Yep we have lost our minds!

[sasquatch]

oh gah, the tang police have arrived, Welcome Sunnier Family, Deuce Bigalow kept a Lion fish in a blender for a while, always thought it was gonna get the chop but the spca was watching, were kinda like the spca here, we can't fine you for overcrowding livestock but we will guilt you up, convince everyone to give up their birthday and xmass presents for a one time group effort and get a bigger nest for your fishies

 

[Built347]

Thanks for making me feel so comfortable here.

........kill em with kindness "they" always say.

LOL.. wrong thread.. distracted by leaking mixing station....

 

[Sunnier]

I quit... someone wanna buy a tank?

:cry1:

 

[Built347]

C'mon. dont give up.. you have tons of fun to look forward to.. an uninformed start isnt the end of the world.. luckily everything related to saltwater is worth money.. trade em in.

 

[engineer goby]

Don't say that it's a wonderful hobby

 

[Sunnier]

We just lost the BTA. Does that help our bioload?

 

[sk8rdn]

We just lost the BTA. Does that help our bioload?

A tiny amount, so long as it was removed quickly. But I'm sorry to say, this is the start that we were speaking of...

Time to make some quick, harsh decisions.

And please understand we are not picking on you, but have seen this a lot and know what it leads to. Experience is a mean witch...

....Salt Creep Is Everywhere!....

 

[steved13]

Sunnier, you have people here who love the hobby, there is no hate here. You can see it by the folks that feel bad about what they feel they have to tell you, by all of the apologies they start off with IE: I'm not picking on you, or sorry to tell you, etc. We enjoy the hobby and take pride in helping others enjoy it also. Many people start off with less info than they need, or worse, bad info. You've come to the right place, we'd love to help you be successful, that's what all the posts trying to help you out are about. This is kind of a "pay it forward" type of place. Most of us were told by others, very similar things, that we are now telling you. It's a way to give back.

You're welcome here if you don't change a thing, but if you want to be successful, the help the folks here will give will be invaluable.

No need to give up, you may find having fewer specimens allows you to observe what you have better, and actually enjoy the hobby more, not to mention the satisfaction of success. Not to mention, letting us feel good, about helping you out.

 

[kain101]

I quit... someone wanna buy a tank?

:cry1:

Lol, way too early in the game to quit. It is a learning process. many of us have and still are in the same position where we learn as we go. If it were easy everyone would have a reef tank. Once u get past the noob stage it is very enjoyable

 

[dmatt88]

You my new friend are experiencing what us long term reef folks call a momentary set back. Chin up! You can do it!

........kill em with kindness "they" always say.

 

[BigAl07]

We just lost the BTA. Does that help our bioload?

I'm sorry to hear that! It sucks.. I mean royally SUCKS to lose our wet friends.

Put this into your hat and let it soak a bit... someone... somewhere... has been giving you bad advice or at the very least "allowing" you to make the mistakes you're making. You have been allowed to break several "hard rules" that Mother Nature doesn't allow us to break. Reefing is more of a balance board and when you tip the scales something has to give and more often than not it's the life of our wet friends that "give".

For reference an Anemone is a EXPERT level animal and as such isn't even suggested until the tank and the tank owner have around a year of Salt Water under their belt and after they can show a fairly long history of stable water conditions. These animals can not tolerate the problems associated with "Learning the Salty Way".

Mark it up as "now we know better" and let us help you get your tank on a more secure footing and progressing along a stable path. As stated above we're here to help you the best way we can. We've been there and learned the hard, expensive and painful way.

Also your Local Fish Store needs to know your tank status and NOT be allowing you to over stock it, put the wrong animals in it, or put animals in it that need a mature tank. If they are allowing this to happen then you need to re-source your supplies and find a place that cares about more than just the contents of your wallet.

 

[Funlad3]

Here, I just looked on Craigslist to see if I could help you out. If you're near Wichita, then you have these easy upgrades with most (if not all) of what you need:


44 gal saltwater aquarium or freshwater

saltwater reef tank complete


If you can get to Topeka, this one should be considered theft:

Huge salt water reef aquarium lot for sale


Near Salina (the 110 gallon again)

Saltwater reef tank complete


Near Lawrence

75 Gallon Reef Ready Tank and Stand

125g reef fish tank

58 GALLON OCEANIC SALTWATER AQUARIUM WITH FISH AND CORAL



Any one of these that has a skimmer and/or light would be an excellent tank, as well as have the additional room for all of the fish you have, and any future equipment upgrades would be completely unrequired.

Please, don't give up on your tank, as your fish and corals need you. Given the fact that they were sold to you, your store is one place where they certainly do NOT want to go back too. Have a great week!

- Ben

 

[BLADEYAMAHA]

 

[Sunnier]

Okay so what do I need in the protein skimmer?
I would say part of my reason for error in purchasing fish is using more than one LFS.

I still have tang and wrass but am looking to rehome one at least. (probably both but I haven't gotten there yet)

and my coral angel beauty died.

We did a 20% water change, and cleaned the filter.

Current contents are
decorator crab,
emerald crab
coral banded shrimp
chocolate chip starfish,
hermit crabs
snails
2 firefin gobbies
pajama cardinal
2 clowns (one is TINY ocolarrious SP) one is a kclarky

If we got rid of the tang and the wrass, could I get some thing else?

also they told us that the creepy crawlies don't count to tank contents is that correct?

and what about the corals do they count towards helping us? We have a tank full of live rock and three coral frags that are doing fine.

 

[Sunnier]

Thank you Ben, but I have about two thousand already sunk in this little tank I am going to have to just be happy with it for now at least LOL

 

[Sunnier]

Ohh and we have a diatom bloom.

 

[steved13]

Okay so what do I need in the protein skimmer?
I would say part of my reason for error in purchasing fish is using more than one LFS.

I still have tang and wrass but am looking to re-home one at least. (probably both but I haven't gotten there yet)

and my coral angel beauty died.

We did a 20% water change, and cleaned the filter.

Current contents are
decorator crab,
emerald crab
coral banded shrimp
chocolate chip starfish,
hermit crabs
snails
2 firefin gobbies
pajama cardinal
2 clowns (one is TINY ocolarrious SP) one is a kclarky

If we got rid of the tang and the wrass, could I get some thing else?

also they told us that the creepy crawlies don't count to tank contents is that correct?

and what about the corals do they count towards helping us? We have a tank full of live rock and three coral frags that are doing fine.

In a 30 gallon tank, using rules stated above, that's about 6" of fish (at full grown size) so you would still be considered overstocked. The 2 clowns will take you to your limit alone. These are guidelines and I might say you could get away with what you have after removing the tang and wrasse, provided you do your maintenance religiously. Maybe add a small fish way down the road, providing the system stays steady for awhile with what you have. The reason I'm thinking you might be OK while still being "overloaded" according to the guidelines is that the dart fish, are pretty easy on the system.

Ohh and we have a diatom bloom.

While the tank is new (first year or so), you'll have all kinds of blooms. The situation that you are taking care of now (overstocking) will contribute to making those blooms far worse than they need to be.

 

[steved13]

I just noticed I missed a couple of questions.

Creepy crawlies most people don't count towards the bio load because they feed on leftovers, so in that way they do as much good as the produce load. Corals are generally considered bio neutral, so you can have quite a few corals with no problem. Corals are more sensitive to "bad water", overstocking makes it difficult (maybe impossible if too severe) to keep the water "good" long term, so you'd do yourself and the livestock a favor by getting it squared away first and then thinking about adding anything.

I think I saw that this was a family tank...in case you hadn't thought of it, learning about why you have to "go slow" or "be patient" or "follow the norms" to keep Nemo alive, might be the best lesson for anyone to learn.

Bravo for doing the right thing here and reducing the fish in the tank. The tang and wrasse have to go, if you don't find them a new home mother nature will probably make the decision for you.

 

[sasquatch]

guess we could get right to the basics, what are you doing for salt water? mix your own? buy? how much do you keep on hand mixed and ready?

 

[Funlad3]

The dartfish count for almost no bioload, and the corals really don't either. The CUC (clean up crew) only eats what's already been eaten/left by the fish, so they don't really count either. If you were to rehome the tang and wrasse, I'd say you'd be fine in the 30 gallon, assuming you got the skimmer. It literally strips all sorts of proteins and organics from the water before they have a chance of decomposing into nitrogenous waste. Again, almost any HOB (hang on back) skimmer would work more than adequately on your tank.

Good luck, and sorry for your losses.