some one please help

[nanci]

For Xmas I got a hexagon shaped tank of which I have made it a salt water. I am having toruble with fish getting their gils burnt by the amonia level rising. I repeatedly am going back and forth with water samples to the pet store lady (who is very experienced with salt and fresh water) and have followed every one of her directions. From dupming in stuff that she has given me to doing partial water changes. So far I have lost a $42 fish a puffer and now our trigger we have taken back for him to sit in her tank to see if he makes it cause he started to act like the others before they died. I also have another tank that is I think 65 or 75 gallons rectangle shaped. I have 2 tangs 5 different damels and a wrasse in this tank not to mention the crabs.I am having no trouble witht his tank at all. Any suggestions will be helpful! Thanks Nanci

 

[ocellaris_keeper]

Slow down a bit. You are trying to run before your tank is ready. A salt water tank is not just salted water. It has to cycle before you really can put those kinds of fish in it.
I am not happy with your pet store if they are selling you puffers and tangs when you told them you got the tank for Christmas. Tang and puffers don't like a new tank. Your tank needs to stabilize (PH, Ammonia, Nitrite).
This is called the nitrogen cycle - your biofilter is developing and tang/puffers will ALWAYS die in these condictions. Try a pair of percula clown fish, they're alot hardier.

 

[nanci]

I dont remember what the stuff was called it was clear and it was to stop the amonia. Like a neutralizer or something. When we got it we pput the sand in put in reg water did this three times waiting a few days between then put in the salt water with hemir crabs left them for about week and a half or so then put in damsels for a week them the one fish he was a hipo something or toher i dont remember his actual name put i think he was witht he tang family. My yellow tangs are dong fine int he other bigger tank. its just the one hex tank where i am having trouble. Mostly with the amonia level

 

[fish boy]

i think you should start over and cycle the tank

 

[michaeltx]

could the clear liquid be amonialoc?
I have been told to use it by some people when I was just starting a sw tank but I ask some people on the boards and decided not to use it but the tank go through it natural cycle and not interfer.. its the ultimate challange though LOL
do you have any SW test kits if not thats what I would buy instead of any other fish and test your water the amonia and nitrates will fall off as the cycle comes to an end.
as far as the LFS she may or may not have good intentions but I found that most around here are goos just really stuck in the past I have worked with one of them here in town and he has started doing more and more research and has changed alot of his recomendations to people when setting up tanks..
ie.. he now recomends a DSB instead of CC and the use of uncured lR instead of a damsel..
I have notice that a lot of people are down on a LFS that recomends stuff that arent the trend . some like the one here are were stuck in the past with a little bit of talking he has starting listening and chagning the way he runs things at his buisness. so a little bit of time trying sometimes pays off..
sorry so long but need to say it.
thanks
Michael
P.S Hope that everything works out on your tank..

 

[fshhub]

you could not have cycled before adding those fish, not completely anyway
and all those fish should nto be added yet anyway, they are surely doomed, stocking a tank that fast(especially b4 cycling is done), you must cycle, without chemical additives, you must cycle without water changes(do them after the cycle), and cycling means that your ammonia will go through the roof and fall by itself, as will the nitrites and nitrates

 

[fshhub]

oh yeah, welcome aboard, and
as for the lfs, how do you know she knows all? does it all sound good??? or do you have experience with what she has been telling you (in salt water not cats and dogs or fresh water too, but sw only)many lfs can make sewage sound good, especially if they believe it themselves, this does not mean it is right, trust me, i have d$^@* good experience with lfs's and their sales vs actual knowledge statistics, and i will trust none of them, they have to prove to me that they know what they are saying to me, without it always pointing to a product on the shelf, trust in this fact if none other, stores are a business, this does not mean they know what they are selling, my one lfs(the one i will buy fish off) has been here for 30- years and teh other(i will not spit at) has been here for 30+ years and even the good one and i disagree, but his systems do work jsut not as cheaply, the other owner, could sell yellow ice cubes to polar bears but he doesn't know his nose form a hole in the ground, and that is NOT IMO since he will argue with me saying that there is no such thing as a flase percula clown(you do the math, does he know everyhting or not, he is just a good salesman)
AND do NOT look at their tanks to decide that they are good, if they are spotless, then there is a prob, because sw should and will have algae, and anyone can keep fish a couple of days
all i am saying, is if you do not know for a fact that they are good at keeping sw fish alive(for years, not months), don't trust them blindly

 

[matrix]

how long does it take to properly cycle a new tank? i have a new 75 gal with nothing in it yet but air! setting it up as soon as i order from bigalsonline, is the magnum 350 pro series filter a good choice? i have to many questions to type them all! any help would be appreciated, i want to do my aquarium and the animals that will live in it the right way!!

 

[fshhub]

matrix,
cycling can take anytime up to 6 months, although i have never seen it, soem people say theirs has, if you are using lr and ls, and yu buy local and well cured lr, and use ls, it can often be done in days(5-20), but each tank is much different, the best way is to cycle with your lr and ls and not fish, and do no water changes(until it is done) and add no suppliments to reduce your ammonia, let it ride, the only time you do a water chane in a cycle, is if you are using uncured lr(but this is actually curing too)
did you get any equipment yet, other than your tank??
if not look at a good skimmer and powerheads, forget the magnum, but if you already own it, it can still be used
and what are you ordering form big als?? i hope only dry goods at this point, no livestock, you are not ready for any and won't be for a couple of weeks(minimum)

 

[matrix]

i will get ls and lr from a good store in town, they only do saltwater setups, i was ordering filter, heater, powerhead, hydrometer from bigal tomorrow, i would get fish later from same store i got tank and stand.....they wanted me to use emperor 400 but i was told a canister was better like magnum350....

 

[fshhub]

as far as the filter, the magnum is a better filter, and the emporeer is almost as good, but trust me you don't need them,
i have a 75 and used to use and emporer, adn lovd it, no complaits, but a good dsb and lr with good movement with a good skimmer si more than you will ever need, and the canisters can be a nitrate problem, where as the method i keep mentioning will not, i now run my emporer only for circulation, no wheels or filters int ehre at all, it was hard to convince me, but since i removed them, my nitrates have gottnen much better

 

[dmaister]

fhshub,
What about trickle filters? I'm also just starting (about 4 weeks now). I'm starting a little small to see if I can handle it. A 30g long. I've got about 30# LS and about 25# LR now. I let it cycle for a week before adding damsels to help it cycle more (another LFS suggestion). I've currently got an AquaClear 300 with sponge, carbon and ammonia filters and a powerhead.
I've been testing the water, and have not noticed any major spikes in ammonia or nitrite, but do see a rise in nitrates, so I think the tank is cycling correctly.
Will a 20% water change and disturbing the sand bed cause the tank to cycle again?
If I find I can handle the 30, I may move up later to a 75 with better equipment.

 

[fshhub]

do not change the water, it will only if anything set you back
and if you have a dsb, NEVER stir it
and as for the wet dry, using a dsb and lr is much more effective, trickles(or wet dry's) can be anitrate problem as well, if you are going with a fish only a wet dry could work, but IMO is a waste of money, an dfar overpriced, i like the sand adn lr with a skimmer and a couple of powerheads, in a 75, the cost would be near the same adn more efficient and would provide food for you fish, color for the tank and shelter
i had tried a ugf, cc , a dsb, adsb with lr, and everything(i can think of) except the wet dry and would not do anything other than what i have mentioned here(if i had to start all over again, knowing what i do now), the only thing i would buy a wet dry for is the sump, but you can make one just as easy and for alot les money