alianated
Member
I just wanted to say THANK YOU!! You guys all helped me and I didn't realize how much til this evening.
I went to my LFS and talked with a lady. She immediately said that it was too soon to put the damsels in my tank and INSISTED that I buy some chemicals to make sure my water was ok first. She said that if I put a damsel in the tank (or even an invert for that matter) that it would be dead 48 hours later regardless of my water readings. She also stated that my tank was NOT cycled and that I could only have damsels the first 6 weeks and that I MIGHT get away with a snail.
Those of you that have been helping me know I had hermits in there since the beginning of week 2 and snails, and 4 emerald crabs. And I lost 1 damsel (although he was getting beaten on by the other damsel from the start and judging by his fins before he bit it I am SURE that the main cause of death was the other damsels. And I did lose an emeral crab, both early on and nothing dead since.)
You also know that my tank has finished its cycle and is now in that 'iffy' area where it will probably fluxuate with each addition of livestock or anything else. (At least thats what you guys told me, hehehehe)
At any rate, I looked at this lady and said, "But, I am part of a group of friends (Yes, you guys are friends to me) that explain and teach and I have learned a lot and my amonia is at 0 and my nitrite was .25 and down to 0 yesterday and nitrate was low after my water change (As mr BURN suggested.. thanks Burn)"
And I went into a FULL ON lesson on how the ammonia is converted to the nitrites and the nitrites are converted to waste which is nitrate and so on and so on.. and it was like I was speaking in tongues!!! ( I am a web designer/ domain support rep for Earthlink and I often do this with computer talk, just go into terms without even meaning to.. and when I looked at her face I saw a VERY FAMILIAR look when I talk of computers to friends...
She didn't have a clue what I was talking about and didn't have a clue whether I was right or wrong.
So she gave me a "You'll be sorry" look and said, "Well the gentleman over there is our specialist in Salt Water and he can tell you if its ok..."
And so I talked to this guy.. ON HIS LEVEL and he totally agreed with me. (By the way, as sad as it is, this whole stupid thing was over me getting a pair of damsels and a pepermint shrimp to put in there.)
So she asked him as he was ringing me up and he told her it was fine and reiterated what I said (all be it in lesser terms)
So I walked outta there with a little more confidence in this, a little more bounce to my step and a REALLY good grin. And I owe it to you guys!!! Virtually EVERYTHING I learned I learned from your input (via searches or direct questions!!)
If it were possible I would take you ALL out for drinks on me!! Thank you so much!! I truely believe without you guys I would either:
a) Have already caused the death of a million fish
or
b) Be staring at an empty tank that had an algae spurt a week ago and never had anything done with it even tho readings were good.
Thanks all!! I know the ride is rough to being a TRUE salt water reef hobbiest.. but you guys sure are making it a lot easier and fun and a lot less fear inducing!!!
alianated www.alianated.com
I went to my LFS and talked with a lady. She immediately said that it was too soon to put the damsels in my tank and INSISTED that I buy some chemicals to make sure my water was ok first. She said that if I put a damsel in the tank (or even an invert for that matter) that it would be dead 48 hours later regardless of my water readings. She also stated that my tank was NOT cycled and that I could only have damsels the first 6 weeks and that I MIGHT get away with a snail.
Those of you that have been helping me know I had hermits in there since the beginning of week 2 and snails, and 4 emerald crabs. And I lost 1 damsel (although he was getting beaten on by the other damsel from the start and judging by his fins before he bit it I am SURE that the main cause of death was the other damsels. And I did lose an emeral crab, both early on and nothing dead since.)
You also know that my tank has finished its cycle and is now in that 'iffy' area where it will probably fluxuate with each addition of livestock or anything else. (At least thats what you guys told me, hehehehe)
At any rate, I looked at this lady and said, "But, I am part of a group of friends (Yes, you guys are friends to me) that explain and teach and I have learned a lot and my amonia is at 0 and my nitrite was .25 and down to 0 yesterday and nitrate was low after my water change (As mr BURN suggested.. thanks Burn)"
And I went into a FULL ON lesson on how the ammonia is converted to the nitrites and the nitrites are converted to waste which is nitrate and so on and so on.. and it was like I was speaking in tongues!!! ( I am a web designer/ domain support rep for Earthlink and I often do this with computer talk, just go into terms without even meaning to.. and when I looked at her face I saw a VERY FAMILIAR look when I talk of computers to friends...
She didn't have a clue what I was talking about and didn't have a clue whether I was right or wrong.
So she gave me a "You'll be sorry" look and said, "Well the gentleman over there is our specialist in Salt Water and he can tell you if its ok..."
And so I talked to this guy.. ON HIS LEVEL and he totally agreed with me. (By the way, as sad as it is, this whole stupid thing was over me getting a pair of damsels and a pepermint shrimp to put in there.)
So she asked him as he was ringing me up and he told her it was fine and reiterated what I said (all be it in lesser terms)
So I walked outta there with a little more confidence in this, a little more bounce to my step and a REALLY good grin. And I owe it to you guys!!! Virtually EVERYTHING I learned I learned from your input (via searches or direct questions!!)
If it were possible I would take you ALL out for drinks on me!! Thank you so much!! I truely believe without you guys I would either:
a) Have already caused the death of a million fish
or
b) Be staring at an empty tank that had an algae spurt a week ago and never had anything done with it even tho readings were good.
Thanks all!! I know the ride is rough to being a TRUE salt water reef hobbiest.. but you guys sure are making it a lot easier and fun and a lot less fear inducing!!!
alianated www.alianated.com
