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I am currently running a 50 gallon hexagon aquarium, with a seaclone 100 skimmer, an UG filter with with 2 powerheads (unknown gph). I have about 5-10 lbs of live rock. I use chrushed coral as a substrate. I currently have three small damsals and 1 small yellow tang, 4 blue hermit crabs, and 2 red hermit crabs, condy anenomie, and three unknown snails. I am using a reguler florecent light. My question is...is this a decent set up for a saltwater aquarium? Is there something i need to make the aquarium better? I have had a few fish get sick and die, and i am trying to figure out a way to prevent this from happening in the future. I know the amonian is a bit over 0ppm, it is about .o5ppm, but i am constantly fighting ammonia and am fairly new to saltwater, so all comments and advice would be appreciated.

thanks

john

john,

UG filters really are an outdated means of filtration, and don't have much of a place in a salt water tank. There are many other forms of filtration better able to keep up, like an emperor 400 HOB filter, or canister filters. THE best filtration for a SW tank is a bunch(1-2 lbs per gallon) of live rock with a lot of flow provided by powerheads or closed loops etc.

If it were me I'd chuck the UG filter(keep the powerheads), add some more LR, and get a HOB or canister filter if you are interested in keeping fish only. I would run the new filter for a few weeks before getting rid of the UG filter though.

Also that tang is going to have to go eventually. They are much more interested in length of a tank and 75g is the minimum for them.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

UG filters really are an outdated means of filtration, and don't have much of a place in a salt water tank.

IMO, the UG filters are not outdated by any means when it comes to FW. But for SW, they never really have been used. The reason is, there are many critters you want living in the sand, and the filters will disrupt their life cycle and all. My first suggestion would be to remove the UG filter.

Nextly, get more LR. LR will help with your ammonia problems as well as other filtration. I usually suggest a min of 1 lb per gal of water. And as much as 3 lbs per gallon.

Also, if you are going to keep any kind anemone, I suggest you get more lighting. As they will not fair well. It may be hard to get anything other than a MH for the design of your tank, but I highly suggest you do. The anemone will thank you, and hey, you can then try other corals as well.

As for your fish dying, we would need to know what kind they were, and what you were feeding them. As well as how long your tank has been set up, and what is your tank care regime, like water changes, addatives, etc.





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There is always a bigger fish...

But for SW, they never really have been used.

Actually not true, they were used a lot and not working is a mith started by LFS because they couldn't make any money on them. I ran UGF in my SW tanks for years and never had any problems. The main drawback is they require a lot of work. You need to gravel vac 1/3 of the filter each time you do a water change. The DSB (Deep Sand Bed) is a much better substrate because it will convert your nitrates to nitrogen keeping your nitrats at or near zero. If the UGF is working, then leave it. I removed mine for my reef and it's a LOT of work, makes a huge mess, stinks, and your tank will have to be compleatly drained. If you have anemones, you will want to watch them. They can work threw teh crushed corals and attack to the plastic grates, they can get pulled threw teh slots and possibly damage their foot. Yes, there are many draw backs to UGF, but don't panic, they still work just fine as long as they are mantained.

Dan


Dan

Hex tanks are usually pretty deep, so I'm going to suggest that you get a nice MH pendant to put over it. If you get one of the bluer bulbs that could be the majority of your lighting. The anenome wont survive very long under low light.

I agree with the others, like Matty said, I think your best bet is to ditch the UGF, keep the powerheads, and bewarned that the yellow tang should get at least a 4' tank.

Crushed coral in marine tanks should be treated like gravel in freshwater tanks. You're gunna need to gravel vac it to keep detritus from accumulating. That's prolly where some of your water quality problems lie. The inverts dont add much to the bio load at all, and you dont have too many fish. If you keep up with your water changes and up your filtration (ie: add more live rock, get a good HOB filter like an AquaClear) I think you'll be fine.

Also, what kind of heater(s) do you have? Ick is usually caused by temperature fluctuations, you dont want the temp. moving up and down more than a degree really. Stability is the key to successful marine tanks. \

HTH

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish