Lesson to the new reef tank people

Earl45 · 10/06/2006, 03:05 PM

Not so long ago I got a clown tang. I thought I read about them, and thought they may be aggressive to fish like themselves. I was way off. He was an in-your-face fish from the get go to every fish in my tank, and picked on nearly everything.

It got to the point to where my firefish wouldn't even come out of his little hole I set up for him, except during feeding times. The other larger fish were getting sick of him too, and would do their best to stay away from him. It didn't really matter becuase he made sure everyone knew he owned the tank, so no one had anywhere to go.

He had to go. I tried all sorts of different catching techniques with no avail.

This AM I did what I wish I didn't have to do - break down the tank. It was either catch the tang or watch the rest of my fish die. I had my water ready to go because I knew that breaking down all the rock (that I so painfully to get perfect) would cause a NO2 spike. I had other tubs ready for my rock so that they woudl 't be sitting out in the air for long to keep significant die off from happening. I put most of my corals (all that could fit) into my quarantine tank. None of that mattered though - even after my initial water change (30%) my NO2s are through the roof. I don't know what is going to live or die though this ordeal, but anything that does I'll love forever. I've got my reservior filling up now for another water change, and probably will do another after that.

All of this could have been avoided if I had just done the proper research on the fish I bought. Please keep that in mind.

papagimp · 10/06/2006, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Earl45

All of this could have been avoided if I had just done the proper research on the fish I bought. Please keep that in mind.

Easier said than done in this hobby, so many opposing opinions everywhere. I listened to one of my fish books and bought what was supposed to be a "friendly and reef-safe" domino damsel. Now I find that isn't exactly the case. So to add to Earl's comment, do the proper research, and then keep on reading! And don't stop at the first piece of info that tells you what you want to hear, look at more than one source, heck more than 10 would be best.

Freed · 10/06/2006, 03:44 PM

It's easier to just have trash cans to the side with pumps in them. Drain most of the water out of the tank into the cans down to about 2-4 inches but first scoop out a depression in your substrate where most of the water that's left will collect into a small pool. After you drain most of the water into the cans the fish will be left swimming in the small pool at the bottom of the tank in the substrate. Scoop them out with a net or into a plastic container. Easy.

Earl45 · 10/06/2006, 03:56 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Freed
It's easier to just have trash cans to the side with pumps in them. Drain most of the water out of the tank into the cans down to about 2-4 inches but first scoop out a depression in your substrate where most of the water that's left will collect into a small pool. After you drain most of the water into the cans the fish will be left swimming in the small pool at the bottom of the tank in the substrate. Scoop them out with a net or into a plastic container. Easy.

Hopefully it won't come down to it again, but that sounds alot nicer than what I had to go through. Of course, an ounce of prevention....

Earl45 · 10/06/2006, 03:57 PM

Quote:

Easier said than done in this hobby, so many opposing opinions everywhere. I listened to one of my fish books and bought what was supposed to be a "friendly and reef-safe" domino damsel. Now I find that isn't exactly the case. So to add to Earl's comment, do the proper research, and then keep on reading! And don't stop at the first piece of info that tells you what you want to hear, look at more than one source, heck more than 10 would be best.

No doubt. I read the clown tang wasn't so bad and stopped reading. I guess if I had asked around here and at the LFSs they'd give me differing opinions.

papagimp · 10/06/2006, 04:09 PM

FWIW, if you do not personally know the guys at the LFS, and trust them, you may wanna stick more to people on reefcentral, wetwebmedia, and whatnot. I've got several LFS here in oklahoma where the employees have always been extremely helpful and even had one guy refuse to sell a mandarin to my mother cause her tank was less than 6 months old. Impressive, but I've also seen LFS guys(and gals) that would say whatever they had to , to make the sale. I had one dude actually try with all his might to sell me a regal tang for an already fully stocked 55g, told me it would be fine, get along great, flourish in my setup. Then when i asked about whats going to happen when he gets full size, the dude just said "oh yeah, well you'll need to get a bigger tank before then". if I hadn't asked, he never would have said anything.

Shagsbeard · 10/06/2006, 04:50 PM

It's da biz. Pet stores make far more money off maintaining stuff than selling the pet. They will sell you a fish that isn't appropriate simply because they know you can deal with it by spending more money. They'll sell you anything you are willing to buy.

As the original poster said... research is the key. The problem with most sources is that they are just rehashing what they've read in other books and packaging the information a bit differently. When you come here, you can actually find someone who has had the type of fish you are looking at. Problem is, everyone here thinks that their experience is typical... just because it happened to them. They report their experiences as if they are repeatable scientific fact. You have to take what you read, and what you're told, with a skeptical eye... or ear... or what ever.

Earl45 · 10/06/2006, 06:04 PM

As the number of experiences shared increases the typical experience will eventually become the most popular.

10/06/2006, 03:05 PM	#1
Earl45 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 139	Lesson to the new reef tank people Not so long ago I got a clown tang. I thought I read about them, and thought they may be aggressive to fish like themselves. I was way off. He was an in-your-face fish from the get go to every fish in my tank, and picked on nearly everything. It got to the point to where my firefish wouldn't even come out of his little hole I set up for him, except during feeding times. The other larger fish were getting sick of him too, and would do their best to stay away from him. It didn't really matter becuase he made sure everyone knew he owned the tank, so no one had anywhere to go. He had to go. I tried all sorts of different catching techniques with no avail. This AM I did what I wish I didn't have to do - break down the tank. It was either catch the tang or watch the rest of my fish die. I had my water ready to go because I knew that breaking down all the rock (that I so painfully to get perfect) would cause a NO2 spike. I had other tubs ready for my rock so that they woudl 't be sitting out in the air for long to keep significant die off from happening. I put most of my corals (all that could fit) into my quarantine tank. None of that mattered though - even after my initial water change (30%) my NO2s are through the roof. I don't know what is going to live or die though this ordeal, but anything that does I'll love forever. I've got my reservior filling up now for another water change, and probably will do another after that. All of this could have been avoided if I had just done the proper research on the fish I bought. Please keep that in mind.

10/06/2006, 03:44 PM	#3
Freed It's what it's Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: 41° 2' 45" N 85° 8' 43" W Posts: 7,579	It's easier to just have trash cans to the side with pumps in them. Drain most of the water out of the tank into the cans down to about 2-4 inches but first scoop out a depression in your substrate where most of the water that's left will collect into a small pool. After you drain most of the water into the cans the fish will be left swimming in the small pool at the bottom of the tank in the substrate. Scoop them out with a net or into a plastic container. Easy. __________________ Freed Current Tank Info: 180gal(1120 watts of MH/VHO light), 60gal "sump", Deltec 601 calcium reactor, Euro Reef CS8-3+ skimmer, 20 gallon QT

10/06/2006, 04:09 PM	#6
papagimp COMAS Rocks! Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Oklahoma City, OK Posts: 8,185 Blog Entries: 2	FWIW, if you do not personally know the guys at the LFS, and trust them, you may wanna stick more to people on reefcentral, wetwebmedia, and whatnot. I've got several LFS here in oklahoma where the employees have always been extremely helpful and even had one guy refuse to sell a mandarin to my mother cause her tank was less than 6 months old. Impressive, but I've also seen LFS guys(and gals) that would say whatever they had to , to make the sale. I had one dude actually try with all his might to sell me a regal tang for an already fully stocked 55g, told me it would be fine, get along great, flourish in my setup. Then when i asked about whats going to happen when he gets full size, the dude just said "oh yeah, well you'll need to get a bigger tank before then". if I hadn't asked, he never would have said anything. __________________ 58g Softie & 75g Stoney Member, Central Oklahoma Marine Aquarium Society Current Tank Info: 58g Mixed Reef Project - Started June 2011

10/06/2006, 04:50 PM	#7
Shagsbeard Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Morro Bay, CA Posts: 2,143	It's da biz. Pet stores make far more money off maintaining stuff than selling the pet. They will sell you a fish that isn't appropriate simply because they know you can deal with it by spending more money. They'll sell you anything you are willing to buy. As the original poster said... research is the key. The problem with most sources is that they are just rehashing what they've read in other books and packaging the information a bit differently. When you come here, you can actually find someone who has had the type of fish you are looking at. Problem is, everyone here thinks that their experience is typical... just because it happened to them. They report their experiences as if they are repeatable scientific fact. You have to take what you read, and what you're told, with a skeptical eye... or ear... or what ever.

10/06/2006, 06:04 PM	#8
Earl45 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 139	As the number of experiences shared increases the typical experience will eventually become the most popular.