While we wait...

[jezzeaepi]

Trust me that your wife will be happier if the fish you do end up getting stay alive No one likes to name a fish and then see them pass. Just don't let her steer you to things that have no business being in your tank. There is a wealth of information on this website as well as tons of people willing to help who, collectively, have hundreds of years of experience. No disrespect to LFS's but I would only take most of their advice with a grain of salt. There are of course exceptions to the "dont trust the LFS" rule, but you have to make the shops earn that right rather then giving it to them off the bat.

 

[Saltwater Stu]

You should ALWAYS do your own research, even if that means asking or looking around on the forum. I can't believe Reef Keepers sold you 2 blue hippo's knowing what they were going in to! Blows my mind actually. Had kind of a shady experience with that LFS a while back and vowed I wouldn't go back. Just FYI. Sounds like he's making his money off ya!
Side note, I did get my Powder Blue from him and it has been a super healthy fish, but even my 75 is going to be to small for him eventually! 2 blue hippo's, chuckle chuckle SIGH, wtf!

 

[Duffer]

Now, I'm not blaming anyone but myself here. The buck stops with me. and of course the LFS is out to make money. That's what they do. Move product. They may assume that I know what I'm doing or they most likely just don't ask but anyway, I don't want to go down that road. It's my responsibility. Period.

I will add tho and I'm sure that you older, wiser reefers see this all the time: I can search just about any Reefing subject and find someone who seems reputable on either side of any subject. It's hard to know for sure who or what to trust. A simple example would be the, "I can outfit a complete, successful reef system in one long day". I see this kind of thing everywhere! Take something as simple as 'recommended water conditions'. I have right now four written sources and I don't think any of them is the same. Each one varies in some way.

Anyway, if anyone cares to continue following, I don't yet have a method for lowering my phosphate levels except for water changes so I did 20% yesterday and 20% the day before and will do another 20% today.

I will add this in closing: it would have been much easier for me to just keep my keyboard shut afa these losses but I wanted to be honest and hope that other beginners will learn from my mistakes.

 

[IPisces]

We all learned some hard lessons. Search the forums. There are a lot of good examples. Read and learn from others mistakes. There are a lot of different opinions on things. If you have questions on what your reading, just ask. Use the info you get that works best for you and what fits your needs. We are all still following along.

 

[Saltwater Stu]

This is no joke, get a book, do even a LITTLE reading. The forums ARE going to show you multiple sides and force you to choose what you think is best, which is worthless if you don't have a basic understanding of what is actually happening in your ecosystem. Get reef keeping for dummies, it was my first book a long time ago or saltwater tanks for beginners, both helped me tremendously and are super simple.
Your going to lose fish on this journey you've set out on. But lets make sure its to old age from here on out!!!