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yingling
07/03/2007, 09:22 AM
So I was given a 55g tank and stand with a wet / dry bio-ball setup. Little did I know that over the course of 2 months I would cause marital distress and financial difficulties with this so called “free” aquarium. Initially, this tank was set up as a FO system that my father managed to kill every fish he put into it, then it sat for the next 2 years, stagnant, and became an experiment in algae production. When it was given to me, it took 3 hours to scrub it clean and get the smell out. I was concerned about any left over contaminants so before I put any life into it, I ran it with tap water and ½ cup of bleach for 2-3 weeks.

One day, my wife’s birthday to be exact, I decided it was time to test the water and start it up! pH nominal, Chlorine 0, etc. Next comes the disaster.

I go to the LFS and buy everything all at once; substrate, salt, supplements and fish, 5 Blue Devils and 1 Yellow tail Damsel. I ask the employee how long the fish will last in the bag and was told about 1 hour or so. So, I hurry home. The bag of IO says it makes 50 gallons, I have 55 so I dump the bag into the tank. Very cloudy, but hey, I have another 30 minutes til the fish need to come out of their bag. After mixing the water for a bit, I check SG 1.030 or so and I panic, rush to the sink, and start diluting it out. Close to the 1 hour mark the fish don’t look happy, so I dump them into a bucket and start adding tank water to extend their survivability. Well, now that the SG is down to optimal, the fish are in a bucket and I have bags of Aragonite that need to go in the tank as well. Had I read the bag, I would have seen the note to rinse it off first! So in it goes and I now have a tank full of milk.

Taking a look in the bucket, I notice the poor fish aren’t moving and I think to myself, “Well you’ve sure gone and boned this one! Sink or swim fellas,” and in go the fish. For the next 5 hours I’m staring at this opaque mess in my living room just knowing that I’ve killed the fish, but not sure because I can’t see them.

Eventually I do make out some movement, sort of blue shadows occasionally swimming past the glass, so at least 1 is still alive. The next day, the water became clear enough that I could see that all the damsels had made it through the night. The following day, a blue devil succumbed and his body was committed to the porcelain deep, much to my 4 year old daughter’s dismay. Every day for the next 2 months I test the water, do water changes using tap water, and worry that any day everything will die.

At the 1 month mark I get diatoms and the wife goes nuts about how dirty it is and that I need to clean it out. Nope, not gonna do it. I go get a Sea Clone 150 and realize what a P.O.S it is, return it and hope for the best. Finally, I find a LFS that actually has folks who know something or two about this stuff and I’m pointed to WWM, Reef Central and GARF. Oh the Humanity!! What have I done to these poor creatures! New LFS sells me a protein skimmer and some hermit crabs and snails (cycle is complete by this point) and off I go to try to make up for my mistakes. Over the next month or so, the tank gets cleaned up and after reading just about everything I can find, I discover I’d like to do a reef tank.

Woe, woe to my bank account!

Lights, live rock and corals oh my.

In go the corals. They look ok for a few days. Then I find out how bad my tap water really is and no matter what 2 part or conditioner or supplement I put in, the water is not good enough.

Woe to the bank account again, this time for an RO/DI unit!

To make a long story end, I have managed to not lose any other livestock since that first damsel. The corals are growing and finally I have relaxed enough to actually enjoy this hobby. I hope that those of you reading this aren’t too hard on me for being ignorant throughout this ordeal, but I can assure you that the information and knowledge I’ve gained from this and other sites has helped my aquatic friends survive their trials.

“Husbandry,” what a neat concept, too bad I didn’t know what it was at the beginning. I’ve been extremely lucky and now that I have friends interested in starting their own tanks, I’m forcing them to read as much as they can before they even get a tank. Hopefully they’ll get it right from the get go. I'll post some pics later to show this averted disaster at the 4 month mark. Thanks for listening to a noob’s tale.

Subliminal
07/03/2007, 09:26 AM
Ha! Great story.

Can't wait for the second chapter:

How Not To Catch Damsels.

:)

hmello@bermexin
07/03/2007, 09:37 AM
How Not To Catch Damsels.:spin2: :lolspin: :lmao:

aznlmpulse
07/03/2007, 09:40 AM
Great Story!:)

I actually used to "Spring Clean" my fresh water tanks with 100% water changes and scrubbing everything down possible after reading in the public library that it was necessary to maintain a healthy fish tank. Ofcourse that was many many many years ago....:P

I'mRisenAquaRat
07/03/2007, 10:30 AM
Wow. Well I'm sure you are not the first or the last.

Glad you are sticking to it. Welcome to the hobby, its great. Of all the mistakes you made, I think starting on the wife's birthday takes the cake. Live and learn.

cdangel0
07/03/2007, 10:39 AM
The beautiful part of mistakes is that we get to learn from them.

Good luck and welcome to a great hobby.

papagimp
07/03/2007, 11:06 AM
That's definatly one way to just jump on in the hobby. Glad you have obviously noticed the error of your ways and have come here for guidance. and a little venting by the sounds of it :D
Keep us posted and definatly let us know if you have any questions we can help with.

Nanz
07/03/2007, 11:52 AM
LOL.. You just made my day, hehe..

mwwhite
07/03/2007, 11:57 AM
wow is right.... can't wait to see pix.... wow

eastcoastzigzag
07/03/2007, 12:19 PM
dont give up! we all have our experiences, not mistakes. also take ur timeeeee.....wish i could of told you that a while ago:D

yingling
07/03/2007, 12:25 PM
thanks for the kind words of encouragement everyone, i'll get pix up once i can escape work

Grins
07/03/2007, 01:13 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10264135#post10264135 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Subliminal
Ha! Great story.

Can't wait for the second chapter:

How Not To Catch Damsels.

:)

No kidding. :)

BrandonS
07/03/2007, 03:10 PM
Good story. I have to say your mistakes were more do to bad information from the original LFS and from just not knowing where to get reliable information. Why should you think the LFS would give bad information to begin with if you never heard they did. I wouldn't say it was ignorance at all.

I'm glad you didn't loose anything and it only looks to be uphill for you now.

Congrats on the newly acquired fish tank success and welcome to the board.

Reefmack
07/03/2007, 04:47 PM
Great story. Just think of how many people had similar situations, didn't bother to gain any knowledge first, or didn't know where to get it, and just gave up quickly after wasting a lot of livestock and money. Luckily I found RC and read lots of posts before ever taking the first step.

HPD Turbo
07/03/2007, 05:06 PM
Very funny, hope your parents cheep in some day!!!

Jeff
07/03/2007, 05:11 PM
Great story hehe

sabbath
07/03/2007, 07:54 PM
Wow Great Story! Glad to see it was coming around. So many of us have had similar situations. I could so relate. Sounds alot like how it goes when I move. So much to do fast, Timing is everything...

smac
07/04/2007, 12:25 AM
and the addiction begins....

brypink
07/04/2007, 12:42 AM
I'm a nOOb and I would have done the same if I didn't come across this forum (and a couple others).

But, that was the funniest damn story I've heard (read)...probably because I could picture myself doing the same thing and going into panic mode.

LMAO

yingling
07/06/2007, 08:49 AM
A brief update and I promise I'll post pics later tonight! So Tues 7.3.07 I got a cleaner shrimp! What an interesting creature. I think I'll call him Twist, he does some very acrobatic maneuvers in the water. Thursday, I get a call from the wife saying, "I think the shrimp died!" Ugh, and I was doing so well. I asked what it looked like and she said, "He's all white and just laying there!" So of course I'm distraught, I actually liked this one a lot. A few hours later I get another phone call, "Honey, did you get one shrimp or two?" I said just one. She says, "Oh, well I guess he's still alive then, do they change skins?" Victory is mine!! A molted shrimp!!

HPD Turbo
07/06/2007, 10:43 AM
I also panic the first time I saw that, keep up the good work!!!!

GSMguy
07/06/2007, 11:42 AM
molted shrimp lol great thread

lets see those pics

congrats on sticking with it
good luck with the damnsels

Grins
07/06/2007, 01:26 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10266639#post10266639 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BrandonS
I wouldn't say it was ignorance at all.

Ignorance in that he simply didn't know better. I think we've all been in the same situation. Certainly not stupidity though.