Saltwater tank help needed?

Question

I have 12 gal saltwater tank and I am keeping 4 blue Damselfish, I have filter, one small coral rock, its been 2 weeks and till now they are doing fine, but I don't know how often I should change the water? Till now I haven't change any water. And how many Damselfish is good for 12 gal tank? Can I add some more or I am already overstocking?

Answer 1

listen 12 isn't to small for saltwater i've known alot of people with them infact i have one and its not much harder you just have to keep close watch on it. the only problem with smaller tanks is that it doesn't take much for the conditions to go crazy on ya. but four blue damsels probably are enough cause they will get around 3" each. If you want to know more about smaller saltwater keeping go to this guys website he has nano tanks.
http://www.joshday.com/
most people on here want to strike you down for anything they can to make themselves look smart but i can tell ya that a 12 ga. sw aquarium is possible but the bigger they are the easier they are i know that doesn't make much sense but its true. if you need any help just message me or email me i'd be glad to help.

Answer 2

A 12 gallon tank is not too small for saltwater to start with. You just have to be a little more vigilant in your maintenance.
If you have a test kit, that will help in figuring out when you need to do water changes. If not, generally once or twice a week won't hurt anything. Sometimes you can get away with more, but that's where the test kit comes in.
As for the fish, you can put more in, but just keep in mind that the more you have, the more it's going to work your filtration, and the more you'll have to do water changes. If it was me, I wouldn't put more than 2 or 3 more in there, just because the damsels can get somewhat aggressive.

Hope that helps some. The easiest thing to do would be to go buy a test kit. They aren't too expensive, and can save you quite a bit of trouble.

Answer 3

12 gallons is not too small for a sw tank, however having a "nano" sw tank brings its own issues.

I think 4 damsels in 12 gallons are too many, so you may want to drop that down to a single small clown fish, or some small gobies, etc.

As for water changes, I would say change 2 gallons per week.

Make sure to mix the water first and let it sit over night with a heater in it to get the temp to the same as the tank. This is especially important in a nano tank where you don't have a lot of water to offset the new water temp.

Answer 4

First of all stop. that tank is way to small, 75 gallons is the smallest recomended. the thing you have to realize is that saltwater fish come from a very stable enviroment. in the ocean, to change the PH, or the salt leavel, it takes alot. if you were to drop a tea spoon of salt into your tank. it would kill all the fish in there rather quickly. if too much of the water evaporates,leaving too high of a salt level , or you add too much water, making the salt to low, the fish will die. in a small tank, the is no room for for any error.
Idealy you shouldent need to change the waterbest thing to do is just add water and salt. and no you are not overstocking yet but you are close. 2 gal per fish is the best.

Answer 5

You have a filter, it does most of the cleaning for you.
You don't change the water, unless it gets bad and,
smells. If anything, you might need to add special water,
and Salt to it. Test the water to see if it's OK.
Talk to your Pet Store people, and buy a book for
questions you may have. A Friend had Clown Fish,
and Sea Horses to name a few, in her tank.
I hope the thermometer works good.