PMs May Go Unanswered

[leebca]

I appreciate those of you who have problems, concerns or need help with your marine fish. I know that when one of my fishes is 'off' I get a little sick in my own stomach followed by anxiety.

I receive many personal messages by e-mail -- these are PMs -- seeking information and/or help. Sometimes I get up to 12 in one day. To be blunt, I can't handle them all in any kind of timely manner.

From my posts I think you can see that I try to be thorough. So a 'short reply' isn't my style.

If I replied to each PM I would be spending much more time giving private information then public information; and I would end up repeating myself over and over again, since many of the PMs seem to be cyclic with the concerns.

I encourage all who would PM me for information or help to reconsider. Instead, post your questions or situation or what you need here in the Forum where others may help and where others with similar questions or needs can also learn.

The exception to the above is to PM me to look at a post in another Forum on RS, or when I invite a PM.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

[leebca]

I'll make this a sticky so people joining will have this same information.

I have closed this thread, too.

Hopefully you will understand that the best way to obtain help with your marine fish and FOWLR aquarium concerns is to:

First, review the stickies in this forum. Many are there to provide immediate help and information on common concerns, questions, and problems.

Second, if no information can be found on your particular question or concern, please post BUT include information needed to provide you with help.

I am by no means a professional, however if you called your medical doctor and told the doctor you were sick, I'm sure the doctor would want to see you (provide a photo of your fish) and get a history (tell us about your system and the history of the fish, including when you acquired it, what is it eating, how often do you feed it, how big is it, its scientific name, etc., etc.) and want to know something more about the condition (list all symptoms, test kit results, and provide additional information), and lastly, about its environment (other marine life forms, tank size, etc.).

If it is easier, this is a list of some things that may be important for us to know about your fish and system to get the fastest help:

How old is your tank? When did it originally cycle?
What is the size (dimensions and gallonage) of your aquarium? Does the gallonage include the volume from the sump and any refugium?
Do you use carbon, skimmer, mechanical or other chemical filtration?.

List all specimens & sizes in the tank (fish, inverts, corals, clams, snails, crabs, shrimp, etc.).
Do you use a quarantine tank and procedure?

Foods you use and feeding schedules. Do you use any vitamins? Fat additives? Any elemental or other water additives? Please list all.

How long have you had this fish? If the fish was recently acquired (6 weeks or less), two more questions: Did you treat it or give it a dip before it went into the aquarium? How did you acclimate it – what procedure?

Chemistries: Give actual test results from a test kit (not a dip stick) for the following: Alkalinity, calcium, magnesium, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate. If you perform test results for these, include those current numbers: Phosphates, silica, and copper. Have these numbers been changing lately?

Water parameters – please give actual numbers (pH and your pH range, salinity or sp. gr. & range, temperature range)

Do you see any of the following in your system: hair algae; micro algae; cyanobacteria growths (red slime algae); dinoflagellate (zooxanthellae) growths; brown algae; diatom growth; slimes; off-colored patches on rock or substrate that are not coralline; etc.?

Maintenance schedule (filter change most recent, water changes (how much and how often), equipment repair and/or replacement, any equipment changes?

What is your source water? (Tap water, RO water, DI water, RO/DI, distilled, etc.)
List what you added or taken out of your aquarium system (living, decorations, and equipment) during the past 6 weeks.

The more information you can provide, the faster and more accurate will be the help.

Check out all or some of these stickies. More are actually there, but these are the most often read:
Starting Your First FO or FOWLR Marine System
A Fish Quarantine Process - Step by Step
Feeding Marine Fish and Marine Fish Nutrition
Marine Ich - Myths and Facts
How to Make a Safe Water Change for Marine Fish
Stocking the Marine Fish Medicine Cabinet
A Hyposalinity Treatment Process
Copper - Treatment, Use, Problems

I wish all your marine fishes the best of health, and that you enjoy the hobby for many years!