what should I start with???

[pebbles]

:jumping: Hi, as you can tell I too am new to this. I started my tank 2-26-05 I have a 40 gal aquarium w/ about 33 lbs of live rock 30-40 lbs of live sand I have a skilter, 1 marine glo light 18000k & 1 daylight & rio 800 powerhead I've had my tank up and running since 2-27-05. The only problems I have are ph 7.8 (I added buffer) and nitrates 40ppm. Ammonia is 0.00 ppm & nitrite is 0.00. My brother (who has a 120 gal tank) talked me into adding 3 black & yellow chromis (when all my levels were normal) 1 of the fish died (it got picked on by the other 2 it lived 2 days I couldn't find the body even though we took the whole tank apart to move it) the ph went down before the fish died. the nitrates went up after it died I have tried to research nitrates & where it comes from & can't get a clear answer was it because of the dead fish??? anyways to the real question once I get my levels bake to normal. What should I put in my tank first & how long should I wait to add it or how do I know when my tanks ready for living things??? I'm not in a hugh hurry (unlike my brother oh took the chromis to his tank). I will tell you what I want in my tank. 2 clown fish, 1-2 anemones, 1 royal gramma, 1 blemmy or goby, 1 cleaner shrimp, 1 brittle star, crabs, snails, 1 yellow tang, leather coral, mushrooms, and polyps. Accept for the clowns I would like to get small fish etc... Sorry for the book but I figure if there's someone out there that can help me I might as well give you all my info. I would also like to say it's not that I havent read about this stuff I have 8 books that I have read on this subject but most of them cancel each other out and to be honest I"M OVER WELMED!!!!! & CONFUSED by all the info I've gotten. Any help I can get would be greatly appreciated. THANK YOU!!!
BTW everything I've read says the bigger the tanks the easier it is to care for I believe this 100% it makes since, I could only talk my husband into a 40 gal I wish now that I would have tried harder to convince him to let me get at least a 55 gal but then I would have needed a better filter system etc so I guess I'll deal with what I have.

 

[thomas712]

As things breakdown in the tank, food, waste, death, they become a source for ammonia, which quickly breaksdown into nitrItes, which inturn are broken down into nitrates, and then you are left with nitrAtes. A dead fish can certainly make this happen. Unless the books are really strange there really isn't much that can change the water cycle. Its always ammonia to nitrItes to nitrAtes, that just dosesn't change.
Anyone with a tank needs to have a way to export/remove the nitrates. One way is a simple water change using RO/Di water.
I'd suggest a water change to help bring those nitrates down.
Welcome to the board
Thomas

 

[antonio]

get a biological filter. u should start by getting damsels.know because of the cycle fish are going to die. for the first month damsels are cheap and are tollant to amonia.the fist month ur levels are going to go crazy its ok there going to do that. dont change ur water dont do anything let ur tank establish it self for the first month .as for polyps eanomes ect... u do not have proper lighting. remember dont buy anything faster than u can learn about it

 

[madness]

I'm new the SWF too, but one piece of advise I can give you is to not rush into buying fish. Do research on the fishs that you like and see what fishs are compatible with each other. Don't just get whatever fish you think looks pretty....RESEARCH: what do they eat, are they aggresive, are they reef safe, etc.
And ask these guy on this forum....they know their stuff! They helped me out a lot.