ordering online

[delfmen]

anyone order coral and fish online? i started my tank at college but now that I am home I realized I do not have any really good local fish stores by me, so I am thinking about placing an order on liveaquaria.com, petsolutions.com, or marinedepotlive.com and wanted to know if anyone had any experience (positive or negative) with them.

also, a quick question: should i do a water change once a week or once every other week? i was doing once a week but my father (who was into reefs a long time ago seems to think its every 2 weeks). i have a 12g aquapod for reference purposes.

thanks!

 

[hgbarwick]

I haven't orderd any fish or corals online but I can tell you that you need to do a 2 gallon water change every week on your 12 gallon aqua pod. When you do your water changes you will need to clean out your sponge very week too. That is what works on my 12 gallon aquapod and is what most other people do on thier 12 galons.

 

[delfmen]

thats, what i thought - thanks!

 

[hgbarwick]

no problem

 

[schnell76]

Put a half of unit of Chemi-pure in your 12 gallon. That stuff really makes the water clear and extends the life of your water in regards to weekly water changes. Great if you happen to go over a week or ten days!

As for ordering online....the only thing I have ordered is live rock for my nano from liveaquaria and was very satisfied with the pack they sent. The stuff is really starting to come alive after cycling my tank and bleaching.

 

[delfmen]

after doing some research, liveaquaria.com def. has the best shipping prices and selection. i am looking at getting the following:

1 Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
2 Super Tongan Nassarius Snail (the regular smaller ones are out of stock)
1 Nano Polyp Pack (an assortment of polyps)
1 Cauliflower Colt Coral

all of that comes to ~155 shipped. I currently have
1 Ocellaris Clownfish
1 Firefish
2 Hermit Crabs
2 Astraea Snails

is this too much stuff for my tank or should I be okay?

thanks for the help!

 

[godoggo]

Why just one clownfish, did you lose one? - I'd order another one, they are really happier in pairs.

You might want to post a thread in your local community - if you can combine orders, you can eliminate the shipping cost.

Good Luck!

 

[theop]

How do you judge clownfish happiness?

Unless your buy a pair, you can't guarantee that they will pair up. A single clownfish will do just fine, although a pair is good too. Does your tank have at least 12# live rock? If not, then I wouldn't add a 3rd fish.

2 gal every week seems to be the conventional wisdom for a 12g nano and that is what I am doing in my 12g nanocube. There are very few absolutes in this hobby... depending on your bioload and feeding habits, you may be able to go longer between water changes. Also, if you have a skimmer and/or are growing macroalgae in a refugium this will keep your water cleaner.

Just monitor your water parameters, expecially nitrates.

Your stocking list seems fine.

 

[delfmen]

i have around 15 pounds of live rock so i am good there.

i just purchased a single clown, none died.

thats for the local community suggestion, i will check that out.

 

[ShY]

Please post an update when you recieed your package i have though about ordering from them as well. I think they have a 30 day money back.

 

[jaymz101]

Ive always been happy with my livestock from liveaquaria.com. Great customer service too.