chocolatechip

hello there!!! I've been taking care of freshwater for 2 years now and recently bought saltwater, at first I put it in my fishies and live rocks at my 2 gallon tank, then after sometime, 1 of my fishies died, then came the starfish, then shrimp, then my butterflyfish, then my coral beauty. of course I felt guilty, because it's an hour of **** ride for me( I get carsick very very easily),an even though they're really very very cheap(in the philippines, you could buy saltwater pets for a very inexpensive price), and I'm a pet lover and I don't want mah fishies to die. here's some of my questions:
p.s:already move my fish to a 20 gallon tank

1.I have an anemone and sometimes my fish nips at it, is that okay?
2.my crab likes to hide at my anemone, and sometimes also nips at it that okay too?
3.what do I feed my invertebrates(especially oyster)?
4.if an anemone dies,does it releases a toxic substance that can kill other living thing in the aquarium,taking them with it into heaven?
5.oops!!! I got my finger stuck at my oyster and it hurts sooo bad, how do I remove my finger without hurting it?
6.how do I take care of my corals? is it okay to touch them sometimes?
7.how do i know if my live rock is cured?
8.what is a live sand?
9.how do I use test kits?
10.what to feed corals and saltwater fishies?(where to buy them too)
thanks so much!!!!

Salvatore

your finger got bit by the oyster!!!! lol that is funny!

sirdarksol

1) Possibly. Does it look like the fish is biting the anenome, or does it look like the fish is cleaning something off of it? If it's biting, that probably means they aren't getting enough food.
2) Again, possibly. Is the crab actually pinching the thing, or just picking stuff off?
3) Most inverts are mostly going to eat micro-flora and fauna growing in the tank. You can supplement their foods with micro-foods like phytoplankton suspension and marine snow. The crab and anenome will both eat bits of meaty food, especially bits of fish and shrimp.
4) Not that I have read, but they probably rot pretty quickly, and can dump
a ton of ammonia into the aquarium.
5) Other than "don't stick your finger in the oyster's shell," I have no idea.
6) They need a lot of light, and they need a tank with live rock. Some need certain nutrients in the water, too. And I wouldn't. There might be bacteria on your hands that can hurt the corals. Also, some corals have toxic stings.
7) Your aquarium will have 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite, with some amount of nitrate. Basically, curing live rock also cycles the tank.
8) Sand that has been colonized by living critters, much the same as live rock.
9) The instructions on the box. (Sorry I can't be more specific, but different kits work differently)
10) Whatever they need to eat. Different fish need different foods. If we know which fish, we can help you find the foods they need.

travie

You should have been researching and getting answers to all those questions before you even started to setup a saltwater tank. Your setup was very unlikely to succeed with the amount of livestock put into a 2g. Beginners should start out with a tank of at least 55g. SW tanks cannot be stocked even close to that of FW tanks. SW fish are way more delicate to water quality than FW fish.

My advice to all newcomers into the world of saltwater: You should start with reading one or both of these books before you even start thinking about buying equipment or setting up a tank: the new marine aquarium; Step-by-Step Setup and Stocking Guide, by Michael S. Paletta or The conscientious marine aquarist: A Commonsense Handbook for Successful Saltwater Hobbyists, by Bob Fenner are about the best two books to buy on how to setup and maintain saltwater tanks. They will teach you a lot.

chocolatechip

but, but dad bought it!! I did'nt!! I just returned home one day, and he suprised me with a brand new SW tank! and I can't afford to buy larger gallons of aquarium but I have a 30 gallon tank. but thanks for the info! It could help me in keeping my fishies alive while I'm saving money to buy a protein skimmer, saltwater test kits, fish aid kits, and more designs for my Sw tank!!!

p.s:sirdarksol, thanks for the info!!!! I've just found out that they dont nip on the corals(fish and inverts) they just nip at something something sticking into the corals.

nemo addict

addding to a point i see on your info you have a butterfly fish in a 10 gallon tank what buterfly fish is this as most ov them grow between 8 -12 inch in length and this really needs to be rehomed or returned to the LFS and it also says SG salinty you dont know what this is i suggest you learn very quick as this this the salt content in your tank and if its to high or low you will kill your fish and inverts prob inverts first ,,,
if i was you i would find a sw guide http://www.fishlore.com/SaltwaterBeginners.htm and read then a fish guide http://www.fishlore.com/saltwaterfish.htm and read ,,,

chocolatechip

ehehe....I was thinking of moving my reef tank again into a large aquarium,is 20 gallons okay enough for 3 clown fish,1 butterfly, and 1 anemone crab? with lots of corals and live rocks.

nemo addict

for a butterfly fish the smallest tank it should be in is more like 60-100 gallon s

travie

You should read up a lot and learn as much as you can as quickly as you can to make everything healthy and right for your current fish.

chocolatechip

okay.......uhm so here's another question, I have already bought a test kit,then if all of my readings have bad signs on them,what should I do to lower them?

travie

A water change should lower all the readings from the tests to some degree. You will probably need to do every other day water changes till your tank fully cycles.

nemo addict

NO water changes should be performed or ammonia destroying products of any kind be added WHILE THE TANK IS CYCLING, as this only delays and drags out the completion of the process,,

travie

What if there is livestock in the tank? Which there is unless there have been changes that haven't been posted.

nemo addict

thats why you shouldnt cycle a tank with live stock,,, when people do cycle a tank with live stock they normally use chromis which are very hardy fish and with stand bad conditions and this is why people loose fish ,, when you read through forums and see HELP my fish are dying im a newb then you normally see there tank is cycling and it has killed there fish ,,,

travie

nemo addict, chocolatechip did or still doesn't know about cycling a tank when this tank was setup. Chocolatechip still has live stock in the tank that hasn't died from the tank cycling (assuming they are still alive today), so frequent water changes should be made during the cycling when livestock is present to keep the fish alive(unless dead or taken back to the LFS).

You are right that no water changes should be made during a cycle if no livestock is present, but this isn't the case this time.

nemo addict

fish are more likely to survive a short spike in ammonia, but this is a lesson lernt ,
if you buy a animal you should make sure that you can provide a good enviroment for there living conditions ,, like buying a mastif when you have a small apartment yeah there cute as pups but then they grow to be around 10 stone in weight ,,
This tank is a disaster and really not thought out as theres a butterfly 3 clowns and a seahorse in a 10 gallon tank
point 1 tank is to small for all the fish espically the butterfly (cant stress this enough)
point 2 the sea horse aint going to last long as they dont compete for food and best kept as species only or will starve
point 3 no reasearch has been done as they have kept tropicals for 2 years you would expect some knowledge of research of mixing fish
i dont mean to be harsh but this is total bad begining and a very disastrous ending

Angela_96

In the 20g you def need to rehome the butterfly fish, I would consider rehoming one of the clownfish as well. 3 seems to be alot to me for a 20g. Of coarse I have a 14g nano and I am being conservitive stocking, mine has been set up almost 2 months and I haven't even added fish yet, my coraline algae has took off, I have had a hair algae problem (I am sure you will be familar w/ hair algae as well soon) but I now have a healthy cleanup crew, a beautiful clam, and some pretty zooanathoid corals (sp) in my tank. I might get my first fish in a couple weeks if even put one in it, I love the inverts (corals, snails, shrimp, crabs, etc much more!) Of coarse we are going to go salty w/ our 36 soon...

Its a big learning experience, research!! Do a lot of research.

nemo addict

stevenangela1 see if you can get a emerald crab on loan from a lfs as these will cure your hair algae but once clear return or pass on as they will eat fish and inverts if not fed well

nemo addict

Well before this turns in to a big debate i would sugguest that all live stock is returned to lfs or a friends cycled tank and large enough ,, and then cycle the tank and then while tank is cycling research live stock to put in tank and gain knowledge of keeping sw fish ,,,,

Angela_96

I am going to get one Friday, what I am scared of though is my shrimpy shed his exoskelton today and he is vulnerable (sp) so I am stumped on ading anything that could hurt him. I fouind him hiding in the corner after I found his clear skelton while I was cleaning the tank. If I knew he would be okay during that stage w/ an emerald crab I would put one in Friday no prob.

chocolatechip

thank you all for your help!!! hope this my dad a BIG LESSON on how to keep SW tanks,all of my fishies died today,except for the inverst and corals,so I'm going to cycle my tank first before buying anything.(I have been researching for fishies that I can keep,thanks for this web you guys,and found fishies that can be kept at a 10gallon tank.) LESSON LEARNED FOR ME!!!

sirdarksol

Sorry to hear about the fish.
Glad you've been doing your research and I hope your dad checks with you before buying anything else.

Angela_96

That is one thing about fishkeeping it is trial and error and a lot of research. Luckily my trial and error and learning the cycle was w/ cheap fw fish and not sw. We all have to learn if we are keeping fish, and going to be good fishkeepers and you are learning which is wonderful! I comend you on that! I had to learn the same as you! I won't say what all I tried to stuff into a 10g tank when I didn't know any better, nor didn't know about the "cycle". I feel so sorry about those poor creatures now!

nemo addict

Well sorry for the lose of the fish but it was a sure thing to end up this way and now maybe you can tell your dad that this will keep happening until he learns how to care for these creatures and not kill them glad to see you learnt a lesson and hope you continue humanly

chocolatechip

whew.....It was sad for them to die....hopefully I bought some items from Sera and API that can help me in taking care of fishies more.Thanks guys!!!!