First fish

[ShaunV]

Hello all. Thank you for all of your input. I am new to the hobby and am always trying to learn more in order to be a responsible aquarist. Any and all advice is always welcome.

I am picking up a captive bred black occ. clown today from my LFS. It is arriving from quality marine today. The LFS says I should not quarantine the fish because it would be too much stress to go from the bag to QT to DT. He swears by the quality of the fish and states that there will be no parasites present. I have my qt ready. It is the exact parameters of my DT. This is my first fish. I do have some corals. 1 small frogspawn, 1 small Xenia, 1 small star polyp, 1 medium star polyp, 1 blue striped mushroom with purple base, 1 Zoa, 1 montipora. I also have a small contingent of CUC. 9 snails, 6 hermits, 1 porcelain, 1 small peppermint.

Test results this morning,

Temp 78.5
Salinity 1.0245
Ph: 8.30
Alkalinity: 2.8 meq/l
Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: 0
Calcium: 400

16.75 gallon tank
22 lbs. LR
30 lbs. LS
2 Koralia PH 425gph
Odyssea lights with MH, T5, moon

My big question is, should I quarantine the clown or do as my LFS says and drip acclimate and put in DT?

 

[ShaunV]

Pictures taken 4-13-12

 

[Carpious]

How old is the tank? Missed that. Nitrates=0? Amazing. Are you sure?

 

[ShaunV]

The tank was started on 3/5/2012. It is cycled. My rock and sand filtered out all of the nitrates. Converted it all to nitrogen gas. I have tested the water myself and through two LFS, same results as I get.

 

[Carpious]

The tank was started on 3/5/2012. It is cycled. My rock and sand filtered out all of the nitrates. Converted it all to nitrogen gas. I have tested the water myself and through two LFS, same results as I get.

OK.

I'm from the 'take it slow and let it grow' camp so forgive me.

Too much too soon IMO.

Steady on.. Best things come to he/she who waits...

 

[ShaunV]

OK.

I'm from the 'take it slow and let it grow' camp so forgive me.

Too much too soon IMO.

Steady on.. Best things come to he/she who waits...

Ok. Thanks. I appreciate your input. I also believe in being patient. I have been testing water religiously and it is cycled. I have added extra pods to the tank and let them establish themselves for 2 weeks. The tank has been getting perfect parameters for about 3 weeks. Both of my LFS' agree that my tank is ready. So, that is not the question I am asking. I am trying to find out if the quality marine clown should be QT'd or not. If it is QT'd, then I am ready to put into QT for 4-6 weeks. That will allow my tank to sit for an additional month with just the corals and CUC. My LFS assures me that I do not need to do this and I should just put into DT with drip acclimation but no Qt.

Thank you again for the input.

 

[Carpious]

Ok. Thanks. I appreciate your input. I also believe in being patient. I have been testing water religiously and it is cycled. I have added extra pods to the tank and let them establish themselves for 2 weeks. The tank has been getting perfect parameters for about 3 weeks. Both of my LFS' agree that my tank is ready. So, that is not the question I am asking. I am trying to find out if the quality marine clown should be QT'd or not. If it is QT'd, then I am ready to put into QT for 4-6 weeks. That will allow my tank to sit for an additional month with just the corals and CUC. My LFS assures me that I do not need to do this and I should just put into DT with drip acclimation but no Qt.

Thank you again for the input.

Your welcome,

I waited for 6 months before adding fish. I think that generaly most LFS will tell you what you want to hear.

I wanted to hear: "Yeh, add fish now, your tank is ready.."

I heard it alright. Stability is more important. The stock could and should live years..

The micro eco system you are trying to establish takes much more than a few weeks to develop. Now that cycling has finished the maturing begins.

The end of cycling is the beginning of tank development and this will eventually equal maturity.

Even more important on smaller tanks.

My advice, give it a while longer to confirm stability.

 

[ShaunV]

Ok. Thanks.