nEED ADVISE FISH/SCALLOP/ANEMONAE

[frakln]

HELLO!
And thank you for reading at this post; I am in desperate need of help and advice about my tank.
To begin with I must tell you I don’t know much about this, I thought it was going to be like my fresh water tank with a little more of difficulty, so I got myself a 150 galon tank (I think is a 150 not sure..) browse the internet for a cheap way to start and got me some sand, died and crushed coral, I had everything running with no fishes for 3 months I don’t really understand the cycle process but I did the best I could, the first residents where 3 damsels, one black, a blue and a blue yellow tail ones, who are living there very happy, one month after I added a clown fish, all of them live togheter with no problems at all, until yesterday, I went to a pet shop to buy a cleaner shrimp, by the sales person advise I got me a really nice purple lobster he also told me a pink tip anemone called ”candy anemone” would be the perfect house for my clown fish, he also suggested I get a electric scallop and also got two hermit crabs, I know I should have read before getting them but I didn’t. OH:
The lobster was doing fine but after 20 minutes it stopped moving and then died, The electric scallop is still opening and closing but it stopped flashing and the “tentacles” are losing color I have also read that this anemone is not used as a housing for a clown fish, and that instead it is very destructive and could end up eating my other fishes and its poison could kill nearby inhabitants, the lobster and the scallop where close to it, could it be this the reason? I took a sample of my water and they said everything was ok, except that salinity that is over 1.035 and it could be high for the scallop but it would adapt, please help!!!
Should I keep the anemone? Is it safe for my other fishes?, so far the fishes are staying away from it, Is there anything I can do for the electric scallop? If I can’t care for it I would rather give it away to someone who knows how to it. The hermits seem to be doing great but I would like to add some more cleaners shrimp and a star maybe? , I want eventually have a reef fish tank, but I think I might be starting wrong…
Any advice on what to do next? Or what fishes can I add?
Any advice will be much appreciated, please help!!

[Mike Murphy]

The normal range shoud be from 1.020 to 1.024 My hydrometer runs off the scale after 1.032!

[fish.freak]

agreed salt level is too high. 1.026 -28 is my range. How did you acclimate the lobster. condy, ie condilactus anemone is safe, it may grab a weak fish but not a healthy one. what type of lighting and filtration do you have?
to lower the salt level take 5 gal out and put in 5 gal fresh SLOWLY, each day till you get it to a safe level.

[betamed]

Shame on your LFS for the bad advice. Clowns won't host in a condy. Flame scallops usually waste away in even the best aquariums. Have you been topping off your water with salt water because 1.035 is way too high. Getting your own test kits for SG, ammonia, Nitrite, nitrate, PH and alk and CA would be a great idea. That way you can check things for your self rather than taking advice from a store that wants to sell u stuff.

[Jnicho]

Just FYI...NSW in most places around the world is 1.026...this should be your target.

[david426]

look on the websites for fish info; vivid aquariums and live aquaria give good info on saltwater life. Much like freshwater your tank inhabitants must be researched as many fish only type critters will eat reef type critters; you pretty much have to go one way or the other. Me? FOWLR all the way!

[czieler]

I made the mistake a long long time ago when I first got my tank ( ok it was only 3 years ago ) .. of topping off with saltwater for about three weeks before I realized I was doing it wrong.

Get yourself one of these ( I just googled it on ebay.. don't necessarily buy from this guy .. I just picked the the cheapest one on the first page to send you a link to:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Salinity-Refract...QQcmdZViewItem

It will be your new best friend

[jwm32068]

Hello, by reading your inquiry the part that stands out the most would be the tank running with no livestock for three months,livestock added, one month later more livestock. It is my belief that your tank was not cycled and there were toxic levels of nitrite which killed and stunted some of your animals. By all means get a test kit and test your water yourself. Google and study, and study here untill you have a better idea of what you are trying to provide an ecosystem for. Not all LFS have the hobbyist's best interests in mind. Do not add anymore animals untill the cycle process is complete and then add slowly so the bacteria which processes waste to nitrate can colonize at a rate which can keep up. PS some anenomes are just as demanding if not more so than many corals. The salinty I would recommend for these animals would be 1.023 to 1.024. Best of Luck Wade