# Help PLEASE!



## meme2965 (Mar 22, 2010)

Hello everyone, 

I have just purchased a Fluval Edge which holds 6 gallons of water. It comes with a basic aquarium filter and a low voltage halogen lighting system. I saw a saltwater demo with the same exact tank at the pet store and compulsively bought the entire set up! I don't know anything about saltwater setups but have always enjoyed the appeal. I was wondering if anyone could please help me with the setup process as well as maintaining the tank and answer a few questions along the way. This is what i have done so far:

1. I bought 20 lbs of live sand and poured it into the tank.

2. I filled the tank completely with tap water and then added a tap water conditioner. Right after i did this i realized that this is entirely wrong and i should have made sure the salinity of the water was correct and then add the live sand. Will my live sand be ok or do i have to start all over?

3. I then added the exact amount of reef salt that i needed for 6 gallons of water and made sure the salinity is at 1.025. 

4. The water is very cloudy due to the live sand being stirred up when i added the water. Should i wait for the sand to settle before adding live rock?

5. In addition to the halogen lighting system (two bulbs) that came with the tank, i bought and installed a 10 LED daylight and deep sea blue light to the tank. Is this enough lighting for the tank? 

I want as basic as a saltwater tank can get: one good chunk of live rock, three corals, a shrimp, a snail and a couple of small fish (maybe 4). If anyone is familiar with the Fluval Edge, i was wondering if this is possible with such a small tank? Do i need anything else (skimmers, sump etc) for this to work? I just want to set up my tank and then maintain it. I don't really have any interest in expanding it for many years so just a basic setup is what i was looking for. 

Please reply with any suggestions on what i do next or just any suggestions in general. I am very new and anything will definitely help!! 

Thank you in advance!


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## GetITCdot (Aug 4, 2009)

meme2965 said:


> Hello everyone,
> 
> I have just purchased a Fluval Edge which holds 6 gallons of water. It comes with a basic aquarium filter and a low voltage halogen lighting system. I saw a saltwater demo with the same exact tank at the pet store and compulsively bought the entire set up! I don't know anything about saltwater setups but have always enjoyed the appeal. I was wondering if anyone could please help me with the setup process as well as maintaining the tank and answer a few questions along the way. This is what i have done so far:
> 
> ...


1&2: i made the exact mistake with my very first tank, if you want to start over that would be *best* but you don't need too. As I had used over 60lbs of LS.

3.) what kind of salt are you using? The brand?

4.) 
Some people put the live rock in before they put the sand in. This is so when the fish are building their tunnels under the sand they don't disturb the the live rock. This is not a must, just a suggestion if you want to start over because of 1&2.

it's up to you. I would have put the LR in with the tank half full as you run the risk of overflowing your tank depending on the amount of LR you have. What size tank do you have?

Not to mention it will be hard to build up the LR how you want in cloudy water, remember you need it to be sturdy.

5.) This depends on your stock list. Depending on the corals correct lighting is imperative. Do you know the kelvin rating of the lamps you are using? Do you know the wattage?


Think about:

Remember saltwater is not at all freshwater. You will begin to see a full ecosystem develop. Animals will grow weather you like it or not. Corals spread and what not. It is not a hobby to take lightly as it is time consuming, HOWEVER it is well worth it.

As for extra equipment i'm sure you will run into tons of people telling you you need skimmers and sumps and refugiums. This may all be true to a "pristine systems" however I had a 20 gallon small reef tank going for almost a year with just a wet/dry canister filter. Until I figured out this hobby was taking my life over and i upgraded everything


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## ladyonyx (Apr 20, 2009)

I think I can help here. I have the 6g Fluval Edge (also an impulse buy, but I have dwarf pufferfish in it, so freshwater); gorgeous tank isn't it? I have a 12g nanocube reef set-up that is doing fantastic. 

So, I don't think you need to start over. Get some live rock (LR), approx. 1lb/g of water. Let your tank settle for a day or two with your filter running after you add the LR before you do anything else. Then you need to start cycling your tank. If you haven't had a tank before and don't know what cycling is, please read the following link: Cycling Your Aquarium, Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle: Start Cycling Aquarium Guide Use Method 2: Fishless Cycling with Ammonia. It works the best and isn't cruel to the fish. Cycling should take about 2 weeks, maybe a bit longer. In order to cycle your tank properly you will meed a good water testing kit. SeaChem is a good, reliable company to use. 

After your tank is cycled it is ready for fish. Don't over-stock your tank! You'll be really anxious to get fish in there after waiting for weeks, but take your time a don't go crazy. Stick to small fish that don't need much swimming space. Drs. Foster and Smith LiveAquaria is a great website with very good tank recommendations for their fish and corals. Examples of good fish for such a tiny tank can be found in their "Nanofish" section at the following link: Nano Fish. Don't get more than 3 of these small fish. I would highly recommend getting a shrimp/goby pair; some gobies have a symbiotic arrangement with pistol shrimp where they live together in the same burrow and share food. They're fantastic for nano-aquariums like yours. 

Corals will go in last and shouldn't be added until your tank has been successfully up and running for AT LEAST a month. Longer is better. Good hardy corals for a nano reef are star polyps, leather corals, mushrooms, and xenia; perhaps some zooanthids a little bit later. 

I cannot stress enough the importance of water changes in small systems. I do a weekly 25% water change on my reef and that's after having it established for over 3 years. Corals are picky and they need perfect water. It can be done, but I would recommend that you wait a while to add corals just to make sure your tank is stable. You might be happy without them. Water changes, water changes, water changes. If you feel so inclined, you'd be much better off using RO (reverse osmosis) water. I started my reef with tap water and had all kinds of algae problems. When I switched to RO, my problems went away almost over night. You can get a cheap RO unit for about $50: Aquarium Water Quality: Tap Water Filter

The stock lighting plus that LED should be okay. Corals need about 3 watts/gallon of light to thrive. So check on the wattage

Ultimately, realize that small systems are much more difficult to take care of compared to large ones because even small changes can have a huge impact on your tank. Read as much as you can, take it slooooooow, and do water changes. And ask us lots of questions! Please! Questions now are better than mistakes later; much less costly.


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## meme2965 (Mar 22, 2010)

Thank you both for your quick responses!!! These have helped out tremendously!!!

So as of now, i have add about 5 pounds of live rock in my 6 gallon tank and installing a heater. I'm not planning on doing much to the tank in order to let it cycle and what not. 

I do have a major concern!! I put in the live rock and its been sitting there for about two days! When i first looked at the live rock there was nothing on it and now i have these little worm-looking things all over the glass and sand (they are kinda like worms except they have legs...) and i have this huge (about 3 cm) black critter (it kinda reminds me of a cross between a lobster and a millipede because it has a tail of a lobster, thousands of legs like a millipede and a head of an ant) walking along the bottom. I was wondering what these are and if they are harmful to the tank? I don't have fish or any corral in there yet (thank god) so should i get rid of them now? or will they be good to have in the tank?

You have been so helpful!


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## GetITCdot (Aug 4, 2009)

meme2965 said:


> Thank you both for your quick responses!!! These have helped out tremendously!!!
> 
> So as of now, i have add about 5 pounds of live rock in my 6 gallon tank and installing a heater. I'm not planning on doing much to the tank in order to let it cycle and what not.
> 
> ...



The little worms with legs are black or clear? They could be copiopods or amphiopods. As for the millipede looking thing I just saw one at my LFS they are cool as hell looking, i dont remember what they are called though.


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## ladyonyx (Apr 20, 2009)

The wormy looking things are probably copepods, amphipods, or mysids, all of which are great for your tank, so no need to worry there. 

Could you possibly take a picture of this crazy black critter??? I'm wondering if it's a mantis shrimp. Roy's List of Stomatopods for the Aquarium If so, they are incredibly cool, but it probably would get too big for your tank and they are very aggressive. A pic would be really helpful, even a grainy one


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## GetITCdot (Aug 4, 2009)

ladyonyx said:


> The wormy looking things are probably copepods, amphipods, or mysids, all of which are great for your tank, so no need to worry there.
> 
> Could you possibly take a picture of this crazy black critter??? I'm wondering if it's a mantis shrimp. Roy's List of Stomatopods for the Aquarium If so, they are incredibly cool, but it probably would get too big for your tank and they are very aggressive. A pic would be really helpful, even a grainy one


It could very well be one of those nasty little buggers, a spotted bamboo will take care of those critters....then again you cant have one of those eater 


If it's what i think it is, its not a mantis i still don't remember the name but they look super cool and they are almost solid charcoal black right?


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