Driving distance to pick up new fish

[hot883]

Hi, I have one decent dealer 30 min. from my home and the rest are about 2 hours away. Would it be safe to transport the new fish home and just float the bag? Or should I drip them? Any help would be great.
I have a new 55 and am trying to raise the calcium level. All other parameters are good. Once the cal. level is up I want to start adding fish and I know slow is the way to go. I currently have 15 lbs. of LR, 40 lbs. of crushed coral bed with 20 lbs. of white sand and 15 lbs. of black. I am buying 5-10 lbs. of LR each week. I am thinking of starting the tank with a blue damsel!!?? I have a JEBO 180 protein skimmer coming soon.

 

[airforceb2]

I'm not sure about the driving distance. I live at least an hour from the CLOSEST fish store and about 2 and a half to my preferred store. I have jimmy-rigged my car so I have a 15 gallon covered bucket, powerhead and heater built in making transportation a breeze!! And it only cost me $50 for everything.

 

[hot883]

Thanks for that Airforceb2. Never thought about that. I have not added any dead shrimp or the like but am going to slowly add more LR. My LFS guy tells me once I get the calcium level up then I will be good to go adding 1 fish or so. Any thoughts?

 

[airforceb2]

I may be wrong but I didn't think calc levels had any effect on fish? I thought it was just for corals and coraline algae growth. Maybe someone else can help clarify this.

 

[xjayx]

I'm sure 30 minutes is no problem...
I usually drive 40 to get my fish home and out of the bag.
But 2 hours might be a bit much... esp with no air and the hot car ride home.
although, web sites like this one send these fish out in bags through the mail and they make it alright...
So who knows?

 

[hot883]

Anyone else know about calcium levels?

 

[puffer32]

calcium levels will not hurt fish.Are you sure he said calcium levels or ammonia or nitrite? If you haven't put the coral in yet, do yourself a favor and don't! Traps to much detrius, stick with sand only. I use a lfs that people drive hrs to go to, i am lucky its only an hr from me. They put oxygen in the fish bags and will give you hot or cold paks, depending on the weather. Very nice.

 

[reefnut]

I live 80 miles for the LFS I shop at. I got a small cooler... put them in there (still in the bags) and they easily make the trip. Think of it this way, when buying online they stay in the bags 18-24 hours and survive.
With the calcium... fish do not care about the calcium level. Sounds like you need a new LFS.
Until you get the tank stocked with corals there is no reason to add calcium... or any other additive. Do routine water changes and you'll be fine.

 

[hot883]

puffer32, he did say calcium and he sold me some that I sprinkle in the tank daily. He told me to do that for several days and then bring back to him a water sample. He tests the water for you for free.
My sand is covering the crushed coral, so hopefully not to much can get trapped there. Thanks

 

[hot883]

Reefnut, since I have not added any dead shrimp etc. to my tank am I on the right track? I ask that since you are not the only one saying that about calcium.
I plan on buying a small LR 3-5 lbs. every week or so until I get the display like I want. I just started the tank up 4-5 days ago, am I OK? What IYO should be my first live purchase? Thanks

 

[pohtr]

I thought I read somewhere in this forum that you shouldn't mix cc with sand.
Also I'm sure someone here will get into the whole cycle and aging thing. I'm too much of a noob to explain much of anyth ing.

 

[binhzino]

You're not suppose to mix CC with LS anyways because the CC will just arise to the top.

 

[puffer32]

If your tank has only been up 4 or 5 days, you haven't even cycled yet. Yake out the CC and get a coctail shrimp to help cycle your tank. You will get an ammonia then nitrite spike, then they will go down to 0 in about a month. Then your tank will be cycled and you can start with your clean up crew, then some fish. When and if you decide to get some coral, then you can worry about your calcium levels

 

[reefnut]

I'm a big fan of using a shrimp to cycle the tank. Is the LR cured?? I would wait until you get all the rock in the tank and use a shrimp to cycle the tank. After the tank has fully cycled you could add some clowns if you wanted. I would stay away from Damsels... they are aggressive turds.

 

[hot883]

The CC is still in place and have no problems with it rising. The CC is more to the rear of the tank and then all the sand is over the entire bottom. I can't figure out how to make my pics. smaller for here to post, but I can send anyone a pic. of my set up so far so you can see if you send me an email. bcool831@pldi.net Thanks for all the help

 

[benter]

I don't know if you can afford it or not..but I would think you would be better off buying the majority of the rock you plan on getting all at once ..and only have one cycle to deal with..if you keep putting rock in at different intervals ..I would think you would be prolonging the cycle...JMO

 

[hot883]

The LR is cured and I got it from LFS. So far I have about 12 lbs. of LR and a Coral branch. There are several small (1/4") snail looking HH that I noticed the other day. My water stays about 80 and all my parameters are perfect except calcium, which I now know that is not important at this point!

 

[hot883]

Even if it's all cured and put in the tank within 30 min.?

 

[airforceb2]

How long has your tank been up? Define perfect water parameters. Do you have a test kit or is your LFS employee telling you that it is perfect?

 

[reefnut]

What are the "perfect" parameters?? I agree adding rock each week could prolong the cycle. Even if the rock is cured, that doesn't mean it has adequate bacteria.
When transporting the rock wrapping it with wet paper towels will help minimize the die off.