ccblazer
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Hi, i am new to this forum and have been reading quite a few of your topics. I started a new saltwater tank approximately 2 months ago. The tank is a 35gal bow front, fairly tall at 31" but only 28" wide. i bought 40 lbs of live rock from a local aquarium store and loaded it into the tank. I drilled 2 back holes, one works as the return to the tank from my 10 gal. sump and the other sends the water down from my main tank. The sump has rubble rock and cheato, I have 2 small power heads aiming downward into the tank. There is a skimmer as well as a filter sock. About 3 weeks ago there was high nitrite and nitrates. About one week ago everything went to 0. Salt is middle of acceptable. There is brown algae growing on the rocks and sand.
It seemed to me the cycle had completed and i was ready to go. I started with a clean up crew. Several snails, 2 emerald crabs, several blue legged crabs and some tiny white shelled hermits.
I acclimatize by putting them in the top of the tank for a while, then opening the back and slowly adding my tank water until bags are mostly full. i use a net after that to transport them to their new home. 2nd day crabs were dead, snails dead as they hit the water, all but one blue legged crab dead, I also had 2 cleaner shrimps which died within a day.
so i cleaned out all the bodies and tried a different pet store. i bought a lawnmower blenny. it is still alive 4 days later. i then tried a tomato and black clown fish. This is the second day and the black fish is still swimming around and eating happily, but i found the tomato clown at the top of the tank almost gasping for air. now 6 hours later it is laying at the bottom of the tank dying. I am getting so upset with these results. It is like a death tank (that's what the wife calls it anyways). i thought i was being very patient.
Can someone help me out. what am i missing? Water not oxygenated enough?
Not enough water flow?
I have attached a picture of the tank..
It seemed to me the cycle had completed and i was ready to go. I started with a clean up crew. Several snails, 2 emerald crabs, several blue legged crabs and some tiny white shelled hermits.
I acclimatize by putting them in the top of the tank for a while, then opening the back and slowly adding my tank water until bags are mostly full. i use a net after that to transport them to their new home. 2nd day crabs were dead, snails dead as they hit the water, all but one blue legged crab dead, I also had 2 cleaner shrimps which died within a day.
so i cleaned out all the bodies and tried a different pet store. i bought a lawnmower blenny. it is still alive 4 days later. i then tried a tomato and black clown fish. This is the second day and the black fish is still swimming around and eating happily, but i found the tomato clown at the top of the tank almost gasping for air. now 6 hours later it is laying at the bottom of the tank dying. I am getting so upset with these results. It is like a death tank (that's what the wife calls it anyways). i thought i was being very patient.
Can someone help me out. what am i missing? Water not oxygenated enough?
Not enough water flow?
I have attached a picture of the tank..
