A few new tank questions :)

[michaelshanejr]

Hello,
I have a 20 gallon FOWLR tank. I have a hang on filter? (Came in the tank kit) a hang on skimmer I bought myself, heater, pump, and PC lights. Livestock is 1 domino damsel, 2 clowns, 2 hermit crabs, a cleaner shrimp, and a feather duster...and a few other things that come out of my rocks at night I try to avoid...lol a bit scary. My question is my filter and skimmer put bubbles in the tank...lots of them! I have adjusted the skimmer many times, but they are still there and build up on the tank and rocks...sometimes the fish. Am I doing something wrong? My water test shows Salt 1.021 ph 8.4 ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate 5.0 temp is 80 degrees. So, the water is okay? The tank is about 2 months old..The bubbles are new. Fish seem happy enough, although the clowns fight during the day. But at night they sleep together in a cave in the live rock..I think there just putting on a show for me.lol Anyway, sorry for the long post. Any advice is welcome. Thank youThis is my skimmer (Back when the tank was still in a cycle..but you get the idea

[michaelshanejr]

Also I forgot sorry, My live rock on the top ( The biggest one) has started growing green on it, and my feather duster keep digging himself out of the sand...or someone does, but he seems to be fine. Is this normal?

[leebca]

Your post combines questions about the FOWLR aquarium and invertebrates/reef aquariums.

Generally, a FOWLR aquarium doesn't contain feather dusters. Most don't go well with fish, and tend to remain in the Reef aquarium category. Can't help you with that/those questions, but you can post those questions in the Reef Forum.

That tank isn't a very good size for any kind of fish except those that max out at about 2 inches. None of the Anemonefishes should be kept in that size aquarium. If you want Anemonefish, you want to start with a tank at or over 30 gallons. A 45 is good for a mated pair of the smaller types of Anemonefishes.

Anemonefishes are a kind of Damselfish. So your fish are going to have problems getting along -- if not now, then shortly. Add to this that they are overcrowded and things are going to be marginally okay or not okay.

I'd say the skimmer is not setup or sized properly for the tank. Can't help you much more than this. That is not the way it should look. The bubbles should stop near the top and turn into a dense 'foam' where the bubbles very slowly break or when they don't break, spill over into the cup as skimmate. This is a very slow process. That skimmer is very large for that sized tank, in my estimation.

There should be no bubbles generated by the hang-on filter. But I'm unsure what kind it is, how it is powered, etc. It also may be a case of not set up properly.

Where/who is giving you advice on the setup and care of this system? It really looks 'odd' in that the equipment seems to be quite an over-kill, for that sized aquarium.

[michaelshanejr]

The feather duster does fine. The fish don't seem to bother him. He just wont stay under the sand. The skimmer says on the box from 20 gallon - 40 gallon tank. The instructions are kind of vague. So I wasn't sure how the settings should be. The fish get along just fine. All three swim side by side all day and at nigh still stay pretty close to each other. 20 gallons is the max for my lease. Anything bigger and I would get kicked out. When they start to get a little bigger I was going to take the Domino Damsel to a friends place. He has a 120 gallon. It is still in it's cycle. I don't know about the filter. It came in the kit with the tank, so maybe it's not working.