its a 10L tank. Planning to put coral and fish. My problem now is that my LR seemed to be turning yellowish/brownish. It was not like that yesterday. Is it dying? Algae are coming out of it but when I got home today I noticed that it started turning brown. Help.

[top shelf]

Totally normal and no need to worry, things will get much uglier over the next few months. They will go from brown/yellow to green covered in algae to eventually pink/purple covered in coralline. Just take things slowly and read as much as you can. There's some great stickies at the top of the new to hobby page, I recommend giving a read if you haven't yet.

[Rover88]

Its perfectly normal, nothing to worry about.


As said above, there is a wealth of knowledge in the stickies. Tell us more about what your plans are? 10 litres is very small, and generally speaking the smaller the water size of the tank, the more difficult a tank can be to care for. Its more prone to parameters swinging.

What kind of light, heater, etc do you have? What fish are you planning to get?

[mcgyvr]

yep.. absolutely normal..
Just part of a new tanks "ugly stages".. Currently you are experiencing stage 1 which is a "diatom" bloom.. Then expect green hair/film algae and then even some cyano..
They will all go away in a bit of time provided you keep up with normal/proper tank maintenance..

and yes.. I'd suggest doing a few hours of reading to learn all of this basic information before you make a mistake you may regret..
You've got a lot to learn before you should attempt corals.. (and even fish)..
What you are experiencing is basically day 1 in a "saltwater training class".. Don't try to run before you even learn to walk..

But enjoy..have fun..
remember.. NOTHING good happens fast in this hobby..
and knowledge is king..

[sde1500]

Lol, yea totally normal. Your tank is going to go through all sorts of funny looking color and growth stages. You are setting yourself up for a decent challenge starting with such a small tank. Be sure you are 100% on top of testing the water frequently, small tanks are harder to maintain at stable levels. Also not many fish are suited for that tank, could you provide more specifics about what you want in it?

[PowerPufferGirl]

Originally Posted by Rover88

Its perfectly normal, nothing to worry about.


As said above, there is a wealth of knowledge in the stickies. Tell us more about what your plans are? 10 litres is very small, and generally speaking the smaller the water size of the tank, the more difficult a tank can be to care for. Its more prone to parameters swinging.

What kind of light, heater, etc do you have? What fish are you planning to get?

Thank you! I did read some threads saying that its normal but still made me worry. Are the green and purple grasslike stuff good or bad? I just got a worm in the tank. Based on my research seemed like a tiny bristle worm so I squished it immediately. The tank is Japan made. Brand is Gex. Its their glassterior model. Here are the details: http://www.gex-fp.co.jp/fish/glassterior_ags/

If you open the link in Google Chrome it will translate to English. Page is in Japanese. We opted for a tiny one despite reading that its more difficult to maintain. Houses in Japan are tiny and we dont have the space for a bigger tank.

I’m still not set with what to put but I want to have some coral on the branches of the LR to make it look like a corolful tree. And thinking of getting a pufferfish. We know its too small but the initial plan is to try it first and perhaps get a bigger tank if I manage to make my tank survive for at least 6 months.

[PowerPufferGirl]

Originally Posted by sde1500

Lol, yea totally normal. Your tank is going to go through all sorts of funny looking color and growth stages. You are setting yourself up for a decent challenge starting with such a small tank. Be sure you are 100% on top of testing the water frequently, small tanks are harder to maintain at stable levels. Also not many fish are suited for that tank, could you provide more specifics about what you want in it?

Thank you guys. You’re very helpful. I think more than anything else this hobby will yeach me to be very patient. The tank is not properly set up yet because all the parts were not yet delivered. Still dont have the heater, ph meter, thermometer and test kit. I’m getting frustrated with the slow delivery 😭

[PowerPufferGirl]

Originally Posted by mcgyvr

yep.. absolutely normal..
Just part of a new tanks "ugly stages".. Currently you are experiencing stage 1 which is a "diatom" bloom.. Then expect green hair/film algae and then even some cyano..
They will all go away in a bit of time provided you keep up with normal/proper tank maintenance..

and yes.. I'd suggest doing a few hours of reading to learn all of this basic information before you make a mistake you may regret..
You've got a lot to learn before you should attempt corals.. (and even fish)..
What you are experiencing is basically day 1 in a "saltwater training class".. Don't try to run before you even learn to walk..

But enjoy..have fun..
remember.. NOTHING good happens fast in this hobby..
and knowledge is king..

I’m cramming with my reading and learning. We had some help from the pet store where we saw the tank from. They have tanks with coral and clown fish.
I’m really enjoying the challenge but it also involves a lot of freaking out on my part because I’m worried that I’m doing things incorrectly thats why I really appreciate the help.

[Redllama1]

Originally Posted by PowerPufferGirl

I’m cramming with my reading and learning. We had some help from the pet store where we saw the tank from. They have tanks with coral and clown fish.

I’m really enjoying the challenge but it also involves a lot of freaking out on my part because I’m worried that I’m doing things incorrectly thats why I really appreciate the help.

Make sure you are going to a reputable store, and take advice from these guys here, many store employees are not well educated in this hobby.


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[sde1500]

By 10L do you mean 10 Liter? That is far too small for a clownfish unfortunately. You could at best manage a small goby in there.

[PowerPufferGirl]

Originally Posted by Redllama1

Make sure you are going to a reputable store, and take advice from these guys here, many store employees are not well educated in this hobby.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Thank you for the reminder. I’m actually getting 2nd, 3rd... 100th opinion. LOL. With the language barrier, I’m bound to misunderstand some of the information from the store employees. My japanese isn’t legendary 🐡

[PowerPufferGirl]

Originally Posted by sde1500

By 10L do you mean 10 Liter? That is far too small for a clownfish unfortunately. You could at best manage a small goby in there.

That’s why we haven’t decided what to put in yet because its too tiny😂

[nereefpat]

Too small for fish, unfortunately.

Shrimp and corals can be done though.

A tank that small is actually harder to keep than one 10x that size. I'm not saying that it can't be done, but it will be challenging.

[sde1500]

IDK, you could stretch it for a small goby/pistol combo. Just would have to 100% being a stickler about water quality. Or a flaming prawn goby would certainly fit, but you'd likely rarely see it from what I hear.