[scott_tess_biss]

Hello, my name is Scott and my better half is tessie, we are fairly new to the salt water tank, we have a 55 gal. fresh water that has done very well we have had minimal problems with it. however in our salt water tank, which by the way is a 29 gal. we have had more problems with it than the fresh water. w havehad it up for about 9 mos now, the very first thing we added was 5 pounds of live rock, we let the tank adjust then we added a serpent star fish, a yellow tailed damsile, a clown, and a yellow tang, we lost the tank about 48 hours after we introduced him. after that we hadn't introduced anything till now, we added frogspawn, and a dimond goby, we lost the goby with in 36 hours. a bit agravating. but we are determined. we are wanting to learn enough about the hobbie to hopefully open our own store in a couple of years, any advice, or tips would be helpful. I know the info I have given is somewhat vague. but at this time it's all i have, I do have a feeling that the reason we lost the goby was do to nitrites. but not positive at this time. thank you in advance to all who respond

[Blennie]

do you have a proper test kit for your salt water tank? what are your levels at? how are you adding these fish to your tank?

a 29 gal is a pretty small tank. too small for a tang. your local fish store might not tell you that or even ask what size tank you have or what fish or corals you currently have. best to do all your research at home and buy when you are ready.. impulse buys can really screw you. we have all been there.

i think you need more live rock also. i have 150 lbs in a 100 gallon tank. can you list all the equipment you have on this tank.. filters lights skimmer etc...

here is one way to acclimate your new friends


When we receive new stock, this is the method with which we acclimate them (although for a longer period of time). Following these procedures will ensure that you are doing everything possible to ensure that your new specimen will have the best chance for success in your aquarium.

1. Open the bags which the animals were shipped in, and add these to an clean, empty styrofoam container.
2. If acclimating corals/invertebrates proceed to step #4. For fish acclimations add Kordon's Amquel Ammonia Detoxifier to the shipping water in the styrofoam container.
3. For fish acclimations add Kordon's NovAqua Slime Coat Protectant to the shipping water in the styrofoam container.
4. Set-up a slow drip (approximately 2 drops per second) from your aquarium to the styrofoam container. Let this drip for one hour.
5. Remove half of the water from the styrofoam container and increase drip rate to a "slow trickle" for one half of an hour.
   Do not add the waste water to your aquarium!
6. Remove half of the water from the styrofoam container and increase drip rate to a "fast trickle" for one half of an hour.
   Do not add the waste water to your aquarium!
7. Remove your fish or invertebrate from the container and add to your aquarium.
   Dispose of the waste water.
8. Leave your aquarium lights off for at least 12 hours. This will allow your new arrival time to adjust to it's new home, and will help reduce harassment from your existing animals.

Note: For more sensitive animals (nudibranchs, cucumbers, echinoderms), increase the acclimation procedure accordingly. Remember, the longer the better!

[scott_tess_biss]

thank you blennie we will try to do that neext time, and yes I am aware that the tank is a small tank but we have no room for a larger tank at this momnent, unless we took down our 55 gal fresh water that has been very successfull for the past 3 years, we do not have a protien skimmer out LFS told us with that small of a tank we didn't need one as long as our filter was enough. and our filter is rated for a 55 gal tank. I/we would love to have a different set up for our salt water tank to have more opptions, and in time we will, we just wanted to start small and get use to the procedures of a saltwater before we tried to go big. In time we will be going it. but not untill we can get a bigger home. I would love to have a sump and all that for it. but I don't know enough about it as of yet. still doing my home work on that stuff. again thank you