Hey everyone

[maximadriver]

Hi guys,

My name is John and I just started my first saltwater aquarium. Its a 20 gallon long and I've had it up and running for 2 weeks now. I put around 14 lbs of live rock in it, and so far there's two damsels and two hermit crabs living in it. I lost a four stripe damsel but it was really small and got stuck to a powerhead. I also have 7 freshwater aquariums scattered around the house, (a 125, two 55s, a 30, and three 10s) so i know a little about water chemistry and all that stuff. I just wanted to make sure I had some decent advice on what to do before i start to put some of the more serious stuff in my saltwater. This is my graduation present for high school since most of my other money goes to my FW tanks and my car.

Thanks

[cmor1701d]

Did you cycle the tank before adding the fish?
The damsel got stuck to a powerhead because it was dying, not because it was small.
We have some great artlcles about SW setup. You just need to take the time to read them. I had a fw tank for over 10 years before I started my SW tank. There's a world of difference between the two. Water chemistry conisists of so many more items. The similarities are partial water changes are good and tank stability is the key to healthy inhabitants.

You might want to start with New Tank Setup List and How to cycle your tank with out the use of fish. (those are links, just click on them to see the articles)

Tell us more about your tank setup. Are you running a wet/dry or cannister filter, or do you plan on running it just on LR and a protein skimmer?

Congratulations on your graduation and ....

[Zagz]

Welcome to AA!

[maximadriver]

Well i checked the nitrate and ammonia levels, along with other things i cant think of right now. it spiked then dropped to zero. The damsel did actually get stuck because I saw him get his head sucked into the little screen/cover on the bottom. I unplugged the PH and pulled the screen off and he kinda fell out and laid on the bottom. But oh well. Im running a wet cannister and live rock and i've been looking at protein skimmers but im not well informed on them so reading about those is on the to-do list. Thanks for the links they well really interesting. If you have any other advice for a SW noob then i would love to have it.

Thanks

[melosu58]

Welcome aboard. Read our articles on starting up.

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

Welcome to AA John. My name is Ben. Something cool to do if you have progessive type aquariums, like planted or saltwater aquariums. It's fun to make a log with photos in it. And everytime something happeneds or after awhile when stuff grows and such. Just post a new photo. Well hope you have fun here.

[roka64]

Welcome to the site!