yeaaaaaaa im ready to get some fish

[adrian52492]

hey been cycling my tank for a month with three yellow tail damsels and this morning i saw algee on my crushed coral so i took a sample of my water to my lfs and ther tested my water and they said im ready to start putting fishes in their so i bought a clown fish next i will be changing my bulbs buying some live rock and getting a annomie or two and continue from their also i am making a wet dry system at school in my construction class.im so excited !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!so far i have four fish the clown fish (i named nemo )and the three damsels any body have any suggestions on what else i shoud get ? thanks adrian

 

[DaveAngie79]

FIRST THING I WOULD DO IS GET RID OF THE DAMSELS THEY NORMALLY ARE VERY MEAN AND AGGRESIVE ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY ARE FIRST IN THE TANK. I MADE THE SAME MISTAKE WHEN I FIRST STARTED MINE A YEAR AGO. THE MEANEST ONE I HAD WAS A DOMINO DAMSEL WOULD NOT LEAVE ANYTHING I PUT IN THERE EVEN THE PORCUPINE PUFFER I PUT IN THAT WAS ABOUT 5 YEARS OLD AND 6 INCHES LONG

 

[zma21]

Well, make sure your live rock that you buy is cured, or you will start another cycle and possibly kill all of your fish. You really shouldn't of went with crushed coral for a substrate, but i wish you luck.

 

[adrian52492]

hey dave the damsels havent bothered my clown at all today im going to watch them some more 2morror after i get home from school and zma thats what im going to get cured rock also thanks for the luck im going to need alot of it and money lol

 

[SuperNerd]

I would wait until a year has passed for the anemone. It probably won't survive yet.

 

[SuperNerd]

Also skip the wet dry and build a fuge and possibly a skimmer as well.

Wet drys are not very good for reefs.

 

[fish 511]

I agree with SuperNerd (lol i like that name). I would wait a while before you get nemo his "ane-ne-mon-e"

 

[matasw]

I agree with pretty much everything above. Ditch the damel's. No wet/dry. Wait at LEAST 6 months on the anemone. Don't add to much at once. Be careful and get cured LR.

 

[Sk8r]

Don't go fast, now. The tank will rebound with an ammonia spike after each addition. Please believe me: nems are cranky, mobile, and easily lethal to your tank. You have some learning curve yet to go before you should risk putting one in. Clowns don't require one to be content. Food, in reasonable moderation, and they'll be fine. Clowns are damsels, too, mind. They'll hold their own.

Do this: start keeping a water-logbook. Test frequently, write down the results, and when you've been 3 months without a spike or a goofup [like leaving your autotopoff plugged in while altering your water level] you may be ready for a nem.

You have some mechanical alterations to make. Get an autotopoff. consider a sump if you don't have one, with a downflow...

 

[Shagsbeard]

Not to worry you overly, but I count three "mistanks" (sic) that you made in your set up. Nothing that would ruin anything, but just so that others setting up their tanks can avoid them.

1) Put your live rock in before your cycle. It's part of the process.
2) Don't use live fish (damsels typically) to "cycle". The idea is to produce waste, and simply adding a bit of food each day is plenty. There's life in your live rock that needs food. The fish you use to cycle are going to set up shop and defend it to the bitter end. Catching them for removal can be more difficult than setting up the tank in the first place.
3) Crushed coral gets poor marks by most of the long time hobbiests. It's not impossible to work with, but they say it can trap too much crud and mess up your water quality.

I'd go with the fish you have for at least a month. Perhaps add a cleaner shrimp or neon goby at that point... the interaction is interesting. Don't add a bunch of fish all at once. Learn about quarentine. It's vital to keeping a healthy tank.

 

[prplfirefish]

Take all of this info and use it. Been there done that
Good luck.

 

[steri]

Man, you guys are kinda being dream killers here :lol: I'm just kidding.

I will come from another perspective though. Don't ditch the damsels yet. From my understanding and research, they tend to be some of the lesser aggresive of the species. In the past I've had them in with tomato clowns and they never bothered any of the clowns. Watch them carefully, if they pick on the clown, lose them, but if they don't, leave them, and just make sure anything else you put into the tank can defend itself just in case (like a Flame angel or something).

IMO, Crushed Coral vs. Sand Beds Vs. Bare bottom is all a matter of what's pleasing to the person. This guy liked crush coral, so keep it if you want, just know you may need to do more frequent water changes b/c nitrates have a better chance of going up with Crushed Coral.

Ya, it's a good lesson to learn to use LR to cycle your tank or fish food, instead of fish, but I'm sure the LFS didn't tell you that, and just wanted you to buy some fish. Just make sure whatever LR you put in the tank is cured (for about 4 weeks), and it will be fine

My only advice for you would be to wait on the anemone. They usually require very stable tanks. It's usually not recommended to get those until about the 6 month mark.

Oh, and I do agree with the comment about getting a protein skimmer. I would probably recommend that before putting the money into new lights, but that's just my opinion.

 

[wrudge]

Being a newbie myself, the only thing I can say is read, read, read and then read some more. There is a ton of information here and most of your questions can be answered by using the search function. Good luck with the tank.

 

[storagedaddie]

Do your research on the anemone's you're thinking of putting in your tank. I did the traditional newbie thing, and didn't...

Thankfully they are surviving but I am looking for bigger and better homes for them. Seabae's for instance can get quite large.

Check out the forum for clowns and anemones before you make the jump.

Enjoy, and take your time. Your tank will become beautiful over time, not over night.

 

[adrian52492]

hey all the clown and the damsels seem to get along just fine but i havent got the lr yet dont have enough $ but when i get paid i will get some cured lr from my lfs also i noticed that my salt level went up but im not sure because the hydrometer dropped and i think its messed up because its saying that a bottle of sodium free water has a pht of like 30 and i dont tast any salt in it