Very new and very inexperienced

[newtomarine]

Hello. My name is Brandie and I am very new to salt water aquariums and frankly, I'm not doing very well at it. I've had a freshwater for a little over a year and it is running very well. I have a very aggressive parrot fish who thinks she needs to run the whole tank, but I've paired her with some fish that don't take any crap from her.
So, I started a salt water tank about 3 months ago. I let it run for a little over a month before putting anything into it. I want to run a good tank, but everything keeps dying. I've put a clownfish, some damsels, a blenny, a dragonet, a cardinal fish, and a horseshoe crab in. Everything has died except 1 damsel, the blenny, and the crab. I check nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, ph, alkalinity all the time and everything looks good. Salt level is good, temp is good. I just don't know what to do. So, I've turned to you guys. Please, if you respond, talk in laymans terms. I've very new and I don't get all the abbreviations quite yet. Thank you.

[roka64]

WELCOME TO AA!!!!

Have you properly cycled the tank?
Do you have a test kit? If so, what are your parameters (good doesn't always mean safe)?
That parrot needs a minimum of a 50G tank, so that might have caused the agression.
That horse shoe crab will get about as big as a football.
You also have to take into account adding too many fish at once will not let your tank's beneficial bacteria catch up to the new bioload.
Just hang in there and will get you up and running.

[Zagz]

Welcome to AA! Glad to have you here.

[newtomarine]

Yeah, I know I need to upgrade to a bigger tank for my parrot and I will.
As for the parameters of the SW tank, I didn't write them down so I can't give them to you. Next check I will let you know. I was not aware of how big the crab would get. Holy cow!! He's really cool to watch. He gets so confused sometimes though. I didnt' add all of those fish that I listed all at once. The first fish I added were the clown fish, the horseshoe crab, and one damsel. They all did well except the clownfish. He died after 3 days. About a week and a half later I added the other 2 damsels, the dragonet, the blenny, and the cardinal. Yeah, that might have been a little too much to add at once, and I learned my lesson.
I'm not sure what you mean by cycling my tank??? I've been reading a lot on here about skimmers and specific lighting. It's all a little overwhelming. I wish someone could just tell me exactly what I need and I would go buy it and all would be well. I know that that can't be done, but it's my dream.

[Devilishturtles]

Hi newtomarine, welcome to AA

If I were you, I'd start a new thread in the Saltwater and Reef-Getting Started Forum. Not everybody visits these forums daily, and posting there will get you a lot better access to your questions

As for cycling, that is in reference to the nitrogen cycle, which keeps things balanced and is very important in keeping animals alive. Some water test results (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, alk, and Specific Gravity) will help a lot.

Post these in a new thread and we'll get you back on your feet in no time.

[rich311k]

Welcome to AA!!!

[roka64]

I agree with Lindsay, hop on over to the SW Getting Started section and we will be more than happy to help.

[melosu58]

Welcome to AA

[drobertson]

Hello, and Welcome to AA!!!!!!!