my tank, completely redone

supernareg · 08/27/2011, 05:02 PM

so i left to NYC for 5 months.. 26gal long had a lunar wrasse, humu humu and a big snowflake eel... who would all tear up krill and eat a lot. i had NO clean up crew, just 1, and yes, 1 blue hermit crab. 12 hour light cycle, had a 20L fuge with cheato, HOB bakpak. fish would tear up the krill and leave so much food in there to rot.

came home to this:

so i drained 90% of the water, took out all the fish and traded it in at friends LFS for my current fish. scrubbed all the LR with the tank water in a 5 gal bucket, stirred the sand, let it settle and vacummed the top, took down the fuge (it was in the kitchen, my mother said it was taking up too much room), half the LR didnt make it back in the tank. now i have about 10 hermits, 2 turbo snails, 1 CBS, 1 cleaner shrimp, lights cut down from 12hrs to 10 hours, better flow, and all the fish eat pellets so no dirty water/left over food. skimmer is in the middle (barely pulling out stuff, water is CLEAN and i have the water level pretty high) flow is mild with 2 K2's on the sides. i had a super mini cycle, like 2 days i think, but ammonia never got too high.

there is so little algae i'm afraid my snails are going to starve lol. but even on the glass, such LITTLE amount grows its insane lol

just so those of you who have algae problems can have some motivation.

edit: btw, tang is out of there.. too small of a tank and it wouldnt eat pellets much, i didnt want to feed it nori separately - any suggestions for 1 or 2 more fish?? i want something that swims nicely and is maybe red or bright colored.

dzfish17 · 08/27/2011, 05:52 PM

I counted 7 fish already so I wouldnt add any more to a 26g tank.

cside · 08/27/2011, 07:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dzfish17

I counted 7 fish already so I wouldnt add any more to a 26g tank.

7 is already too many. and I would not recommend keeping two firefish. one will eventually kill the other

rogersb · 08/27/2011, 07:49 PM

The damsels will probably kill each other too. Stick with the clown, the goby, and the firefish.

Quis · 08/27/2011, 07:52 PM

It's actually 8 fish in the tank. The yellow tang need to go.....that tank is way too small for it.

dzfish17 · 08/27/2011, 07:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quis

It's actually 8 fish in the tank. The yellow tang need to go.....that tank is way too small for it.

Slow down and read the original post... says he got rid of the tang.

greech · 08/27/2011, 07:55 PM

Nice job on the recovery but agree with the fish load. They are small so if you stay on top of the tank and don't overfeed you might be ok.

LinkinReef · 08/27/2011, 08:13 PM

WOW, that was a lot of algae... Looks nice after that's gone though. Was there any specific reason you ran your lights on 12 hours?

08/27/2011, 05:02 PM	#1
supernareg Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 2,610	my tank, completely redone so i left to NYC for 5 months.. 26gal long had a lunar wrasse, humu humu and a big snowflake eel... who would all tear up krill and eat a lot. i had NO clean up crew, just 1, and yes, 1 blue hermit crab. 12 hour light cycle, had a 20L fuge with cheato, HOB bakpak. fish would tear up the krill and leave so much food in there to rot. came home to this: so i drained 90% of the water, took out all the fish and traded it in at friends LFS for my current fish. scrubbed all the LR with the tank water in a 5 gal bucket, stirred the sand, let it settle and vacummed the top, took down the fuge (it was in the kitchen, my mother said it was taking up too much room), half the LR didnt make it back in the tank. now i have about 10 hermits, 2 turbo snails, 1 CBS, 1 cleaner shrimp, lights cut down from 12hrs to 10 hours, better flow, and all the fish eat pellets so no dirty water/left over food. skimmer is in the middle (barely pulling out stuff, water is CLEAN and i have the water level pretty high) flow is mild with 2 K2's on the sides. i had a super mini cycle, like 2 days i think, but ammonia never got too high. there is so little algae i'm afraid my snails are going to starve lol. but even on the glass, such LITTLE amount grows its insane lol just so those of you who have algae problems can have some motivation. edit: btw, tang is out of there.. too small of a tank and it wouldnt eat pellets much, i didnt want to feed it nori separately - any suggestions for 1 or 2 more fish?? i want something that swims nicely and is maybe red or bright colored.

08/27/2011, 05:52 PM	#2
dzfish17 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Fresno,Ca. Posts: 2,545	I counted 7 fish already so I wouldnt add any more to a 26g tank. __________________ 600g (96x36x46) FOWLR

08/27/2011, 07:55 PM	#7
greech Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Tallahassee, FL Posts: 3,133	Nice job on the recovery but agree with the fish load. They are small so if you stay on top of the tank and don't overfeed you might be ok. __________________ ~Graham Current Tank Info: Tank: 40 breeder; 20H sump w/SWC 120; Sicce 3.0 return; Vortech MP-10; Sundial T5, DIY Actinic LED (3W Cree). Livestock: Pair of Black & Whites; Midas Blenny; Firefish; Yasha/pistol; Black Leopard Wrasse; LPS and SPS

08/27/2011, 08:13 PM	#8
LinkinReef Registered Member Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 987	WOW, that was a lot of algae... Looks nice after that's gone though. Was there any specific reason you ran your lights on 12 hours? __________________ 34g

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08/27/2011, 07:49 PM	#4
rogersb Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: white haven Posts: 1,135	The damsels will probably kill each other too. Stick with the clown, the goby, and the firefish.

08/27/2011, 07:52 PM	#5
Quis Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Hampton, VA Posts: 348	It's actually 8 fish in the tank. The yellow tang need to go.....that tank is way too small for it.