Salty Frustrations

[RocketSeason]

Well guys,

as many of you know I came on the scene here several months back and I Had just bought my tank then. I have purchased my tank and stand, filtration equipment, skimmer, sand, salt, testing equipment, and cleaning equipment.

But now I am stalled. I cannot seem to save the 250 stupid dollars I need to get my Live Rock! Its frustrating to me. I have almost made it here and now BOOM! I need new tires. My tank has been sitting there full of water and sand nothing else for over 3 months.

Its so frustrating because If It were a fresh water tank, I'd have a tank full of fish and plants right now! and they would be swimming away and having fishy fun. And I would be having Fishy watching fun!

Someone please tell me everything will be ok.

 

[dustybrannum]

well i had my tank for about 2 years before i was able to put water in it this last memorial day and then put live rock in it two weeks ago. So the moral is do not get discouraged just hang in there and be patient. Now i have lots of live rock and algae growing.

 

[philc21]

i had decided i wasnt going to go with live rock for that very reason not being abel to save up enough just try to make many friends in the same hobby as u me i started working at the lfs and wound up getting about 20 - 30 lbs of lr for free if u look around hard enough you might just be able to find a deal maybe from someone close by if theyr getting rid of a tank or sumthing good luck though patience is everything in this hobby

 

[Guest]

THERES NOWREASON WHY YOU SHOULD HAVE AN EMPTY TANK, IF YOUR TANK IS CYCLED YOU CAN ADD EITHER FISH OR CORALS DEPENDING ON WHAT YOU WANT, I ADDED THE LIVE ROCK LITTLE AT A TIME AND HAD FUN DOING THAT AS I WOULD LOOK FOR A CERTAIN SHAPE TO BUILD THHE REEF I WANTED BUT I HAD MOST OF THE FISH I WANTED BEFORE I ADDED THE ROCK AS THE ROCK IS EXPENSIVE

 

[fishman]

Dont feel bad I have had my first tank sitting on the patio for about 3-4 months before I brought it into the house...now I have a 100 sitting in my room ready to go except for a skimmer and LR too...dont feel bad and dont get discouraged...

 

[RocketSeason]

well, EXVISOR19641964, I really want to cycle the tank with the live rock before I put fish in. that way I wont have problems with adding un-cured live rock later and worrying about amonia spikes while my fish are in there.

It's all about patience I know, but GRRRR! I wan't fishies!

Looks like it going to be another 2 or 3 months before I can add fish.

...sigh...

 

[NightSpirit]

shhh....don't tell anyone...but you don't really need liverock. Nice to have, but not necessary, and you can just add some later.

If you get some base rock, like from hirocks.com, put some frozen shrimp in the tank to cycle it, and bam! you have biological filtration, you just don't have all the cool little creatures that come with the LR. Your baserock will eventually turn into LR, expecially if you end up seeding it with a few pounds later on.

that way I wont have problems with adding un-cured live rock later and worrying about amonia spikes while my fish are in there

If you get LR from liverocks.com you don't have to worry about this; or, at least I never saw an ammonia spike when I added my rock.

 

[BlueDolphin]

RocketSeason,

I understand your frustrations, and everything will be ok - trust me! It will be worth it. I cycled my tank with liverock, but it was mostly cured. I also put in a dead raw shrimp and my tank cycled in about 7 days. The rock is expensive, but I think you are doing the right thing and waiting until you have enough money to get all of your rock at once. You would hate to start cycling your tank with rock and then a couple weeks later get another bunch of rocks and set off a mini-cycle again. Just keep putting away a few dollars at a time and in no time you will have your rock money.

Hang in there!

 

[quarryshark]

Rocketseason, I had a small SW tank back in the late 70s-early 80s. I promised myself I would get a big one someday. Well, years passed with no tank. I did finally get a tank last year, it was my reward to myself for spending 9 months sweating away finishing my basement. It was my motivation to work for 6 hours every night after work.
Trust me when I tell you...its worth the wait!!!

 

[Guest]

I get the rock already cured from the fish store ,most of the time here in florida they don't put it out for sale until its cured, most of the rock I added little at a time to get the 80 / 100 lbs I have was already cured and had nice little things growing and living on it, what state are you in

 

[Nitrate]

Keep your chin up RS, before you know it you will be fighting your first bout of Ich

 

[quarryshark]

Keep your chin up RS, before you know it you will be fighting your first bout of Ich

Now thats the spirit!
Your bad!!!

 

[Guest]

I don't worry about ich, When I choose fish I kept that it mind, I went with durable, hardy, just wont dye kind of fish and I have had them for about a year and a half, they have also have grown about four to five times the size from when I first got them, they eat well, I give them vitamins twice a week, there my children ,the fish and my dog get treated better then I treat my self

 

[RocketSeason]

what type of fish exvisor?

Damsels?

 

[Guest]

have a panther grouper< huma triger< dog puffer_full size lion fish_snow eal and a sail fin tang _ nasa tang_large tamato clown thats maroon
the tangs are the only ones i"m worried about the rest of them are pretty tuff

 

[RocketSeason]

must be a very large tank. How big is it?

 

[Guest]

just upgraded from a 55GAL TO A 125 ,have had these fish for about a year and a half, when I first got them they were like maybe 3 or four inches , now most of them are about 6 inches the smallest 10 the largest ,give them vitamins twice a week, the liquid type, soak there food in it

 

[yaksplat]

um...that sounds a little crowded. but hey, if they're doing well, that's what important.

somewhere between 48 and 80" of fish 8O 8O

Jim

 

[Guest]

no they have alot of room and love it ,I don't plan on adding any fish just upgraded for room ,just think up until a few weeks ago they were cramped in a 55 gal in which they grw up in, I was not looking foward to moving them as I new it
would be a job but I did it, now have to get passed the mini cycle, the two tangs that are very large, not sure what I will do with them, there spoiled so I can't see them in a fish store being fed flake food ,thinking if I had to let them go I will take them out to the ocean and let them free

 

[quarryshark]

thinking if I had to let them go I will take them out to the ocean and let them free

Easy there, don't do that. Take them to a LFS, i'm sure they would take them. None of these fish are native to florida, that would be a very bad idea. Plus it is illegal.