I think I've made a huge mistake

[BIGD502]

I started my new tank up, this being my first venture into the marine world and once i paid for everything i had no money for live rock, i have a tank full of crushed coral, and all my levels were pretty steady. I was told by a guy at a my lfs that i could cycle my setup with a few damsel fish so i bought 4 of them and theyre doing great with nothing but a tiny pice of live rock and an artificial archway. from what ive been reading on the site though ive come to believe that this was a huge mistake. can anyone give me their input on where to go from here? because ive kind of realized from reading around here m understanding of marine aquariums is a low.

[ChknWing]

BigD. Alot of people cycle thier tanks with Damsels. They are a hardy fish and will more than likely do fine. Just don't add anything else until the tank has had time to cycle. And in th elong run you may want to remove those damsels before you add anything you want to keep. Damsels are a very territorial fish and will bully fish much larger than them. Just keep reading up on the hobby and look at multiple sorces then form your best idea from the material provided.

[BIGD502]

when it comes to adding enough live rock to begin a reef in the future...do i need to dip it if i do it post cycle ?

[matty0206]

How big of a tank is this? You may have a small cycle if you used live sand, but the real one won't happen till you put in the live rock. I would take the damsels back if you can before you put in the rock. They are a ***** to catch and they get mean. How long will it take to raise the money for the rock?

[BrassMonkey]

give fish back . remove the crushed coral, buy live rock. throw some food in the tank.(chopped shrimp,scallop) wait


edit, oh and dont buy $8 a lb crappy liverock from lfs. maybe base rock from BRS and some super life covered liverock.

[BIGD502]

its a tall 38, and the whole reason i started with damsels is because im broke AKA laid off at the moment. i started setting up..then business went downhill. it might be a month before i can get 100 to buy the live rock and whatnot. i also went with crushed coral to spare my filtration system btw.

[Niven]

How does the crushed coral spare your filtration system?

This hobby is expensive, which could work out for you. I would dump the fish and crushed coral, buy as much rock as you can and sit back and wait for it to cycle. Then as slowly as the money comes in, slowly add more life :)
Good luck!
Gareth

[BIGD502]

im worried about the sand getting in it and stalling it...and with no money to replace it thats a bad plan...

[lagatbezan]

[QUOTE=BrassMonkey;18949628]give fish back . remove the crushed coral, buy live rock. throw some food in the tank.(chopped shrimp,scallop) wait


+1

[Billabong]

adding sand to a tank with only damsels is going to be fine, as stated before they are hardy. Although removing the crushed coral will stir things up, I think that your tank can handle it, assuming that it's not that old, I agree with previous post about getting dead rock, since you have so much time on your hands, buying dead rock is tons cheaper and allowing it to become live on it's own is by far your best choice, most of the people that start this hobby are impatient and want things now now now, so they get a bit spendy and buy rock teaming with bacteria already colonized, not a big deal for you since you have the low money flow and times on your side.

Now to talk about what it takes to keep a salt water tank going... it's not cheap, if you're like me you're going to spend thousands upon thousands of dollars just to have a small slice of ocean in your house, electricity, feeding, water changes, keeping up on maintenance, etc cost money. Please keep that in your mind if you choose to carry out this adventure.

Happy reefing and good luck.

[BIGD502]

so sand is the only way to go? and i like the idea of the dry rock as well deffinately will be ordering from BRS as soon as the money comes in

[EllieSuz]

[welcome]

There is a permanent thread near the top of this forum that deals with setting up a new tank. It is written by Waterkeeper and is required reading for all new hobbiests. Meanwhile, it can be a mistake to start out with crushed coral. It becomes a discolored mess in time and can promote high nitrates. You can remove it eventually if you want (and you will), but it's easier to get rid of it now. We need to hear more about this "filtration system" you speak of before we can advise you. Actually, most of us use live rock to "filter" our systems and artificial filtration in reef tanks has become "old fashioned". You might want to shop around for better advice from an LFS. The one you mentioned should be a better advisor. Lack of money doesn't prohibit you from starting up a tank, as patience is a virtue in this hobby. Buy cured live rock a piece at a time as you can afford to and end up with a pound or pound and a half per gallon of water in your system. I agree that getting rid of the damsels now is a smart move. They are monsters when they grow up. They'll kill each other and harass and/or kill any new fish you add. Using fish to cycle a tank just isn't done anymore so your LFS just wanted to sell you some fish. You're off to a good start. Once you've done some more reading, you can ask more questions and be amazed at how much good advice you get from Reef Central.

[BIGD502]

Im using a hang on the back filter that i already had around from freshwater usage and i havent yet had any problems with it. ph has beeen a slight issue but ive been leveling it with kent marine superbuffer. as far as future filtration goes ive researched how protein skimmers work and have been conjuring up a design of my own to save money. but other than that ive seen so many variations idk where to head with it.


should i go ahead and empty it out now even though i wont have money for a few weeks or should i wait until i get money for the sand to rebuild?

[Stumped]

Im using a hang on the back filter that i already had around from freshwater usage and i havent yet had any problems with it. ph has beeen a slight issue but ive been leveling it with kent marine superbuffer. as far as future filtration goes ive researched how protein skimmers work and have been conjuring up a design of my own to save money. but other than that ive seen so many variations idk where to head with it.


should i go ahead and empty it out now even though i wont have money for a few weeks or should i wait until i get money for the sand to rebuild?

I would return the fish, take down the tank and save up until you can afford to start it off right. Rushing into it is only going to cost you way more in the long run and cause you compounding problems down the road.

[dlterry85]

i used crush coral when i started my tank and wound up eventually switching it for sand. what a pita. start with sand or go bare bottom. do you have a local reef club? its a great place to get live rock cheap. so is craigslist. i would get your tank cycling and slowly amass all the equipment you will need to keep it running. you didn't say what kind of corals you plan on keeping. if you want sps, you will need a good lighting system as well as dosing calcium, magnesium and other trace elements. reefing is def not a poor mans hobby and i hope things turn around for you. in the meantime acquire things slowly and keep an eye out for deals and steals. good luck.

[BIGD502]

i guess ill tear it down to nothing but water until i get money for what i need... i will no longer go to lfs for info because they mislead me into wasting plenty of money.

[JTL]

I bet if you contact your local club, and there must be at least one in a city the size of Louisville, someone will give you some rock. I have given away rock I had no use for, it may be dead and far from great pieces but it will soon have life. I agree that you need to get rid of the crushed coral, but I might keep the damsels until the tank is cycled and then to keep it going. Remove them before you add any more fish. If you don't have a source of food/waste to feed the bacteria the dead rock will not become live rock. You can seed the tank with a piece of raw shrimp or even some urine (that is what I did). I would use this time to establish the tank and when you have the money it will be ready to add whatever you want. You also need to carefully think about your priorities. As others have said, this is a very expensive hobby and the tank is the cheap part. Personally I would not get into it if money is an issue. The beautiful tanks you see on this site cost many thousands of dollars, even the not so pretty ones cost thousands of dollars. If you are dead set on setting up a tank start out with a FOWLR tank and move up to corals later. Good Luck

[ed102475]

I bet if you contact your local club, and there must be at least one in a city the size of Louisville, someone will give you some rock. I have given away rock I had no use for, it may be dead and far from great pieces but it will soon have life. I agree that you need to get rid of the crushed coral, but I might keep the damsels until the tank is cycled and then to keep it going. Remove them before you add any more fish. If you don't have a source of food/waste to feed the bacteria the dead rock will not become live rock. You can seed the tank with a piece of raw shrimp or even some urine (that is what I did). I would use this time to establish the tank and when you have the money it will be ready to add whatever you want. You also need to carefully think about your priorities. As others have said, this is a very expensive hobby and the tank is the cheap part. Personally I would not get into it if money is an issue. The beautiful tanks you see on this site cost many thousands of dollars, even the not so pretty ones cost thousands of dollars. If you are dead set on setting up a tank start out with a FOWLR tank and move up to corals later. Good Luck
+1 I would give you some if you were closer buddy . Its just Rock .:D

[BIGD502]

I appreciate the help guys... Money generally isn't too much of an issue but I'm laid off at the moment. I'm just trying to at least get it cycling now so that I won't be wanting to push it forward once I get the money haha. But about finding a group around me.... How do I find one?

[Tschupe]

Lmas.org is the website for the reef club in your area.

[Angel*Fish]

Sorry you were misled, BigD.
BigD. Alot of people cycle thier tanks with Damsels. They are a hardy fish and will more than likely do fine. Just don't add anything else until the tank has had time to cycle. And in th elong run you may want to remove those damsels before you add anything you want to keep. Damsels are a very territorial fish and will bully fish much larger than them. Just keep reading up on the hobby and look at multiple sorces then form your best idea from the material provided.A lot of people smoke cigarettes and don't die from it also.

[BIGD502]

thanks Tschupe
and lol @ Angel*Fish

[rtb388]

Get rid of crushed coral... get rid of damsels (bring them back to store)
Most importantly....Shut it down and concentrate your efforts and money on getting back on your feet, back to work and financially stable.
In that time educate yourself on setting up a reef tank, equipment options etc and do it right when your ready. No sense in having a tank of water making noise and raising your electric bill if you cant keep the electric on or the rent paid to house it in.

This is an expensive hobby only made more expensive by mistakes and un-researched or impulse decisions.

[BIGD502]

Indeed

[Gandolfe]

I had damsels in my tank with the rock, they cost me over $100 in fish. They would attack and stress out any new fish i put in. I had to tear my tank apart to catch them. I'd take them out long before you add any rock but after your tank cycles. Try looking on Craig's List for rock..I've seen people on there selling it for less than $3 a lb when they break down their tanks. I took out the damsels because i had 2 $5 dollar fish killing $19 dollar fish. if they are green cronis they don't bother other fish, at least the 3 of em i had never did, but the yellow tail damsel and the polka dot damsel i had did

[TaNuki]

Why did you buy the damsels if you had no money for rock? Couldn't you have used the 20-30 $ from the damsels to pick up a bit more rock? I have seen live rock on local forums as low as $2 a lb.

[funkejj]

I am in the process of removing 200 lbs of crushed coral from my system that is a year old. I have 2 days in it so far and only say half done as to go slow to not hurt the life in the tank. Ditch the crushed coral now while it is easy!!!!!

[charleneatkins]

Don't jump at the the info the LFS give you. You hope they will treat you with respect and guidance but remember its a store. Sometimes the more you read the more you can get confused. What may work for some else may not work for you or vice versa. Be patient it will pay off. This forum will be very supportive and give actual advice.

[BIGD502]

i paid 20 for the 4 damsels and my lfs asks 8 bucks a pound and a small piece of theirs weighs 4-5 pounds...i didnt realize people sold it from broken down tanks at first but now i know and im asking around for some sand and live rock locally. hopefully i find some cheap

[sunlightcitadel]

A lot of this is mentality. I'm still working on my own startup and have some of the questions and issues you had...

A local club can really help a lot. Also - I've seen kids working in the LFS's around me maintaining beautiful setups on their salary. Doubtless they get perks from the store but the real keys seem to be good live rock, an RO system at home (even an inexpensive one) an LFS you TRUST and a lot of work on your part.

There's also a bit of a break-over point with tank size where I see people going from spending a FEW bucks a week to a LOT of $ a week. Just the salt to support 20% water changes on a big tank gets spendy quick... Not to mention going from 'a few PCs work' to 'I have 4x MH lights, a chiller etc' - electric bill = $! it's going to be different amounts of money for differnet people. It doesn't -have- to be insanely expensive. A bit like owning a boat I am finding. Some things ARE expensive and unavoidable at times.

Good luck and DO NOT GET discouraged. When I was a boy this hobby wasn't practical for anyone save aquariums owned by municipalities or even nations and even they didn't keep some of the stuff you see today.

[BIGD502]

I have no intention to give up im 19 ive got years and years ahead of me if this tank goes to crap (which it has) ill just try again aha

[Amdeus]

My flame killed my yellow tail damsel.

[Caesra]

In terms of setting up my tanks, not life, it would have been much better for me to setup my first tank when I was broke. I probably would have avoided several issues by not being able to spend money, not to mention saved some money along the way.

Go slow, many of the advices given here are good ones.