hello, i am interested in changing my fresh water 12 gallon eclipse tank to a saltwater one but know nothing about saltwater, i have done my research and decided to start with a fish only tank and maybe later down the line ill get a bigger one for a reef tank. anywho i just wanted to know if anyone has any advice on what to do, what i should buy, and is the filtration system good for a saltwater tank or do i need to buy anything else? also how many fish would you say is max for this size tank? thanks in advance!
Eclipse 12 Gallon Tank
- Thread starter untraceable726
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I am sure you are very excited about this transition. I would suggest that you read the stickies at the top of the forum they are extremely helpful. Filtration in saltwater is usually done using live rock and powerheads to add flow. Flow is an important part of the saltwater ecosystem as it will aid in oxygen exchange at the surface and also keep any detritus in suspension to me removed usually by the use of a protein skimmer. In a 12g tank you would not need a skimmer but you should have sufficient live rock to provide biological filtration. Water changes will be necessary to reduce disolved organics before they become nuisance algae. As far as stocking, you are severely limited due to the small tank size. Saltwater fish need more room than their fw counterparts and need ample swimming room and room to hide. I would think you would be limited to a couple small nano type fish such as small gobies, firefish, cardinals or similar fish. Just make sure you research each and know their needs and compatibility prior to purchasing. I would recommend you stay away from any damsels as this small space would only magnify their aggression and territorialness. Clown fish such as a small percula or occellaris would probably be okay but please please resist any urge to couple them with any type of anemone as your tank is much too small and not equipped for their demands. I hope this has been helpful....
yeah ok so take out the carbon cartridge and just let it be for the circulation? what kind of powerhead would you recommand? also how much live rock should i put in there? i really want to put maybe two clowns, a seahorse and possibly a red manderian to keep the tank clean, do you think that is wise? and also for the bottom should i just use live sand or mix it with the shell stuff? thanks for all the info!!!
Yeah I did alittle research and seahorses won't work for this size tank let alone I read they should be in a tank by themselves for that exact reason (food). Thanks! Does anyone know a good colorful fish I could possibly put with a couple clown fish and a red manderian? I set up my tank last night and it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Now just the whole testing phase. Also how much live rock do you all think I should put in?
The mandarin is totally out as it will starve as it only eats copepods and you will not have nearly enough in that size tank. People that have them in smaller tanks usually have a refugium attached where they can cultivate a pod population. Mandarins are extremely difficult to get eating prepared food and as such are for large established tanks without other occupants that don't compete for this food source. Some have supplemented their pod population by adding pods but this gets expensive and as such mandarins usually have a dismal survival rate.
Two clowns pretty much would max out your bioload on a tank of this size. You would aim for a minimum of 10-15lbs of live rock and if using substrate use fine grain oolite aragonite sand.....I like aragasnow as it doesn't get blown around and is sugar sized so a bed of 1" will be beneficial. Totally stay away from any types of crushed coral or coarse sands as they become nitrate traps. Resist any urges to add any sand sifting starfish as they will also surely starve in a tank that small. Get some hermits as cleanup and some sand sifting snails such as nassarius, some turbos or astreas for rocks and glass and you would be good. All these of course need to ba added after you go through a proper cycle.
Two clowns pretty much would max out your bioload on a tank of this size. You would aim for a minimum of 10-15lbs of live rock and if using substrate use fine grain oolite aragonite sand.....I like aragasnow as it doesn't get blown around and is sugar sized so a bed of 1" will be beneficial. Totally stay away from any types of crushed coral or coarse sands as they become nitrate traps. Resist any urges to add any sand sifting starfish as they will also surely starve in a tank that small. Get some hermits as cleanup and some sand sifting snails such as nassarius, some turbos or astreas for rocks and glass and you would be good. All these of course need to ba added after you go through a proper cycle.
okay thanks for the info, i know manderians are a pain in the butt and very picky eaters, i guess i will wait for a larger tank (rats!!!!! i wanted one bad!!!) as far as the "clean up crew" i absolutely can not stand snails and refuse to get them so i guess hermit crabs it is or is there something else i could use? how many should i get 1 or 2 right?
Snails are actually good for your tank and will do a lot more for you than hermit crabs will. I would say get maybe 6-8 snails, a mixture of cerith, astrea and margarita snails and maybe a couple blue legged hermit crabs. Snails do wonders for your rock, substrate, and glass, and are essential to any clean up crew.
You will need the snails to clean the rock to ensure it remains clean to do it's job. A reef tank/saltwater tank is a small ecosystem where each component does it's part. Remove one part and something will go out of balance and sometimes with dire results. Also take into account that this is a long steady process and not one that you should rush. Everything in it's time is the key to a successful tank.
make sure you get some good test kits as a tank this small a minor out of balance situation will magnify itself in a huge hurry and can quickly go downhill. that is why most will advise a newbie to saltwater to go with a large tank as minor fluctuations are more easily absorbed in a larger volume of water.
so i'm having an issue with the nitrite levels in my tank, does anyone have any suggestions on how to lower these levels? i have two small clown fish in there and i purchased a new mini canister rapid filter c-80. it will be here in a couple days and i am going to replace the filtration system to that one. any advice or input will be great. *GOLDFISH*
How long has the tank been up in running? Did you wait for the tank to finiksh cycling before putting in the fish? What do you have for a clean up crew? Two fish are kind of pushing the limit in a tank that size. And I wouldn't put a canister filter on that tank. It might not do anything but turn into a nitrate trap. The Live rock should do most of your filtering and then you could buy a nano skimmer in place of the cannister filter.
