New tank. Need Help!

mccarty30 · 02/13/2007, 11:09 PM

Three weeks up and running. I'm having so much different advice from local pet store.

First I got water premixed by them. Live rock 10 weeks cured, live sand. Got my light of course Coral Life compact. Protein skimmer heaters as far as i was told everything i needed. 55 gal tank converted from fresh to salt. My rock is rockin beautiful purple levels are looking great. There were alot of ups and downs but its looking good now.

Ok the problem i'm having is went to the pet store same one i started with. They say get a few damsels, crabs and snails get things started. Go back few days after purchasing them and same store different worker says oh no you shouldn't have put them in your tank get them out. I'm like WHAT!

They are doing great levels are good.

Could someone give me some reccomendations!
I'm completely new at this and this store is driving me nuts!

I'm wanting to eventually go with some corals and anemones and clown fish few different ideas there. Not sure what all i want because i dont exactly know how to group them yet.

I have a few pictures but can't figure out how to get them on here when i do i will post them

bertoni · 02/13/2007, 11:14 PM

To Reef Central

The problem with damsels is that they get mean, so I would avoid them. If you want to keep them, some of them look pretty nice.

Anemones are more difficult to keep, so I'd suggest avoiding them for a while. How big is the tank? What kind of skimmer do you have?

This book is useful for choosing fish:

http://www.amazon.com/Pocket-Expert-...e=UTF8&s=books

mccarty30 · 02/13/2007, 11:18 PM

55 gallon tank

They told me to add damsels to finish the cycle of the tank.

Coralife Super Skimmer

zdawgnight · 02/13/2007, 11:20 PM

Well the major thing you need to do is come up with a game plan if you want corals that will limit the fish you can have so if you want coral then your main concern should be coral. Watch out cause many things can hurt or kill eachother very easily. I would look on the coral, fish, and invert secions on here to see what you like most, then concentrate on that.

magdelan · 02/13/2007, 11:30 PM

I know that the rock etc is cured but, have you tested your Amonia and nitrites?? Those need to be zero before adding fish or inverts. Once those are at zero, you can add some fish and inverts to finish the nitrate cycle. A couple common clowns would be ok.

mccarty30 · 02/13/2007, 11:43 PM

They are both at zero.

I added a few photos. If you don't mind Looking and giving advice on those. My husband says it looks good but what do we know we are new to all this.

Bertoni I will definetly purchase that book thanks so much.
Thanks to everyone!

Any advice helps!

mnestroy · 02/14/2007, 03:04 PM

As far as the cycle goes, theres a few ways to cycle your tank, the goal is to get bacteria in your tank. This can be done with a piece of shrimp you buy from the fish counter.. or the pee/poop of a live fish will do the same.

The reason people suggest using a damsel is because they are cheap and very hardy fish. The problem is now that using a live fish to cycle your tank is not the ideal method (its very stressful on the fish and the fish may end up dead) second, as mentioned above Damsels can become aggressive and pester other fish... so in the long run it can be very frustrating having a 3dollar damsel kill your 60dollar angle.

bertoni · 02/14/2007, 03:45 PM

Since this tank has live rock, there's no value in adding shrimp or fish to "cycle" the system.

Zestay · 02/14/2007, 03:52 PM

not to hijack your thread. but im pretty much in the same boat. except i added a fish day one. hes doing fine and has been the entire time it appears. my levels are all reading 0 and have been for about a week now. im just waiting to see this insane spike in one of my levels that im not seeing. curernt paramters are
1.025
ph 8.1
nh4 0.0
nitrates 0
nitrites 0.2 ( maybe the color chart was at the lowest end of the spectrum and im kinda color blind =P )

current live stock = 2 hermit crabs , 1 snail , 1 damsel 10 pounds live rock 20 pounds live sand. 60 gallon system ( 40 display 20 sump ) tank is about 15 days old.. should i add some more inverts? ( to eat the poop !!! )

mccarty30 · 02/14/2007, 05:38 PM

Took water in for testing and second opinion and everything is looking great!

They said that my cycle appears to be over and today I added a beautiful Potters Angelfish.

And 1 sebae anemone.

Damsils do seem a little territorial should i move them to another tank?
They told me that the anemome wouldn't eat for the first few days intil he adapted but to introduce him to the food right away. He ate it and seems to be doing great so far.

I added a few pics of what i added.

jer77 · 02/14/2007, 06:12 PM

Well I hope you know the Potter's Angel is a very hard species to keep, and is sometimes not reef compatible becuase it nips at corals. It needs lots of live rock to nibble at and hide in, and requires a diet high in algaes.
Also the sebae anemone looks bleached, which means it looks like it has lost all of its natural color. Before I knew much about saltwater fish I bought a Sebae anemone in my month old 55 gallon tank that was also bleached. Luckly I believe Sebae anemones to be very hardy and mine did very well in the new tank. I fed it every other day and kept it under 260W's of PC lighting in my 55. Slowly its color started comming back. Here are some pics.

And finally...

It took about a month and a half for its color to come back after about 6 months of being white. It also grew a lot, so I expect yours to grow too.

mccarty30 · 02/14/2007, 08:30 PM

Thanks for the advice. I guess now that i bought them i have to ust wait and see what will happen. I'm very new to this and dont have much knowledge on what works best.

Your Sedae is beautiful! I hope mine gets to that point eventually.

Can anyone reccomend a place to buy fish online or is it safer to just buy them local. The pet store here gives me so many different stories I just kinda go with what they say. And apparently get bad directions from them. Their stock is horrible. And they are the only fish store in my area.

jer77 · 02/14/2007, 08:55 PM

Thanks for the compliment!
I'm not one to say not to support your LFS, but if you feel like they're inadequate there are many online fish stores. One of my favorites is
www.liveaquaria.com. They have an excellent guarentee on mostly everything, and have an excellent selection. You can also get stuff from people on reefcentral from the selling/trading forums.

02/13/2007, 11:09 PM	#1
mccarty30 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Alabama Posts: 79	New tank. Need Help! Three weeks up and running. I'm having so much different advice from local pet store. First I got water premixed by them. Live rock 10 weeks cured, live sand. Got my light of course Coral Life compact. Protein skimmer heaters as far as i was told everything i needed. 55 gal tank converted from fresh to salt. My rock is rockin beautiful purple levels are looking great. There were alot of ups and downs but its looking good now. Ok the problem i'm having is went to the pet store same one i started with. They say get a few damsels, crabs and snails get things started. Go back few days after purchasing them and same store different worker says oh no you shouldn't have put them in your tank get them out. I'm like WHAT! They are doing great levels are good. Could someone give me some reccomendations! I'm completely new at this and this store is driving me nuts! I'm wanting to eventually go with some corals and anemones and clown fish few different ideas there. Not sure what all i want because i dont exactly know how to group them yet. I have a few pictures but can't figure out how to get them on here when i do i will post them __________________ Angie and John Current Tank Info: 100 gallon and 55 gallon reef tanks

02/13/2007, 11:14 PM	#2
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	*To Reef Central* The problem with damsels is that they get mean, so I would avoid them. If you want to keep them, some of them look pretty nice. Anemones are more difficult to keep, so I'd suggest avoiding them for a while. How big is the tank? What kind of skimmer do you have? This book is useful for choosing fish: http://www.amazon.com/Pocket-Expert-...e=UTF8&s=books __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

02/13/2007, 11:18 PM	#3
mccarty30 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Alabama Posts: 79	55 gallon tank They told me to add damsels to finish the cycle of the tank. Coralife Super Skimmer __________________ Angie and John Current Tank Info: 100 gallon and 55 gallon reef tanks

02/13/2007, 11:30 PM	#5
magdelan Fish? Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Gananda, NY Posts: 3,785	I know that the rock etc is cured but, have you tested your Amonia and nitrites?? Those need to be zero before adding fish or inverts. Once those are at zero, you can add some fish and inverts to finish the nitrate cycle. A couple common clowns would be ok. __________________ "Excuses are the tools of the weak and incompetent, used to build monuments of nothingness. Those who specialize in them, are seldom capable of anything else."

02/13/2007, 11:43 PM	#6
mccarty30 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Alabama Posts: 79	They are both at zero. I added a few photos. If you don't mind Looking and giving advice on those. My husband says it looks good but what do we know we are new to all this. Bertoni I will definetly purchase that book thanks so much. Thanks to everyone! Any advice helps! __________________ Angie and John Current Tank Info: 100 gallon and 55 gallon reef tanks

02/13/2007, 11:20 PM	#4
zdawgnight Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Ohio Posts: 429	Well the major thing you need to do is come up with a game plan if you want corals that will limit the fish you can have so if you want coral then your main concern should be coral. Watch out cause many things can hurt or kill eachother very easily. I would look on the coral, fish, and invert secions on here to see what you like most, then concentrate on that.

02/14/2007, 03:04 PM	#7
mnestroy Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Aurora, IL Posts: 2,216	As far as the cycle goes, theres a few ways to cycle your tank, the goal is to get bacteria in your tank. This can be done with a piece of shrimp you buy from the fish counter.. or the pee/poop of a live fish will do the same. The reason people suggest using a damsel is because they are cheap and very hardy fish. The problem is now that using a live fish to cycle your tank is not the ideal method (its very stressful on the fish and the fish may end up dead) second, as mentioned above Damsels can become aggressive and pester other fish... so in the long run it can be very frustrating having a 3dollar damsel kill your 60dollar angle.

02/14/2007, 03:45 PM	#8
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	Since this tank has live rock, there's no value in adding shrimp or fish to "cycle" the system. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

02/14/2007, 03:52 PM	#9
Zestay Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: gainesville, FL Posts: 1,622	not to hijack your thread. but im pretty much in the same boat. except i added a fish day one. hes doing fine and has been the entire time it appears. my levels are all reading 0 and have been for about a week now. im just waiting to see this insane spike in one of my levels that im not seeing. curernt paramters are 1.025 ph 8.1 nh4 0.0 nitrates 0 nitrites 0.2 ( maybe the color chart was at the lowest end of the spectrum and im kinda color blind =P ) current live stock = 2 hermit crabs , 1 snail , 1 damsel 10 pounds live rock 20 pounds live sand. 60 gallon system ( 40 display 20 sump ) tank is about 15 days old.. should i add some more inverts? ( to eat the poop !!! )

02/14/2007, 05:38 PM	#10
mccarty30 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Alabama Posts: 79	Took water in for testing and second opinion and everything is looking great! They said that my cycle appears to be over and today I added a beautiful Potters Angelfish. And 1 sebae anemone. Damsils do seem a little territorial should i move them to another tank? They told me that the anemome wouldn't eat for the first few days intil he adapted but to introduce him to the food right away. He ate it and seems to be doing great so far. I added a few pics of what i added. __________________ Angie and John Current Tank Info: 100 gallon and 55 gallon reef tanks

02/14/2007, 06:12 PM	#11
jer77 Phish Lover Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 2,642	Well I hope you know the Potter's Angel is a very hard species to keep, and is sometimes not reef compatible becuase it nips at corals. It needs lots of live rock to nibble at and hide in, and requires a diet high in algaes. Also the sebae anemone looks bleached, which means it looks like it has lost all of its natural color. Before I knew much about saltwater fish I bought a Sebae anemone in my month old 55 gallon tank that was also bleached. Luckly I believe Sebae anemones to be very hardy and mine did very well in the new tank. I fed it every other day and kept it under 260W's of PC lighting in my 55. Slowly its color started comming back. Here are some pics. And finally... It took about a month and a half for its color to come back after about 6 months of being white. It also grew a lot, so I expect yours to grow too. __________________ - Jonny -, 120g 5 Year Old Reef w/ SPS, BTA, Zoos & some Softies. 40g Frag Tank. 40g Sump. Super Reef Octopus XP 3000 External Cone Skimmer. 250W Radiums. TaoTronics LED. PanWorld 200PS w/SQWD

02/14/2007, 08:30 PM	#12
mccarty30 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Alabama Posts: 79	Thanks for the advice. I guess now that i bought them i have to ust wait and see what will happen. I'm very new to this and dont have much knowledge on what works best. Your Sedae is beautiful! I hope mine gets to that point eventually. Can anyone reccomend a place to buy fish online or is it safer to just buy them local. The pet store here gives me so many different stories I just kinda go with what they say. And apparently get bad directions from them. Their stock is horrible. And they are the only fish store in my area. __________________ Angie and John Current Tank Info: 100 gallon and 55 gallon reef tanks

02/14/2007, 08:55 PM	#13
jer77 Phish Lover Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 2,642	Thanks for the compliment! I'm not one to say not to support your LFS, but if you feel like they're inadequate there are many online fish stores. One of my favorites is www.liveaquaria.com. They have an excellent guarentee on mostly everything, and have an excellent selection. You can also get stuff from people on reefcentral from the selling/trading forums. __________________ - Jonny -, 120g 5 Year Old Reef w/ SPS, BTA, Zoos & some Softies. 40g Frag Tank. 40g Sump. Super Reef Octopus XP 3000 External Cone Skimmer. 250W Radiums. TaoTronics LED. PanWorld 200PS w/SQWD