New to the hobby need help

[skidemon95]

Hows it going everyone? i am new to this hobby. I LOVE IT! Except i had a little problem.
i spent alot of time in my lfs and talking to the owner. i ended up buying a
38g tank. have some live rock in it. probably like 15-20lbs. bought some fish.
had a porky puffer, regal angel, powder brown. well they all died. tank is a month and a week old.
after talking to the guy at the store we found out what happened. when i bought the tank he gave me a little bottle to de-chlorinate the water.
i had done water changes and didnt know that i had to keep putting more in. well since all the fish died i did a 30% water change a week ago and put in a bunch of the de-chlorinator in. and then 2 days ago i did a 5g water change again.
today i put a snowflake eel in and he is twitching. i didnt notice him twitch in the store. i just wanna make sure before i go out and buy anymore fish that i am ok.
any input on what i should do?
thanks for all the help in advance!

 

[gio28]

you didnt cycle the tank?! or did you put them in after your tank was cycled (after a month) and then they died?

 

[meowzer]

Just out of curiosity....isn't a 38G a little small for a snowflake eel????
ALSO...I think the tank is too small for most of the other fish you mentioned too...
WELCOME to SWF....and if I may suggest that you do your own research before adding any more fish.....your LFS may just be selling you whatever to make a buck...

 

[tonynader]

.....oh man this doesnt sound good

 

[arvins]

Do you have a test kit. If so can you post your parameters, it doesn't sound like your tank was cycled before you started adding fish. My guess would be your tank is cycling with the fish and the ammonia is causing the deaths.
Also if your local fish store sold you those fish for that tank I'd have a nice talk with them as none of those fish are good for that small a tank AND fish like the powder brown are not good for beginners

If you can post your parameters that would be a huge help though

 

[skidemon95]

Originally Posted by gio28
http:///forum/post/3092952
you didnt cycle the tank?! or did you put them in after your tank was cycled (after a month) and then they died?
no, i had the tank for a total of about a month and a half now.
this is what the guy at the store told me to do.
bought the tank and set it up. he told me to wait a day and then i can put fish in it. so a day later i bought a porky puffer. and then a week later the powder brown, and then another week later the regal.
this is what the guy told me. i didnt find this site till after i did this all.

 

[skidemon95]

Originally Posted by meowzer
http:///forum/post/3092956
Just out of curiosity....isn't a 38G a little small for a snowflake eel????
ALSO...I think the tank is too small for most of the other fish you mentioned too...
WELCOME to SWF....and if I may suggest that you do your own research before adding any more fish.....your LFS may just be selling you whatever to make a buck...
yeah, this i know lol. i will have a 210g in jan.

 

[meowzer]

I hope you have another lfs in the area...sorry but those people gave you some really bad advice.
Do you have live sand in your tank? I see you mention rock. Also what kind of filter do you have?
And as asked above...do you have a test kit of your own?

 

[skidemon95]

Originally Posted by Arvins
http:///forum/post/3092959
Do you have a test kit. If so can you post your parameters, it doesn't sound like your tank was cycled before you started adding fish. My guess would be your tank is cycling with the fish and the ammonia is causing the deaths.
Also if your local fish store sold you those fish for that tank I'd have a nice talk with them as none of those fish are good for that small a tank AND fish like the powder brown are not good for beginners

If you can post your parameters that would be a huge help though

i just tested it yesterday and they are
nitrate - 0
amonia - 0
nitrite - 0
ph - 8.4
i just bought the kit the other day, but previous to that i have been taking it to the store and he tested it and said it was good. i also took it to another store and they said the same.

 

[arvins]

Ok, if I were you I would not return to that store as those people are just trying to make money off of you it sounds like.
First you need to test your water, if it shows any ammonia or nitrates I'd catch and return the eel. Do you have live sand? How much live rock? Skimmer? Sump? Filtration...I know alot of questions but the answers will give us a starting place

 

[skidemon95]

Originally Posted by meowzer
http:///forum/post/3092962
I hope you have another lfs in the area...sorry but those people gave you some really bad advice.
Do you have live sand in your tank? I see you mention rock. Also what kind of filter do you have?
And as asked above...do you have a test kit of your own?
yeah i will post a picture of what i have in a few minutes. the filter is a marineland 400.

 

[gio28]

yeah i wouldnt go to that store ever again...they basically made money off of you and dont care about your fish and tank at all. they sold you fish that needed way more space than your tank offered and before you could do something about it they all died cause your tank wasnt ready for them anyways. im sorry you had this happen to you...i would go back to that store and give them a piece of my mind.

 

[skidemon95]

here are the pictures, just took them

 

[arvins]

Nice tank

From what I see you have no flow? Am I missing it though, do you some powerheads in there???

 

[skidemon95]

Originally Posted by gio28
http:///forum/post/3092972
yeah i wouldnt go to that store ever again...they basically made money off of you and dont care about your fish and tank at all. they sold you fish that needed way more space than your tank offered and before you could do something about it they all died cause your tank wasnt ready for them anyways. im sorry you had this happen to you...i would go back to that store and give them a piece of my mind.
well the thing is that i wanted to get a 75 gallon there and he convinced me to go smaller since i was a beginner. so i took his work for it.

 

[meowzer]

OK....where to begin....
1st of all ..is that gravel????
2. You really need more rock....you say you have 15-20lbs...I think you need to at least double that.
3, take off the Freshwater background and get a solid one...black or blue
4..I see no powerheads...look up Koralia powerheads...you need a couple of them to circulate water
Don't want to overwhelm you

 

[tonynader]

those guys are idiots, i would really go back and get my money back for all those fish. You dont know any better get, your still a beginner like me. I learned my lessons just like you. But mine told me the correct info about cycling. But its a nice tank. Sorry for the trouble you went through.

 

[arvins]

Lol, me either thats why I went with one question. But you need alot more rock, some kind of powerhead AND um..no gravel if thats what that is.
Personally if I were you, I'd start over. Take the eel back hes going to outgrow that tank fast anyway. Then get the gravel out, put in some live sand, 30+ lbs of rock and some powerheads. Like a couple of Koralia 2's would probably be enough.
Do you have a skimmer?

 

[bulldog123]

Where do you live? Maybe someone on here is in the area and can point you to a better LFS. Because that one sucks by all accounts.

 

[meowzer]

Well he has swf now....and everyone here will help
Go to the top of this section and read all the new hobbyist tips
great advice there too....
I agree with Arvins about starting over too.....If you want the eel....wait until you already have the 210