had to start over : (

luv4jjt

luv4jjt

Member
Hello all. I haven't posted in a while. I started my tank about 7-8 months ago. I went along with what my lfs said and used a canister filter. A large one but still a canister. I ask you all and you all said a sump would be a lot better. I had to hold off bying the sump because i couldn't find one in the pet stores and I was kind of taped out after buying the tank stand and canister. I did everything else the way you all said. Waited for it all to cycle, only put in one or two fish at a time, and cleaned the canister and water changes regular. You were all right. I should have listened sooner about the sump. I lost all our fish. over 500$ worth. Luckaly we found a LFS that we now trust completely. They deal in only saltwater and they helped us immensly. They came in and set us up with a 30 gal sump and put it in for us and everything. Didn't charge us labor only parts. They are great.
I will be getting all my fish from them from this day forward. My question for you all is what do i now put in the sump. They said live rock. I have seen sand in some of your sumps and was wondering how that was working out for you all? The tank will be a fish only with live rock. Right now it's just a couple damsels that have survived the whole process. Out of all those fish the ones we liked the least survived...go figure. lol. And what do you think of my wish list?
V lion, picasso or crosshatch trigger, blue ribbon eel, and some kind of med sized angel. Thats probably it seen as i know it's not a very large tank.
 
crypt keeper

crypt keeper

Active Member
well first thungs first why did your fish die? People use canister filters and keep fish alive.
any pics of the sump? wet dry system? Chambers?
Deep sand bed and cheato with a piece of LR is good
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Originally Posted by crypt keeper
http:///forum/post/3151365
well first thungs first why did your fish die? People use canister filters and keep fish alive.
any pics of the sump? wet dry system? Chambers?
Deep sand bed and cheato with a piece of LR is good
YEAH...I'd like to know why they died too....I have a canister on my 54G...never had a problem....before I got my sump on the 225G I ran 2 canisters (still use them for flow)
In my sump I have Live sand, some live rock, chaeto, snails, hermits, monkey shrimp, and a pencil urchin....oh and some kenya tree..lol
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Originally Posted by meowzer
http:///forum/post/3151371
YEAH...I'd like to know why they died too....I have a canister on my 54G...never had a problem....before I got my sump on the 225G I ran 2 canisters (still use them for flow)
In my sump I have Live sand, some live rock, chaeto, snails, hermits, monkey shrimp, and a pencil urchin....oh and some kenya tree..lol
WHAT! NO DAMSELS?????
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by luv4jjt
http:///forum/post/3151333
Hello all. I haven't posted in a while. I started my tank about 7-8 months ago. I went along with what my lfs said and used a canister filter. A large one but still a canister. I ask you all and you all said a sump would be a lot better. I had to hold off bying the sump because i couldn't find one in the pet stores and I was kind of taped out after buying the tank stand and canister. I did everything else the way you all said. Waited for it all to cycle, only put in one or two fish at a time, and cleaned the canister and water changes regular. You were all right. I should have listened sooner about the sump. I lost all our fish. over 500$ worth. Luckaly we found a LFS that we now trust completely. They deal in only saltwater and they helped us immensly. They came in and set us up with a 30 gal sump and put it in for us and everything. Didn't charge us labor only parts. They are great.
I will be getting all my fish from them from this day forward. My question for you all is what do i now put in the sump. They said live rock. I have seen sand in some of your sumps and was wondering how that was working out for you all? The tank will be a fish only with live rock. Right now it's just a couple damsels that have survived the whole process. Out of all those fish the ones we liked the least survived...go figure. lol. And what do you think of my wish list?
V lion, picasso or crosshatch trigger, blue ribbon eel, and some kind of med sized angel. Thats probably it seen as i know it's not a very large tank.

I am sooo sorry to hear you had such a nightmare on your first try. I have used canister filters since the beginning of 06 and never had a crash.
Anyway, I am so happy to see you’re not giving up and found some hands on help. To be honest...the damsels may have killed all your other fish. They are very pretty but very, very aggressive, they will get to the point when you can't even put your hand in the tank...they will bite you drawing blood.
 
pbnj

pbnj

Member
A canister filter won't cause a tank crash.
Do you have any live rock in your system? It's vital to saltwater tanks.
 
luv4jjt

luv4jjt

Member
It's a 90 gal. We don't know what caused all the fish to die for sure. They all passed over a periode of about 2 months. The water levels were all good. We even brought water in to be tested just to make sure there wasn't somthing wrong with our test kit. We even bought a filter system for our water changes. So now we have a new sump and a water purifyer. So now we are adding one fish at a time and hopeing for the best.
 
crypt keeper

crypt keeper

Active Member
did they just die over night or did they slowly stop eating? did they look like they were attacked?
when you say water levels were all good. Can you post what they were? Having a canister filter was not the cause of death. Canisters work fine when taken care of correctly. Sumps are just easier IME and IMO
 
luv4jjt

luv4jjt

Member
They all died over a periode of about 2 months. They didn't seem atacked. could be stessed but no fin damage. I don't remember the levels it was to long ago, i'd be gessing sorry. I cleaned the canister once a week. The gentleman that is helping us reastablish the tank said that it was probably from using tap water. Even though we were salting and curring it. So we purchased a water filter and have it in the basement. No real loss I guess though. we just bought new media for the canister and put it on out 75 gal freshwater tank. A little bit of overkill but i guess you can't have to much filtration. lol. The canister is suposed to be for like a 200gal fish tank. lol
 
isthatright

isthatright

Member
sorry to hear boutyour fish luv4ujjt. i have a 90 cycling right now n wondering if a sump is absolute. i have 405 fluval 2 pwr heads aqua filter koralia pump, n i dont want to loose my fish ,i had 4 of em for 4 yrs now in my fish only 55.
 
luv4jjt

luv4jjt

Member
after doing more research I am thinking it was more the tap water then the canisters. I still think that getting the sump was a great investment but I think the tap water probably slowly killed my fish. Good thing we got the water purifyer so we can make our own r/o water. Now i have to pray that we get it right this time. lol. Wish us luck.
 
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