Domino Damsel ????

[vikki7]

I purchased a Domino Damsel.
I would like your opinion on what salinity level he needs.
He is the only fish in the tank at this time, so I want him to be happy.
It now is set at 72 and he seems stressed.
Also the salinity in the tank seems to have spiked.
It is between 24 & 25.
What is a good level
LR & LS in the tank as well and snails and crabs.
just a few

 

[dogstar]

What is at 72 ? Tempeture, thats too cold.

 

[loopy]

you want the temp to be 80-82

 

[scubadoo]

That domino damsel will get pretty big and they can be mean boggers. Temp should be around 80...if you raise it do so slowly.

 

[vikki7]

Actually I dot this Damsel to break my tank in.
I just have not yet purchased another fish...
I have been real busy trying to learn all I can before
jumping into the frying pan.
:jumping:

 

[scubadoo]

You can break your tank in with a raw shrimp from the grocery. No need to use live animals.

 

[dogstar]

You want be able to put any thing else in a 12g tank with a D.Damsel in there. They get mean as hell. IMO you should take it back to the store befor you add a new fish.

 

[vikki7]

That is exactly what I plan to do.
The lady at the fish store let me purchase the damsel...
because I did not have anything for my tank.
She told me when she got here next shipment of Clowns
she would same me a couple....
That is really what I want.
And I did purchase the Damsel with the agreement that
I could take him back.
just wanted something to watch.. he was pretty and I just dont want to kill him in the process of waiting.. lol

 

[guineawhop]

using a damsel is fine when breaking in a tank. only when you use live sand which you did. i've never lost a damsel when breaking in a new tank. in fact i still got the damsels 2 years later. these fish can take the high nitrates when breaking in a new tank.

 

[vikki7]

That is what I heard.....
My tank is doing fine now....
My temp is under control and that had him a bit stressed out
but he is doing ok this morning....
I need to do a water change though... my salinity level it
at 24-25..
Agree that is too high????

 

[guineawhop]

depends. it's a matter of opinion in some cases. since you don't have inverts i would drop it to 1.020, but it should be done slowly. if you have inverts i would keep the salinity at 1.022-23. the higher the salinity the higher risk of parasites such as ich.

 

[dogstar]

vikki7, Hi again
I dont want to be nit picking or busting chops here but you should try to be more accurate in the discriptions of numbers, ect. when you post them. ( everyone should, and even sometimes Im not )
Like I had to figure out your original post that " set at 72 " meant the tempeture.
Salinity at 24-25 would be deadly, impossible high unless you mean ppl. and that would be way to low and " 1.024 " is uderstandable and the way it should be read.
Just something for everyone to think about when posting.
I'll get off the soap box now.

 

[vikki7]

THANK YOU FOR THE NIT PICKIN....
I have a Salinity Coralife Deepsix
READINGS ARE:
ppl= 32 ( I DONT UNDERSTAND WHAT THIS MEANS) or what to do to bring it down or up? Help?
Currently My Salinity Gravity
reads 1.024
Sorry but I am a bit confused.... with your statement.
It is me so please bare with me.
you say ppl " Salinity at 24-25 would be deadly, impossible high unless you mean ppl." What should ppl read?
Mine reads 32
Then you said...
and that would be way to low and " 1.024 " is uderstandable and the way it should be read.
So, are you saying 32 is too low or to high?
And are you saying 1.024 is to high?
My little guy is really stressing out right now... swimming very fast.. etc.

 

[dogstar]

Ok, two ways to measure salinity ( amount of salt in water )
Specific Gravity = ratio of the density of any liquid to the density of pure distilled water. example, salt water is 1.023 percent more dence than pure water. Thats why things float easier in salt water.
Or parts per litre = grams per litre = ppl, example, saltwater has 31 ppl of salt in it.
Plus a higher tempeture will lower the SG of the same water and viseversa. So what does this say from your first post?
"" It now is set at 72 and he seems stressed.
Also the salinity in the tank seems to have spiked.
It is between 24 & 25. ""
We figured out that 72 was for temp. ( 72 F. )
24 & 25 SG is way to high ( 1. 024 is fine )
24 & 25 ppl is low ( 32 ppl is fine )
You probly are not a scientist and neither am I its just...you know, helps.
:yes:

 

[vikki7]

Well, I am going to kill this poor thing..
I came home and the temp is almost 80 degrees.
Salinity reads between 1.023 & 1.024
ppl reads 32 still.
NiTRATES reads between 20 & 40 . Actually getting closer to the 40 mark.
The NiTRITES are 0
Alkalinity is (ideal) between 180-300... this is what the test kit says ideal is... I am using a Quick Dip test kit.
PH level is 8.4.. I have read that it needs to be 8.2... but this kit says 8.4 is ideal.
So many different opinions, so I appreciate you hanging in here with me.
I think the tank has had problems and is now just starting to show.
I also had that dang anamonie.. which has shrivelled up and is almost dead I think... I saw him spu..sp
white out of his mouth when a crab walked through it.
maybe he poisoned the tank.
How do I get it out with out contaminating the whole tank and rock that is is glued too.
it was a hichhiker and is very small.

 

[dogstar]

Well thats the problem with small tanks. One little thing can throw it all out of wac real fast. Just take the rock out and brush the animone off. Keep your filters clean and doing small water changes till it gets right. Test new water to make sure its right befor putting it in. The damsel is a tuff guy so dont worry bout him just get things right befor new fish.
Nitrates are high and water changes is bout all that will lower them. Everthing else sounds good. 80 F. is fine. If the heater is holding it at 80 F. then thats ok. Use another heater to heat new water to 80 F. befor adding. Good luck....

 

[vikki7]

Thank you so much
Have a good evening

 

[scubadoo]

Originally posted by guineawhop
using a damsel is fine when breaking in a tank. only when you use live sand which you did. i've never lost a damsel when breaking in a new tank. in fact i still got the damsels 2 years later. these fish can take the high nitrates when breaking in a new tank.
Nitrates are of little concern when cycling a new tank with damsels. It is the ammonia and NITRITES that can stress these animals. Even thoug hardy, it is not fun for any marine animal to be exposed to high levels of ammonia and/or nitrites which is why it is always better to use shrimp form the gorcery store if you need to start a cycle. JMO
Vickki...when adjusting temp and salinity be sure to do it slowly.

 

[vikki7]

Scubadoo,,
Thank you for your comments.
I do try and do things slowly.... and while I thought
my tank was doing ok....
My temp got off and I don't know why.. unless I bumped it or
someone messed with it....
I have gradually turned it back... same with the salinity.
It seems that I always have some type of problem.
I wanted a large tank, at the very least 55 gal.
But my husband, dear man, thought it would be best to start off small and grow into this hobby, but we have both learned it would have been better to get the larger tank and go slow....
See this tanks was 6 months old at Christmas.... and established.... for 6 months....so the store owner said.
Then when I got it not realizing what I was doing I put in more fish .. changed out a LR and
then the bio load crashed it.
I am just now getting things back in order.
BUT one thing... is that I have tons of algea.
I use RO water.. I never use tap water
I have crabs and snails.. and a sally lightfoot...
why do I have so much algea..
It started off looking like a green chalk board... so I threw the rock out... because the snails and crabs could not clean it.
I got Figi LR about 2 months ago and it now had the fury algea...
this is so much fun learning, but I would love to find out why the algea problem
when I do not use tap water..
my lights are on a min of 8 hours per day.
Could it be I need new lighting? As weird as it sounds to me,
it is possible.
Also.. moderators.. do we need to move this thread?