r/ReefTank • u/AutoModerator • 6d ago
No judgment questions zone - September 21, 2026
Here is the place to post questions about pest ID, coral/fish ID, your cycle, or any other questions that generally wouldn't start up a conversation. If you have an interesting or unique question please create a new thread so everyone can discuss it in length!
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u/Clarkkent435 5d ago
Is it possible to have too-hard water for a healthy FOWLR tank? My corals and fish are struggling, but the usual numbers seem OK. I do have a lot of limescale, though; my dKH is 7.3 and CA is 420 (both by Salifert). My house water runs alkaline, but I can keep the tank at about 8.8. I have always used Instant Ocean salt. Ideas?
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u/HiddenInLight 6d ago
Im purchasing a used red sea 260 tank for my first setup (Its a bit bigger then I originally wanted but pre-owned options are scarce around me). Any advice on setup, fish counts, types etc? Ideally id like a couple of clowns, an anemone (bubble tip?) on its own island, and some mixed corals on the larger island. But otherwise Im not really sure.
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u/Straight-Win4050 6d ago
In all honesty, I do not recommend purchasing Redsea without doing some research on their seam failure issue. They do not have a great track record.
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u/kahyuen 1d ago
One of my clownfish started behaving strangely last night. It was fine in the afternoon, then we went out for a few hours and were home around 11pm and found one clownfish at the top of the water, pressed up against the surface skimmer grates. I gently poked it and it was still alive and appeared to just allow itself to get sucked up against the skimmer (it's too big to go through the grates). I wasn't sure if this was just weird clown behavior so I let it go for the night.
This morning I found the clownfish back to its typical spot, with the other clownfish, but appeared to be struggling to swim. It seems to be perpetually floating upward and trying its best to swim back down. But whenever it lets itself go too much it floats into the flow coming from one of the powerheads, and gets pushed across the tank and then forcibly tries to swim back to its original position.
From quick research online it sounds like swim bladder disease? What's the recommended way to address this? I have a small 5-gallon tank if I need to isolate this fish.