Everything is dying, help me please ...

Glad you found another lfs. But still, don't drop your guard with the new lfs people :) They can be helpful, but go in there with some knowledge of what you're looking for and don't blindly trust them. I trust my lfs with their knowledge, but they did convince me to buy "live sand" which was unnecessary, but had I done research, I could've saved $10. But it's ok because other than that, they've been awesome. So just do lots of research online so you can hopefully catch a sales pitch :)
 
wontonflip said:
Glad you found another lfs. But still, don't drop your guard with the new lfs people :) They can be helpful, but go in there with some knowledge of what you're looking for and don't blindly trust them. I trust my lfs with their knowledge, but they did convince me to buy "live sand" which was unnecessary, but had I done research, I could've saved $10. But it's ok because other than that, they've been awesome. So just do lots of research online so you can hopefully catch a sales pitch :)
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thats affirmative. hear ya
 
Fellers, one thing you might want to do is go grab a book at the library and read up a bunch. There's a lot of stuff (some of it contradictory) out there on the hobby and with a strong knowledge base behind you, it should really help. That, along with the awesome advice on this forum, has really kept me going successfully the last 7 months in the hobby. Take a month just getting your water stable, maybe a few snails for clean up, and let the live rock develop. Time is your friend in the hobby.

Hope that helps, don't hesitate to ask questions, we've all been there.
Alex
 
Do i turn my tank light off? also where can I get a better hood lighting for my 20 gallon tank? Not to expensive. Eventually i am going to a 95 gallon tank installed as part of my basement bar. Then i will break the bank for lighting. but 2 lights like t5 or something?
 
Saltwater is much different than fresh water, you cannot just dump water in and a bunch of animals. The best advice i have for you at this time is not to put anything else live in your system at this time. You will need a good book to follow that will give you the basics, or, you can visit our articles forum at the top and there you will find some articles that will explain a lot of the procedures, equipment, and how to go about setting up and maintaining a saltwater tank, we here can help answer any questions you may have and help with any confusion you may experience however, you will need to do some of the research 1st to become more familiar with a saltwater system. Post any questions you may have and im sure you will get lots of help, but, start at the beginning, tank, water, filtration, rock, substrait and get the system operating with a maintenance program before adding anything else. Hope something here helps, keep us posted on your progress.
 
Lights should only be on around 8 hours/day...in the real ocean, the sun does go down LOL Plus you're asking for algae problems if you keep it on too long. I like to enjoy my tank, so I have my lights on a timer and scheduled to be on when I'm most likely to be in the basement -- which is noon until 8 or so. It's dark down there, so I can get away with an odd schedule.
 
messiah023 said:
PS....."hood lighting" won't support your sebae.
Good luck.
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well do you have a link to a fairly inexpensive light for a 20 gallon
I have a 400 watt metal halide with a reflective hood and balance,
But the bulb gets wicked hot and water touching it could be bad when it is heated up
 
IMO probably the best thing to do now is to make sure your salt level is good and to wait it out. Take the nem back to the store or give it to someone with a mature tank. It will probably die if it remains in your tank. If something dies take it out ASAP but don't add more livestock. Take a time-out! Wait 3-6 weeks, the longer the better, test everything and start VERY SLOWLY. One living thing a month. Good luck.
 
This morning is much better after doing 90% water change last night. Everything is now flourishing. Two damsels are very active and happy. Added more live rock and found 2 emerald looking crabs but only dark gray. The salinity is betwee. 1.021and1.022. I am going to take 2 gallons out and add a higher solution of salt water to get it at 1.023 to 1.024. guess I should not have put the damsels in but A FRIEND GAVE THEM TO ME TO PUT IN AFTER THE CHANGE AND ACCLIMATED.Oops, sorry for caps. But they are eating and really doing good. going to check all my levels and will report back in an hour.
 
you should not have any animals in there while it is cycling. you run the chance of everything dieing in the tank. the levels you are at can be fatel to the animals. inverts are more sensitinve than the fish usually. but sometimes survive.
 
+1 Daugherty. You really need to get that nem out. It will die. I guarantee it. By the time you realize it, it will be too late. When they start looking sick, they break apart which makes it impossible to remove them. The thousands of little bits of nem are all toxic and it will cause your tank to crash. Get it out and into a mature tank either with a local reefer or LFS. Once you have a mature tank, the proper lighting, and a little better knowledge of the hobby, you can always go get another nem.
 
We all make mistakes, but the fact that you learned from yours and don't plan to repeat them, makes you wise and your wisdom is likely to lead to success in this hobby.
 
fellers said:
the guy at lfs mixed the water and told me it was ready to go. I think time to change shops. seems he wanted sales only. He told me the Mandarin is simple to take care of lives well with anemones and is very hardy. hmmmm
how do I test the minerals like you said? What do I need?
I seen the drip acclimation and will do that nextph is 8.1 according to my pool strips
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sad to hear about your mandrin, that guy is a looney if hes saying mandrins are easy and hardy!! if they arent FAT they arent a good one, usually they are on their way to fish heaven... I had a mandrin who lasted about 3 months with my vast amounts of copes but he ended up dying from some unknown cause to me or the LFS... I have been looking for another lil fatty :) they are really cool... but i'd suggest not gettin another until you have a stable population of copes... i had that plus raised em. see if your LFS sells them by the jar and start raising em yourself
 

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