new tankmates

Discussion in 'New To The Hobby' started by fishpoop, May 15, 2008.

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  1. fishpoop

    fishpoop Feather Duster

    Joined:
    Mar 24, 2008
    Messages:
    239
    Location:
    Alberta, Canada
    hi everyone
    its been awhile since i have been on here.
    i wanted to wait until my tank was completely cycled and ready for fish before writing on here.
    so i own a 90 gal marine aquarium, adorned with live rock and live sand. my tank has been sitting with both live rock and sand in it for almost 4 months with no fish.
    yesturday i added some new fish for the first time.
    i brought home:
    2 bangii cardinal fish
    2 pajama cardinal fish
    3 true percula clown fish
    (they have been a family for 4 years. the person who owned them previously had to take down his tank)

    before i added them i checked all the ppm's and ammonia, nitrite and nitrate were all zeros. they ajusted amazingly then i added them to the tank, almost like they had been there for awhile.
    then something odd began to happen. the largest of the clownfish (obviously a female) would stick her head out of the water. at first i thought she was gasping for air however none of the other fish were doing this.
    (i have taken not only the time to make sure the whole tank has enough oxygine i have also spent a lot of time researching how to do just that.)
    the more i watched her the more i seen she was sticking her whole head out. making sure to keep her gills in the water still. the other two smaller clown fish would mimic her only if she did it. i do have to point out she wasnt doing this the whole time. she would swim and explore a bit then casually go to the surface and do this then go back down and casually do it all over again. she would also do this just in the corners of the tank too. i then fed them and she stopped. was she just hungry? it was odd. :confused: ive seen puffers do this.

    besides this when i awoke this morning they all looked so happy and chipper. they all ate so well too. anything else i should watch out for?

    and just one more thing (so sorry for the long post)
    im getting some new live rock in and i have read its a big no no to just add it to a tank. the live rock has been sitting in a fully filtrated 1000 gal tank for 2 months now and im sure its cured. any suggestions? i ordered this live rock ages ago and its not being shipped until next monday. i tried to plan and it didnt work.

    Again sorry for the looooong post. thanks for the replys!
     
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  3. Iraf

    Iraf Snowflake Eel

    Joined:
    Jan 20, 2008
    Messages:
    2,389
    Location:
    Tulsa, Ok
    since you just added your first fish to the tank i'd keep an eye on the PH, NO2, NO3 and ammonia, it may kick off a cycle since it went from 0 bio-load to a decent one but sounds like you put all fairly hardy fish in

    normally when you setup the tank, set it up, let it run for 4-6 weeks then toss a small damsel in, just 1. that gets a small bioload on the tank to help sustain all the bacteria's growth and helps keep all the above mentioned parameters in check

    chances are you'll be fine though just go slow for the first couple of more months on additions

    Also, what type of hardware are you running? tank size, sump/fuge, skimmer? that kind of stuff
     
  4. fishpoop

    fishpoop Feather Duster

    Joined:
    Mar 24, 2008
    Messages:
    239
    Location:
    Alberta, Canada
    i should have mentioned that i have had 2 turbo snails in there for awhile along with some hard coral (not sure what kind it came with the live rock) and some xenia. the snails have grown quite a lot since getting them. (i can tell by the bright new coloring on the shell opposed to the dim algaey shell) im not sure if this helps the bioload. id assume it would but i have been wrong before haha!

    as for all the equipment i have i would have to get back to you on the manufactuer and details. im at work right now however i can tell you the basics:

    90 gal aquarium
    heater made for up to 90 gal
    power head
    biomedia filteration system
    50 pounds of live sand
    40 pounds of live rock. figi live rock

    thanks
     
  5. fishpoop

    fishpoop Feather Duster

    Joined:
    Mar 24, 2008
    Messages:
    239
    Location:
    Alberta, Canada
    okay so the equipment i have (manufacturer) is as follows:

    a 48.5"Lx18.5"Wx25.35"H aquarium
    a seio prop (530) super filter pump
    300 watt heater
    an eheim classic external filter (has four different levels of filteration)
    and t5 lighting 48". one 10 000k day light lamp and one true actinic 03 blue fluorescent lamp.

    its been set up for almost 4 months with all of this equipment
     
  6. R34dawn

    R34dawn Ocellaris Clown

    Joined:
    Apr 21, 2008
    Messages:
    1,464
    Location:
    Garden Creek,VA
    Cool man! post some pics for us pic freaks, Love your name...lmao