Brand NEW!

[Tamiescuage]

Tamiescuage
Registered Member

Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 1
Brand new... I mean BRAND NEW
I have a 90 gal tank Husband surprised me with it.It been my Dream to have a Salt water tank.
Besides a million and 1 questions I would like to start if off with a fish question.
I had 4 PJ cardinals 2 chromas...
They were called my starter fish. Love them already.
Anyway. the blue green Chromes are great but Im down to 1 Pj. He looks so lonely. He's trying to hang with the Chromas but they are not having it.
Should I go buy 4 more pj's? Could there possibly be something wrong with this one as well? He looks fine just a little dull. All the waters test are perfect, I have found a better store to buy my fish at. (i think) SO new to all of this, but I i feel terrible when I know a fish is gone.
Thank You in Advance for any help.
Tami
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[rsain]

Welcome aboard!

Lots of good advice in here. But you will have to spend much time reading. I suggest you start with the sticky section: SETTING UP is an excellent collection and a required read. So is the DIRT SIMPLE CHEMISTRY thread. There are many others.

You tested your water. Good. Please post the results and the test kit types.

LFS' are known for giving sales based advice and not necessarily good husbandry advice. Check here for unbiased opinions (even facts).

Please don't buy any more fish until you have a handle on your cycle.

For us to help please describe your tank more: how much live rock? Reef or fish only? Filtration method? Lighting? Temp, ph, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate levels?

Hope we can help!

-ryan

 

[chimmike]

90g is a great tank to start, IMO. Lots of water volume to absorb small parameter issues.

Tell us about your filtration? Live rock? live sand?

Agreed with the above post. Read the "New" stickies. Lots to pay attention to during the cycle. This is substantially different than freshwater tanks.

Make sure NOT to use tap water, and be prepared to do substantial water changes if ammonia appears during your testing. Test frequently during the cycle!

 

[gone fishin]

I agree with reading the stickies.

How long has the tank been up and did it cycle? Could be why you lost the fish if the tank has not been cycled.

 

[rsain]

Bump.

Did you get those numbers for us? We need info to be able to help.

-ryan

 

[Tamiescuage]

sorry didn't see responses

sorry didn't see responses

Ph 7.7
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 0


Marine Led on timer, moon light to daylight, 90 gal tank, attica titanium chiller, Aquamag 9.5 mag drive pump
rhine ultra filter, coralilfe super protein shimmer eheim cartridge filter.

Thank You
Tami

 

[Tamiescuage]

the test kits I have are salifert
I forgot to say, mostly dead rock, small live rock, live sand,
I added 2 Scooter Blennys.. on Christmas doing great so far. feeding mysis (sp) shrimp and little pebbles

 

[Tamiescuage]

where are the new stickies located

 

[chimmike]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1031074

 

[rsain]

Brand NEW!

What about Nitrite?

Did you cycle the tank?

Cycle= establishing micro fauna to handle bioload (poop and other junk). Starts with ammonia which gets converted to nitrite then onto nitrate (basic cycle). This can take a bit - like a month or more.

You can't really add critters prior to the cycle being completed as they will almost certainly die.

At risk of freaking you out - if your answer to the above is NO then take the critters back to the LFS and have them hang onto them until the cycle is complete.

Once you are set up and cycled you'll find that biological filtration (live rock and maybe live sand) plus skimming will likely be enough and you won't need those filters (just nitrate factories that need constantly cleaned).

Hang in there. You're in for a wild ride. it's a good ride if you're prepared. An expensive, frustrating, and sad one if you are not.

-ryan

Ps Sk8r does an awesome summary here:

Since we have so many new tanks this week---some advice.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2547716

 

[rsain]

Here's a few more that I often refer to:

Quarantine
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2195588

Tank Transfer Method
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2507836

Dirt Simple Chemistry
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2152814

I could go on and on with links... so much good info. Really, it's overwhelming at the beginning from the research perspective. But you'll be so much happier if you take your time and really do some good research about best husbandry practices early on.
- ryan

 

[rsain]

Bump

 

[gone fishin]

I added 2 Scooter Blennys.. on Christmas doing great so far. feeding mysis (sp) shrimp and little pebbles

FWIW the scooter will most likely starve in a new tank. They are not really a blenny but a dragonet and not really a beginner fish. There staple diet is pods and a new tank just does not have enough to support them. They eat continuously while awake. If you wish to keep them then you need to set up your tank to be pod friendly and research any fish to make sure they will not compete for the pods, the scooter's will get out competed every time.