BedazzledLV
New member
Hi Everyone,
I thought I'd introduce myself since I think i will be here a lot asking every question under the sun. I'm sort of overwhelmed with all that I've had to deal with while getting started, but I really want to make this work. I am hoping to get to know all of you, and hopefully have some better advice than I've been getting.
I'm a housewife, so i really do have time I can dedicate to becoming acquainted with taking care of a saltwater aquarium. And from what I've been reading, my anxiety is quite the norm for a Noob. Well everyone has to start somewhere, somehow... here is how I ended up with my very first saltwater aquarium... and my story up to now.
My husband's colleague/golfing buddy who loves saltwater fish sold & set up a nano(10-20 gallon i think) FO tank for his private office(his colleague does all the maintainence). My husband loves it, and it reminded him of the 300 gallon he used to have in a restaurant he owned years back. As fish have always peaked my interest, my husband asked if I wanted a tank for the house. I said "honey it would be lovely, but I know nothing about them and have no clue how to even take care of one". Well he said not to worry about it, he'll have his buddy set it up for us and teach me everything i need to know. Well i got really excited since I've always loved saltwater fish & especially mixed reef tanks. I started reading up all over the internet on setting up a tank and what equipment i would need etc.
Long story short his so called "buddy" turned out to be trying to pawn off his used equipment(that was outdated and undersized for our tank) on us so he could use what he charged us to buy new stuff for himself. One day after work they decided to go to the LFS without me(who is going to be caring for the tank). He convinced my husband to buy a tank that is way too deep IMHO(48L x 18W x 32D)use CC, when i completely was against it and wanted sand(causing my husband and I to have a big fight, we hardly ever fight), and throughout the set-up my opinion was completely disregarded. He also promised RO/DI water yet on the day of he said no we are using tap water with conditioner... its the same(which him being my husbands colleague, I can only argue so much) and again i was completely disregarded. I don't want to dwell on all the rest , but i was completely over-ruled and this led to another big fight between my stubborn husband and I. Whats worse is i really can't say anything to the person because it will just make it more awkward for my husband since they have mutual golf buddies and work in the same office.
Out came the cheapo old home depot light fixture that was malfunctioning, along with the 2 dead corals & 1 fiberglass monstrosity, crappy old Fluval 405, el-cheapo heater making a horrible buzzing noise whenever it turned on, and the ridiculous used whisper air pump with stone under one of the dead corals that was supposed to look "soooo classy" LMFAO.
Sick to my stomach with being totally disregarded, I stated to my husband well all this has to be replaced. To his dismay he had to agree... Hope he learned his lesson since he paid for it. So in the end the only things that stayed were the crushed coral(tank is way too deep for me to even attempt to replace it, so got a battery operated eheim gravel vac to supplement water change vacuuming). Kept the proclear aquatics wet/dry 150pro which actually made a perfect sump(im not a big DIYer) thought the overflow box is really noisy(i assume its the nature of the overflow box since my husband didn't get a pre-drilled tank...grrrrr).
So to properly equip my 115 gallon tank, I got an ASM G1x skimmer which has been a lot easier than i expected to use(thought the air tube is a bit noisy), a mag 7 return pump to the DP for use in the converted wet/dry. I also purchased an eheim professionel 2 canister filter to help polish the water with chemipure elite and a 300w eheim jager heater to correctly heat my tank. I added 2 seio 1000gph powerheads which are working very nicely to add flow to this deep tank, and my ATI 6 bulb sunpower light fixture which i have set up on timers. I let the skimmer and canister run a couple days, till i knew they were set up correctly. Then I went out and purchased 75 lbs of live rock(a mix of completely cured fiji and tonga), I am so excited because i already am seeing a lot of pink and purple coraline growth, a sponge, and i've seen many tiny feather dusters about. And i think they also have hair and spaghetti worms about. I was a little freaked last night when I was looking at the tank and i think i saw a bit of a reddish worm that looked like a centipede pop out for a second(im guessing this is the controversial bristle worm? I use gardening gloves on the rare occasion when moving my lr, so i think im pretty safe). But hey can't complain, it was exciting.
so after having everything up and running well, I took in my water sample for testing as all i had left was a little nitrate. I was advised to add Bio-Spira to my tank, before adding my new fish purchase. I was so excited, as finally all my torture was to have a happy outcome. I purchased a cream angelfish(Philippines) and a sailfin tang(fiji) for my lovely tank. After the fish settled into their new home I noticed the angelfish not coming out of his caves for breakfast. I thought it was probably just more sensitive to the move, I checked my water parameters to find even my nitrates had dropped to 0 so there were no toxicity level reasons for his behavior. Wango Tango(my spoiled tang) settled in marvelously started eating frozen Formula#2 out of my fingers after a day, enjoyed his afternoon nori clip, and relishes his thera+a like its fish crack lol.
Unfortunately, the angel was still not eating. nothing could coax him out of hiding in caves, swimming to the next cave or staring at his reflection in the glass. I began worrying about his health as i had yet to see him eat anything. I called my LFS guy since he had been so informative via phone before my purchases and after, and he told me he is probably just adjusting to his new surroundings. And not to worry he is eating algae off my rocks, though i never really saw him pecking at the rocks much except on this 1 spot which had nothing visible to the naked eye. So I said I'd wait it out to see if my sensitive angel would acclimate better.
We went out of town for the week... don't worry, my sister stayed at my house to take care of the cat, dog, plants and fish. She fed as per directions & used distilled water for top offs, and I left the tank lights off for the week so there wouldn't be a crazy algae bloom that she couldn't handle.
Came home to our happy tang, and still the angelfish was not eating. Now my anxiety really kicked in, as I really was worried for him. Called up LFS guy and he kept saying the fish must have been picking at small algae on the LR or else he wouldn't have lived out the week. I asked him if I could bring him in because maybe he was sick etc. not eating for so long for a fish that was supposedly eating fine in the store for quite a while.He said if i wanted I could bring the fish in but he couldn't take it in if it was sick since he wouldn't want to infect his tanks... I wanted to shout" HELLO! I got the fish 10 days ago from your tanks" but where is that going to get me. After all the time and money i'd spent in his store, you would think there would be a little more help. I wasn't even asking for a refund, i just wanted to help the fish get better. He said I could try a fresh water bath, he did pretty good in the FW and seemed to be swimming fine. Then i put him into the hospital tank i was planning to try to do hyposalinity on... he was looking a little skiddish in, so i made sure to block out most light and give him some rest at the normal salinity of my DT(1.026/ 35 ppt on my correctly calibrated refractometer). I dropped the salinity to 1.023 6 hrs later, he seemed to be fine but didn't eat his dinner before the water change. The next morning i was getting really worried for him because he was acting lethargic and sort of in a daze. I panicked and returned him into the DP, thinking maybe the small drop of salinity was making him unhappy. His condition kept on deteriorating till i saw him laying on his side on the substrate. I frantically called the LFS guy, and he said that once a fish is lying flat on its side its dying and I should take him out of the DT because he will poison the water for the other fish when he does pass. So using my meager knowledge with FW tanks as a kid, i humanely euthanized in blended ice water slurry.
I'm thinking the LFS guy knew he sold me a fish that had something wrong. Because during this time I had stopped of to talk to him in person to ask what he would do(before the turn for the worse) and he was a bit evasive. Also he said maybe it was a bacterial infection, but can't be sure etc. I've lost faith in believing that people can be trusted especially if you have been a good customer. If he had been more forthcoming with me, I'd still purchase from him as I respect honesty. Now i'm worried for my beloved tang, if the other fish had some sort of bacterial infection could it mean he does too?
Well my tank is getting to the 2 week mark, and I've arranged for a local company who does custom tank designs and maintainence for many high end tanks in my area. I think this will be a great resource just to learn more about my tank and not have my fish suffer due to my lack of knowledge. Also they can help me make the right decisions on stocking in the future as i can't trust the LFS.
Here is me hoping whatever it was, it doesn't kill my tang who i've become very attached to.
Please for those that want to reprimand me about the cream angelfish, believe me... i do enough of that myself every day. I'm here to learn, and wanted to put everything out there knowing full well I started off completely unprepared and letting my stubborn husband get his way since I was too tired of dealing with the fighting over the tank. I know my failure is due to me listening to people who i thought really wanted to help me go through this process that really only care about their own bottom line no matter how informative they seemed. I did try to read up on things, but at times it was too much info to process... I'm just barely understanding what cycling is(though my tank was cycled w/ live rock), didn't know something as basic as asking the lfs to feed them to see if they are eating, beware of dim lighting in the store, what sick fish look like, the benefits of fresh water baths for new fish, quarantine etc...
So far my Angel is swimming like the king of the tank, happily feasting on his varied diet, has no clamped fins, loss of appetite, rapid breathing, or anything i can surmise as a bad sign. So i guess I'll spend my time trying not to worry over him.
Oh BTW, My coraline is starting to grow, and at the moment i'm only using 1 natural and 1 blue light since i don't have corals yet. How many hrs a day is optimal light for them? I have been doing 9 hrs per day... but somewhere i read says 14? also, is it alright to set the timer for the lights to go on for an hr in the early morning for breakfast time, then turn off till 2 in the afternoon to be on for 8 more hrs? or will this stress my tang to have the lights go on and off in an un-natural pattern?
PS Don't worry im not planning to add a menagerie of fish until i can handle the one i've got without incident. Tangs are solitary, so not like he will mind being by himself....right? lol
I thought I'd introduce myself since I think i will be here a lot asking every question under the sun. I'm sort of overwhelmed with all that I've had to deal with while getting started, but I really want to make this work. I am hoping to get to know all of you, and hopefully have some better advice than I've been getting.
I'm a housewife, so i really do have time I can dedicate to becoming acquainted with taking care of a saltwater aquarium. And from what I've been reading, my anxiety is quite the norm for a Noob. Well everyone has to start somewhere, somehow... here is how I ended up with my very first saltwater aquarium... and my story up to now.
My husband's colleague/golfing buddy who loves saltwater fish sold & set up a nano(10-20 gallon i think) FO tank for his private office(his colleague does all the maintainence). My husband loves it, and it reminded him of the 300 gallon he used to have in a restaurant he owned years back. As fish have always peaked my interest, my husband asked if I wanted a tank for the house. I said "honey it would be lovely, but I know nothing about them and have no clue how to even take care of one". Well he said not to worry about it, he'll have his buddy set it up for us and teach me everything i need to know. Well i got really excited since I've always loved saltwater fish & especially mixed reef tanks. I started reading up all over the internet on setting up a tank and what equipment i would need etc.
Long story short his so called "buddy" turned out to be trying to pawn off his used equipment(that was outdated and undersized for our tank) on us so he could use what he charged us to buy new stuff for himself. One day after work they decided to go to the LFS without me(who is going to be caring for the tank). He convinced my husband to buy a tank that is way too deep IMHO(48L x 18W x 32D)use CC, when i completely was against it and wanted sand(causing my husband and I to have a big fight, we hardly ever fight), and throughout the set-up my opinion was completely disregarded. He also promised RO/DI water yet on the day of he said no we are using tap water with conditioner... its the same(which him being my husbands colleague, I can only argue so much) and again i was completely disregarded. I don't want to dwell on all the rest , but i was completely over-ruled and this led to another big fight between my stubborn husband and I. Whats worse is i really can't say anything to the person because it will just make it more awkward for my husband since they have mutual golf buddies and work in the same office.
Out came the cheapo old home depot light fixture that was malfunctioning, along with the 2 dead corals & 1 fiberglass monstrosity, crappy old Fluval 405, el-cheapo heater making a horrible buzzing noise whenever it turned on, and the ridiculous used whisper air pump with stone under one of the dead corals that was supposed to look "soooo classy" LMFAO.
Sick to my stomach with being totally disregarded, I stated to my husband well all this has to be replaced. To his dismay he had to agree... Hope he learned his lesson since he paid for it. So in the end the only things that stayed were the crushed coral(tank is way too deep for me to even attempt to replace it, so got a battery operated eheim gravel vac to supplement water change vacuuming). Kept the proclear aquatics wet/dry 150pro which actually made a perfect sump(im not a big DIYer) thought the overflow box is really noisy(i assume its the nature of the overflow box since my husband didn't get a pre-drilled tank...grrrrr).
So to properly equip my 115 gallon tank, I got an ASM G1x skimmer which has been a lot easier than i expected to use(thought the air tube is a bit noisy), a mag 7 return pump to the DP for use in the converted wet/dry. I also purchased an eheim professionel 2 canister filter to help polish the water with chemipure elite and a 300w eheim jager heater to correctly heat my tank. I added 2 seio 1000gph powerheads which are working very nicely to add flow to this deep tank, and my ATI 6 bulb sunpower light fixture which i have set up on timers. I let the skimmer and canister run a couple days, till i knew they were set up correctly. Then I went out and purchased 75 lbs of live rock(a mix of completely cured fiji and tonga), I am so excited because i already am seeing a lot of pink and purple coraline growth, a sponge, and i've seen many tiny feather dusters about. And i think they also have hair and spaghetti worms about. I was a little freaked last night when I was looking at the tank and i think i saw a bit of a reddish worm that looked like a centipede pop out for a second(im guessing this is the controversial bristle worm? I use gardening gloves on the rare occasion when moving my lr, so i think im pretty safe). But hey can't complain, it was exciting.
so after having everything up and running well, I took in my water sample for testing as all i had left was a little nitrate. I was advised to add Bio-Spira to my tank, before adding my new fish purchase. I was so excited, as finally all my torture was to have a happy outcome. I purchased a cream angelfish(Philippines) and a sailfin tang(fiji) for my lovely tank. After the fish settled into their new home I noticed the angelfish not coming out of his caves for breakfast. I thought it was probably just more sensitive to the move, I checked my water parameters to find even my nitrates had dropped to 0 so there were no toxicity level reasons for his behavior. Wango Tango(my spoiled tang) settled in marvelously started eating frozen Formula#2 out of my fingers after a day, enjoyed his afternoon nori clip, and relishes his thera+a like its fish crack lol.
Unfortunately, the angel was still not eating. nothing could coax him out of hiding in caves, swimming to the next cave or staring at his reflection in the glass. I began worrying about his health as i had yet to see him eat anything. I called my LFS guy since he had been so informative via phone before my purchases and after, and he told me he is probably just adjusting to his new surroundings. And not to worry he is eating algae off my rocks, though i never really saw him pecking at the rocks much except on this 1 spot which had nothing visible to the naked eye. So I said I'd wait it out to see if my sensitive angel would acclimate better.
We went out of town for the week... don't worry, my sister stayed at my house to take care of the cat, dog, plants and fish. She fed as per directions & used distilled water for top offs, and I left the tank lights off for the week so there wouldn't be a crazy algae bloom that she couldn't handle.
Came home to our happy tang, and still the angelfish was not eating. Now my anxiety really kicked in, as I really was worried for him. Called up LFS guy and he kept saying the fish must have been picking at small algae on the LR or else he wouldn't have lived out the week. I asked him if I could bring him in because maybe he was sick etc. not eating for so long for a fish that was supposedly eating fine in the store for quite a while.He said if i wanted I could bring the fish in but he couldn't take it in if it was sick since he wouldn't want to infect his tanks... I wanted to shout" HELLO! I got the fish 10 days ago from your tanks" but where is that going to get me. After all the time and money i'd spent in his store, you would think there would be a little more help. I wasn't even asking for a refund, i just wanted to help the fish get better. He said I could try a fresh water bath, he did pretty good in the FW and seemed to be swimming fine. Then i put him into the hospital tank i was planning to try to do hyposalinity on... he was looking a little skiddish in, so i made sure to block out most light and give him some rest at the normal salinity of my DT(1.026/ 35 ppt on my correctly calibrated refractometer). I dropped the salinity to 1.023 6 hrs later, he seemed to be fine but didn't eat his dinner before the water change. The next morning i was getting really worried for him because he was acting lethargic and sort of in a daze. I panicked and returned him into the DP, thinking maybe the small drop of salinity was making him unhappy. His condition kept on deteriorating till i saw him laying on his side on the substrate. I frantically called the LFS guy, and he said that once a fish is lying flat on its side its dying and I should take him out of the DT because he will poison the water for the other fish when he does pass. So using my meager knowledge with FW tanks as a kid, i humanely euthanized in blended ice water slurry.
I'm thinking the LFS guy knew he sold me a fish that had something wrong. Because during this time I had stopped of to talk to him in person to ask what he would do(before the turn for the worse) and he was a bit evasive. Also he said maybe it was a bacterial infection, but can't be sure etc. I've lost faith in believing that people can be trusted especially if you have been a good customer. If he had been more forthcoming with me, I'd still purchase from him as I respect honesty. Now i'm worried for my beloved tang, if the other fish had some sort of bacterial infection could it mean he does too?
Well my tank is getting to the 2 week mark, and I've arranged for a local company who does custom tank designs and maintainence for many high end tanks in my area. I think this will be a great resource just to learn more about my tank and not have my fish suffer due to my lack of knowledge. Also they can help me make the right decisions on stocking in the future as i can't trust the LFS.
Here is me hoping whatever it was, it doesn't kill my tang who i've become very attached to.
Please for those that want to reprimand me about the cream angelfish, believe me... i do enough of that myself every day. I'm here to learn, and wanted to put everything out there knowing full well I started off completely unprepared and letting my stubborn husband get his way since I was too tired of dealing with the fighting over the tank. I know my failure is due to me listening to people who i thought really wanted to help me go through this process that really only care about their own bottom line no matter how informative they seemed. I did try to read up on things, but at times it was too much info to process... I'm just barely understanding what cycling is(though my tank was cycled w/ live rock), didn't know something as basic as asking the lfs to feed them to see if they are eating, beware of dim lighting in the store, what sick fish look like, the benefits of fresh water baths for new fish, quarantine etc...
So far my Angel is swimming like the king of the tank, happily feasting on his varied diet, has no clamped fins, loss of appetite, rapid breathing, or anything i can surmise as a bad sign. So i guess I'll spend my time trying not to worry over him.
Oh BTW, My coraline is starting to grow, and at the moment i'm only using 1 natural and 1 blue light since i don't have corals yet. How many hrs a day is optimal light for them? I have been doing 9 hrs per day... but somewhere i read says 14? also, is it alright to set the timer for the lights to go on for an hr in the early morning for breakfast time, then turn off till 2 in the afternoon to be on for 8 more hrs? or will this stress my tang to have the lights go on and off in an un-natural pattern?
PS Don't worry im not planning to add a menagerie of fish until i can handle the one i've got without incident. Tangs are solitary, so not like he will mind being by himself....right? lol
