very new to this..

[MatthewScars]

I normally dont say this, but you should have posted threads in here before you bought this stuff.

A mandarin should never go in a 20 gallon tank. a Lion should NEVER go in a 20 gallon tank. The star fish will decay and let of god knows what chemicals and ammonia into your tank effectively killing everything. Those stars also eat coral.

You need to almost break it down and start over. Please for the safety of your animals, your wallet, and your sanity R E S E A R C H every single little purchase before you buy it. And like I said, im sure Kathy will bookmark this post, please post a thread if you have ANY questions. I rather be annoyed at you not researching on this forum before asking, but atleast your fish will not die a horrific death.

It's like you being in a closet and a mac truck exhaust is blowing directly into it. That is how your fish are living.

Please take the people heres advice.

 

[reefprobe]

Hey Matt
A little dramatic on your Mac truck analogy. LOL

 

[aabiuso]

obviously some of us don't reed everything before responding..the lion fish is coming out and going in a bigger tank, the mandarin is doing just fine eating live pods and nipping at frozen foods and the star was only in there as food for my harlequin which i took out before it died and decayed. the only thing i did not research before purchasing was the lion it was my first slat water purchase and was told it would do fine in my tank( obviously to get a sale) never the less it coming out. i know the mandarin is a difficult fish to keep and am willing to keep purchasing the live pods until i have a sustainable amount that regenerates itself. how is one supposed to learn without trying things for themselves. you can't take opinions from two completely different sides of the spectrum and think you'll make things just work you need to combine everything and do things how they best suit yourself. you can only truly learn from experience.

 

[aabiuso]

just because things aren't how you like them,it doesn't mean they are wrong. i do not need to and will not break down and start over. if you have obnoxious comments keep them to yourself

 

[JonnyJ]

Hey..

Since you agree the lion needs to go we can go over a few other things you mentioned above.

A 20 gallon tank will never generate enough pods to feed/keep a mandarin healthy/alive. It sucks but its true. I'm not saying its impossible to keep one but it is however very hard. To get them eating primarily frozen food is very difficult. Especially in a small tank since you can easily foul your water trying to get them on frozen. Mandarins constantly feed and many people just stay away. Generally they eventually starve and die. That's why they are 20$ and it's a shame.

If you have him eating those bottled pods and you don't mind buying them every couple of weeks then go ahead but it gets old fast.

The combination of a harlequin shrimp and a mandarin goby in any new tank let alone a 20 gallon spells disaster to any knowledgable reefer. Matt's laying it out like he always does.

I'm reefing and doing saltwater tanks for close to 8-9 years. Nanos for 3 and I don't have a harlequin shrimp or a mandarin. ...and TRUST ME I want both.

Research a list of goals and livestock choices you want and go from there. Sometimes starting over isn't a bad thing. Adding fish is scary, especially when your buying from certain stores. There are so many things that can go wrong and they can be devastating on any tank - especially a nano.


If you got any q's or need advice
You can pm me

 

[solo]

There is some good advice going on right now and some not so constructive criticism. The mandarin will be exceptionally difficult to keep, as well as the harlequin. I'm not going to judge you on your choices, but think you should get a HOB skimmer if you're going to keep the harlequin shrimp.

You could even go one step further and get a HOB Aquaclear and do some mechanical, chemical filtration, bio filtration in the chambers to give yourself sort of a mini-sump.

Welcome and good luck with the nano.