Epuerto's 55g corner build thread

[carey]

the wrasse?
your tank isn't THAT big he's in there somewhere. Or check around the tank if he jumped..

 

[Epuerto]

SO the wrasse is dead, the shrimp is dead give me one good reson that i shouldnt throw out the whole tanke and throw the whole thing in the ocean, one goooodoeoof readson

 

[Flake]

Because if you give up after one try you'll regret it later.

Treat this as a learning experience and start over. Something went wrong somewhere. Start again slow and build back up little by little. We all have lost fish for no reason, it's upsetting. It bothers me when I can't find the why. That drives me to try harder and do it right the next time, even if I don't know what right it. It means I spend more time reading and spend more time paying attention to my tank. I'm not saying you didn't do this, just that for me, a death makes me want to try harder so there isn't a next time.

I really think if you quit now, later, maybe not this year, but later in your life you'll really regret it.

 

[carey]

I agree with Flake. Just start slower this time so if something goes wrong you can pinpoint it. There was alot going on with your tank what with a new tank and lots of new creatures.

We are here to help ya through. You got all the equipment and youll hate yourself for wasting all that money.

 

[Epuerto]

I put everything in this tank hundreds of dollars and i treated like it was my child and everything dies?!?!!?!? what is that i did nothing wrong i did 10% waterchanges every week i fed them , i did everything now what? even my shrimp died?

 

[Epuerto]

So What do i do now?

 

[Flake]

There very well may have been something that got in the water unbeknownst to anyone. Take it out. Scrub it clean. Try again.

Next time move slowly, with cheap hardy fish. If something happens again, it will be 20$ not hundreds. Tangs and wrasses can be finicky. I see fish go all the time because they wont eat. In this case it could have been an outside source or the fish themselves were sick. Stuff happens.

Salt water is a series of ups and downs and i'm really sorry you hit a down on the first go but there's always a way to fix it. I really thing tear down and come back again stronger is the way to go.

 

[Epuerto]

i tore it down before and restarted that how i got here!!!!!

 

[Flake]

Do it again. Obviously it's not working right now, so start over. You've got everything, you don't have to spend extra money. Just start fresh, redo your rocks and move on from this bad experience.

 

[Epuerto]

So im supposed to take out all my water? and my rocks?

 

[Flake]

Drain it. put the rocks in a bucket. Put sand in a bucket. Scrub the tank. Rinse it. aquascape. Sand. Voila. Your tank should still be cycled from the sand and the rock. Plug everything back in and go get a happy little clownfish and try again.

That's probably overkill. I just thing physically starting over might help separate the bad and become a "new start".

 

[Epuerto]

what if i do a 80% waterchange or something? and take out all the rocks?

 

[Flake]

I don't think you even need to do that. I fighured a fresh start would be easier for psychological reasons. Personally I love aquascaping. I think getting back to something fun rather than looking at an empty tank would do worlds.

 

[Epuerto]

i will do a huge water change and change the rocks WHAT IF IT HAPPENS AGAIN

 

[Flake]

Then you start over again.

No one can make you keep trying. You have to want to. I know you're really discouraged. I've been there. A lot of us have. All we can do is tell you not to give up. If you don't want to, no one can make you.

honestly it seems like you don't want to take words of encouragement and the more people tell you not to quit the more frustrated you seem to get. No one knows if it'll happen again. At that point, you have to WANT to continue. If you keep going halfheartedly, you're not going to enjoy it. There's no point in having a hobby you don't enjoy...

 

[carey]

I'm with starting over. I think it will be the best idea. Take out the rocks and scrub the tank interior. Maybe theres something in the tank that poisoned everything, you wont know unless you clean it well.

have you tested your water for copper btw? Some fish stores run copper with their fish and if any of the lfs water got into your tank that would have been very bad.

It's just an odd thing that I thought of. One of my LFs' run copper and warned me explicitly not to get any water in my display tank.

Hang in there, you have a great setup and it would suck to not use it. You know you can do it. I bet your tank looks even better this time around.

 

[Flake]

I don't think latent copper wouldn't have killed the fish though. I had the same thought.

 

[carey]

you're probably right. Just looking for anything that could have been overlooked.

 

[Flake]

I have been too. I have a love hate relationship with stuff like this. I've been racking my brain trying to think of anything that could have gone wrong enough to kill everything.

 

[carey]

It's not that they were swimming in toxic water really. he had a slight ammonia surge but that shouldnt have killed every fish and the shrimp so quickly, least not in my opinion. If this has happened before to him theres gotta be something we are missing.

His rock is brand new I believe so it's not that...same for his sand...not sure what they could have leached anyways but you never know.