learn from my mistakes

[txmedic1]

to anyone wanting to get into this hobby, right now, stop. take a step back and rethink. i just lost $300 in fish in a week. i was over zealous, over loaded my new tank (6 weeks old, still considered new). i recommend that you read, research, and learn. and when you think you might understand the mechanics of running a living system such as a saltwater marine/coral tank, read, research, and learn it again. i cant express enough; the importance of patience and dedication required to be successful in this hobby.
so now i have to totally start over, i have a few inverts and coral to stare at; but ich, brooklyn, and redslime have taken over. there is a lone yellow tang in qt, we will see how he does.
i'm not here to discourage anyone from entertaining themselves with this great hobby. i just want you to have the easiest and most successful adventure with the least costly and time consuming mistakes.
(i'm done venting now)
good luck!

 

[myreef05]

Sorry to hear about your losses.
Please explain from step one what you did to include:
1. how you cycled
2. what size tank
3. what fish you added and timeline days between adding etc.
This will help out the newer hobbiest alot. Thanks for sharing and again, sorry for the loss.

 

[ice4ice]

I'm sorry to hear of your losses. This is all too common for beginners to jump in and get their feet wet without actually reading and researching the basics in saltwater keeping. A simple rule for all who want to get into this hobby : Read and research everything on saltwater aquaria keeping. This is an expensive hobby to get into. Please, please, please research first.

 

[txmedic1]

good idea myreef05, thanks
90 gallon overflow to a 20 gallon refuge, filled with miracle mud and cheato.
(2) 500 gph powerheads
(2) 175w metal halides with 4 pc's
100 lbs lr
60 lbs ls
i cured the rock, and cycled the tank for a total of 5 weeks, doing 20% water changes every week. water parameters were within normal limits except nitrate 10.
initally purchased:
invert cleaners, 8 turbos, 3 emerald crabs.
ocellaris (percula) clown, blue hippo (pacific blue) tang, heniocus butterlfy(bannerfish), yellow tang, royal gamma. with 4 children, of course it was a "finding nemo" dream.
next week purchased:
coral beauty (angelfish), flame angel, and another clown.
4 days later, the banner fish was acting erratic, died 24 hours later. a large red patch found on it side. looking through the disease/treatment forum, looks like a bacterial infection, but unknown what what kind, or how to treat the rest of the tank
lost blue hippo and 1 clown to overflow box.
last week, purchased:
pulsating xenia, blue tipped anemone, blue stripped mushrooms.
l noticed a small white speck on yellow tang, started cycling QT tank. water parameters within normal limits exept nitrate 10.
3 days ago, yellow tang transferred into QT
2 days ago, found royal gamma, and flame angel deceased. coral beauty and clown covered in a hazzy white film, look like pics of brooklynella. out break of red slime in refuge. water parameters normal except nitrates 5.
yesterday, started 37% formalin bath as directed. clown and coral died with 3 hours of completing bath.
i can go back and get actual water paramaters, i keep a log, but i'm at work and dont have the info with me.

 

[cvetnich]

$300 be happy that it was just $300. I got over jealous when I first started and I killed at least a $1000 worth of coral, fish and inverts!

 

[kevtheiris]

Sorry to hear about your losses, but just a few q?S for those more experienced readin this,
Whats the rule of thumb for fish size to tank size?
How often to add fish? Is one a month a good rule or too cautious?

 

[topfins-mj]

One thing to keep in mind is that whenever you add more livestock you are affecting the bio load of the medium. So if you get trigger happy and start adding 4 fish all at once, you are looking for trouble. I know I did that before and the results were aweful. Take your time no matter what.
I add at most two fish to the tank at a time, and wait for a month before adding more stuff. Corals I try to do maybe one or two depending on what it is, but due to pricing I can only add a few at a time.
I don't think there is a true rule of thumb because all systems are different for everybody. So, get a feeling for yours and act accordingly.

 

[myreef05]

Originally Posted by TopFins-MJ
One thing to keep in mind is that whenever you add more livestock you are affecting the bio load of the medium. So if you get trigger happy and start adding 4 fish all at once, you are looking for trouble. I know I did that before and the results were aweful. Take your time no matter what.
I add at most two fish to the tank at a time, and wait for a month before adding more stuff. Corals I try to do maybe one or two depending on what it is, but due to pricing I can only add a few at a time.
I don't think there is a true rule of thumb because all systems are different for everybody. So, get a feeling for yours and act accordingly.
True advice. Do not add to many at once add usually 1-2 for larger tanks, waiting several weeks so the tank can catch up to the added bio load etc.

 

[briand7878]

i feel your pain i made the mistake of adding uncured live rock. one fish dead, keeping my fingers crossed. lesson learned.