First time in saltwater

Bigdaddy05 · Mar 20, 2020

Are there any saltwater keepers in wny? After 20 years dreaming took the leap and in the first week with corals and fish lost over half! Running a 20gal long with 165watt viparspectra light and a canister filter

Leadfooted · Mar 20, 2020

Welcome to R2R! how long have you had your system running and have you tested the key parameters?

Bigdaddy05 · Mar 20, 2020

Leadfooted said:
Welcome to R2R! how long have you had your system running and have you tested the key parameters?

Roughly a month started with live sand live rock and life shape rock just using a basic hydrometer and test strips for salt water I think the first casualty was due to my wife putting a cooked shrimp in for the hermit crabs the closet saltwater places are an hour and a half away I have 25 freshwater tanks but this is nothing like that

esther · Mar 20, 2020

Welcome! What are your tank parameters? Have you tested at all?

Bigdaddy05 · Mar 20, 2020

esther said:
Welcome! What are your tank parameters? Have you tested at all?

With the basic test strips everything looks good I think it's mistakes are more lethal in salt then fresh and having no one close to compare or share is a problem no matter how much I read I'm a hands on person

Scotty Buttons · Mar 20, 2020

Where is or what is wny? Sorry.. welcome to the forum.

lapin · Mar 20, 2020

+1 above Test and report and we can help you
Howdy
1) Your tank is too new for much livestock. Saltwater tanks take longer to develop a good ecosystem than fresh

Bigdaddy05 · Mar 20, 2020

Scotty Buttons said:
Where is or what is wny? Sorry.. welcome to the forum.

Western New York

Bigdaddy05 · Mar 20, 2020

Bigdaddy05 said:
Western New York

Chautauqua county

Scotty Buttons · Mar 20, 2020

Oh gotcha.. I lived in Binghamton years ago for a little while, but that's ancient history. You can get allot of help on these forums, and im sure you can find some local reefers on here that would be willing to help you also. Good luck

Bigdaddy05 · Mar 20, 2020

lapin said:
+1 above Test
Howdy
Your tank is too new for much livestock.

I learned the hard way not to take advice from just anyone that's how I lost a hippo Tang goby shrimp hammer Coral chalice Monti mushrooms and an acro all that's left is zoas live rock and 2 clown fish with hermits and a peppermint shrimp

vetteguy53081 · Mar 20, 2020

Bigdaddy05 · Mar 20, 2020

Scotty Buttons said:
Oh gotcha.. I lived in Binghamton years ago for a little while, but that's ancient history. You can get allot of help on these forums, and im sure you can find some local reefers on here that would be willing to help you also. Good luck

I'm hoping there's some ppl near me

Bigdaddy05 · Mar 20, 2020

vetteguy53081 said:

Thank you

lapin · Mar 20, 2020

Can you let us know the way in which the tank was cycled and any QT procedures?

Bigdaddy05 · Mar 20, 2020

lapin said:
Can you let us know the way in which the tank was cycled and any QT procedures?

Live sand live rock and inverts per the lfs instructions for a few weeks til diatoms appeared then the clowns all corals dipped in Coral defense there's a 5 gallon with hob filter to hold things as well

lapin · Mar 20, 2020

Do you how did the fish died? Spots? Ammonia? A guess?

Bigdaddy05 · Mar 20, 2020

lapin said:
Do you how did the fish died? Spots? Ammonia? A guess?

I think ammonia the Tang was dead and the clowns color was off and they were breathing fast but I saved them by moving them to the 5gal til I got the tank right this all happened after my wife added the shrimp