Hi everyone. The tank just finished cycling this morning after 3 weeks of anxious waiting. I used 2 different test kits and got the same results. 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and i'd say 10 ppm nitrates. Water temp 78-79. Salinity is a tad high at the moment at 1.0265 (I rushed making up water change water once or twice). So anyway I hit my LFS with the intent of picking up some hermits and snails. They said in addition to that why not throw in a serpent sea star and a Foxface. So anyway, I floated the 3 bags for 10 minutes then dumped them all in a bucket. I used a drip line to acclimate. I guess I had it a little too slow for the volume of water because after an hour there wasn't much headway. I incresed the flow for another hour. I believe I was just shy of doubling the volume when I decided to introduce to the tank. The foxface went in first and when he hit the water he went nuts (not in a good way.) Finally ended up in a corner motionless. After an hour, I honestly thought he was dead so I moved my magnetic scrubber near him to see and he took off to the other side of the tank and disappeared. The sea star and others all seemed at home instantly and moved off into the rocks to get to work. As of 4 hours later, the clean up crew has spread out and are actively cleaning. The Foxface on the other hand is hanging out underneath a rock just hovering there. Sorry for the long explanation and newbie question, but what happened? what did I do wrong? Can I expect my fish to live?
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First Fish Introduction Didn't Go Very Well, Or Did It?
- Thread starter njhcnwk
- Start date
It doesnt sound like you did anything all that wrong . The foxface is probably just shy and nervous from the transport and new tank . I would shut off the lights and let him chill for the rest of today . Tomorrow try to introduce a little food to him . If you can call the lfs and see what he was eating try to use that . Your salinity is a little high but not enough to do damage,also try to get the nitrates down but all in all I would think if the fish was healthy going in it should be fine .
njhcnwk said:
Hope the fox face does well for you!
In the future you should plan out your purchases and not let the store make decisions about your livestock for you. Some (not ALL!) LFS are just trying to move stock, and they really don't care about the animals..they just want the "sale". God knows when I first got into the hobby I had fish recommended to me by a store I used that I had NO business keeping in my tank. We've all been there!
Thanks for the advice Brian. I will definately keep that in mind in the future. It makes perfect business sense that they would try to do that. As of now the foxface appears to be doing well. I catch him swimming around but when you approach that tank he goes and hides. His color is back to normal as well. Will try feeding him later. Thanks to everyone for their insight and for all the future advice they will give me as I go through the learning curve of my first tank.
Is the serpent star is a green brittle starfish? If so did they tell you that are predatory and not just a scavenger. They will prey on small fish and inverts at night.
Sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Yes it appears to be a green brittle sea star, and no they didn't tell me the spines on the foxface were venomous (not that it necessarily would have deterred me...but that's definately good information to know). Hmmm, either I shouldn't have gone in 20 minutes before the store closed, or they saw me coming a mile away. Well, better I learned that lesson now than after I stocked my tank. Based on the feedback i've received ragarding this whole ordeal, I've already made the switch to another LFS.
Happened to me when i first started.. was told it was just a scavenger.. I found out the hard wayJcurry@wesketch said:
The_Codfather said:Happened to me when i first started.. was told it was just a scavenger.. I found out the hard wayJcurry@wesketch said:
Everyone has made similar mistakes, don't sweat it. If they won't exchange it then just throw in the sump when you add more fish. I've learned the hard way (as most others) to go to the LFS with an idea of what livestock you're looking for and avoid impulse buying something you haven't researched.
The more research you do the more you'll realize that only about 50% of the livestock in an LFS is suitable for long term exsistance in an average sized reef tank and only 20% of that livestock is healthy.
As the saying goes "Once bitten twice shy" And as of that day I do as much research as i can before any purchaseJcurry@wesketch said:The_Codfather said:Happened to me when i first started.. was told it was just a scavenger.. I found out the hard wayJcurry@wesketch said:
Everyone has made similar mistakes, don't sweat it. If they won't exchange it then just throw in the sump when you add more fish. I've learned the hard way (as most others) to go to the LFS with an idea of what livestock you're looking for and avoid impulse buying something you haven't researched.
The more research you do the more you'll realize that only about 50% of the livestock in an LFS is suitable for long term exsistance in an average sized reef tank and only 20% of that livestock is healthy.
If it makes you feel any better, I once bought a "dragon wrasse" because it was "so darned cool I had to have it", only to get home and find out the hardway it was a juvenile ROCK MOVER WRASSE! AAAAHHHH!!! What a MESS that little devil made! Should have been called a "SATAN'S BANE WRASSE"! LOL!
That taught me RIGHT QUICK to research purchases. Heck, I've been known to walk right over to the book rack and carry the LFS' book right into the fish room off the shelf with me! LOL! If they sell em, don't be shy about it!
That and the internet on my cellular has stopped several near miss impulse buys.
That taught me RIGHT QUICK to research purchases. Heck, I've been known to walk right over to the book rack and carry the LFS' book right into the fish room off the shelf with me! LOL! If they sell em, don't be shy about it!
That and the internet on my cellular has stopped several near miss impulse buys.
I totally believe in researching every fish. Remember you will own the fish hopefully for years.
Make one mistake (bi color pseudocromis) and you will have a 6 year mistake.
I research each type of fish and the individual fish. For instance I like Will at AO because he is very honest about each fish and gets to know the individual fish after a few weeks.
For me it usually takes me about 3 weeks to pick a fish out, I am sure I get on his nerves. :
But it is great to be able to get a pair for instance.
Here are some sites for you.
http://www.fantasyreef.com
http://www.saltwaterfish.com
http://www.liveaquaria.com
http://www.bluezooaquatics.com
Some are sales but they have a decent amount of info look around the sites because bluezoo has constant educational pieces.
Make one mistake (bi color pseudocromis) and you will have a 6 year mistake.
I research each type of fish and the individual fish. For instance I like Will at AO because he is very honest about each fish and gets to know the individual fish after a few weeks.
For me it usually takes me about 3 weeks to pick a fish out, I am sure I get on his nerves. :
But it is great to be able to get a pair for instance.
Here are some sites for you.
http://www.fantasyreef.com
http://www.saltwaterfish.com
http://www.liveaquaria.com
http://www.bluezooaquatics.com
Some are sales but they have a decent amount of info look around the sites because bluezoo has constant educational pieces.
Just called the store about the green brittle star and what they told me went something like this. "They've never had a problem with them. They keep to themselves. I'd be more worried about the fish picking on the seastar. Of course if a fish was sitting right by the seastar he might try to eat it, but there are other things such as anenome that would do the same thing. The fish know to stay away from them anyway."