new to SW tanks, in W.lafayette, IN

[jaisai01]

hey everyone, im new to the whole SW tank thing. have done FW but never SW. tank has been up for a couple of weeks, and was good till tonite. on some lace rock i had in the tank as a base a white mold started to form. which smelt realllly foul. dont know what that was. and then 2 of my damsels which were my starter fish have passed away. and the 3rd is looking kinda iffy. im going to get my water tested in the morning and see how that looks. but anyone that can help me plz let me know. cuz that would be great. thanks
arul

[Crazy-Algae-Eater]

well you are having die off occuring with your live rock. I suggest for you to contstantly scrap those die off and dead spots off since you don't want it to fowl your tank up. Also, you need to get the following test kits during cycling and the other ones after.

Nitrate, Nitrite, Ammonia, Calcuim (After Cycling), Phosphate (After Cycling), PH, and get a hydrometer to test the salinity. After you check those parameters and all is good. then do a small water change without touching the rock or the sand since you are still cycling and you won't want to disturb the baceria that's trying to colonize in it.

[bobbittle]

Who's your LFS? Aquarium World?

[BigReef]

Hi Arul

It sounds like your tank is going through it's normal cycle. Depending on the rock that you put into the tank (cured or uncured) your tank may take several weeks to cycle or may cycle quickly. When the rock is uncured, most of the life will have started to die off (because of being shipped across the country)
and will look like it is covered in white mucus. It will also smell like rotten eggs. (hydrogen sulfide) This stage in the tanks maturation is usually toxic to most creatures. Using a good skimmer and as much mechanical filtration during this time will help to speed up the cycle time. Once your through this cycle, you shouldn't have to measure ammonia or nitrite again. (unless something very large dies in the tank) Once you've gone through the cycle, start doing some water changes to keep your nitrates frome getting out of control. After that, things should start to balance out and your nitrate should start to drop to near zero (assuming your tanks not overloaded and you've got plenty of rock and sand)
At that point you should be watching your nitrates, phosphates, ph, alkalinity and calcium. After several months of that, I would just check ph, alkalinity and calcium.

And remember, don't get too hung up on numbers. Your tank inhabitants are a better indicator of whats going on in your tank!

I live just down the road about 15 miles and I work in Lafayette
so if you ever need any help, just let me know.

Thanks
Tim