I purchased a Blue Tang -- Big mistake but not the end the world

[Zigma]

Not sure where it came from but I would keep the live rock -- you can use hypersalinity in a separate bucket to get nasties to evacuate, and then pick the inverts you want from the bucket after. If I had to do it over in my tank, the one thing I would do differently is start with at least some real live rock, like from KP or similar. I feel it's taken me a full year to develop a solid microbiome, and b/c I started w/dry rock I got here by adding stuff like copepods, PNS substrate sauce and AF Life Force mud, and I still don't think it's 100% comparable to just having started w/live rock.

One year in I am just now starting to believe that my tank will be able to support SPS corals. I don't know if I have any bristle worms b/c I haven't seen any yet, but just by adding corals and wild-caught inverts I've got a healthy population of amphipods, and occasionally find random stuff like a chiton hanging around that I didn't put in there. Point being, you'll get hitchhikers anyway -- it's not 100% avoidable.

Completely agree, quality live rock is the absolute best thing you can do for your tank. There are countless benefits, and the only negatives are easily managed. Personally, I will never start another tank with dry rock, the nuisance algae, likelihood of getting Dinos, the sponging up phosphates, the incomplete bacterial biome, the inability to denitrify, the increased time to maturity, and the lack of diverse microfauna are much bigger issues for me than a few hitchhikers. I quite enjoy all of the microfauna/hitchhikers, they’re half of what makes a reef tank a reef tank, a reef implies a complex ecosystem/food chain, without the microfauna it’s just a fish tank or a coral display.

That's true, I agree with both of you. I just ... don't want bristle worms. I may be able to figure something out. I like Live as oppose to Dry and I think I should be able to figure *something* out. Just need to think how I approach this. I was excited to find out I had a healthy amount of copepods in my 13.5 which is why I introduced a scooter. The benefits of live vs dry are pretty clear to me. I would remove an existing live rock and isolate it somewhere to start the process but I would kind of feel bad for the jaw fish that I currently have. He likes to dig holes and sleep under them.

One of the things I am excited about is actually having a strong supply of Coralline Algae that I want to eventually scrape off and introduce it to this. Not sure exactly how to introduce it to this or when. I'll do some research.

Just letting you know that this tank will not support the size of the blue tang long term.

Yes, I know. But it is a start. Better than an overcrowded Petco tank. Once it gets big I'll move it to another significantly bigger tank.

 

[Zigma]

By the way, I should most likely provide an update to the current tang situation. The spots reappeared on the second day, went away and they have not come back. The other stock that I have in the tank have shown no visible signs of ich or any other type of diseases/parasites. I'm not entirely sure what exactly it could be... strange, but I am no expert.

It's eating a lot. As a matter of fact, it's got quite the appetite and looks plump. lots of food in that belly. I've moved a few rocks around to give it a space for it to hide/sleep and it seems to have helped. He likes to go under there and take shelter. Most of the other fish in the tank do not bully it, and vise versa. Some of the cleaner shrimp have even started to clean him. The two clowns that I have typically sleep next to the anemone and it sometimes likes to sleep near/around them and they do not bother each other or become territorial. I guess that's a good thing?

 

[muzikalmatt]

By the way, I should most likely provide an update to the current tang situation. The spots reappeared on the second day, went away and they have not come back. The other stock that I have in the tank have shown no visible signs of ich or any other type of diseases/parasites. I'm not entirely sure what exactly it could be... strange, but I am no expert.

It's eating a lot. As a matter of fact, it's got quite the appetite and looks plump. lots of food in that belly. I've moved a few rocks around to give it a space for it to hide/sleep and it seems to have helped. He likes to go under there and take shelter. Most of the other fish in the tank do not bully it, and vise versa. Some of the cleaner shrimp have even started to clean him. The two clowns that I have typically sleep next to the anemone and it sometimes likes to sleep near/around them and they do not bother each other or become territorial. I guess that's a good thing?

So glad to hear all of the fish are doing well! If the tang is eating that's definitely a good sign! You definitely want to keep an eye out though. I think it was Jay that pointed out earlier in the thread that the ich parasite has a lifecycle where it feeds on the fish (white spots), then they drop off to reproduce (no more white spots), but more come back. Hopefully that's not the case, but you'll want out for another cycle. Glad they're doing well though and looking forward to more updates!

 

[Miami Reef]

That's true, I agree with both of you. I just ... don't want bristle worms. I may be able to figure something out. I like Live as oppose to Dry and I think I should be able to figure *something* out. Just need to think how I approach this. I was excited to find out I had a healthy amount of copepods in my 13.5 which is why I introduced a scooter. The benefits of live vs dry are pretty clear to me. I would remove an existing live rock and isolate it somewhere to start the process but I would kind of feel bad for the jaw fish that I currently have. He likes to dig holes and sleep under them.

One of the things I am excited about is actually having a strong supply of Coralline Algae that I want to eventually scrape off and introduce it to this. Not sure exactly how to introduce it to this or when. I'll do some research.


Yes, I know. But it is a start. Better than an overcrowded Petco tank. Once it gets big I'll move it to another significantly bigger tank.

Awesome! I’m definitely keeping you in my friends tab. I love this awesome plot twist!

This is why people should never ever judge! I’m happy to say that I invested my money in the right place! I knew you were awesome!

 

[Sharkbait19]

Ich will come back eventually, once your big tank is set up, I’d advise to treat the fish for ich.
Mandarin might require special treatment because they don’t eat well in qt (unless you have it regularly eating prepared foods). Move all inverts to the new tank once cycled because ich meds will kill them.
My tiger pistol shrimp eats bristle worms - haven’t seen a single one since I got it.
Good luck with your fish!

 

[Hoodstream]

@Zigma
Replying days late. Just got through all 7 pages.
Stopped reading at the end of 6.

I just came to say welcome to Reef2Reef. I first read this post and thought the same thing as many. Research should’ve been done, but what I did instead was judge myself. I too am not new to aquariums but newer to saltwater. I have a 10g reef, 20g reef, and working on a 60g reef. I can say without a doubt I jumped into this hobby because a friend had talked me up with how much fun saltwater tanks were. I jumped the gun and I made mistakes. But I did learn and I did research and I spend everyday researching. I can understand people got mad because they are passionate about this hobby but that doesn’t give anyone the right to bring others down. It’s like people who say “You hopped on the band wagon.” And shun people out of a trend/hobby because they were in it first. Every single person i don’t care how many badges or years or posts or groups or threads or friends and amount of money was involved has made mistakes. Seriously people on here were so quick to crucify like they started out with a flawless tank. Sure maybe some did it different than others. Sure maybe some spent months researching, but are we really going to start a civil war on here over one persons excitement for hobby we all love? I wanted to do a 60g off rip. But I learned smaller tanks are incredibly hard to manage. I thought hey I’ll start with a 10g and if I can master that what’s a 60g. So I bought a 10g with some dry rock, argonite sand and a bottle of fritz. Two weeks later added two turbos, one asteria, 6 red leg hermits, and a Halloween hermit. Overstocked? Forsure. Healthy absolutely. Another two weeks added some zoanthids, mushrooms, and a torch from my fiancés 20g. A ago added 2 rock flower anenomes. Some would say I’m an “idiot” or I need to research but I did and my tank is doing amazing. Parameters are fine, inverts are happy nems are vibrant, corals are thriving. Will I run into issues probably. Will I have problems, yeah. But what the heck reef2reef what is the point of this forum if we can’t come on here and learn from mistakes and talk about them without bullying others into guilt and submission. Christ people use to run tanks on only tap water and yet people are disgraced and barred for not using RODI water.

To the people who attacked you, shame on you. Legit Shame. You expect a community but shun new members even if they did jump the gun.

To the people who helped, that’s what R2R is about. I used to shadow these forums with no account and finally made one, because I thought this was a safe place. It’s comments like these posted in this thread why I haven’t started a build thread yet because some comments posted on this are more aggressive then they are constructive.

Im sure some will read my message and be offended and I could honestly care less. Zigma I will answer any question I have in my limited database of ever growing knowledge I can, shoot me a PM or @ me on a thread.

I am so sorry you were let down by some in an a community that is meant to learn and share.

I hope you can reset from this and see that R2R has many passionate, friendly, and caring individuals who want others to experience the same joy they felt when they started their first tank. This forum isn’t bad by any means you just had a terrible experience and that is not the welcome that should be tolerated here. But I promise hang around and there are so many frequent fliers and members that are worth coming back for.

Cheers Friends,
Hood

 

[Lyss]

@Zigma
Replying days late. Just got through all 7 pages.
Stopped reading at the end of 6.

I just came to say welcome to Reef2Reef. I first read this post and thought the same thing as many. Research should’ve been done, but what I did instead was judge myself. I too am not new to aquariums but newer to saltwater. I have a 10g reef, 20g reef, and working on a 60g reef. I can say without a doubt I jumped into this hobby because a friend had talked me up with how much fun saltwater tanks were. I jumped the gun and I made mistakes. But I did learn and I did research and I spend everyday researching. I can understand people got mad because they are passionate about this hobby but that doesn’t give anyone the right to bring others down. It’s like people who say “You hopped on the band wagon.” And shun people out of a trend/hobby because they were in it first. Every single person i don’t care how many badges or years or posts or groups or threads or friends and amount of money was involved has made mistakes. Seriously people on here were so quick to crucify like they started out with a flawless tank. Sure maybe some did it different than others. Sure maybe some spent months researching, but are we really going to start a civil war on here over one persons excitement for hobby we all love? I wanted to do a 60g off rip. But I learned smaller tanks are incredibly hard to manage. I thought hey I’ll start with a 10g and if I can master that what’s a 60g. So I bought a 10g with some dry rock, argonite sand and a bottle of fritz. Two weeks later added two turbos, one asteria, 6 red leg hermits, and a Halloween hermit. Overstocked? Forsure. Healthy absolutely. Another two weeks added some zoanthids, mushrooms, and a torch from my fiancés 20g. A ago added 2 rock flower anenomes. Some would say I’m an “idiot” or I need to research but I did and my tank is doing amazing. Parameters are fine, inverts are happy nems are vibrant, corals are thriving. Will I run into issues probably. Will I have problems, yeah. But what the heck reef2reef what is the point of this forum if we can’t come on here and learn from mistakes and talk about them without bullying others into guilt and submission. Christ people use to run tanks on only tap water and yet people are disgraced and barred for not using RODI water.

To the people who attacked you, shame on you. Legit Shame. You expect a community but shun new members even if they did jump the gun.

To the people who helped, that’s what R2R is about. I used to shadow these forums with no account and finally made one, because I thought this was a safe place. It’s comments like these posted in this thread why I haven’t started a build thread yet because some comments posted on this are more aggressive then they are constructive.

Im sure some will read my message and be offended and I could honestly care less. Zigma I will answer any question I have in my limited database of ever growing knowledge I can, shoot me a PM or @ me on a thread.

I am so sorry you were let down by some in an a community that is meant to learn and share.

I hope you can reset from this and see that R2R has many passionate, friendly, and caring individuals who want others to experience the same joy they felt when they started their first tank. This forum isn’t bad by any means you just had a terrible experience and that is not the welcome that should be tolerated here. But I promise hang around and there are so many frequent fliers and members that are worth coming back for.

Cheers Friends,
Hood

Just wanted to say that this thread was cleaned up and set back on track by mods a couple weeks ago, and the OP shared exciting plans for moving forward on pg. 7.

I’m not sure shaming anyone who commented in a way you interpret as aggressive or an attack (esp since the thread was cleaned up) is the best response either TBH. I will say that seeing all the similar threads started every day in the disease forum does get to you, at least eventually it does if not at first. It’s multiple posts daily from mostly new folks who are all in the same boat b/c they didn’t do enough research or jumped the gun, and lots of livestock loss. That has made me understand better why some folks might be overly passionate in a thread like this.

I think this one just struck a nerve, and after having been interacting over the past 6 months since I joined w/many of the folks who commented here, I honestly don’t view them as aggressive or out to attack. Folks really do truly want to help, and not just the others posting, but also the livestock — it’s tough to see the daily postings of disease and death that we all wish would have been avoided.

 

[Zigma]

New tank finally came in and is installed. Now the waiting game of cycling etc.

The Reef Wave 45 is taking a bit longer to come in so I just picked up an octo pulse 4 wave pump w/ controller for the time being. Not sure if I am going to need it when the other one comes in.

The Dry Rock was custom ordered and took about a week or so to make, I think it turned out well. I'm looking forward to this maturing over time. A few little things here and there that are left to do but for now we just need to let time do it's thing.

Thank you to all who have helped me. C Ya.

 

[Miami Reef]

New tank finally came in and is installed. Now the waiting game of cycling etc.

The Reef Wave 45 is taking a bit longer to come in so I just picked up an octo pulse 4 wave pump w/ controller for the time being. Not sure if I am going to need it when the other one comes in.

The Dry Rock was custom ordered and took about a week or so to make, I think it turned out well. I'm looking forward to this maturing over time. A few little things here and there that are left to do but for now we just need to let time do it's thing.

Thank you to all who have helped me. C Ya.

What a glow up!

 

[Sean Clark]

New tank finally came in and is installed. Now the waiting game of cycling etc.

The Reef Wave 45 is taking a bit longer to come in so I just picked up an octo pulse 4 wave pump w/ controller for the time being. Not sure if I am going to need it when the other one comes in.

The Dry Rock was custom ordered and took about a week or so to make, I think it turned out well. I'm looking forward to this maturing over time. A few little things here and there that are left to do but for now we just need to let time do it's thing.

Thank you to all who have helped me. C Ya.

I see the cat has already taken an interest. Looking good.