Ok, I just got a 30 gallon aquarium set up. It's my first journey into the world of saltwater aquarium keeping, and I'm reeeeeealy lost. And I don't even know where to start. I'll give you the lowdown on my tank.

1.)I have about 15 pounds of live rock in the tank
2.)I have a good amount of sand
3.)I have 2 hermit-like crabs
4.)My salinity is about halfway to full strength seawater
5.)I have 1 550 powerhead
6.)I have a backpack filter meant for a 55 gallon

I don't know my nitrate, nitrite, or ph levels, And I don't even know where to start on what I should do next. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

P.s: I'll try to get pics up as soon as I can.

Get your salinity to equal regular sea water so the live rock doesn't die... I would add more live rock (the equivalent of 1-1.5 pounds per gallon).

Find a LFS (not a chain) to give some advice on what you should do - or see if there is a local salt water aquarium society in your area

Get the rest of the salt in before your rock dies completely. Drop everything and do it now. It might even be too late, you shouldn't mix the salt in the tank.

How do I mix the salt into the water if not in the tank?:confused:

In buckets or rubbermaid containers.

Think about regular water changes--you'll need a place outside the tank to prepare water before adding it.

Alright, the water is back up to full strength seawater. Hooray! So, now what do I need to be looking out for in the water? And also, my parents bought me some kenya tree coral as an early stocking stuffer (not exactly something I was ready for, but you know, how could I be unhappy with getting coral as a stocking stuffer 2 weeks before christmas???) Can anyone here tell me about this coral??? It started to lean to one side, then it propped itself up and then it bent back down again. I was hoping that that was how it ate, but It hasn't come back up from the second time it went down, and I fear it might be dying.

If it isn't dying yet, I think we can be confident it will be soon. Your tank is too new to add coral. It hasn't had enough time to 'cycle' to take care of the coral's wastes.

As I said, coral isn't necessarily something I would've chosen for my tank. At least not yet.

And are you guys sure about having to have full strength seawater? Because every other place I've been to says that the sg should be around .022 or .025

Your specific gravity should be between 1.022-1.025 - which is close to natural sea water. Natural sea water varies in that range. What is your specific gravity in your tank??? If it is not in that range, it could account for the behavior of the coral.

FYI, Kenya Tree is a relatively hardy coral. I think if your water parameters are fairly within the required ranges it should be okay. If it starts to look like it's melting, then yeah, it's dying.

My current salinity is .027, and, no the kenya tree doesn't look like its 'melting', so does that mean that I can still help it out?

Also if you are planning on keeping a cephalopod you MUST have full strength seawater, most species won't tolerate brackish water. If you are planning on anything other than a dwarf you'll need a bigger tank than a 30G.........a 50 at least!

Good luck

Jean

about your coral. if you dont have any lighting or not much you might consider taking it back to the local fish store for store credit to use later because a kenya tree requires a fair amount of lighting. and without this lighting it will die suddenly over about a day a few weeks ahead