Help

[Tom Petzing]

My tank has been set up for 4 months. Iv got a clean up crew, two clown fish, two blue damsels and one other fish. Iv had zoos in there a while in different areas and they seemed to be doing really well. Iv also got a couple of acans and some ozzie war. All of these had perviously done very well, feeding ect. In the last few weeks they have all shrunk, not looking too good, not feeding. Iv tested the water and salinity is ok, phosphate ok, pH ok, calcium ok. Nitrates are at 3.8ppm. Is this too high?

 

[wontonflip]

Welcome to the site!

Hm.....obviously, 0 nitrates is better, but 3.8 is pretty good. What kind of lights do you have? Were they new when you bought them? If not, have you changed out the bulbs? Do you see any of the fish picking on them?

 

[Tom Petzing]

Thanks
Iv got T8 lights, both new bulbs when set-up. I was told these were ok. The fish don't pick at them. Iv got some Duncans and Toads and they seem to be fine!

 

[little_fish]

Hello and Welcome!

t8 bulbs dont work very well for saltwater tanks, the bulbs dont put out the right spectrum. You want to get t5 bulbs designed specifically for aquariums.

Also can you give exact readings for your tests, "ok" can mean different things to different people.

Last question, what do you have for flow in your tank?

 

[Smitty]

Hello and welcome to the site...the ladies have you covered.

 

[wontonflip]

Hello and welcome to the site...the ladies have you covered.

OOOoooo...I'm a lady :D

+1 fish...T8's aren't good if you're going to keep a reef. If you were doing fish only, however, they're fine. You will want to upgrade those. Someone w/ more lighting experience will offer you suggestions :)

 

[Tom Petzing]

Some kind of angel fish. Can't remember what type. The flow is good on the tank as iv got a power head, an external and an internal filter pushing water around. I took a water sample to a shop and they told me that all the other levels were good. Lighting T8's or LED?

 

[wontonflip]

T5's, metal halides, or powerful LED's would be good. It's a 50g right (190 L)? I think t5's or LEDs would work.

 

[Northstar24]

Looks like everyone has you covered as far as the lighting goes. The only thing I'd like to add is that when you create a post and post water test results as 'ok' or 'fine' or 'not a problem' or 'normal' you really aren't giving us anything we can use to help. Post water test results with actual values

You should also give a break down of the system along with the live stock, such as how much flow you have, not just 'I have a powerhead'. Is it 10x tank turnover, 20x? It makes a difference

The other important question to answer is has anything changed recently? (new addition to the tank, equipment change/upgrade/malfunction/etc)

We want to help, but with a vague description of the issue and/or the system there isn't much we can do to help

 

[little_fish]

+1 North