just when everything was looking good

[michaeltx]

I got home from work alittle bit ago and well my mother (co-investor) had decided she was going shopping ( thats a good thing when I am with her) anyway I get home and there sitting in the tank was:
1 yellow tang
2 domino damsels
1 blue damsel
1 arc-eye hawkfish
1 marron clown
1 dragon goby
1 bar goby
2 green serpent stars
she got really good prices on the items but I was waiting to see if the tank was going to spike before I put anything in it. I called the LFS that she got them from and explained the situation to them (( not one that I go to get anything )) and they said that it wasnt there problem and they would take the items back but not give anything back on them. they said that they have no way of knowing what the customers have and if they buy them and not know about them its not there fault and they will not reimburse or exchange them under any circumstances. period. ( and hung up)
well that walked all over me ( of course).
now comes the problem what should I watch for they are all eating flake foods but I never kept any gobys.I would hate to loose these guys.
any help would be greatful.
Mike

 

[musipilot]

Whew, thats some suprise. Well...I'll be honest with you, with the exception of the gobies, you may be okay, assuming the tank has cycled at least most of the way.
To help everyone survive, you're going to have to nurse your cycle along if its not complete. The way you would do this is by testing the water EVERY day for ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites. Every other day for PH. Watch the parameters carefully, and look for spiking. Because you have a large bio-load all of a sudden, you WILL see some spiking. Be ready with water changes. The water changes will slow down your total cycle time, but it will help with the survival of the fish. I would recommend hyposalinity, but with the serpent stars, you can't. I can't say this enough, watch your water every day, its going to be a rough couple of months.
Feeding the gobies is going to be tough, although I have seen even mandarins take prepared food, I hope you're lucky. Try and be sure some food makes it to the bottom, and watch to see if they eat. If they don't, you're going to have to get some pods in there quick. You can import them from some of the pre-prepared sand activators available online. Good luck, and let us know how you do.

 

[musipilot]

...one other thing that occurred to me. You may have behavior/aggression problems with the damsels. They will probably leave everyone else alone, but kick the crap out of each other. Watch them carefully, and if you have an aggression problem, bring two of them back to the LFS, it won't get better, only worse.

 

[cap'n pete]

I do hope your talking about the 100G! Like stated test daily for ammonia and nitrite and monitor the pH. Cut way back on food (and keep your mom away from the tank ) until your sure that everything is okay. The tank may be big enough to keep the damsels occupied but keep a watch out (definately not a choice I would have made). I don't know how many LFS you have available, but I wouldn't step foot in that one again! If you do start showing ammonia or nitrite start doing water changes and cross your fingers (and toes). HTH

 

[michaeltx]

yes it is the 100gl its the only SW tank that I have right now.
I went in and look at there tanks soon after I moved here and I have never been back into the store the tanks werent keep clean ( bacterial sludge of some kind in all the tanks) when asked about that they said it was normal in the tanks and all tanks have this in them. (HUH) but after that point I decided not go there agian there are 2 others here in town that deal in SW one has alot of dead fish in the tanks the other is very nicely priced nice tanks and very knowledgeable so I have been going there and not dealing with the others.
everything including the goby,s were eating flake food the bar goby not to much it is very skedish. the tank was setup on the 4th of july and as of this evening everything is still ok as far as readings. the fish have been added for about 8 hours now.
temp 78
amonia 0
nitite 0
nitrate .25
salinity 1.025
ph 8.0
I had a large amonia spike when I first added the rock and then it went down and zeroed out in about 5 days and haved stayed down but with added bio load it might spike again.
there is about 50 lbs of cured and 40 lbs of cured base rock and 20-30 lbs of dead rock.
the pod population is about non exsitant the rock that I have been getting is covered in coraline but has very little actual life on it I am very disapointed in it. I have seen one pod and nothing else so i dont know. I have plans on ordering about 45 more lbs online to try to get something in the tank.
mike

 

[striker]

You are definitely in for some trouble. If I was in your situation I would feed the fish extremely little every other day or so and make extra water changes as soon as the readings start changing. The worst thing is that your tank was started less than two weeks. If it was an established tank there might be a chance that they would survive(and even then it's a recipe for disaster). How much lr and ls do you have? What kind of filtration? Do you have a protein skimmer? If you have these then it will definitely be in your favor. Another thing you're going to have to watch out for is an ich outbreak, especially the way you speak about this store. Remember to only feed very little. Good luck with the fish and let us know how it turns out.

 

[nm reef]

Nothing to add to your mothers shopping expediation...but I am curious about the store they were purchased at. I do probably 90% of my livestock purchases in Lubbock...there are 3 locations that I know of...2 I tend to avoid...the third has always done me real well.
Aquaia lease is where I do the majority of my business....which location were you having problems with?

 

[michaeltx]

she bought them at the Mall of course its where ahe does her shopping and she came across the store and well no I have all the critters in the tank,
readings as of 230pm
ph 8.0
temp 78
salinity 1.025
amonia still at zero ( crossing my fingers)
nitrite zero
nitrate .25
MIke

 

[clarkiiboi]

I dont really know what to say but I'm glad to see you got a 100 gall. I am fairly new to and that just blew me away......anyways this will get you back to the top so that you will get more responses (and you need them) good luck! Let us know how it goes.

 

[drew_tt]

for your gobies, about 5 minutes after releasing my bar goby, he ate right away when I fed... and ate about twice a day (just flakes & brine shrimp) for the next couple days until I found him encrusted onto the tiles beside the tank... make sure your tank is sealed well... he got out of a tiny opening by the filter (I assume...)
for your dragon goby, he should take anything that floats down towards his lair... make sure he has a cave/territory... is he a young one or old? the younger are quite a bit more shy, the older ones are crazy, aggressive, and bold...
Drew

 

[michaeltx]

the bar and dragon hang out together if one is out the other is out and the bar if he gets spooked high tales it back to the cave and the dragon hovers right in front of the opening as to protect him .
they are really kewl the bar is a light lavendar color very kewl looking fish...
hopefully they will all make it I am watching everything closely so I will hope for the best and have made arrangments if it starts to get out of hand another LFS that I bought the tank from wil hold all the fish in one there tanks till I can take them back( thank god)
and she was afraid to tell me about the other 2 fish that were hiding in the tank 2 PJ cardinals.
thanks
Mike

 

[michaeltx]

the dragon goby and bar goby are eating flake foods the gobbled it up as soon as it went into the tank so I dont think they are going to starve if they hadnt been eating flake foods I would have taken them somewhere so they wouldn,t starve.
as of today readings are still good
amonia 0
nitrite 0
ph still at 8.0 ( got to try to raise it up some)
salinity 1.025
nitrate .25
hopefully it stays this way.
thanks for the adice and if anything starts to look stressed in anyway I am going to take them to the LFS and do something.
as far as the damsels there is only one left 2 of them was bulling the arc-eye- hawkfish and he took a chomp out of them the other stays hidden in a rock and only comes out when there is food in the tank and then not far from the hole..
thanks
Mike

 

[aileena]

Man I am somewhat new to the hobby, but if you have a 100g tank with about 60pds of LR and a good protein skimmer with at least 2 powerheads you should be just fine! You are checking your water every day and thats good. I would do a 5% water change every other day too! Make sure you check you KH too with the inverts. It should be about 10 or 11! If you have 0 nitite and amonia and only 25 nitrate just do water changes every other day for the next two weeks and you should be fine. So long as the nitrate doesnt get above 25 you should be ok. With constant water changes in about a week you'll notice a huge difference. But make sure you check that KH too its important.

 

[mb4000]

Start the garlic and vitamin route. You can use Mccormick bottled garlic juice. Use a few drops of garlic ( shake before use ), a few drops of cod liver oil and a few drops of Polyvisoy from wallmart to give your fish a health boost. Mix it with your food a few minutes before you feed the fish. You can also get dried seaweed from the oriental section of a supermarket to feed your tang. If you are going to feed lightly then you want to make the food as nutritious as possible. I would feed once a day what thay will eat in 1 minute. Get a lettuce clip and feed about a 1 by 2 inch piece of seaweed with a few drops of garlic juice soaked in everyday.

 

[michaeltx]

I have the seaweed selects green and red that the tang eats a 3x3 square in about 5 min. the rest of the tank eats a mix of brine and mysise shrimp both are enrich with selcon and immune boosters. they also get some flakes but not very much of any one thing alternating day to day.
as of tonight all is still ok
ph 8.2
sal 1.025
amonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 5
temp 78
thanks for all the info
Mike

 

[michaeltx]

well day six and all is still fine no signs of stress. all the fish look godd and are acting very healthy.
readings today are
temp 78
ph 8.2
sal 1.025
amonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 5
calcium 400
I am still keeping an close eye on everything but I thinks everything is going to be ok. thanks for all the advice..
Mike