snakeblitz33
Well-Known Member
Hi Everyone!
I'm new to the forum! I have a few questions about starting up a saltwater aquarium. I think I might have done something wrong. I saw that one big brand box store had a $1 a gallon sale so I decided why not? I asked the associates there what all I needed for it. They sold me the 40g tank and stand and a filter box thing and a heater. Oh, and what they called "live" sand? I went ahead and picked up a bubbler too, since yah gotta get air in there somehow. They asked me if I had salt and I said yes. I don't know what they meant by that.
So I got home and put everything in the tank like I would for freshwater and poured the "live sand" in there like they told me to and then I added Mortons sea salt. There weren't any directions on the box so I put half a box in there and turned on the filter. It desolved, so I guess it worked. I was thinkin' how hard can this be? HAH. So, I turned on the heater and waited 24 hours for the salt to get right like the associate said.
I thought ahead and put the light on a timer. I waited three days for everything to settle down like my other freshwater tanks before I put a fish in there. I went to the fish store and told em' I had a saltwater tank and that I just started it and I would like to get a fish. They said to get a damsel. I thought those were pretty so I bought three of em'.
I did the "cup" method, I put a cup of the new water in the old water and floated the bags for about 20 minutes. Then I let em' go in my tank. They seemed fine, so I walked away. This mornin' I woke up and they were all dead. layin' there on the bottom not even labored breathing. No chance to save em'.
What did I do wrong and what can I do to fix it? Cause I was looking at getting a shrimp and an anemone next week. I like the way those look. Do I just need to add more sea salt?
Thanks for the help!
I'm new to the forum! I have a few questions about starting up a saltwater aquarium. I think I might have done something wrong. I saw that one big brand box store had a $1 a gallon sale so I decided why not? I asked the associates there what all I needed for it. They sold me the 40g tank and stand and a filter box thing and a heater. Oh, and what they called "live" sand? I went ahead and picked up a bubbler too, since yah gotta get air in there somehow. They asked me if I had salt and I said yes. I don't know what they meant by that.
So I got home and put everything in the tank like I would for freshwater and poured the "live sand" in there like they told me to and then I added Mortons sea salt. There weren't any directions on the box so I put half a box in there and turned on the filter. It desolved, so I guess it worked. I was thinkin' how hard can this be? HAH. So, I turned on the heater and waited 24 hours for the salt to get right like the associate said.
I thought ahead and put the light on a timer. I waited three days for everything to settle down like my other freshwater tanks before I put a fish in there. I went to the fish store and told em' I had a saltwater tank and that I just started it and I would like to get a fish. They said to get a damsel. I thought those were pretty so I bought three of em'.
I did the "cup" method, I put a cup of the new water in the old water and floated the bags for about 20 minutes. Then I let em' go in my tank. They seemed fine, so I walked away. This mornin' I woke up and they were all dead. layin' there on the bottom not even labored breathing. No chance to save em'.
What did I do wrong and what can I do to fix it? Cause I was looking at getting a shrimp and an anemone next week. I like the way those look. Do I just need to add more sea salt?
Thanks for the help!
