Scatterheart
Member
Howdy!! My name is Amber and I hail from Alamogordo, New Mexico. New to the hobby, and being out in the desert makes it much more difficult. I have one LFS in my town, and although they have been able to help a lot, they lack in supplies and livestock, leaving me to have to scramble or to have things shipped. For example, needed salt mix last week, went in, wasn't even acknowledged and ended up at Pet Sense... This is the first forum I have joined in hopes of getting some help and advice. I LOVE this hobby and my fish VERY much. My biggest concern, besides keeping them Happy and Healthy also includes not depleting the ocean to keep me happy. My tank started off with a friend of mine with a 100gal that she was draining and going to turn into a terrarium. She gave me 2 tank raised Occilaris Clown fish, two serpent starfish and a hand full of snails. She gave me a 20 gal quarantine tank, that I set up as a main tank. I have made Every mistake a newbie can make in the first year and then some, so please bear with me, as some of the most seasoned hobbyists will cringe as I tell my story. Let's just say that I had a twenty gallon tank, and all the accessories for the 100gal. The light situation and filter thing were funny at first. I got a light and the right size power filter. My water and substrate came from the original tank and as soon as the water settled, I put in my livestock. I would like to say that I have not lost one of my original inhabitants. My clients have doubled in size and are beautiful and fun. My starfish are also both twice as big and awesome. I have this problem with going to the only LFS store and because their stick is So low, wanting to Save the lonely fish in the Large tanks. ( at this time, I didn't understand quarantine procedures or bio load, again forgive me). The first fish I saved was a teeny azure damsel, which I was told would be a hardy addition. Later I had some issue(I think it was aphasia) and was told a wrasse would be a good way to get rid of it(turns out that I got a Mcoskers Flasher Wrasse and only paid $16 for him, whoa, also did not know that the tank was too small for him). Finally fish wise, even knowing that 2 colonies of the same should be max in a tank as small as mine, I went to my LFS one last time. I had seen a Teeny less that 3/4in Occilaris in a 200gal tank, alone. He had been there for months and I felt the need to save him. Now is where things get a Bit more tricky. My flasher was a bully, and I had concerns about returning him, but I had not been using the best water, uh hem, tap(feeling the mental flogging here) and has quite an Algae issue. I placed my first Liveaquaria order. Again, I had no idea about bio load and still wonder how many additions, inverts or fish, you should add at once. Obviously shipping is ungodly expensive and I figured more is better. I learned, don't worry. I ordered a Beautiful Sail Fin Blenny, 6 differing hermit crabs 5 Astea(sp) snails, one cleaner shrimp, one peppermint shrimp and an emerald crab. Believe it or not, yes this was in the 20 gal tank. And again, believe it or not, Everything acclimated beautifully and settled in nicely(except my eraser, who was still very much an ass). Now, what happened next was Truly a blessing in disguise, with in a Week of adding that gigantic bio load, my tank failed. Leak at the bottom side. Again tried my LFS to no avail. I ended up at a store I boycott, and bought a 29 gal at Wal-Mart. It is a great tank though, and I do like the led lighted lid it came with. However I am still using my own bio wheel and heater, instead of what it came with. So, at this point I really was afraid of losses, and still never had any. The 29 went up like a champ, and by late evening my critters were back in and settling. I would say it was three weeks later that I started to Worry about the fish, was researching Deeply into marine ich and velvet, still am not sure what Happened exactly, but I understood that IF they were sick, I didn' t have a quarantine, and that I would have to treat the display tank. I used Ich X, not the full regimen, because I had losses in between. I could have killed my own fish, but I am almost positive the eraser was the main culprit. By the end of the fiasco, I had lost the damsel,the eraser and my beautiful Blenny. My most delicate inverts find' t seem fazed, but after the losses I ended treatment, made a significant water change and put the Seachem bag I use back in the filter box. I lost the peppermint shrimp somewhere along the line after the treatment and think he made an expensive crab or starfish meal. My cleaner shrimp has mooted multiple times and is big and Lovely. My clowns All get along and play normally, even though I have three. Ties of this week, I was frightened out of my skin to see two emerald crabs where I had only had one before. He left me a beautiful Molt and was twice his original size. I couldn't wait for him to come out and I could see his shiny new claws. To my absolute dismay, I found him dead less than 24hours after his molt. That was yesterday. Everyone else, including all inverts seem healthy and fine, could this have been a fluke death, or did I kill him? My 29 gal has been up over a month now and I have had no major algae issues, a little bit of clear stringy algae at most. I know that my 20 was Overstocked, could lack of oxygen have been a culprit with too many fish? When adding critters, how many at a time? I would really like to replace my emerald and peppermint shrimp, but Don' t want to experience a loss or over stock. Am I at a point where I should see how my clowns do and keep them as the only fish? I really needed to unload all of this and hope any of you can give any advice on what Happened, but especially for future reference and to not repeat same mistakes I also have been unsure of Alkalinity, phosphates, and copper because I do not have those tests, is it necessary for tank with no corals? I also have been reading about skimmers, and wondered more about why having one is best. My tank Parameters as of Monday after a 6 gal water change were temp 78
PH 8.2, ish
Nitrate about 10 ppm
Nitrite and Ammonia 0
I have a Bio Wheel setup with Seachem Purigen media. I have one Koralia mini, and one Koralia 550 for flow, two marineland led bubble wands and an airstone in the tank. I also have three, bigger than and about fist size, pieces of live rock and coral substrate.
I just want to thank you all in advance for Any and all help
