Damage control needed for my first tank!

Hi all! Im very glad to have found 3Reef as a brand new aquarist and have read so many great posts but need some advice. I promise to also read up on livestock and other tank inhabitants biology so I understand what I'm seeing in addition to the advice I take from more experienced tank makers lol.

About 5 weeks ago my coworkers and I had a crummy week at the office. One of them decided to cheer us up by going to walmart and bringing us an office pet.

We ended up with the cutest little green spotted puffer about an inch long. I came in to find him sitting on my desk in a .5 gallon bowl of his original tank water (fresh) with some decorative rocks. Instant love! An hour later when he started to float I realized something was wrong. I quickly googled him and learned that he was brackish at his age and would thrive in salt water as he grew. I had to act quick to save him so fast forward $300 later to a 5 gallon tank with mechanical filter (came hung on the back of the tank) pre mixed salt water from LFS @ 1.025, .75 inches of live sand for substrate, 5lb live rock, and an emerald crab. Aaand I just bought a zoa which im thinkimg was a mistake. I also had a turbo stail that died yesterday and 2 hermits that the puffer chowed down. Just went through my first diatom bloom, showimg normal oh anout 8, and rising levels of ammonia and everything else. Puffer is pretty hardy and seema to be fine no matter what I do, but im sure im makung unnecessary mistakes.

I love this hobby and want to do right by my little guys. I want to go bigger and slower so I can enjoy a tank like some pictured on this forum. Can you guys Recommend a way to transition to a bigger tank without harming my fishies? Or a couple threads that describe the steos I need to take?

Thankyouthankyouthankyou!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using Tapatalk

 

Squishy..

welcome to 3Reef.

1. in this hobby, taking your time is the name of the game. I would say at this stage, with rising levels of ammonia, you are behind the 8 ball. your tank is cycling and there is nothign you can do to stop it. a healthy tank is one with Zero Ammonia and Zero Nitrite with some level of nitrates.

you likely dont have all the necessary bacteria to support the tank. it takes someotimes 6 weeks to cycle.

now, you can transfer your sand and rock to a larger tank with very little impact at this point. it will continue to cycle till the ammonia is gone. with the fish already in there producing waste, that is a step in teh right direction.

 

i doubt that the green puffer was brackish if he is being sold at Walmart. Those guys can be acclimated to both salt and fresh but not quickly. The fish needed more room then the bowl you had it in so that is probably why it was acting strange then.

Now fast forward! :} You have your first salt water tank and the fish is in the salt water I would take the fish out of the tank and bring it to a LFS to hold. It might not survive this ordeal...but best to try!

I would remove the livestock and bring it to the store. Is your rock cured or uncured. If fully cured you might have a short cycle but I dont think it is fully cured. I would also ask your LFS if you can have a handful of sand from one of there tanks and let it cycle for a couple weeks.

When your ammonia and nitrites are zero, do a 2.5g water change to bring your nitrates down. Then you can add that one fish. Puffers will eat any crabs, snails, etc. Just part of their diet.

Do you ahve any light on the tank?

Hang in there and good luck!

 

You just dropped him in from freshwater to full marine salt? If he is still alive by now, you have one of the more difficult fish to keep. They grow up to 6", and since they are the shape of a nerf ball he will need a 75 by then. Then, he needs something crunchy to eat or his teeth will grow out to the point where he can't eat anything so he will need a constant supply of snails (at least a few a week) about the size of his eye or slightly bigger. You could also feed him freeze dried mysis shrimp and other similar meaty foods. Then, they are really messy eaters and eat (and poop) a lot so even if he's small he needs at least a 20 or the nitrates and ammonia will be way too high. Also, because they attack almost anything that cleans the glass and rocks etc from algae, you'll have to wipe the glass often and find ways to keep algae down, if you care about how the tank looks. I'd look into refugiums for that. I'm getting one for this reason.

 

Hi all, thank you so much for the feedback. Im attaching some pictures I took thus morning. My tank has been cycling for about 5 weeks. Pretty sure I slowed the process by doing a 20% water change too soon. I didnt dump him right into salt water. I mixed up the original batch at .008 and slowly increased the salinity. My LR was naked when I got it and now has all kinds of dark green, light green and red algae on it. Sand is a bit dirty due to the loss of my cleaners. I had good luck with the turbo snail, puffer never messed with him because he was too big. Not sure why he died. I have a Zoomed compact fluorescent light that screws into the tank lid. It says 10watt ac120v. I turn it off at night and on in the morning. I,have started to experience salt creep, im just wiping it off with a damp cloth so it doesnt fall in the water.

Im thinking the best thing I can do is to get maybe a 20gal tank to transfer them to and keep monitoring levels until everything is stable without adding any more fish. Should I not add a new cleanup crew until the cycle is done?



Fish are friends... and food. Omnomnom.

 

Actually schackmel wally-mart does sell Figure 8 puffers, at least mine does I see them there all the time. I have also seen Bumblebee Goby's and Mono Sebae's there and believe it or not they are listed as Brackish water fish right on the tank.

 

First, I noticed that your water level is really low, have you been topping off to compensate for evaporation? Or is that the level you keep the water at?

As for your fish, your best best is to take him to a lfs and either trade him in, or ask if they will hold him, maybe for a nominal fee. He needs a larger tank for the reasons mentioned above and a special diet as mentioned above. You did what many new hobbyists do, jump right in with everything w/o educating yourself first.

If I was in your situation, I would take the fish back to a lfs. Then setup a larger tank, keep in mind the size of a tank you need to keep this fish long term. You can add what you have to the larger tank, maybe a little more rock, then let it cycle. After that is done, I would get the puffer back, or get a new one and add him to his new, larger home.

As a note to new/potential hobbyists, this hobby takes a lot of time, knowledge and money. You can get by with less money, but not with less time or knowledge. Many people love the idea of a salt water fish tank or reef tank, but once they get into it and the time and effort involved, they bail. One of my best friends wanted to setup a tank and I spoke with him to make sure he knew what he was getting into. I didn't sugar coat anything and luckily he realized before starting that it wasn't right for him. Hopefully you stick with it and learn as you go. We all have made mistakes and it seems you are willing to recognize and learn from those mistakes. I wish you the best of luck.

 

talk about splurge..

 

Splurge indeed. But I've found this to be a labor of love for the little guy. My water level is intentionally low to allow more air to mix with it as it falls from the filter. I do top it off though with pre-mixed water from the lfs ive been going to. However, I don't know that ill be going there again because their employees seem more interested in selling me stuff than pointing me in the right direction. And the two guys smell like they've been smoking pot.

Can anyone recommend a reputable lfs in in the orange county area that might take care of my babies?

Fish are friends... and food. Omnomnom.

 

You've been topping off with premixed saltwater? I hope that's just because you have been trying to raise him from 1.008. How are you measuring the salt levels? Hydrometers don't really work - most don't ever from the time you open the package. I'd buy this refractometer on ebay. It's only $15 more or so and it's accurate, assuming you calibrate it (which is easy). It even comes with a tiny screw in a pocket to do so (I didn't even realize it was there at first when I got mine).

Salinity Refractometer 4 Aquarium Hydrometer - SOFTCASE - eBay (item 390240155644 end time Dec-14-10 12:53:42 PST)

But then there's the parameters problem. You're saying he's been in there for 5 weeks and it isn't cycled, but the problem is it's just too small for a messy little puffer which is why things haven't balanced out.

Oh and for a new water source, I'd get a marine salt mix from Petsmart and start mixing it with distilled water. If you use tap water, you'll end up having to scrub the rocks and glass everyday to get rid of algae.