Lots Of Questions, Lots Of Pictures No 56k!

[team2jndd]

You have to do water changes. Dont do anything without researching. Dont buy anything without researching. One thing there is going for you is a wealth of information that is completely free. Your nitrates are very high and the easiest way to fix that is water changes. Find out the size of your tank in gallons. Go to a lfs that sells premixed saltwater and get 15% of your total gallons. Do a water change with the premixed water and retest your nitrates 2-3 days after. Keep doing water changes like this until your readings are at or close to zero. Dont try making your own water with a hydrometer because they are not very accurate. If you want to make your own water buy a refractometer. They are alot more expensive but worth it. You dont have any high maintenence fish which is obvious by the fact that your nitrates are so high and they are still breathing. You are new so nobody here will give you a hard time. Just be patient and do your research. I suggest buying frozen mysis from your lfs and feeding every three days until your nitrates go down. The worst thing you can do now is over feed. No matter what you feed, only feed the amount that your fish can consume in 5 minutes. Anything more will further raise your nitrates. Your setup isnt too bad.

 

[rackyrane]

I think you also need to test for ammonia, nitrites and maybe alkalinity.
Get the book The Concientious Marine Aquarist. Is is a great book and
will answer a bunch of questions you have.
Ask tons of questions here. You will get alot of helpful answers.
By the way, the book is on sale currently on this site.
Good luck.

 

[rookiefish]

someone had said that wet/dry filters arent the best? what should i have then? ive got 55 gallon soon moving to 75 gallon. any help on filter info would be great!!! :thinking:

 

[seasalt101]

i thought of 1 more thing alot of new people to this hobby will go to the local fish store known here as (lfs) and take the persons they talk to as gospel double check here to verify what you were told the people here are so much more knowledgable than the kid behind the counter even though the person can sound very convincing so beware of that again good luck tobin :happyfish

 

[masivemunkey]

If I was in your position I would go to your local fish store and ask the owner for some help. Maybe he could come over check things out and explain the basics. Your nitrates are really high so you need to do water changes, make sure you unplug the heaters that might go above the water because being out of water could crack them and also the filters so they don't burn out. Also when you measure the salinity make sure there are no bubbles on the gauge because that obviously ruins the measurement. I highly doubt your salinity is that high unless you've been topping off your tank with saltwater though.
Anyway, good luck!