Help Me

[Oshady2000]

I have a 46 gallon Bow Front with a millenium 3000 a nice power head and about 35lbs of live rock.

For some reason i cant keep any Clown fish alive they look fine the first day and then suddenly i wake up to a dead clown its killing me

what do i need to do?

 

[Ed Hahn]

hello Oshady,
Nice to meet you on Reef Frontiers. I see a 46 gallon tank. I see a over the back filtration filter, powerhead and 35 lbs of live rock.
This is what I would do if I wanted to do things as cheaply as possible. I would add more live rock. I would add another 15 lbs. I would build caves for your new fish to hide. I would invest in a good hydrometer or my favorite a refractometer. Do you use filtered water? I highly recommend filtered water and mixing salt mix externally in a bucket with powerhead and heater, then adding it to your tank slowly when salinity is close to tank. I would do a ten to twenty percent water change monthly with this set up. If you have a over the back please rinse it one day with filtered water and water change on another day. Do things in moderation, for example raising salinity. I would shoot for keeping yor salinity 1.023-1.025. I would put a timer on your lights to maintain a close timing of your lights to prevent stress to animals. I would locate power head on one side of tank moving water about midway or at least 4 inches from bottom of tank. I would add one more powerhead on the opposite side of tank higher close to top. Water movement creates oxygen. I would buy mollies and let them cycle my tank for about 8 weeks. During that eight weeks I am asking you to ask as many questions on which fish are compatible on here. Clown fish are awesome. After you have gone eight weeks and your mollies are fine, lets remove mollies and get a pair of clownfish. Remember ask lots of questions on here, people have nothing to gain from friendship. Good to see you here..lets keep those questions coming please.
Good luck...
Ed

 

[reedman]

Buy some test kits...Amonia, Nitrate, and Nitrite. These should give you a good idea of when the tank has cycled and is ready (safe) to add fish. If you have any amonia in the tank at all then something is dying off and you need to address that. It may be that the LR had some sponges that died when exposed to air. Water changes with aerated water and patience.

You really don't need any fish to cycle the tank. Just put a piece of shrimp from the store in the tank (rinse it first to remove the phosphates used to preserve them). This will provide plenty of bacteria to start the cycle.

Once your amonia and nitrites are at zero, start monitoring the nitrates. You want these to be low to zero on the test kit. Once you get to this point you should be safe adding a couple of fish. Add slowly and monitor the Nitrate levels.

The key is consistent parameters. Salinity, temperature, lighting period, nitrates, etc...all need to ramain as consistent as possible which is why Ed suggested the timers for the lights.

Good luck and keep asking questions...we'll get you rolling.

 

[NaH2O]

Welcome to Reef Frontiers!!!

I agree about the test kits (if you don't have them). If you do have test kits, post up your water parameters so we can have a peek.

 

[Oshady2000]

Thank you
I appreciate your time and information