marine tank help

So, I have just inherited a sal-water set-up. It came with a bunch of live rock and base rock (some of which I will not be using) two anenomes and a yellow tang. All of the other fish died within the last six months. This may have been due to extremly small little wormlike things in the sand. The tang is looking a little sickly too. I got the whole set-up for a hundred dollars, if I wouldn't have taken it the owner (a good friend of mine who has little patience) would have just let the whole thing die off. He is frustrated and wants to just be free of the whole mess.

So, I have set up all the skimmer, heater, filter stuff and have the rock and anenomes and tang and a coral banded shrimp all in the tank.

I have begun to do some research on the net and through a few books I have picked up. What is your guys experiances with Marine tanks, and have you had problems with fish dieing off like this?

I'd appreciate any advice or sugguestions,

thanks in advance

You will need to provide a few more details but I will try to help with what I know.

First off

what size is the tank
what kind of filter (brand, size etc)
what kind of skimmer
what kind of lighting
what specific gravity (salinity) are you keeping it at
how long have you had it set up
what kinds of fish have died in the past.

second,

Tangs are herbivorous grazers. they should be fed several times a day with a high quality algae based food. No brine shrimp

care must be taken not to over feed

I wouldn't plan on any new fish for a couple of months until this thing gets settled down

the tiny worms may or may not have had anything to do with the other fish dying but my hunch is not. Were they little pinkish hairy looking things?

regular water changes of about 20% once a month will help to keep the tank stable.

biggest thing right now id to keep the tang well fed withput overfeeding the tank. Use a feeding grid or clip to attach a piec of dried algae in the tank so the tang can graze throughout the day.

If you answere the questions I asked maybe I can give you some more insight but right now i would just sit back and wait a bit

You might want to email me sschind@acronet.net or PM me because I don't remember to check this forum very often.

Steve Schindler

This is what I know

The tank is a 29 gallon standard size aquarium. This is the only thing that has changed from the original 55 gallon aquarium... filter, skimmer, gravel bed, live rock, animals, and water is from the original 55.
Filter is a Penguin 330 power filter with bio wheels
skimmer is a Berlin Air Lift 60, internal uses an air pump and bubble stone
probably 50 watts actinic light and 30 watts powerglo
there is probably 10 lbs or more of live rock

livestock is:
a yellow tang (4-5 inches)
a coral banded shrimp
an unidentified yellow anemone that isn't doing too well
a carpet anemone that is thriving
2 pieces of mushroom coral (small)... doing OK

SG is at about 1.023 according to my hydrometer.

Fish that have died (in my friend's hands include):
2 percula clowns (one given a freshwater bath for no reason... eeediot)
1 butterfly fish (a delicate and hard to keep fish by my understanding
1 singapore angel (due to injury from a broken heater)
2 flame angels (new additions to the tank that never made it)

Any ideas, let me know. by my understanding my friend didn't have the patience for it.

Thanks

tank has been set up for at least 6 months... I'm thinking more like 9 months

Looking at the volume of the tank and the type and likely sizes of the animals that have been through there combined with the questionable feeding history...

First thing I'd do, personally... is test the water.

Specific gravity, pH, GH, KH, Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates- especially the last three...

29 Gallon Marine Tank Testing Results
pH 8, KH 10, Nitrite <0.3 mg/l, Ammonia 0, SG 1.023

unfortunately I don't have the means to test Nitrates today. I realize that is important and I will attempt to locate a test kit for it.

Because the fish tanks are more of my fiance's hobby than mine, he has decided that the best way to save the tank is to construct a sump filter.
I find this to be quite an adventure, we had to buy random buckets, bio-balls, and various tubing with connectors. After some drilling, and siliconing this massive odd looking filter thing was created. We then got a bunch of reverse osmosis water and let her rip.
Needless to say it leeked everywere and the flows are all screwy so it keeps overflowing in one place or another. I stayed safely in the living room, with just enough distance so that I can seem to be doing something other than making sure it doesn't rain downstairs.
Nonetheless I can only guess that the intake is going slower than the pump is pushing back into the tank, or else it's the opposite..

so my question is, has anyone ever made a sump and was it as frustrating and happless as what we're going through.

Also has anyone had these little bitty white bug-like things grow in your saltwater tank? There smaller than full grown seamonkeys they're probably four mms in length and have lots of little legs,... I'm not sure if I should be worried about them

one more thing, we bought a clownfish to try and save an anenome but they both ended up dieing, ick and unknown other reasons to blame....

man this is frustrating

Ok, wow. Where to start?

First, go to www.aquariumadvice.com and read everything in the getting started section. SW has a steep learning curve, but once the tank is up correctly and stable they are pretty much maintenance free. If you do a bunch of research and apply it, everything kind of falls into place. I've been in the hobby for a quite a while and have helped a few others get going.

I'm indy on that site, feel free to PM me.

Beyond that...
1. 29g is way too small for a tang.
2. anemone's require pristine water conditions and a mature system. Generally most recomend waiting until the tank has been up and stable for at least a year with excelent water before attempting one. You'll see lots of people who say they have had great success long term with them in new tanks, but they generally mean it lived for 2 months before it died. Anemones last almost forever in the wild, so 2 months is a blink of the eye for them.
3. Dwarf angels are very territoriall, 2 (of any kind) in a 29 tank won't work for 99% of the people who try. Flames are great, but have been overly delicate for the last year or so. They are captured by cyanide poisoning, which makes them short lived. If you can get captive bred they will do much better.
4. Your nitrite and ammonia should be at 0, both are very toxic. Nitrate is also toxic but to a much lesser degree. Unless it's skyhigh it should be ok for a fish only system, but anemonies will be unhappy.
5. Sumps are very easy to put together, but I'd definately recomend getting an actual overflow for the drain to the sump. CHeck ebay, you'll spend about $50 compared to $100+ anywhere else. Trying to match a straight siphon to a sumps output pump will not only drive you nuts, but is a sure recipe for a flooded house and empty fish tank. A proper overflow that flows MORE than than your return pump will keep the entire system balanced by itself with no tweeking.

It sounds like your friend found that magical spot in the hobby where nothing worked and he just wanted out. Probably 80% of the people who start a sw tank get that far and quit. This is no fault of their own, it's just they lack the knowledge to actually fix the problems. LFS's are of almost no value when it comes to gaining this knowledge, they'll just sell you the most expensive thing, pass on some bad info and collect cash as you buy fish after fish to replace what just died. Reaserch in this hobby is invaluable. If you would like, I can email you some good overall knowledge that you are going to need if you keep the tank going, from startup to maintenance. You can email me at thumper18@bresnan.net. GL.

Almost forgot, the cardinal rule in SW keeping. Nothing good happens fast. If you can remember that and keep your patience, you'll do fine.

Almost forgot, the little bug things are most likely amphipods. They are good things to have massive amounts of.

Neither clowns nor anemonies need the other to live or be happy and one will not save the other if it is sick.

For now, stop buying livestock and lets work on getting your tank stable.

For now, stop buying livestock and lets work on getting your tank stable.

Hey uhhh... Nathan... Check the date of the last post before yours. You're a bit late here.