Help with reef filtration

[karazdzinnicki]

I have a 6 gallon pillar tank with live sand, live rock a peppermint shrimp, hermit crab, 2 small clown fish, an emerald crab and both hard and soft coral. I did my research on everything prior to purchase, but i must have missed the protein skimmer part. This tank came with a Marineland bio wheel
filter with that has to be plugged in for the LED lights to work. It has a floss/carbon cartridge and bio wheel. I do also have a powerhead on the tank. I was looking into a small protein skimmer because doing water changes so frequently is hard for me. And my tank is starting to look cloudy. Is there something i can put in the power filter to work as a protein skimmer such as bio balls or ceramic tubes? Or should i scrap the power filter completely and get a hang on the tank protein skimmer? The in the tank skimmers seem too big. Or my 30 gal acrylic tank showed up today, should i scrap the 6gal and move everything to the 30? If i make this move how should it be done? If i need to cycle the new tank no problem, but i still would need a protein skimmer for the 6 and 30. Also my LFS is very knowledgeable on the hobby, but i am concerned that he sells cycled saltwater right from his reef tank. Can any nasties come with the water? I am new to saltwater, however i do have over 25 years of freshwater expierence including the last 15 of them specializing in spawning/husbandry of both Oscars and Discus. I know saltwater is quite different, I just wanted to be sure everyone knew i do have some expierence with some of the more difficult species of fish to either spawn successfully or keep water parameters perfect to keep them alive/spawn/ sell live babies! Thank you, and and all help is greatly appreciated!

 

[ryeguyy84]

I have a 6 gallon pillar tank with live sand, live rock a peppermint shrimp, hermit crab, 2 small clown fish, an emerald crab and both hard and soft coral. I did my research on everything prior to purchase, but i must have missed the protein skimmer part. This tank came with a Marineland bio wheel
filter with that has to be plugged in for the LED lights to work. It has a floss/carbon cartridge and bio wheel. I do also have a powerhead on the tank. I was looking into a small protein skimmer because doing water changes so frequently is hard for me. And my tank is starting to look cloudy. Is there something i can put in the power filter to work as a protein skimmer such as bio balls or ceramic tubes? Or should i scrap the power filter completely and get a hang on the tank protein skimmer? The in the tank skimmers seem too big. Or my 30 gal acrylic tank showed up today, should i scrap the 6gal and move everything to the 30? If i make this move how should it be done? If i need to cycle the new tank no problem, but i still would need a protein skimmer for the 6 and 30. Also my LFS is very knowledgeable on the hobby, but i am concerned that he sells cycled saltwater right from his reef tank. Can any nasties come with the water? I am new to saltwater, however i do have over 25 years of freshwater expierence including the last 15 of them specializing in spawning/husbandry of both Oscars and Discus. I know saltwater is quite different, I just wanted to be sure everyone knew i do have some expierence with some of the more difficult species of fish to either spawn successfully or keep water parameters perfect to keep them alive/spawn/ sell live babies! Thank you, and and all help is greatly appreciated!

Move everything to the 30. a 6G is way to small for 2 clowns.

 

[ericarenee]

The bigger then tank is easier to care for But does cost more money. from 6 to 30 not so much more.
One thing you posted above scares me...

"THEY SELL CYCLED SALT WATER FROM THERE TANKS"

This is bad because they move things in and out of there tanks so much not to mention all the hands then end up in there thru the day. DO NOT Put water from there tanks into yours..i would leave the 6 gallon tank setup as a small QT Tank And get the 30 gallon cycled correctly then move stuff over.. Those clown fish will not be HAPPY In a 6 gallon tank at all..
As far as a skimmer . If you do NOT over feed and do proper water changes with Ro/DI Water as well as maintain your filter . You can be Fine without a Skimmer. Thou many people use them now even on that small of a Tank... Take what the LFS Tells you as there way of SELLING YOU MORE..... Sometimes they do not give bad advice on purpose but there business model is just flawed .

Good Luck...

 

[karazdzinnicki]

Thank you. I was concerned with the saltwater too! We are setting up the 30. I remember my father having dwarf seahorses as a child, which was why i got the 6gl in the first place. Then i read how hard it is to properly care for them. Changed my mind quick.
Ok what is RO/DI water? Just want to make sure im on the same page? I was also told that if my salinity was high to add tap water. I said ok dechlorinate it? I was told no. Freshwater u have to. I would think saltwater is the same? Also cycling the 30 is the same as cycling the 6 correct? Live Rock, live sand and a little food to decay for several weeks? Once all levels are 0 is it safe to move everything over? Acclimating it of course. Also, when an Oscar tank got cloudy i could do as much as 50% water change to help clear it up. What is a safe percentage for saltwater? And if i mix dechlorinated tap water beforehand, is there a time limit on how ling its Good?

 

[karazdzinnicki]

Move everything to the 30. a 6G is way to small for 2 clowns.

I thought so too, but listened to the wrong people!

The bigger then tank is easier to care for But does cost more money. from 6 to 30 not so much more.
One thing you posted above scares me...

"THEY SELL CYCLED SALT WATER FROM THERE TANKS"

This is bad because they move things in and out of there tanks so much not to mention all the hands then end up in there thru the day. DO NOT Put water from there tanks into yours..i would leave the 6 gallon tank setup as a small QT Tank And get the 30 gallon cycled correctly then move stuff over.. Those clown fish will not be HAPPY In a 6 gallon tank at all..
As far as a skimmer . If you do NOT over feed and do proper water changes with Ro/DI Water as well as maintain your filter . You can be Fine without a Skimmer. Thou many people use them now even on that small of a Tank... Take what the LFS Tells you as there way of SELLING YOU MORE..... Sometimes they do not give bad advice on purpose but there business model is just flawed .

Good Luck...

 

[karazdzinnicki]

And other than testing and waterchanges untill the 30 is ready, is there any other product i can add to the filter?

 

[karazdzinnicki]

Last question for now, how long do you quarantine and is it every animal? I would think yes but who knows.

 

[ryeguyy84]

RODI water is what most reefer use in there tanks. It's water with 0tds. Distiller water can also be used but is usually more expensive in the long run. You may run into algae issues using tap water.

 

[Wryknow]

I would also recommend a slightly larger tank. I think a 20g long is a good size for what you have. It is possible to use tap water but it is not recommended because t contains things other than water that are not things you find in natural salt water. Most salt water critters are not able to adapt to different water conditions because that's not something that happens in their natural environment. For quite a while I just used the coin operates water machine outside my local grocery store - I think it cost like $1.25 for 5 gallons of RO water and that worked pretty well (the water is not as good as RO/DI or distilled water but it was way better than tap water.)