New Tank Owners from Bear

O

Our First Tank

New member
We were very excited to find this forum!! We just got a 30 gallon and began our hobby of Saltwater fish :rollface:

Anyway, we have been going to the store in Fox Run on 40 called Just Fish. Is this place reputable? They have been very helpful and don't seem like they are trying to empty our wallets (although I know they will eventually) Please let us know!
Thanks everyone
 
Welcome!

Both of those places are great for livestock. You may also want to try

http://www.thatpetplace.com/

you will not find lower prices for drygoods. Im sure everyone will chirp in with there opinions on Just Fish, but for me, i would spend the gas 10X over driving to any of the stores recommended so far before i would go to Just Fish. Also i have had a lot of luck buying livestock and drygoods online. Try taking a look at these....there livestock prices cant be beat. DFS also has a 14 day guarentee on livestock.

www.liveaquaria.com
www.marinedepotlive.com

Shawn:bum:
 
Thank you for the feed back?

Logan's dad, may I ask why you wouldn't go there? Did you have a bad experience? It seems really small, but the staff seems to know their stuff.
 
Re: New Tank Owners from Bear

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7007549#post7007549 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Our First Tank
Is this place reputable?
Click to expand...

i guess there reputable, in the sense that i dont think that they are crooks or anything. but if your looking for advice then this (RC) is the best place to get it. i haven't been in justfish for at least a year or 2. i would just suggest doing all your research here, ask all your questions here.ive had some strange advise from them in the past
 
i wouldnt say that the staff knows their stuff although the younger woman with short hairs seems to be fairly knowledgable. take mmbuna's advice....ask your questions here at RC or pick up a couple of recommended books. as far as my experiences? they are VERY overpriced, they have a limited selection of drygoods, and their fish always seem to be sickly.

i will say this however, i was able to find a copperbanded butterfly that was eating mysis at there store about 6 months ago and bought it. it is doing wonderful in my tank and it only cost me about $50...woohooo!(<-sarcasm). take a look at some of the online vendors and the local ones that mmbuna and i recommended and make your own decision. my money is on you never going back to JF.

shawn:bum:
 
That woman is the one we deal with mostly. She may be the owner actually.....

Now, another question....you guys aren't cycling police are you? I have been a bit scorned on another forum about this procedure.

Last week after we had the tank set up and water levels ideal, we went to Just Fish and they gave us the go to add our first set of fish. We got a yellow tail damsel, a 3 striped damsel and a puffer for a total of 3 fish.

The week we were advised to add 2 more for a total of 5 for the end of week 2, and one more fish per week until week 4 or 5 depending on algae levels. It is too late now to go back on week 2 as we already have the 5 guys in there, so......

If we had made any mistake so far, oops.....as far as future goes what else should/could we be doing?
 
I think that is far too many fish. I have 6 sm-md fish in my 75gallon and i wouldnt add 1 more(well maybe one more:D ). personally...i think you have been given bad advice already as far as the puffer goes. im not sure what species a "green" puffer is but he is not going to work out in your 30gal. my guess is what you have is probably a valentini toby since i have seen them at JF before. he wont get very big but is still going to be a handful in your 30gal tank. the damsels are also going to get MEAN, the three stripe more than the yellowtail. chances are, they already think they own the whole tank and they will bully any other fish you add. i would suggest you do a lot of research on fish selection before you buy 1 more fish. make sure that your fish are going to get along and that you are going to have the means to support the fish as it matures(i.e., you tank is big enough). a good idea is to know the exact fish you want before you even go to the LFS that way you arent even tempted to purchase a fish whose requirements you dont know and you wont have to rely on the advice of the LFS staff. my best advice is as follows:

SLOW DOWN...as exciting as this hobby is there is really no hurry...spend a few hours on RC(about 1000:D)...and learn as much as you can. you will be able to make more informed decisions and save some money. lastly....enjoy your fish, say goodbye to your money, and welcome to reef central.
 
Well, the puffer is called a "green spotted puffer F1" which i originally thought was for a brackish tank. He pretty much stays to himself, and every now and then explores a little. Its odd, but I think he recognizes us and swims up to the top for a greeting when we feed him. So far he has not even bothered with the other 2 in the tank and has only attacked my finger (which hurt). The striped damsel is the "jerk" of the tank as I named him. He is extremely teritorial and chases the yellow tail damsel away from his plant......I don't think the yellow tail minds though because she has her own plant anyway.

Thanks for the advise again....and I am sure we will have tons of questions pretty soon......like in a hour or so :lmao:
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7009133#post7009133 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Our First Tank
No, we have this one....
http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/puf-nigr.htm

The one in this picture is fat and small, but ours is a bit longer and skinnier. Most sites say he is for brackish tanks, but ones that use instant ocean are ok also. he is cute!
Click to expand...

holly mackerel!!!!!!! the sites say its a brackish water fish because IT IS. Instant Ocean is a salt water mix designed for salt water fish. the fish will die in salt water, please take it back!!

let me pass on the best advise ive ever gotten about this hobby.

"only bad thing happen fast in this hobby"

it takes 3 to 4 weeks for your nitrogen cycle to be complete. there is no way that your tank has gone through its full cycle in one week, and then adding 3 or 4 fish is too much too fast.

what is your end goal of this tank? fish only, corals?

tell us everything about the tank. what size? what filtration? what lighting? how much live rock?

what test kits do you have? what are your test results?
 
there you have it! i think this thread pretty much sums up the kind of advice you can expect at JF...and to be fair...many other LFS.

shawn:bum:
 
He is housed in salt water in the store, and is in a lower salt content environment (meaning the lower end of the acceptable amount.)

We have a 30 gallon, with a 17watt bulb? (we are new to this so tank-lingo isn't a strong point). Plus we have a Penguin150 Bio wheel filter and a heater.

Since this is our first we decided not to do live rock or live sand. We have a coral substrate, plus 3 decorative plants, a decorative rock and a small fancy castle (my choice).

Last night we fed them brine shrimp only after i read we should mix it up a bit for nutritional factors. What else should we be feeding them?

As far as testing kits, we have the salt tester (obviously), and we just purchased a water test strips which I haven't even looked at yet, but I plan on testing the water tonight.

I am fully aware that the cycling isn't done yet, but like I said we were going on the advice from the people at the store and what we read on various sites. If I knew about RC I would have done research here first. The only thing we could do now if just go forward with what we have and see what happens. You guys are a big help! Thank you :D
 
you really need to take the puffer back. if anything it should be housed in freshwater as a juvenile. you are not going to have long term luck trying to keep a brackish water fish with saltwater fish. my guess is the only reason your fish are still alive is because you purchased "saltwater goldfish". damsels are VERY tolerant of horrible water conditions and just too mean to die. please take back the puffer, invest in some solid equipment(1 piece at a time if necessary) and ask all of your questions here. also, if you havent already, the "new to the hobby" forum would be a great place to ask your questions and receive broader feedback. good luck with everything.

shawn:bum:
 
Don't a lot of brackish fish become tolerant of full "saltwater" salinity as they become adults?

I'm streaching my memory here, as it's been about 10 years since I tried a brackish aquarium.

Our First Tank - I've gotta give kudos to you for taking the comments graciously :thumbsup: - you'll find everyone has different opinions on how a tank should be set-up, and when it comes to corals we can go even more overboard on how to do it :D

Your tank is almost identicle to the first salt tank I started in college six years ago - a 30-gallon hexagon tank - I had a humu humu trigger, snowflake eel, and a few damsels; a 10-lb piece of live rock (that cost me a few nights at the bars :( ) and due to the bioload (because of my inexperience) it was an incredible algae-farm :D. Not that I would ever recommend this to a beginner - just trying to show that we all have to start somewhere :rolleyes:

Since you don't have live rock, you may not go through the classic saltwater "cycle" as there are many organisms that die in live rock, get eaten by bacteria, and then new organisms populate the inner crevaces and spaces in the rock (the stuff is like swiss cheese - very porus). This "death and rebirth" can take a few weeks to a month - hence the warnings about putting fish in a "polluted" environment.

Just keep an eye on your ammonia, nitrites and nitrates - you have a fairly good bio-load in there, so you may find that the above will gradually increase over time - ideally, enough bacteria will colonize the filter media, sand bed, and water itself to process any ammonia and nitrite. Ammonia and nitrite are non-existant in a cycled tank - however, nitrates will creap up over time as they are not processed by aerobic bacteria - there are ways to lower them, but at this point - just plan on keeping them down with water changes.

If you do test and have *any* ammonia, I suggest an immediate water change - due to the pH of saltwater, the ions in ammonia are 100X more toxic to fish than they are in freshwater - so the smallest amount may not kill your fish instantly, but will probably stress them out enough to have them croak in like a week :rolleyes:

I'm sure you have a lot of questions - or you will. I know we're not supposed to mention other websites - but for those entering the hobby, I like to recommend wetwebmedia.com - the information there is very easy to read, and best of all it comes from experienced professionals - so you can "trust" it as much as you can trust any advice in this hobby :lol: I agree the "new to the hobby" forum can be very good to, as long as you know where the advice is coming from.

Ask all the questions you would like here though - locals are always willing to help - maybe with some live sand to get some detritus-eating creatures in your tank - or if you would like to see other systems - mine is always open for a tour ;)
 
"tolerant" is the operative word and i just dont think it is good husbandry. i am far from an expert on the subject, but drawing from my angling knowledge and experience, brackish fish are just that...brackish. species tend to live in areas where fresh water gets dumped into saltwater. often times these fish will follow the "saltwater line" in rivers. the delaware is perfect example. during summers where we have long droughts the saltwater line can come as far as the delaware memorial bridege and beyond. it is not unhead of to catch saltwater species in the delaware when this happens.

futhermore, typical forays of brackish fish into fresh and saltwater often coincide with mating behavior and does not reflect year-round geographical location. there are always exceptions...such as the rainbow trout which can either remain a medium size freshwater species....or become a large saltwater water species with identical DNA....so i am speaking in general terms. also...i will admit that i have absolutely no knowledge of the particular species this thread is about except for the link provided earlier. for what my .02 are worth....brackish fish in saltwater tanks = bad husbandry

btw...i hope i didnt sound harsh with my previous threads...i guess im still sour that i didnt get great advice when i started...like purchasing a $300 wet/dry and 6 months later replacing it with a $50 DIY sump/fuge that is a 1000X more effective. for what its worth...im not trying to be mean or insulting...just helpful:)

shawn:bum:
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7018971#post7018971 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by logans_daddy
like purchasing a $300 wet/dry and 6 months later replacing
Click to expand...

:) we all have done it. if anyone ever want to stop by and rummage through our storage room full of useless equipment your welcome to it:D

i will also agree that its hard to convey emotions through a keyboard. we have all been there and are just trying to be helpful. i think ive meet just about everyone that post's in the club form and there all great people, that love there little glass boxes and will try to help in any way that they can. so ask away, thats what this whole thing is about!!
 
also what MTM suggested about getting some sand from some one is a great idea. i have as much as you could want, if you want it just let me know
 
"if anyone ever want to stop by and rummage through our storage room full of useless equipment your welcome to it"

Easy there! I am probably running that stuff on my main tank! :p

I have sand available, too. It has some nice gunk going.
 
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