OK, so this is something i decided to do when i first got my tank, origanally i had no intention on posting it, it was only for me, but i figured maybe i can get some feedback about whats going on. remember this was not intended for others so please forgive any lack of details, now that im posting it i'll be more detailed. and now for your reading.....
Saltwater Tank Diary
Aug 23rd
OK so I bought my new 150 gal. Saltwater tank on Aug 23rd
I also got 3 fish to start of my new adventure; a yellow Tang, Dogface Puffer and a Bursa Trigger.
Aug 26th
They came and set it up 3 days later on the 26th. All was well until….
Aug 28th
Thursday the 28th when Brandy noticed the Bursa wasn’t looking too well early that evening. Later that night when I got home I checked on it and it had died.
Aug 29th
I went back to Uncle Bills with the dead fish in a bag; to ask them what they thought might have happened. They weren’t sure but were more than happy to give me credit, and asked if I wanted a different fish (maybe a different breed of Trigger). I decided to go with a Red Tail Sargassum Trigger. I also picked up 2 hermit crabs to add to the mix.
Sept 5th
Being eager to add to my tank (maybe a little too eager); I went to UB with a bag of tank water to be tested. After I received the “all good†I promptly pointed to a beautiful Radiata Lionfish I was already eyeing. I also picked up 3 Redleg Crab. I believe my next purchase will be the “Zebra Moray eelâ€Â.
Sept. 8th
Rinsed out my filter today; I don’t think I did it correctly but I’ve read the instructions and now know exactly how to do it. I’m also addicted to the “Reef Central†and “Saltwater Fish†.com forums.
Sept. 12th
So all has been going well until today Brandy mentioned that the yellow tang had been swimming around a lil “retardedâ€Â… after a lil thought I remembered it did seem to be a lil acting strange; but we were going to Vegas in the morning so I didn’t think too much about it. Paula was all set to come feed the fish on Monday so I wasn’t too worried about anything.
Sept. 16th
Got back from Vegas around 8:00pm; Brandy & I both came in and went right to the tank to check on the “guysâ€Â….. before I even got all the way there Brandy says “awwww man he’s deadâ€Â. I look into the tank and noticed the yellow tang was laying on it’s side; still breathing but not moving. I got the net and tried to scoop it up; and it got up and swam away. It took about 2-3 minutes to catch it; at one point it even went back to the same place and laid down again. I finally caught it and put it into a bag of water with intent to take it back to the store in the morning and ask them what they thought.
Sept. 17th
Well first thing in the morning I went to the tank but it had died already. I went to the store with dead fish in hand, after a short examination of the fish it was decided that they had no idea what caused its death. They offered me a credit for my fish (as they are pretty good about warranting their fish). I decided to take my time this time and take a good look at the next fish I would take out of there.
I had definitely wanted to get the Zebra Moray Eel the last time I was there. Well Laura (store manager & owner’s daughter) reminded me that I wanted fish I could watch grow (the zebra was already a pretty good size). So I set my sights on a much smaller “snowflake eelâ€Â; I watched it for awhile and decided I would take it. Laura also suggested a “Blue Hippo Tang†which I also decided to take. I also set up a time for them to come do a water change.
Sept. 18th
They come out and do the water change, checked the water quality and everything checked out fine.
Sept. 20th
Fed the fish today, the only difference was I added some “rosies†for the eel (which is what they suggested at Uncle Bills). The eel didn’t eat at all; the â€ÂTrigger†“Tang†and “Puffer†however did seem to enjoy them tho. Well a lil later in the evening I noticed the “Puffer†didn’t appear to be acting “normal†(wasn’t swimming around or there to greet me when I got close to the tank) actually it was laying under a LR cave not moving at all. I could tell it wasn’t dead, but it wasn’t moving. At this point I’m thinking *** is killing off all my fish; for the rest of the day it pretty much stayed in the same place.
Sept. 21st
Thinking I might have to take him in to get him checked out before it died I watched it for a lil longer, by now it was swimming around just a lil…. kinda slow and sluggish. At one point it even “puffed†up quite a bit, and I thought something is wrong for sure. Very shortly after that it was back to “normal†again; it was as if it just had a belly ache and needed to fart or something (not sure if fish do that or not…LOL).
Sept. 22nd
Decide to go get more “rosies†to see if the eel would eat today, I went to “The Reef†instead of “Uncle Bills†just because….. I also had Destin with me cause he like to go to pet stores and I even thought I would let him pick out my next fish. The guy told me first of all I shouldn’t be feeding the Eel “rosies†because they’re not saltwater fish, and secondly I should wait another day or two to see if he comes out looking for food.
During that time Destin saw a “Scooter Blenny†and decided that was the fish he wanted because it looked like a lizard. So we got the “Blenny†and some different food for the eel, and I got another 14.5lbs of LR. Not sure what my next purchase will be but I’m still excited about this new hobby of mine.
Sept. 27th
I Went to a new place called “The Abyss†a couple days ago; because it was highly recommended by my friend Susan, who used to have a reef tank herself. I Checked out the place a lil, also talked to the owner about their procedures and other things about my tank.
Since I felt good about the place I decided to take a sample of water to them to test for me, he felt that a “spike†in ammonia might have been the reason for my “ Yellow tang’s†death.
Went there the next day with water in hand…..and once again water tested just fine. While I was there I checked out some of the fish for my next possible purchase.
I decided on a “Foxface Rabbit†and a “Clarkii Clownfishâ€Â, which I picked up today. Although I do like the place; I was a little turned off by the fact that they don’t offer any warranty at all for their fish…..you buy it it’s yours.
Maybe I’ll continue to go there for advice, supplies and my less expensive fish. Uncle Bill’s seems to take pretty good care of me so far with any mishaps I’ve had with fish from them.
Oct. 11th
Last night I noticed my Foxface Rabbit was not looking so well, and I could tell it was on it’s last (fin)…sure enough when I woke up and checked on it, it was dead. My crab had already taken some bites out of it, including eating the eyes out of it….yuck.
Oct 13th
After getting my water checked again and asking around about what could have happened to my Foxface, a couple of people said maybe one of the other fish was “stressing†him out. So I decided to really watch the tank for a lil while; thinking my Niger Triger was the culprit. Well to my surprise my innocent looking Puffer took a bit out of my Snowflake Eel, a few seconds later it did it again. So I thought I’d better get the eel out of there before he decides to finish him off. So I took the eel to Uncle Bills to ask them what I should do, they decided I should leave him there for a few weeks to rehab and to see if they could get him to eat.
Oct 16th
I went back to UB to check on my eel and to look at maybe getting some new additions, they get new fish in on Thursdays. One of the things I was considering doing was bringing back the trigger because he was a lil too aggressive.
Well I decided to go ahead and get a “Pink Anthis†and a “Copperband Butterflyâ€Â, both really good looking fish.
When I got home and was ready to put them into the tank, the Trigger went after the Anthias right away. So I thought that sealed the deal and it was definitely going back. I caught the trigger and put it into one of the bags a had bought one of the other fish home in, and was gonna take it back to the store. Well I decided It could wait til in the morning. (Well I learned a $45 lesson about putting fish into a bag without enough air in it.) when I came home later that night (about 4 hours) it was dead. I had killed my bully and I was really bumed out about it.
Oct 18th
Today I did a water change myself, went to UB and bought 25 gallons of water and a filler hose. Came home rolled up my sleeves and went to work. It was way easier than I thought it was gonna be and I saved $30 doing it myself. Tank looks great hopefully it’ll cycle and I won’t have anymore problems. I probably won’t get anymore fish for a few weeks, but I think my next ones will be a “Kole Tang†and maybe a “Sailfin Tang†but I guess we’ll see.
Oct 20th
Woke up this morning to find the new large crab I had bought was on top of my Scooter Blenny, not sure if it killed it or it died and it decided to eat it. Anyway the crab is going back tomorrow….
Oct 23rd
Took the large crab back today and traded it for a smaller one.
Nov 1st
Woke up today to find my “Coppreband Butterfly†had died (seriously ***). Did the usual water test, and again nothing too crazy (by crazy I mean, nothing out of wack enough to be killing fish). I was already thinking about going to get a new fish today anyway; so I thought I guess I better go ask some more questions. Took a sample of water to them and they found nothing to be alarmed by either.
So, I decide to get a “Scribble Rabbitfish†I had seen there for a couple of weeks. Also they mentioned my salt was just a tad bit high for a FO tank I think it was 1.024; their suggestion was to do a 20 gallon water change with fresh water.
Came home; did the water change and cleaned the tank up a lil, hopefully all will be well.
Nov 8th
Been doing water test just about every other day and all is well, so I decided to maybe go take a look at maybe adding to the community. Took a sample of water as I always do before I buy a fish, It checked out fine and the salt level was down to 1.020.
I asked about my “Pink Anthias†and was informed that it didn’t make it thru the rehab. They were willing to give me a full credit for it, so with all that said I picked out a “Blonde Naso Tang†that I had considered a few weeks ago.
Saltwater Tank Diary
Aug 23rd
OK so I bought my new 150 gal. Saltwater tank on Aug 23rd
I also got 3 fish to start of my new adventure; a yellow Tang, Dogface Puffer and a Bursa Trigger.
Aug 26th
They came and set it up 3 days later on the 26th. All was well until….
Aug 28th
Thursday the 28th when Brandy noticed the Bursa wasn’t looking too well early that evening. Later that night when I got home I checked on it and it had died.
Aug 29th
I went back to Uncle Bills with the dead fish in a bag; to ask them what they thought might have happened. They weren’t sure but were more than happy to give me credit, and asked if I wanted a different fish (maybe a different breed of Trigger). I decided to go with a Red Tail Sargassum Trigger. I also picked up 2 hermit crabs to add to the mix.
Sept 5th
Being eager to add to my tank (maybe a little too eager); I went to UB with a bag of tank water to be tested. After I received the “all good†I promptly pointed to a beautiful Radiata Lionfish I was already eyeing. I also picked up 3 Redleg Crab. I believe my next purchase will be the “Zebra Moray eelâ€Â.
Sept. 8th
Rinsed out my filter today; I don’t think I did it correctly but I’ve read the instructions and now know exactly how to do it. I’m also addicted to the “Reef Central†and “Saltwater Fish†.com forums.
Sept. 12th
So all has been going well until today Brandy mentioned that the yellow tang had been swimming around a lil “retardedâ€Â… after a lil thought I remembered it did seem to be a lil acting strange; but we were going to Vegas in the morning so I didn’t think too much about it. Paula was all set to come feed the fish on Monday so I wasn’t too worried about anything.
Sept. 16th
Got back from Vegas around 8:00pm; Brandy & I both came in and went right to the tank to check on the “guysâ€Â….. before I even got all the way there Brandy says “awwww man he’s deadâ€Â. I look into the tank and noticed the yellow tang was laying on it’s side; still breathing but not moving. I got the net and tried to scoop it up; and it got up and swam away. It took about 2-3 minutes to catch it; at one point it even went back to the same place and laid down again. I finally caught it and put it into a bag of water with intent to take it back to the store in the morning and ask them what they thought.
Sept. 17th
Well first thing in the morning I went to the tank but it had died already. I went to the store with dead fish in hand, after a short examination of the fish it was decided that they had no idea what caused its death. They offered me a credit for my fish (as they are pretty good about warranting their fish). I decided to take my time this time and take a good look at the next fish I would take out of there.
I had definitely wanted to get the Zebra Moray Eel the last time I was there. Well Laura (store manager & owner’s daughter) reminded me that I wanted fish I could watch grow (the zebra was already a pretty good size). So I set my sights on a much smaller “snowflake eelâ€Â; I watched it for awhile and decided I would take it. Laura also suggested a “Blue Hippo Tang†which I also decided to take. I also set up a time for them to come do a water change.
Sept. 18th
They come out and do the water change, checked the water quality and everything checked out fine.
Sept. 20th
Fed the fish today, the only difference was I added some “rosies†for the eel (which is what they suggested at Uncle Bills). The eel didn’t eat at all; the â€ÂTrigger†“Tang†and “Puffer†however did seem to enjoy them tho. Well a lil later in the evening I noticed the “Puffer†didn’t appear to be acting “normal†(wasn’t swimming around or there to greet me when I got close to the tank) actually it was laying under a LR cave not moving at all. I could tell it wasn’t dead, but it wasn’t moving. At this point I’m thinking *** is killing off all my fish; for the rest of the day it pretty much stayed in the same place.
Sept. 21st
Thinking I might have to take him in to get him checked out before it died I watched it for a lil longer, by now it was swimming around just a lil…. kinda slow and sluggish. At one point it even “puffed†up quite a bit, and I thought something is wrong for sure. Very shortly after that it was back to “normal†again; it was as if it just had a belly ache and needed to fart or something (not sure if fish do that or not…LOL).
Sept. 22nd
Decide to go get more “rosies†to see if the eel would eat today, I went to “The Reef†instead of “Uncle Bills†just because….. I also had Destin with me cause he like to go to pet stores and I even thought I would let him pick out my next fish. The guy told me first of all I shouldn’t be feeding the Eel “rosies†because they’re not saltwater fish, and secondly I should wait another day or two to see if he comes out looking for food.
During that time Destin saw a “Scooter Blenny†and decided that was the fish he wanted because it looked like a lizard. So we got the “Blenny†and some different food for the eel, and I got another 14.5lbs of LR. Not sure what my next purchase will be but I’m still excited about this new hobby of mine.
Sept. 27th
I Went to a new place called “The Abyss†a couple days ago; because it was highly recommended by my friend Susan, who used to have a reef tank herself. I Checked out the place a lil, also talked to the owner about their procedures and other things about my tank.
Since I felt good about the place I decided to take a sample of water to them to test for me, he felt that a “spike†in ammonia might have been the reason for my “ Yellow tang’s†death.
Went there the next day with water in hand…..and once again water tested just fine. While I was there I checked out some of the fish for my next possible purchase.
I decided on a “Foxface Rabbit†and a “Clarkii Clownfishâ€Â, which I picked up today. Although I do like the place; I was a little turned off by the fact that they don’t offer any warranty at all for their fish…..you buy it it’s yours.
Maybe I’ll continue to go there for advice, supplies and my less expensive fish. Uncle Bill’s seems to take pretty good care of me so far with any mishaps I’ve had with fish from them.
Oct. 11th
Last night I noticed my Foxface Rabbit was not looking so well, and I could tell it was on it’s last (fin)…sure enough when I woke up and checked on it, it was dead. My crab had already taken some bites out of it, including eating the eyes out of it….yuck.
Oct 13th
After getting my water checked again and asking around about what could have happened to my Foxface, a couple of people said maybe one of the other fish was “stressing†him out. So I decided to really watch the tank for a lil while; thinking my Niger Triger was the culprit. Well to my surprise my innocent looking Puffer took a bit out of my Snowflake Eel, a few seconds later it did it again. So I thought I’d better get the eel out of there before he decides to finish him off. So I took the eel to Uncle Bills to ask them what I should do, they decided I should leave him there for a few weeks to rehab and to see if they could get him to eat.
Oct 16th
I went back to UB to check on my eel and to look at maybe getting some new additions, they get new fish in on Thursdays. One of the things I was considering doing was bringing back the trigger because he was a lil too aggressive.
Well I decided to go ahead and get a “Pink Anthis†and a “Copperband Butterflyâ€Â, both really good looking fish.
When I got home and was ready to put them into the tank, the Trigger went after the Anthias right away. So I thought that sealed the deal and it was definitely going back. I caught the trigger and put it into one of the bags a had bought one of the other fish home in, and was gonna take it back to the store. Well I decided It could wait til in the morning. (Well I learned a $45 lesson about putting fish into a bag without enough air in it.) when I came home later that night (about 4 hours) it was dead. I had killed my bully and I was really bumed out about it.
Oct 18th
Today I did a water change myself, went to UB and bought 25 gallons of water and a filler hose. Came home rolled up my sleeves and went to work. It was way easier than I thought it was gonna be and I saved $30 doing it myself. Tank looks great hopefully it’ll cycle and I won’t have anymore problems. I probably won’t get anymore fish for a few weeks, but I think my next ones will be a “Kole Tang†and maybe a “Sailfin Tang†but I guess we’ll see.
Oct 20th
Woke up this morning to find the new large crab I had bought was on top of my Scooter Blenny, not sure if it killed it or it died and it decided to eat it. Anyway the crab is going back tomorrow….
Oct 23rd
Took the large crab back today and traded it for a smaller one.
Nov 1st
Woke up today to find my “Coppreband Butterfly†had died (seriously ***). Did the usual water test, and again nothing too crazy (by crazy I mean, nothing out of wack enough to be killing fish). I was already thinking about going to get a new fish today anyway; so I thought I guess I better go ask some more questions. Took a sample of water to them and they found nothing to be alarmed by either.
So, I decide to get a “Scribble Rabbitfish†I had seen there for a couple of weeks. Also they mentioned my salt was just a tad bit high for a FO tank I think it was 1.024; their suggestion was to do a 20 gallon water change with fresh water.
Came home; did the water change and cleaned the tank up a lil, hopefully all will be well.
Nov 8th
Been doing water test just about every other day and all is well, so I decided to maybe go take a look at maybe adding to the community. Took a sample of water as I always do before I buy a fish, It checked out fine and the salt level was down to 1.020.
I asked about my “Pink Anthias†and was informed that it didn’t make it thru the rehab. They were willing to give me a full credit for it, so with all that said I picked out a “Blonde Naso Tang†that I had considered a few weeks ago.
You'll find people here are really helpful, and there is a lot of experience you can tap into. But to get the most out of the boards, it's best to get some base knowledge. New Marine Aquarium can get you up to speed quick, and the advice in it is really good. 
