Damsels wont eat!!! and problems with salinity!!!

[IansAquatics]

so i have a oceanic 125 with a dual overflow and i have a 30 gallon sump/refugium. my girlfriend surprised me the other day with 2 damsels. A blue, and a green. My tank has only been set up a little over a week. i know this is a fish in cycle process, and i know its not preferred. however i didnt want to hurt her feelings by returning the fish. Also on a side note i have 150 lbs of live sand and live rock in it so im hoping the cycling process wont be that bad.

anyways lets get to the point. the damsels wont eat. ive tried marine flakes, spectrum small pellets, and frozen bloodworms. they only thing theyll even touch is the bloodworms, but then they just spit them out

Also im having problem with keeping my salinity steady. My tank has a full hood on it and im not really experiencing much evaporation. but the tank is wanting to stay around 1.022 instead of 1.025 where i want it. is 1.022 safe for fish??? i dont have any corals yet just live rock.

Finally.
My live rock i put in the refugium last week is loosing all of its really nice color. im assuming coraline algae? I only have like a 15 watt light over the refugium, but i dont really think it has anything to do with light. Considering i got it out of a giant tub which it had been curing in for weeks with out any light. so any help with any of this would be nice.

thanks

[kenc87]

Well the fish shouldn't be in the tank, and since you have no test results, I'd say they are probably stressed due to ammonia and nitrite levels. Not to mention you are going to eventually wanna get rid of the damsels as they are devils. I'd suggest testing your tank and going from there. As for the salinity just replace the evap with saltwater to raise your salinity

[IansAquatics]

is there something i dont know about damsels???

[whodeydan76]

damsels are little bastards... they may look nice and seem nice. Once they get big they terrorize everything in their paths. Even if the other fish are bigger than them. It wont matter. I am currently starting a new tank and I wouldn't put another damsel in there if someone paid me to do so.
I would assume what was said above is true and your fish are experiencing high ammonia and nitrate/nitrite levels. It will possibly do them in... IMO not a terrible loss but the gf may not see it that way. I had to explain to my ex that when I started my first tank that I couldn't even think about adding fish for at least 6 weeks.

[kismetsh]

Originally Posted by IansAquatics

Also im having problem with keeping my salinity steady. My tank has a full hood on it and im not really experiencing much evaporation. but the tank is wanting to stay around 1.022 instead of 1.025 where i want it.

Are you getting a lot of salt creep?

[trinidiver]

whats ypur PH, ammonia, nitrites, nitrates readings..................

[cgray07]

Your tank is probably in the middle of a cycle so your levels are high and the fish are stressed and therefore not eating..I would take them out and return them, tell her they sadly died and you had to flush them and let your tank cycle trust me it's worth the wait!

[IansAquatics]

i checked everything earlier. and i dont remember the exact readings, because i dont have the test kit chart with me, and yes i have a good test kit. i have the seachem master test kit. but there was zero ammonia, zero nitrite, and a very small amount of nitrates. which based upon my other tanks which have been very succesful, the readings were basically the same. the temp is 78 and i think the ph is around 8.0 to 8.2

on a side note my blue damsel is getting perfectly happy and swims around and acts happy and he will go for food but just spits it out. on the other hand my green damsel starting acting weird yesterday. he just hides behind the heater and wont move also he looks very pale now. as far as my ph

[trinidiver]

your tank could not of cycled in a week

[chipdesigner9]

Originally Posted by IansAquatics

so i have a oceanic 125 with a dual overflow and i have a 30 gallon sump/refugium. my girlfriend surprised me the other day with 2 damsels. A blue, and a green. My tank has only been set up a little over a week. i know this is a fish in cycle process, and i know its not preferred. however i didnt want to hurt her feelings by returning the fish. Also on a side note i have 150 lbs of live sand and live rock in it so im hoping the cycling process wont be that bad.

anyways lets get to the point. the damsels wont eat. ive tried marine flakes, spectrum small pellets, and frozen bloodworms. they only thing theyll even touch is the bloodworms, but then they just spit them out

Also im having problem with keeping my salinity steady. My tank has a full hood on it and im not really experiencing much evaporation. but the tank is wanting to stay around 1.022 instead of 1.025 where i want it. is 1.022 safe for fish??? i dont have any corals yet just live rock.

Finally.
My live rock i put in the refugium last week is loosing all of its really nice color. im assuming coraline algae? I only have like a 15 watt light over the refugium, but i dont really think it has anything to do with light. Considering i got it out of a giant tub which it had been curing in for weeks with out any light. so any help with any of this would be nice.

thanks

to be in this hobby, patience is the key.
YOu are cycling the tank, why cares if the damsel will eat or not, if they die, they will help the cycling process too

I am newbie too, but reading other like posts "please help me, etc" my god.
there are tons of help me books out there, keep it simple, follow the steps,
and be patient.

[Anemone]

Originally Posted by IansAquatics

Finally.
My live rock i put in the refugium last week is loosing all of its really nice color. im assuming coraline algae? I only have like a 15 watt light over the refugium, but i dont really think it has anything to do with light. Considering i got it out of a giant tub which it had been curing in for weeks with out any light. so any help with any of this would be nice.

Coralline algea is light dependent. What color predominates depends on what light you have. A 15 watt light isn't going to do much for coralline, but then again, this rock is in the refugium, so what is the concern about the color (or lack thereof) of the coralline?

Also, just because you got the rock out of a tub that has rock in it all the time, don't assume it's all been there for weeks curing. Many places rotate the rock in their rock tubs and add more as they sell it - which means two things - the rock isn't as "old" as you think it is, and it probably isn't fully cured either...

Kevin

[dc]

Start with tough love now. Take the fish back and tell the girlfriend not to 'gift' you anything for the tank. Buy stuff together.

[worm5406]

Originally Posted by dc

Start with tough love now. Take the fish back and tell the girlfriend not to 'gift' you anything for the tank. Buy stuff together.

Gift Certificates are best.

I got a $300 once.

Have her give you a gift certificate to Fosters and Smith too...

[MrTuskfish]

........or when the tank is ready, she could buy a lionfish for you. Great fish in the right tank and will solve the damsel dilemma. Seriously, fish should always be well researched before you buy them. Lots of fish don't play nice with each other, have special needs, etc.

[FTDelta]

A nice, humane way of ridding your tank of damsels you can't catch. Brilliant...

[worm5406]

I like the 120v process. Keeps the kids hands out of the tank too!