beginner needs advice

[ratlehound]

i am a beginner to salt water i have set up a 55 gal. and have 2 yello fin damsels.what fish are good to star with and what do i need to check my water for?the ony thing i have cheked ic salinatyand it is .019.i know that is a little low on the scale.however the pepole at my local pet store said that was good .should i belive her?

 

[ludachris821]

no dont believe her. first your salt should be 1.020 to 1.025 (gravity), also your tank needs to cycle for a while so dont add anything else besides the damsels you have. they will cycle the tank, a amonia (poisin) spike is comin during a cycle and will kill all but damsels. second add some live rock to help with water quality and further the cycle, i say in a month you should be good. get a amonia ,ph ,nitrate(which i ignore), nitrite(poisin) and a gravity meater. IMO i mainly pay attention to the amonia and ph along with the gravity. generally if those r in check everything else should be

 

[puffer32]

I would lose the damsels and use cocktail shrimp to cycle tank. Take them back to your lfs. Theres a good chance they will die during cycle, and if they don't, you might wish they did!

 

[fatmatt]

whats that clown in?

 

[ludachris821]

a large feather duster

 

[tankgirl1]

Beautiful tank, Ludachris821!! What size tank is that and what else do you have in there?