I am new to the hobby and new to this site. I have a Coralife Biocube 29 with Intank Media Basket, Tunze 9001 Skimmer, 2 Hydor Koralia 425 w/ Smart Wave system. There is a 10k light, a blue actinic light, and 3 strips of blue LEDS that are hooked up. I have about a 1.5-2 inch sand bed with about 20lbs of live rock that I got from an existing friends tank. I also took his water from his water change when I started my tank on November 12th (I never experienced a "cycle"?). Corals I have are are a Green Tip Torch Coral , Pink Flower Pot Coral, Duncan, Dendro, 2 Gorgonians, and SOME type of goniopora i think that I got for free on a round cool rock. I also have a 2 damsels (which I might get rid of, I just started with them until my tank got to its first cycle) , a very small newly purchased clown, a blood shrimp, and a sexy shrimp which is hosting the torch coral.
I Literally just set up my koralias last night and I am putting them on the smart wave system alternating every 15 seconds.
about a month ago I purchased a good looking Blue Spotted Jawfish. It was doing great for 2 weeks. However i went on a trip and was gone for about 2 weeks. In that time I unfortunately had my friends and brother take care of my tank for me (obviously they don't know it or how to take care of it like I do). I just got back 2 days ago and my fish looked very weak and sickly. The Jawfish had darker rings around its eyes and everything.
Anyways my question is that my local fish store told me that this jawfish was pretty hardy and would live with special care and target feeding like i was doing with a turkey baster every day with mysid and brine shrimp, (it even ate flakes and pellets too). Then I went to a different fish store when i was in a different city to check it out and I decided to ask about the jawfish and they told me it was not very hardy at all and if it lived past the month or 2 mark it should be fine. Well last night I heard some crazy noises slamming against the top of the biocube and when I shined a light on it from my phone i saw the jawfish slamming against the top trying to jump out, which i heard they do frequently. this morning when I woke up he wasn't poking his head out of one of the many holes he has in this great rock I have. I ended up having to do some searching and sure enough he was in the middle of the rocks dead.
Is it that Jawfish are not hardy or did the people I have taking care of my tank just mess up because they didn't know what they were doing for almost 2 weeks. The water parameters were not too bad considering how long I was gone without a water change. nitrates were about 10ppm and phosphates were almost at 0. everything else was fine.
I love it and want to get another one if its possible that it will live. I am also interested in getting rid of my damsels and I want a flame angel, get rid of the clownfish and get a maroon clown, and any other cool fish. Maybe a box fish or some kind of puffer, or anything that will be compatible with my corals and that is colorful. I would LOVE to get a psychedelic Mandrian Goby one day (or would that live if I target fed it everyday?).
ALSO! How can I speed up my purple coraline algae on my rocks? I recently got some Purple Up and I told my LFS about it and they advised me NOT TO USE IT! don't use it anytime soon at least. He said it will "Crash my tank". what does that mean? and is he right?
ANY ANSWERS TO THESE QUESTIONS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED!
I Literally just set up my koralias last night and I am putting them on the smart wave system alternating every 15 seconds.
about a month ago I purchased a good looking Blue Spotted Jawfish. It was doing great for 2 weeks. However i went on a trip and was gone for about 2 weeks. In that time I unfortunately had my friends and brother take care of my tank for me (obviously they don't know it or how to take care of it like I do). I just got back 2 days ago and my fish looked very weak and sickly. The Jawfish had darker rings around its eyes and everything.
Anyways my question is that my local fish store told me that this jawfish was pretty hardy and would live with special care and target feeding like i was doing with a turkey baster every day with mysid and brine shrimp, (it even ate flakes and pellets too). Then I went to a different fish store when i was in a different city to check it out and I decided to ask about the jawfish and they told me it was not very hardy at all and if it lived past the month or 2 mark it should be fine. Well last night I heard some crazy noises slamming against the top of the biocube and when I shined a light on it from my phone i saw the jawfish slamming against the top trying to jump out, which i heard they do frequently. this morning when I woke up he wasn't poking his head out of one of the many holes he has in this great rock I have. I ended up having to do some searching and sure enough he was in the middle of the rocks dead.
Is it that Jawfish are not hardy or did the people I have taking care of my tank just mess up because they didn't know what they were doing for almost 2 weeks. The water parameters were not too bad considering how long I was gone without a water change. nitrates were about 10ppm and phosphates were almost at 0. everything else was fine.
I love it and want to get another one if its possible that it will live. I am also interested in getting rid of my damsels and I want a flame angel, get rid of the clownfish and get a maroon clown, and any other cool fish. Maybe a box fish or some kind of puffer, or anything that will be compatible with my corals and that is colorful. I would LOVE to get a psychedelic Mandrian Goby one day (or would that live if I target fed it everyday?).
ALSO! How can I speed up my purple coraline algae on my rocks? I recently got some Purple Up and I told my LFS about it and they advised me NOT TO USE IT! don't use it anytime soon at least. He said it will "Crash my tank". what does that mean? and is he right?
ANY ANSWERS TO THESE QUESTIONS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED!
