apparently a green thumb for fresh doent help with sw (help me!!)

[speiatheta]

i have a 30 gallon sw tank. i bought it used and it has now been running for about 4 months if you can call it that. i can not keep anything alive for more than a week! (very upsetting) damsels or false clowns.

i have an
ac50 w/carbon
visi-jet protein skimmer (rarely produces any foam no matter how much i tinker with it)
1.5-2" argonite sand
1 piece 2lb aquacultured live rock
a few decorations

specific gravity 1.022(marineland instant ocean hydrometer)
nitrate 15ppm
nitrite 0ppm
ammonia 0 ppm
ph 8.0

2 blue legged hermit crabs (been doing fine since the begining)
1 horseshoe crab (had for about 2 months, doing fine with supplemental mysis shimp feeding)

i get a damsel or false clown and he gets aclimated in, is fine swimmin around for a week or so then dies. i check the parameters and every thing seems fine on the charts. i do a 20% water change and try again.

i dont understand why these inverts would be doing fine with fish doing so poorly

i am planing on live rock this summer and have a refugium built that needs to be hooked up (15 gal refugium diy w/diy overflow)

whats going on!

[blue_eyes53813]

Could be one of many of reasons.
1. Good oxygen exchange in the tank. Make sure there is a space at the top of water and glass tops. Needs water movement at the top.
2.Preditor in the rocks . Mantis possibly?
3. Bad livestock from the beginnning. LFS may be getting sick shipments in.
4.Has the tank cycled?
5.Whats the temp of the tank? And is it stable
6 Could any chemicals be in the home and be added with water changes? And how do you mix the water for water changes.
7 stray current through the tank with a faulty heater or equipment.?
8. Are the fish breathing heavy or do they act normal before passing?

[speiatheta]

1.there is currently no lid, because the brackets for my light doenst allow one
2.not sure how to check for a mantis shrimp
3. who knows, hope not but it is a possiblity
4. the tank already spiked once and returned to normal levels (i take that as a sign of cycling
5. 76 degree's constant temp
6. i fill the bucket use the apropriate amount of prime mix the salt until disolved check the specific gravity then slowly add to the tank (i poor on to my hand as to not disturb the substrate
7.if there was stray current would it take a week or so to kill something (would it not effect the crabs?
8.they seem to be breathing normally to slighty heavy at times.

[reefjitsu]

Is the 2lbs of LR and skimmer your only filter? If so, you definately need something more.

Also, I would try to trade the horseshoe crab back to the store. They get waaay bigger than a 30 gallon tank can handle. They are tough critters, but it probably will not live a long life in there, certainly not a full lifespan.

[ghostwolf]

Speiatheta, a couple of questions to add to the ones from BlueEyes:

1. what is the specific gravity you are maintaining & is change water mixed to that specification

2. how long do you allow the water/salt to mature, are you heating to tank temp and keeping agitated

3. are you washing your hands prior to putting in to the tank or wear gloves

4. are you using any additives and if so, what & how much

Lin

[sasquatch]

Wow that stinks! so lets run threw the possibilities, how old are your test kits? (and are they marine or fresh?), your swing arm hydrometer could be way way off, take a sample to the lfs for second reading, better yet get a refractometer. What exactly are these "decorations" and I guess get your next fish someplace else, good luck and karma. Steve

[DaveK]

You have a lot of things that you are not doing correctly, especially in regards to equipment.

As the title of your post points out, knowing all about FW systems, doesn't help much with SW systems. It's a completely different ballpark.

The first and immediate thing you want to do is to go out get yourself several good books on state of the art SW reef aquarium systems. Once you read and understand them, you'll have an idea about what this is all about, and what you are trying to do.

Here are a couple of good books to start with -
The New Marine Aquarium by Michael Paletta
The Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Robert Fenner

Now the advice and information the others gave you is all good solid stuff, but unless you have some good background it's unlikely you'll really correct all your problems.

Good luck!

[speiatheta]

thanks for the replys. i have read a couple books concerning marine tanks and i believe i have a decent handle on the basics.

the decorations are replica corals from dr foster smith.
the ac 50 is a power filter HOB with mech/chem/bio filtration
i have had my water checked by stores before and one store showed me a comparison between the instant ocean and their refractometer and it was very close so i believe that my new one should be fairly accurate.

i run the water change water from the tap at aproximatly the right temp (within a degree) the water sit about an hour before i start adding it to the tank. (no agitation)

i have used some iodine, calcium and trace elements by their bottles directions (kent)
i do rinse my hands before puting them in the aquairum (no soap)

[sasquatch]

Ok! are you using a dechlorinator, most tap water will kill fish.

[sasquatch]

Water change method?
Heres a link for water change procedure.Steve

[speiatheta]

yeah i use prime as a declorinator.

my local water has been tested by multiple stores and they found it to be fine to use.

[DaBird]

is there any way to get a report from your water co. and check it for flouride, flouride is something that will kill fish if you use it. RO/DI water is the only way to insure that it's not an aditive or bad trace element thats causing the prob. My sugestion would be to run carbon, Poly filter and phosphate remover...at least to start..good luch and keep us info'd...Danny

[Dentoid]

66-70% of all United States residents have Fluoride in their public drinking water to the tune of about 0.7-1.2ppm. If you live in a populated area and are using public water, you can be assured that there is fluoride in the tap water. Furthermore, I believe the same chemical that binds with chlorine to render it safe, also does it for fluoride, but not 100% sure. There are many people that use tap water for their aquariums without specifically removing the fluoride, that do not have any problems.

[speiatheta]

ill be sure to keep you guys posted on the progress. for now im going to take a break until i get moved in the next few weeks that way i dont have to plan on moving the fish. also when i get moved ill have my refugium set up and it will be summer so i will be working and can afford a decent skimmer and some live rock

i plan to cure for a month in a unused 45 gal that i have. do i just need areation or does it need filtration and light?

i plan on ordering it off of ebay because the price is $2.25lb
anyone had any experience with this?

[lcstorc]

I've never ordered rock from e-bay, but I would be very careful. Often rock comes in with many undesirable creatures even when ordering from an established reputable dealer. The rock doesn't need light while it is curing, but I would put a power head in and rinse the rock a number of times during the process. I don't think you need much aeration since many people cure their rock in garbage cans or the bathtub. Examine the rock very carefully and be ready to remove any unwanted critters.