New to the hobbie

[NorthDakotaRose]

Hello, I sure hope it doesn’t run me that much…well I started the tank with water and salt. Tap water since nobody told me not too. We might have better water as we’re in the country and have rural water. You don’t smell the chlorine in our water like in town.
At the 24 hour mark they had me add 20lbs live sand.
After two days my salinity went up to 1.032 they had me add about 15 lbs. dead rock.
It was fine then dropped to 1.019, I called the pet store and they said to take one gallon of water out. Make a gallon of water with double the amount of salt and add it to the tank.
It stayed low for 24 hours and then went up to 1.028 and stayed there for 48 hours. The pet store then had me come and get 5 lbs. of live rock, which then dropped the tank this time I made the water and only topped off the tank.
I’ve dropped $500 into this and would like to make it some kind of saltwater tank. Even if we only have a couple fish. I think she will be happy.
As of right now my salinity is at 1.021…I’m so frustrated with it! I’m hoping that once the new meter arrives I find that it was the cheap hydrometer they sold me that was causing the issues.

 

[Martini5788]

I am sorry the fish store screwed you over like that. What kind of equipment do you have for the tank currently? That will help everyone to know what the tank is capable of, as far as corals and maintenance. As far as stocking goes, 4 fish will most likely take a large amount of frequent water changes to maintain water quality. The most that I would put in that tank long term is a pair of clowns and possibly a royal gramma and a cleaner shrimp.
I'm glad that you
Invested in a redractometer, but be sure to also get calibration fluid to ensure that the reading you are getting is accurate. Calibration fluid will allow you to adjust the readings
On the refractometer to ensure that you are getting the correct measurement.

 

[Martini5788]

I sent you a pm

 

[CStrickland]

eeesh
there's a whole lot wrong with that store. Probs best to just read the sticky for a while and leave the tank alone. There'll be some bacteria from the live rock so your cycle will get underway, and you'll be learning all the basic, background info in the meantime. The bacteria won't mind the salinity bouncing around like that, and after a couple days you'll have a better idea of how sw tanks work.
In the mean time, you can get some of this stuff called Prime

at the pet store (try not to kick anybody in the shins while youre there, not that I'd blame you). It will dechlorinate the water so that your bacteria can grow. The bacteria need to get established before you add any animals, thats the cycle. It's good you can't smell it, but there has to be a lot before you can, so it's not a good measure of chlorine.

There's probably a rodi filter in your future. I have this one and I like it a lot
http://spectrapure.com/Refurbished-90-GPD-RODI-System
Even really clean water like a good well can be a problem because the salt mixes add minerals to get the right balance, but the minerals are already in the tap water so things get out of whack. Reef salt is just evaporated ocean water so all it is supposed to have added back is the H2O.
In the meantime you can buy distilled water for your top offs, that'll help a lot.

You can spend a lot on the hobby, or a little. I've got $850 in my 55 gallon, but I'm pretty handy with the DIY so that helps.

 

[NorthDakotaRose]

Awesome! I will pick up the stuff on Monday as they're all closed on Sundays here. I'll avoid kicking anyone I will however keep my questions regarding this tank and future tanks for the pros on this forum!

They told me to come in next week and buy crabs and other shell type critters. I'm going to guess thats a big no no. This is what filter I have now aqua clear power filter for 10-30 gallon tanks with Cycle Guard. I asked about an under sand filter since that was on my big tank years ago. She said no this was teh best, I'm now question that one.

 

[Martini5788]

Awesome! I will pick up the stuff on Monday as they're all closed on Sundays here. I'll avoid kicking anyone I will however keep my questions regarding this tank and future tanks for the pros on this forum!

They told me to come in next week and buy crabs and other shell type critters. I'm going to guess thats a big no no. This is what filter I have now aqua clear power filter for 10-30 gallon tanks with Cycle Guard. I asked about an under sand filter since that was on my big tank years ago. She said no this was teh best, I'm now question that one.

That aquaclear filter would be acceptable on a fw tank that is 20 gallons, but it is essentially pointless on the sw tank. I do use aquaclears on my quarantine tanks, but that is a short term tank. The aquaclear doesn't even move the water enough to account for a power head.

 

[BrickFishHouse]

Is there a reef club in North Dakota? You would really benefit if someone from there could come by and walk you through a couple things.

A conversation can really go a long way.

There's a lot of information to sort through, and it's easy to get lost in it all.

Starting off with some live rock and a couple clowns is a great start. You can learn to make saltwater and to run a tank with them, and clowns are usually pretty hardy and some of the more forgiving fish for a learning curve.

Wanting a blue fish to go with the clowns is a challenge in a tank that size. Most blue fish which are compatible to that size are damsels, and putting one in with a pair of clowns will be asking for trouble.

Good point about the cold weather. Live Aquaria is pretty experienced at this and usually packs well. You just need to be ready to get the fish out of the box when it arrives to minimize the risk.

Look at Marineland's Penguin filters. They're not the Ferraris of the hobby, but for what you are doing, they'll do the job. They hang on the back of the tank.

Wait on corals for now. Let's see how it goes "fish-only with live rock (FOWLR)" for a while.

Maybe put in a cleaner shrimp and a hermit crab or two?

Oh! And don't beat yourself up. We've ALL got great "D'OH!" stories that we can tell. Maybe one day I'll tell you of the panicked phone call I got from my daughter when her mom decided to just move a tank!

 

[NorthDakotaRose]

Lol I would love to hear it sometime! I think it’s harder when my husband keeps saying I thought you
Knew what you were doing! Mmm yeah….
I’ll check into finding a group around here as you said it would easier to have someone stop by and chatting rather than doing the online thing. However I have learned a lot today and my head is spinning with all this information. I'm guess I would have been better to start this whole process by going onto a forum and learning prior to jumping in with both feet. That and maybe going with a larger tank.

 

[kmbyrnes]

They told me all these things we could have, my guess is they don't know jack about tanks or fish.

That is the most accurate thing you have posted.
You should always take LFS advice with caution, and check here before taking any action.

At least you found RC before you did any serious harm.
Good luck with your nano, they can be very rewarding.

 

[Marchillo]

I second the idea of a cleaner shrimp. This is your "jacques" from the movie. I have one and he's pretty awesome. Very active in the tank and when we do water changes he "cleans" my wife's finger.

There is an interesting article out there about trying to duplicate a Nemo tank. The author basically says it's almost impossible. But to get just the stars (Dory and Nemo) you are looking at 200 gallons plus.

 

[NorthDakotaRose]

I'm looking forward to the cleaner shrimp as I have watched them at the store. Well the Nemo tank will be a dream for now since i just don't have the room nor the patience after this adventure to even think about a tank that big.

 

[NorthDakotaRose]

Thank you, I've been taking notes and making a list of what they didn't sell me. and making the purchases online. The prices are much better online even if you include the shipping costs. Looking forward to see the end results!

 

[e048]

Honestly I would do way more research before you commit to a tank I know you've already got a lot of money and time invested in this thing

In a 20g tank I would do one fish and the cleaner shrimp and that's it maybe a a few snails to help with cleaning

Also I don't know if anyone said this earlier but don't use well water or tap water for your tank you will crash the tank it's only a matter of time

 

[wookiefever]

Rose what part of ND are you from? I am living in ND currently. As for the filter I wouldn't do an under sand filter. 20G is hard to start with because the smallest change in any of the water parameters will have a massive change on the system. If you are from the same part of the state as me I can recommend some places to check out. If you wanted to get some good filtration I would go with some live rock and a protein skimmer. Invertebrates are not bad for a tank as they will help keep algae in check but the type that you get will depend on the fish you want.

I would definitely discourage you from getting a starfish. I want one for my 55g tank but after reading a bunch about them I am not going to try it. They are extremely hard to care for and not the best for beginners. They don't last long in the aquarium if you are not sure how to care for them (usually around a month or two). If you are dead set on a starfish I would recommend only looking at the formia family as they are the smallest.

Unfortunately blue is a color that is really hard to come by in fish and is usually only found on fish that require 50 or 70g minimum on in damselfish which need about 30g and are highly aggressive.

I would recommend to look at a blue and gold blenny for blue. Not exactly the bluish fish but there is some blue there.

As for the nemo tank:
Gill - Moorish idol: extremely difficult and 125g min
Bloat - Spiny box puffer: extremely difficult and min 180g
Gurgle - Royal gramma basslet: easy and 30g, might be able to do ONE in 20g
Bubbles - Yellow tang: easy but 100g min
Deb - Three stripped damselfish: easy but aggressive 30g, I wouldn't try it in 20g as they can get to 4"
Jacques - Cleaner shrimp: easy and I would highly recommend one

I would say you could go ahead and do 1 nemo (clownfish), 1 gurgle (royal gramma basslet), 1 Jacques (cleaner shrimp), and 1 small goby or blenny.

Sorry for the long post but I hope this helps. Feel free to message me if you have anymore questions.

 

[NorthDakotaRose]

Hello, I’m in Bismarck. Your post days to late as I have lost my first starfish and was sold a second one. I did find a store that deals in saltwater fish here in town. I think they’re pretty good at what they do but still question some of their sales too me now.
I started with 2 Halloween crabs, 2 red leg crabs, bumble bee snails and one coral banded shrimp who dropped a leg minutes after we bought him. I called the guy and he said it was normal it would all grow back. He hid for days so I went back and bought another one. Bad mistake, I was told they would be fine together and it turned out they fight. Both molted and damaged no arm shrimp returned to normal only to fight again. I can’t catch him or I would bring him back.
I then bought lawn mower Blenny, he’s been a great addition to the tank but eats any and all food dropped in the tank. 
I started to have some algae on the glass so I bought 3 small white sails to help with that. At that time, we picked up the starfish. He was doing great but around day 3 started to have some small piece come off the ends of his legs. I went into the store with pictures and the guy said that those particular stars do not do well, I should buy a brittle star. So now I have him in the tank, I hope he’s alive he hides all the time so I’m not sure.
Just the other day we added fish. We have two baby clowns, one damsel which is blue, and they sold me a dragonet which only made it about 20 hours and died.
I started this whole thing at one pets store, became a little frustrated when it seemed I was being feed bs about what I could do with the tank. So I came on the forum and they were all very helpful but it was after I spent the money.
So I decided to make it work for what it was worth and learn from my mistakes. I headed to pet smart one day to pick their brain and was told about the saltwater place here. As I said I like them but find that the two guys give completely different information than the other.
The one that sold us the first star didn’t bother to tell me anything about it being difficult to have those particular ones. The other guy said I should have avoided those. I’m like what the heck!
Sorry for the long post too. 

 

[wookiefever]

Its all good, I wouldn't take the advice of the folks at petsmart, same with petco, in my experience they just want to make sales and don't really care about the animals. I would keep an eye on the damsel as he is likely to become extremely aggressive as he gets older and reaches sexual maturity. Its good that you introduced the clowns together as babies otherwise there could be some problems there. I am sorry that you got sold a dragonet. They are quite easily one of the hardest fish to care for. Ocean's paradise is in Bismarck and from what I hear they are pretty knowledgeable. If you are ever in Minot there is purr-fect pets and the staff there are really knowledgeable. They will actually refuse to sell you certain species of fish if they do not think you are ready for them or do not have the proper set up for them.

 

[NorthDakotaRose]

The first pet store that I bought all my equipment from was KT animal supply here in Bismarck. It was PetSmart where I buy the supplies for my other pets that referred me to Oceans Paradise. That's where I bought all my live stock from. I feel really bad about the dragonet; he was a beautiful fish. I did everything they told me, I think it was because they had just got him in not 24 hours before I bought him. I'm going to start a 55 gal for another room, I hope to have better luck with equipment purchases than I did with this one. I've found that a lot of my supplies can be bought online for a much better price than local.

 

[wookiefever]

Yes, equipment is a lot cheaper online, I love having amazon prime As for the dragonet I doubt it was that they got him in so recently. They are really hard to feed and more than likely your tank did not have sufficient pods to feed them. Do you already have a 55? If not I would recommend going bigger if you can. I have a 55 and I wish I could have at least a 75 that way you can keep some species of tangs. Also 55 is kind of a weird tank if you want corals because its only 12" in depth which makes aquascaping hard.

 

[jenjen]

Just read through your thread. Sounds like you've had an exciting start in the hobby! Good for you for asking questions and taking the advice to heart. Nano tanks can be so much fun but you really do have to think of them differently than larger tanks. Personally I love all the tiny fish and inverts that you can enjoy in a Nano who would just get lost in a larger tank.

Do you know what damsel it is that you have? Many of them are very teritorial as they get older and most of them won't suit a small tank for very long. You may want to think about moving this guy to the 55 when it's ready. There are lots of little blennies and gobies that may be a consideration for you (just pick 1 or 2 though!).

I used to have a 55 and second the comment that a 75 might be an option to consider. The width is the same but it's deeper front to back and easier to aquascape. That said I loved my 55 - you just need to be creative with the rocks. I found breaking them up into smaller pieces made it easier to arrange.

Good luck and keep asking questions! Sounds like you're headed in the right direction.

 

[cgjgyuj]

I'm sorry to ruin your dreams but I wouldn't do it...