Hey Y'all!

SL923

SL923

New member
Hey Y'all, my name is Sheri Lynn and I'm from South Alabama! Several months ago my husband got the bright idea that we would start a saltwater fish tank. We are big beach lovers and love snorkeling. Well, I'll be completely honest I have been in shock with how much work it is to take care of our little fishies and tank!

We have a 120 gallon tank with live rock and sand. We do plan on adding corrals eventually. We have 3 Nemo clowns, 1 yellow tang, 1 pyramid butterfly, 1 fire goby, 1 fire crab, 1 emerald crab, 3 hermit crabs, and 3 turbo snails. Everyone has seemed healthy and happy. But I just noticed my Sassy girl (pyramid butterfly) fins seem to be losing color around the edges.!I'm afraid of fin rot?

All water peremeters have been perfect. Although I have notice some. Right yellow and orange rusty dust on some of the rocks? Any information would be greatly appreciated! For the most part I'm taking care of the tank and fishieks alone because my husband works on the oil rigs. I have researched and researched so much conflicting information out there.🐠💙
 
Hey Junebug, I’m having trouble posting pictures through the thread. I did upload an album though. The water has been perfect.
 
Hi there! My husband and I love the ocean too and are avid Scuba Divers. So that is what gave me the idea several years ago to start my saltwater tank. It's my hobby so I am the one who takes care if it....LOL! Back to your questions.....do the fins look torn? Is there any aggression in the tank?
 
I understand! We also have some Nemo and Dory loving boys, so that also sparked our interest lol. The fins don’t look torn just clear. I added some pictures to a photo album and I’m gonna take a few more. I never could get them to load to the threadb����*♀️��*♀️��. There isn’t really an aggression and to be honest she is the most dominant fish we have �� She doesn’t like the fire goby too much, but no one messes with her. We started with 2 Nemo fish and added our butterfly a few weeks later. So it was just those 3 fish for over a month before we added anyone else. I feel like she is the tank boss ��
 
SL923 said:
The water has been perfect.
Click to expand...

When asking for help...telling us perfect is basically useless and perfect to you may not be perfect to others
Please list the parameters you are testing and their specific values..

Sounds like you may just have some algae and maybe diatoms...are you using tap water or RO/DI?
 
Welcome Sheri!

Some numbers are key and important. When you say several months ago, is that 2? 4? 8? Within the first few months of a tank, it'll go through several blooms and blossoms. That rusty dust you mentioned is likely diatom algae. Its part of the natural maturing cycle of a tank, and I think my first hit it around the 1 month mark, and my other around the 1 and a half month mark. Then hair algae.

But anyway. Knowing what you are measuring (Salinity, ammonia, calcium, magnesium, nitrite, nitrate, phosphate, etc, etc, etc) will help. Exact numbers will help, especially if there have been any changes. Also knowing what test kits you use, they are not all made equally! (I'm looking at you, API test kits).


In your 120 Gallon, you could do with a LOT more hermits/snails. Not all at once, but I'm running a 75 gallon and I have over a dozen hermits, and probably 9-10 large snails, and a few smaller ones. They help with the algae and other things, though they are not a one-shot-fix for good tank husbandry.


Also, to load pictures the easiest way is to host them on imgur.com or another website, and then use the 'Photo' add on in the post options. Or just post a link, and that'll take us out!
 
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Could be ammonia burn, did you add all of the fish at once? There is bacteria that breaks down ammonia. If you add too many fish at once it can't keep up. It doesn't look like fin rot, that usually leaves the fins tattered and torn looking. It's possible it could also be diet related. They need meaty foods as well as algae. Are you feeding nori and meaty foods like mysis?
 
I’m sorry y’all! I’m testing salinity it runs between 1.024-1.026 but it stays mostly at 1.024. Ph is usually 8.1 ish but it has ran as low as 7.86 and highest at 8.4. No ammonia or nitrates. I’m at work so I don’t know the name of the kits.

I would say we have had the tank up and going 3months. Thanks for the picture tip too! I uploaded more to my album for now, but I’ll try when I get home to upload to here.
 
The fish were added weeks apart. The 1st fish were the Nemo’s, then the butterfly, the tang and goby were added together
 
SL923 said:
I feed Frozen Mysis and seaweed daily.
Click to expand...

How south in south Alabama? haha! I am from mobile. The params have decent swings in them, but nothing that I would think could cause any harm to the fish. I would suggest quarantining him if it is a concern and treat it.
 
I’m in the big ole town of Opp Al lol. The butterfly is my favorite fish so I just want to make sure she is ok. We moved the fish to our quarantine tank the Nemo’s and butterfly for about 12 hrs when we’re were fixing the sump and stand on our main tank. The butterfly seemed very stressed by it. This was about 3 weeks ago. I feel like putting her back in The quarantine tank may make it worse. She eats like a pig and swims constantly. She seems really happy since we got to baby yellow tang because he swims all day with her.
 
Sounds like the tank is just new and going thru a cycle. I would let it sit and continue with water changes every few weeks. I would also soak the food you feed the fish in selcon.
 
SL923 said:
I'm in the big ole town of Opp Al lol. The butterfly is my favorite fish so I just want to make sure she is ok. We moved the fish to our quarantine tank the Nemo's and butterfly for about 12 hrs when we're were fixing the sump and stand on our main tank. The butterfly seemed very stressed by it. This was about 3 weeks ago. I feel like putting her back in The quarantine tank may make it worse. She eats like a pig and swims constantly. She seems really happy since we got to baby yellow tang because he swims all day with her.
Click to expand...

yall got any good reef stores up there?
 
Toki, not hardly! I have been using a fish store in Dothan to get fish and food. They are awesome , but very small. Everything else I have got online.
 
All my fishies are very good eaters. The butterfly being the best eater. The fish store I use in Dothan actually said I may be feeding my fish too much. I was doing the the LRS reef frenzy twice a day and about 1/4-1/2 sheet of seaweed daily. I have only been feeding once a day now. The Nemo’s and butterfly practically beg for food every time I walk by the tank lol
 
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