What's done is done (but still curious... book alert, "My SW Life Story")

bigsteve

bigsteve

Member
Hey all... Just wanted to get a general opinion on what I just did. But I'll get to that in a minute. First, I'd like to give you some background so you know where I'm coming from... (It's going to be a book.... but I listed the questions at the end, so just skip ahead if you'd like) :)
"My SW Life Story":
OK.... one of my friends (Doug) kind of "pushed" me into SW. I was going to buy a 29g tank from him and do tropical freshwater fish, but he said, "No.... try saltwater. It's not that hard, and I'm always here to help." Well.... I had been wanting to try it for a while (ok... ever since I first saw a SW tank), so I decided to give it a shot. So, bought the tank, w/ filter, stand and CC for $30. Not bad. Even got some IO out of the deal. Took it home, set it up, and of course, the filter was bad. (Probably not bad, but really noisy) So, bought a Penguin 170. Couple of days later, got the heater for it. Next paycheck, bought the protien skimmer. Then put in some damsels to cycle. Then the bulb burns out. Got a new one.
Everything's going great so far. I can't believe saltwater fish are actually living in my room. :D
A week or so later, I made a hour long trip to get some LR and a powerhead. Put that in the tank, everything's still great.
Waited for another paycheck, and went out and got some inverts. Scarlet hermits, turbo snails, and a Coral Banded Shrimp (who still scares me every time he decides to molt...).
They're all doing great, my tank's coming along nicely, then Doug's tank crashed due to a broken thermometer. I offer to take a large (4") bluefin damsel under my care until he gets his tank back up. He puts the other survivors into a 20g, until his 125's back up.
Well, we decide to go fish hunting one Sunday, and my girlfriend falls in love with "Nemo":rolleyes: . So I ask Doug, "Do you think your damsel will bother them if I get a pair?" "No, of course not. He hasn't bothered any of my fish." So I get the clowns. 3 days later, one dies because the damsel bit his tailfin off.
So, to make it up to my girlfriend (since it was her fish that died), I bought her a yellow tang. Well, long story short, the bluefin wouldn't let him eat much of anything, and he died.
So, Doug got his fish back today.... plus one of my yellowtails.
Now, I'm left with a yellowtail damsel, a percula clown, and a coral banded shrimp. I'm almost discouraged enough to start over w/ the tank and do freshwater. Either way, I want to make it right this time. I didn't do it right the last time, or else everything would be happy and alive.
So, here's the questions:
-Should I just give him the rest of my fish and inverts and start ALL over?
-If I start all over, I'm getting rid of the crushed coral, which I just took it all out of my tank, with the fish in there... the dust cloud shouldn't hurt them, right?
-If I do start over and keep the fish, what do you think the best route would be? (i.e. adding the sand, adding other fish)
-Basically, what would you do in my shoes? I'm just getting frustrated with the whole thing. I can keep the fish alive, and I can maintain the tank, but I'm just not seeing much real success.
Thanks for any opinions you guys throw out, and I'm really sorry for the book. I just wanted to let you know where I'm coming from, and why I'm getting fed up with everything. I really want to stay with saltwater, but I didn't really realize it was going to be like this.
 
doodle1800

doodle1800

Active Member
well......I would have left the CC in there, but since you took it out - somehow, I would take the fish out and let your friend now look after them until your tank is ready. Take out the LR and whatever, and fill with sand, then add LR again and let tank settle for a month. Water will eventually clear. Then - not buy damsels to cycle the tank. Let the LR do it. Adding LR after the fish caused another mini cycle. I would not put clowns with damsels. They will stress the clowns out and anything esle probably. They can be an aggresive, bully fish. Try clowns with a firefish or other peaceful fish. The thing is be patient - get the sand in there with the LR and sit back and let it mature a bit before adding anything else.
 
cindyski

cindyski

Active Member
i cycled with my lr/ls no problem, i did make the mistake of adding yellowtail damsels though and only because i wanted chromis and there was none available i knkow i should have waited, but the pressure was on with the family and i just got the little devils. they are fine with my clowns and the chromis i finally got but when i added my royal gramma last week they ate his tail fin off and he is nowhere to be seen. git one out of the tank and havent had a chance this weekend to go fishing for the other.
anyways dont give up steve, this is a hobby that requires lots of patience and if you dont have that, then you might be forced to go with fresh water, which can also be beautiful (thats where i started) i am new to salt also but i am really enjoying the colors and variety (crabs, shrimp etc..) of life with the saltwater. you can sit in front of my practically empty 125 for hours and always find something going on. i love it!
good luck with your decision :happyfish
 
shrkbait

shrkbait

Member
if I understand correctly...your damsel was causing fish to die so you are going to start all over? Get rid of the damsel. If you dont have enough biological filtration(e.g. Live rock), look into it. LR can be quite pricey but well worth it. You only need 20-40 lbs. With rock you have a biological filter, natural looking landscape, and places to hide for the fish. If you decide to change out the Crushed coral, do it one section at a time if you decide to leave the fish in. When the cloud settles....do another section. How big is your crushed coral? If its not too big, leave it in there. If you have bottom dweller fish, than you probably need finer sand. HTH
 
dana&pj

dana&pj

Member
I like green chromis as a starter fish. They are hardy and much more friendly. Don't give up. SW is so much cooler! Also deside weather you want agressive or passive fish in the tank and stick to that.
 
bigsteve

bigsteve

Member

Originally posted by shrkbait
if I understand correctly...your damsel was causing fish to die so you are going to start all over? Get rid of the damsel. If you dont have enough biological filtration(e.g. Live rock), look into it. LR can be quite pricey but well worth it. You only need 20-40 lbs. With rock you have a biological filter, natural looking landscape, and places to hide for the fish. If you decide to change out the Crushed coral, do it one section at a time if you decide to leave the fish in. When the cloud settles....do another section. How big is your crushed coral? If its not too big, leave it in there. If you have bottom dweller fish, than you probably need finer sand. HTH
It wasn't my damsel... It was one of my friends. And he is gone. I've got 30lbs of live rock, and 15lbs of base rock. The reason I'm frustrated is because my tank was finally coming together (or so I thought), and then it just all of a sudden started going wrong...
I'm going to stick with saltwater.... but I'm going to stick with the rule I've learned here. Listen to everyone, then do what works for you. :D
Thanks all for the pep talk, and again, sorry for the book... I just needed to vent. :)
 
shrkbait

shrkbait

Member
i might not understand what you mean by start over. If it means starting from scratch rock and all. Dont do it. But I think you already know this. Start with less agressive fish and after they are comfortable and have been in there a month or two. Then add some meaner fish if you like. HTH
 
innsmouth

innsmouth

Member
Were you testing your water parameters? Sounds to me like you may have stocked the tank too fast before the biological filter could catch up. Also, the live rock you put in your tank may not have been 100% cured and may have caused an ammonia spike. The yellow tang may have been stressed out, they need a larger tank I'm told. Never had one, but this is the general consensus on this fish. Sounds like you need to get a decent book and read it a bunch of times. That helped me alot. I recommend "The Concientious Marine Aquarist" by Robert Fenner. It's available on this website and probably your local fish store.
 
bigsteve

bigsteve

Member

Originally posted by Innsmouth
Were you testing your water parameters? Sounds to me like you may have stocked the tank too fast before the biological filter could catch up. Also, the live rock you put in your tank may not have been 100% cured and may have caused an ammonia spike. The yellow tang may have been stressed out, they need a larger tank I'm told. Never had one, but this is the general consensus on this fish. Sounds like you need to get a decent book and read it a bunch of times. That helped me alot. I recommend "The Concientious Marine Aquarist" by Robert Fenner. It's available on this website and probably your local fish store.
Yep... tested everything, and it was near perfect. The LR was cured (kept it in a heated, circulated bucket for a couple days and tested the water), and the tang definately starved... you could almost see through him. I tried to revive him, but it was too late. Also, he was pretty small (2 1/2") and I was going to get a bigger tank before he grew too big.
And, I've got that book, and "The New Marine Aquarium" by Paletta. I've read them both from front to back. I don't admit to knowing nearly everything about SW, but I at least should know enough to keep a few fish alive.
I still say it was the big bluefin damsel that cause all this havoc. He was used to a 125g and was peaceful, and I think when he was put in my 29g, he freaked out and became agressive. Makes the most sense to me anyway...
 
innsmouth

innsmouth

Member
Yeah, that was probably it then. You didn't mention testing the water or anything that's why I suggested that stuff.
 
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