Lots of questions! Help me!!!

mikeymike126 · 02/17/2006, 11:42 AM

Hello,
I recently become addicted to this amazing hobby. I had a 10gal freahwater tank for 3 months before giving it away and started a 29gal saltwater. I knew nothing about saltwater aquariums and relied on the local pet store to inform me on what I should and should not be doing. After getting all the sand and bio wheel filter and a few lbs of live rock i let the tank sit for a week. I then purchased a few hermits and a couple of sargent majors to get the bio-filter going. I continued to accumulate live rock. after a few weeks i went back to the store to get one more fish. i came back with 2 cleaner shrimp and a naso tang. The tang died in less than a day I was very upset... So i switched pet stores, said I did not have enough filtration. so i purchased a fluval 204. then i purchased a blue & pink spotted shrimp goby. him and the cleaner shrimp got along very well. things were going well but i wanted more... so i got a coral beauty. she lived for about 2 weeks. right before she died i was in the pet store about to get some more expensive fish that the pet store was suggesting. A customer walks up to me as i am about to buy and starts asking me about my tank. He was a big help. I ended up saving alot of money, fish and frustration. He also informed me of this website. after looking around i found out alot. So my question is... what can i do to make my small tank good. i currently have 2 cleaner shrimp, goby, 2 pecula clown, 5 assorted crabs, approx 20lbs of live rock ( i just ordered 20 more from a website which i have to cure and i am not to sure how to do that). I have the bio wheel filter and the fluval 204, live sand, heater, air pump to move the water around, ph ammonia nitrate nitrite test kit and hydrometer and a 5 gal plastic buckett where i mix the salt. I do a 25% water change about once a week. I feed them plankton or emralds entre 2 times a day. is there anything i am not doing or anything i should be doing differently. I would eventually put a few corals in there, but i need a light?

Thanks!
Mike

Shooter7 · 02/17/2006, 11:48 AM

First off,

To Reef Central

Secondly...Don't Add Anything Else to the Tank!!

Thirdly...read this http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...hreadid=239848

And finally, be patient, learn more before you change anything else. Read alot. Go through alot of the stickied threads at the top of the various forums.

Good luck.

BurntOutReefer · 02/17/2006, 11:58 AM

good (and accurate) response from Shooter

mejiggery · 02/17/2006, 12:18 PM

hi and welcome :-)
souns like so many other stories about money grabbing shops selling things they should'nt. Your tank needs alot longer to cycle before buying anything. follow the links shooter gave you and read lots of the posts in the forums there is so much information on this site, and some great people offering their opinions aswell :-)

PoukieBear · 02/17/2006, 12:28 PM

Did the fish store that you went to know that you just set up your tank? And did yoy tell them what size your tank was?

If they did, i suggest NEVER going there again, there is no way in this world that they should have sold you a naso tang, in an uncycled 29 gallon tank!! Naso's need at LEAST a 120 gallon tank...and the store should know that.

It sounds like they are just digging in y our pockets and not caring about your stock.

mikeymike126 · 02/17/2006, 01:35 PM

Ya i told them everything i had... i havnt gone there in a long time. my tank has been running for about 2 months.

thank you guys for your input

02/17/2006, 11:42 AM	#1
mikeymike126 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Saratoga NY Posts: 9	Lots of questions! Help me!!! Hello, I recently become addicted to this amazing hobby. I had a 10gal freahwater tank for 3 months before giving it away and started a 29gal saltwater. I knew nothing about saltwater aquariums and relied on the local pet store to inform me on what I should and should not be doing. After getting all the sand and bio wheel filter and a few lbs of live rock i let the tank sit for a week. I then purchased a few hermits and a couple of sargent majors to get the bio-filter going. I continued to accumulate live rock. after a few weeks i went back to the store to get one more fish. i came back with 2 cleaner shrimp and a naso tang. The tang died in less than a day I was very upset... So i switched pet stores, said I did not have enough filtration. so i purchased a fluval 204. then i purchased a blue & pink spotted shrimp goby. him and the cleaner shrimp got along very well. things were going well but i wanted more... so i got a coral beauty. she lived for about 2 weeks. right before she died i was in the pet store about to get some more expensive fish that the pet store was suggesting. A customer walks up to me as i am about to buy and starts asking me about my tank. He was a big help. I ended up saving alot of money, fish and frustration. He also informed me of this website. after looking around i found out alot. So my question is... what can i do to make my small tank good. i currently have 2 cleaner shrimp, goby, 2 pecula clown, 5 assorted crabs, approx 20lbs of live rock ( i just ordered 20 more from a website which i have to cure and i am not to sure how to do that). I have the bio wheel filter and the fluval 204, live sand, heater, air pump to move the water around, ph ammonia nitrate nitrite test kit and hydrometer and a 5 gal plastic buckett where i mix the salt. I do a 25% water change about once a week. I feed them plankton or emralds entre 2 times a day. is there anything i am not doing or anything i should be doing differently. I would eventually put a few corals in there, but i need a light? Thanks! Mike __________________ Michael Current Tank Info: I have a 29gal with 2 percula clown(sp?), 2 cleaner shrimp, 1 pink&blue shrimp goby, 2 scarlet hermits, 1 blue hermit, 1 misc. hermit (black & orange), & 1 large hermit

02/17/2006, 11:48 AM	#2
Shooter7 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Tolono, IL Posts: 6,754	First off, *To Reef Central* Secondly...Don't Add Anything Else to the Tank!! Thirdly...read this http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...hreadid=239848 And finally, be patient, learn more before you change anything else. Read alot. Go through alot of the stickied threads at the top of the various forums. Good luck. __________________ Dave Current Tank Info: 10 years salty - standard 29g reef - moved from 120 gal reef, 2x250w Reeflux 10k's on ARO electronics and VHO super actinics on Icecap ballast, 2xTunze 6060, MSX 200 skimmer, GEO 612 Ca reactor, mag 12 return

02/17/2006, 12:28 PM	#5
PoukieBear Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Ottawa Posts: 2,067	Did the fish store that you went to know that you just set up your tank? And did yoy tell them what size your tank was? If they did, i suggest NEVER going there again, there is no way in this world that they should have sold you a naso tang, in an uncycled 29 gallon tank!! Naso's need at LEAST a 120 gallon tank...and the store should know that. It sounds like they are just digging in y our pockets and not caring about your stock. __________________ Michelle ~Poukie, I'm proud of you for throwing up that cake. ~~Mikey~~ ~You're not drunk if you can lay on the floor without holding on. ~Save the earth, there are no princesses on Mars.

02/17/2006, 01:35 PM	#6
mikeymike126 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Saratoga NY Posts: 9	Ya i told them everything i had... i havnt gone there in a long time. my tank has been running for about 2 months. thank you guys for your input __________________ Michael Current Tank Info: I have a 29gal with 2 percula clown(sp?), 2 cleaner shrimp, 1 pink&blue shrimp goby, 2 scarlet hermits, 1 blue hermit, 1 misc. hermit (black & orange), & 1 large hermit

02/17/2006, 11:58 AM	#3
BurntOutReefer Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Granada Hills Posts: 4,376	good (and accurate) response from Shooter

02/17/2006, 12:18 PM	#4
mejiggery Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: south-west uk Posts: 469	hi and welcome :-) souns like so many other stories about money grabbing shops selling things they should'nt. Your tank needs alot longer to cycle before buying anything. follow the links shooter gave you and read lots of the posts in the forums there is so much information on this site, and some great people offering their opinions aswell :-)