zx636r
New Member
Hey guys and gals, I’ve been reading this forum religiously for a few weeks and I finally
decided to register. Let me give you some background on my new tank before I ask you this question. My girlfriend and I decided we wanted to start a salt tank about a month ago. So I started researching everything on the net (had a friend of mine send me to this forum) and I think so far we are going in the right direction. We got a 30 gallon tank,
a stand, hood, a penguin 330 power filter (w/ bio wheels), a visa therm stealth heater, an AquaC remora skimmer with a maxi jet 1200, 15 pounds of “marine” sand (not live), and 30 gallons of RO water. We got the tank set up and filled it with the sand, mixed the salt water and filled ‘err up. After getting the specific gravity and temperature correct I let the tank run for about three days, and then added 10 pounds of “natures ocean” live sand to seed the 15 pounds of “marine” sand. I then cut up a small piece of a silverside and put it in the tank to get the ammonia to spike and start the cycle. Fast forward about 2 weeks, the tank has been running fine, I’ve done top offs when necessary with RO water, and checked our levels every couple days. The ammonia has spiked to 1 or so and slowly started it’s descend. So I assume the cycle has started but obviously is no where near complete. I know that we can’t put fish in there for a few more or months (depening on how our levels look) which brings me to our current problem. We got 10 pounds of live rock last night (it’s all we could get right now cause it came from an established tank and he didn’t want to get rid of any more than that, but we plan on getting 15 – 20 more pounds over the next few weeks and adding it a little bit at a time.) anyway, in our 10 pounds of rock we had a hitchhiker. Not just any hitchhiker mind you but a fish hitchhiker. I can’t tell what he is but he acts like a scooter blenny or something similar. I really don’t want the guy to die and I know my tank is no where near ready for him. When I sat the rock down in there and I saw two eyes looking at me all I could think of was S*#!, I have to get him out of here. He would come out of a hole in the rock just a little then look around and go back in. I tried to get him out by taking the rock back out and putting it in the bucket I brought all the rock home in. I was thinking that the water in the bucket should be fine for him sense it was from the tank he had been living in. Long story short (well I guess this isn’t really short but still. lol) we ended up getting the little guy out, he had started to turn a different color and was getting white spots on his back. So I know the water was doing something to him. I took some of the water from the bucket, put it in a bag and floated it to get the temperature back up. I put him in the bag and its floating in the tank right now. Keep in mind this was last night and he is still in there. I put a small rock in there with him and he hides behind it most of the time but every now and then he actually swims around the bag. Do you think he is going to make it long enough for me to take him back to the store where I got him. The store owner is a friend of mine and he isn’t open until Tuesday. I don’t want the little guy to die if I can help it. I’ve done everything I can think of doing I just wonder if its going to be enough.
Sorry for the long first post and thanks for any help.
Oh yeah, his color came back today too!!!
decided to register. Let me give you some background on my new tank before I ask you this question. My girlfriend and I decided we wanted to start a salt tank about a month ago. So I started researching everything on the net (had a friend of mine send me to this forum) and I think so far we are going in the right direction. We got a 30 gallon tank,
a stand, hood, a penguin 330 power filter (w/ bio wheels), a visa therm stealth heater, an AquaC remora skimmer with a maxi jet 1200, 15 pounds of “marine” sand (not live), and 30 gallons of RO water. We got the tank set up and filled it with the sand, mixed the salt water and filled ‘err up. After getting the specific gravity and temperature correct I let the tank run for about three days, and then added 10 pounds of “natures ocean” live sand to seed the 15 pounds of “marine” sand. I then cut up a small piece of a silverside and put it in the tank to get the ammonia to spike and start the cycle. Fast forward about 2 weeks, the tank has been running fine, I’ve done top offs when necessary with RO water, and checked our levels every couple days. The ammonia has spiked to 1 or so and slowly started it’s descend. So I assume the cycle has started but obviously is no where near complete. I know that we can’t put fish in there for a few more or months (depening on how our levels look) which brings me to our current problem. We got 10 pounds of live rock last night (it’s all we could get right now cause it came from an established tank and he didn’t want to get rid of any more than that, but we plan on getting 15 – 20 more pounds over the next few weeks and adding it a little bit at a time.) anyway, in our 10 pounds of rock we had a hitchhiker. Not just any hitchhiker mind you but a fish hitchhiker. I can’t tell what he is but he acts like a scooter blenny or something similar. I really don’t want the guy to die and I know my tank is no where near ready for him. When I sat the rock down in there and I saw two eyes looking at me all I could think of was S*#!, I have to get him out of here. He would come out of a hole in the rock just a little then look around and go back in. I tried to get him out by taking the rock back out and putting it in the bucket I brought all the rock home in. I was thinking that the water in the bucket should be fine for him sense it was from the tank he had been living in. Long story short (well I guess this isn’t really short but still. lol) we ended up getting the little guy out, he had started to turn a different color and was getting white spots on his back. So I know the water was doing something to him. I took some of the water from the bucket, put it in a bag and floated it to get the temperature back up. I put him in the bag and its floating in the tank right now. Keep in mind this was last night and he is still in there. I put a small rock in there with him and he hides behind it most of the time but every now and then he actually swims around the bag. Do you think he is going to make it long enough for me to take him back to the store where I got him. The store owner is a friend of mine and he isn’t open until Tuesday. I don’t want the little guy to die if I can help it. I’ve done everything I can think of doing I just wonder if its going to be enough.
Sorry for the long first post and thanks for any help.
Oh yeah, his color came back today too!!!
