NEW TO THE SALTWATER HOBBY

[scootywoot]

Greetings. My girlfriend and I decided to start a saltwater tank and I think its safe to say "WE DONT KNOW JACK!" Its been up for about 2 months now. Its a 29 gal with 3 inches of live sand and 50 lbs of live rock. We had it cycling for 2 weeks with the sand and then added the live rock. After the rock had been in for 3 weeks we added 3 damsels. They all are in fish heaven now. The water levels were fine so i dont understand what happened to them. Since then I have added 2 percula clowns. One of of which suddenly died after getting wedged into an opening in one of the rocks. I didnt witness it. My girlfriend swears he was fine and then she noticed him stuck there minutes later. Is that even possible? Right now I am treating my water to what I believe to be ich.The remaining clown has a fuzzy white thingamajig near its mouth. Im folowing the advice of the pet store guy but honestly he seems like an idiot....but he's gotta be more knowlegable than me. (SO I THINK) We have feathers growing all over the place and some orange looking stuff growing on the rocks. Also there are some hermits, a sally lightfoot and a snail in there. Any advice?

 

[scootywoot]

 

[swisswiss]

I'm new myself to this world but what I'm guessing is you rushed things a little, as far as i know (and i don't know that much) when you put live rocks, especially if you put alot at once there are peeks of ammonia this is what might have killed your fish if the live rocks had not finished cycling yet, 3 weeks is a little short I'm guessing for adding fish should let the tank cycle longer. golden rule is patience in this hobby.
The pet shop keeper does not have your interest in mind rather the fattening of his wallet, research as much as you can on your own or ask a friend who has had a saltwater tank to help you out.
I myself am in the process of cycling my tank just added sand today, gonna let it run for a solid month, month and a half before even thinking of getting some animals.
anyway good luck to you and welcome to the forums

 

[scootywoot]

Thanks for the advice Swizzy. Im begining to realize the importance of patience. Besides who has money to throw away nowadays

 

[swisswiss]

yep and saltwater is expensive!
whats your set up? as in what do you use as a filtering system, protain skimmer etc. do you have a sump?

 

[siptang]

Pictures look very nice.
Both fish and girlfriend lol.
It might be the short cycling of beneficial bacteria level or the short cycling of live rock like swis stated above me.
In this hobby, patience is a virtue and you will benefit alot from it.
Clownfish lip thing is common amongst clownfish and it should be treat it. (sooner the better. I lost a saddle back clown to this)
Please head over to illness section and they should be able to help you out better then I can. I just used anti bacterial medication and it worked for me for my maroon but I forgot what I used... Welcome to the forum!

 

[scootywoot]

Well, as you know I a newbie so i assumed the people at ***** knew what they were talking about. I got a filter from there. Im not sure what kind but theres a picture of the box in my photo album. Its a 29 gal so I figured I didnt need a sump, besides I was intimidated by all the extra stuff it required. I bought a cheap oceanic protein skimmer from there as well. I didnt know the difference but its been working so far. Its collecting greenish stuff that Im sure is better off in there, than in my tank. I only have one powerhead in there so far. It seems to moving the water pretty good. Since I have added the fungus medicine in the water for the pecula clown, its beginning to clear up a little.

 

[scootywoot]

IM not familiar with the terminologies either. After awhile nitrates, RO water, amonia, PH, salinity, amphipods, phytoplankton blah blah blah.....Ive been doing some reading though. Its just a little overwhelming. They need a "saltwater tanks for dummies" guide

 

[1guydude]

they have one! lol

 

[tangs rule]

Quote:
Originally Posted by scootywoot http:///forum/thread/386631/new-to-the-saltwater-hobby#post_3397126
IM not familiar with the terminologies either. After awhile nitrates, RO water, amonia, PH, salinity, amphipods, phytoplankton blah blah blah.....Ive been doing some reading though. Its just a little overwhelming. They need a "saltwater tanks for dummies" guide
It came out 10 years ago, and was one of the 6 or so books I got to research this hobby before I spent the thousands it took to set up my first reef - a 90g wavefront tank.

 

[1guydude]

SEE LOL
im sure its a little out dated now however.....theres some good books out their though! Try Boarders books! in the animal section....books about saltwater tanks!

 

[java1]

MY NAME IS PABLO, AND I LIKE TO TOUCH SHEEP