flower
Well-Known Member
Then what do you do with the freshwater molly? Personally, if I wanted freshwater fish, I wouldn't have decided to go with saltwater in the first place. Nobody needs to cycle a tank with a live fish...macros or not
New SW Aquarium 1st timer....troubles!!
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beaslbob
Well-Known Member
Give em back to store for store credit.
Once a beginner can keep a molly for a week or two, it will be much easier to keep the more expensive marine only fish.
2014FishKiller
Member
WTF
john suh
Member
For a 15 gallon, go with an invertebrate tank, really cool to look at and more interesting than fish IMO wtih little to no bioload. Look for deals on Craigslist. I just bought 6 green emerald crabs for my 30 gallon, 3 dollars each from a private seller. Local Fish store wanted 8 bucks each for em.
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hannahms95
New Member
Update about the cause of death on the two damselfish!
Spoke with the place I purchased them from. They had a look at the frozen fish I brought back and brought along a water sample. They told me that it couldn't have been ammonia poisoning. I explain step by step what happened and how they were acting and they told me they could have just been sick. The ammonia levels of the water weren't nearly high enough to cause them to die from it. Plus, my Blue Damsel was a return from a previous costumer.
The second pet store I went by and spoke with told me the same thing and they tested my water sample also. Which, by the way, I took a different sample from my tank. Just to make sure the reading was accurate.
I am going to hold off on putting any new fish in the tank. Just so that this doesn't happen again. Will be testing my water parameters at home tomorrow with my own test kit. Then I will be bringing in a sample to my LFS in about two weeks to see if my cycling is over. We can't wait to get this finished with and add a beautiful fish to it. My toddler has been asking me for days about where the fish are at. I'm also interested in the future about starting a reef! Anyone have any tips about how I should start? In about 6 months we will also be upgrading to a 55 gallon to maybe even a 100 gallon depending on our budget!
Spoke with the place I purchased them from. They had a look at the frozen fish I brought back and brought along a water sample. They told me that it couldn't have been ammonia poisoning. I explain step by step what happened and how they were acting and they told me they could have just been sick. The ammonia levels of the water weren't nearly high enough to cause them to die from it. Plus, my Blue Damsel was a return from a previous costumer.
The second pet store I went by and spoke with told me the same thing and they tested my water sample also. Which, by the way, I took a different sample from my tank. Just to make sure the reading was accurate.
I am going to hold off on putting any new fish in the tank. Just so that this doesn't happen again. Will be testing my water parameters at home tomorrow with my own test kit. Then I will be bringing in a sample to my LFS in about two weeks to see if my cycling is over. We can't wait to get this finished with and add a beautiful fish to it. My toddler has been asking me for days about where the fish are at. I'm also interested in the future about starting a reef! Anyone have any tips about how I should start? In about 6 months we will also be upgrading to a 55 gallon to maybe even a 100 gallon depending on our budget!
hannahms95
New Member
Here is a picture of what our tank looks like now!
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bang guy
Moderator
Oh my, if this wasn't so tragic it would be a comedy. I'm really sorry for your loss but these people do not deserve your money.
silverado61
Well-Known Member
We're not trying to sell you anything here. We don't make any money by offering advice here. The only profit we make is the satisfaction in knowing that your learning from us and are successful in this hobby. You really need to stop taking advice from someone who is in the business of making money selling you things knowing that your just going to keep coming back to them to find out what went wrong and then sell you more bad advice.
I don't see any powerheads in your tank. How much rock is in there? Is there a cover on your tank?
Also, if you want to keep corals in the future, start researching now. Buy some books on coral or get them from your library. Surf the web for websites on corals. Ask questions here. Research, research and more research. Read, read and then read some more. But above all else, do NOT go back to any LFS for advice.
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jay0705
Well-Known Member
I agree w the above. All the info u need can be found online or here. Options will vary at times so just take the bulk of the info and make an informed decision.
As far as fish, either go in knowing what u want or shop w a smart phone or ipad. Oh I like this this fish, type it in see if its compatible w your tank size, other tank mates , ect
As far as fish, either go in knowing what u want or shop w a smart phone or ipad. Oh I like this this fish, type it in see if its compatible w your tank size, other tank mates , ect
chris flaherty
New Member
hellow to all. i am a new member and looking for good reading and asking questions. i have a oceanic 29 gal .it has been 3 weeks and put a pair of clowns in her yesterday.woke up and all is well.i would like to know how to post questions and photos . that is something i would like to know.so thank you and have a great day chris
beaslbob
Well-Known Member
IMHO your fish died from ammonia poisoning. What happened is the bacteria, with the lack of algae, could not keep up with the wastes spiking ammonia and stressing the fish. Once that starts it builds on itself until all fish die. Called a tank crash.
Then you removed the fish and the ammonia went down and the LFS measured the lower ammonia.
Damsel's are commonly used as cycle fish which is why you got a return from another customer.
I would try macro algae waiting a week then a single male molly as the cycle fish. Don't feed for a week. And basically see how it goes. Once you get a molly to live for a couple of weeks then return them to the LFS and try the more expensive marine only fish.
The macro algae will directly consume any ammonia the bacteria can't reduce. That will prevent the spikes and crash.
Just my .02
flower
Well-Known Member
I would not trust that LFS... A fish that had been stressed from a return, then re-bagged and taken to your tank that wasn't cycled, had no strength to tolerate any ammonia. The idea behind using a damsel to cycle with, is because they are usually hardy enough to endure the new tank cycle, a stressed out damsel couldn't. The LFS people you are dealing with don't care about the fish. I would purchase what I needed for upkeep of my tank, but I wouldn't trust them for any advice at all.
As for the damsel dying, consider it a happy casualty, it most likely would have killed your future fish purchases. When a damsel is returned, 99% of the time it's because of it being so aggressive and already killing or bullying the other tank mates.
Beaslbob...shame on you, nobody needs to use a live fish to cycle with, ghost feeding will do just fine to get the cycle going.
Just my .02, if anyone wanted a molly, they wouldn't have gone with a saltwater tank. If a person doesn't want a fish, they shouldn't purchase it, and put it in their tank for any reason.
As for the damsel dying, consider it a happy casualty, it most likely would have killed your future fish purchases. When a damsel is returned, 99% of the time it's because of it being so aggressive and already killing or bullying the other tank mates.
Beaslbob...shame on you, nobody needs to use a live fish to cycle with, ghost feeding will do just fine to get the cycle going.
Just my .02, if anyone wanted a molly, they wouldn't have gone with a saltwater tank. If a person doesn't want a fish, they shouldn't purchase it, and put it in their tank for any reason.
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