? about blue damsels in a new setup tank 125gallon...

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Get a test kit. Read up on fishless cycling and follow that and your fish tank will be up and running in no time at all.
Also read up on the nitrogen cycle and you will see how your fish died.

Again (w/out being able to ace a test on it lol) I am 'familiar' with the cycles of fish... I guess maybe a good question for me to ask is this: Is salt water cycling different or more touchy than fresh water cycling? I've had freshwater fish as a kid, and currently have a 36bow tank that homes cychlids and tiger barb together (happily might I add)... I'm familiar w/how it works, I've known in my travels at that size to just add 1 or 2 at a time, wait a few weeks, etc, etc... but in this case it didn't work? I would have thought (unless there's some secret to salt water I'm not aware of) that 5 small fish in a tank that size (125 gallon) would not have had the sharp spikes that 5 fish in a 20 or even 10 gallon tank in which case I would think that was the issue.
 
Again (w/out being able to ace a test on it lol) I am 'familiar' with the cycles of fish... I guess maybe a good question for me to ask is this: Is salt water cycling different or more touchy than fresh water cycling? I've had freshwater fish as a kid, and currently have a 36bow tank that homes cychlids and tiger barb together (happily might I add)... I'm familiar w/how it works, I've known in my travels at that size to just add 1 or 2 at a time, wait a few weeks, etc, etc... but in this case it didn't work? I would have thought (unless there's some secret to salt water I'm not aware of) that 5 small fish in a tank that size (125 gallon) would not have had the sharp spikes that 5 fish in a 20 or even 10 gallon tank in which case I would think that was the issue.

In my experience, salt water fish are waaaaaay more sensitive to ammonia/nitrites then fresh water fish. It could be that since SW is at a higher PH, the ammonia and nitrite have a considerably more volitile effect then in fresh water.

I made the same mistakes years ago when I started keeping FW tanks. I figured that just adding them 1 or two at a time over the course of a few months and all would be well. I would lose a fish here and there, but didn't know at the time about the complexities of the nitrogen cycle. It wasn't until a I read an article on cycling after my tank crashed that I realized what was going on and how wrong I was with my assumptions.

I would honestly say that if your going to stick with SW, that you need to become an expert on the nitrogen cycle and know how to test it to ensure its up and running.
 
In fresh water most of your ammonia will be changed into harmless ammonium. "If the ph is under 7, you will have ammonium. If the ph is 7 or higher you will have ammonia". And with a large tank of 125 gallons it will just take a little longer for the ammonia level to reach a deadly level. Your LFS said that he will take back the fish after the cycle because he knows that some will die and he can also say that the rest has a Disease and can't be taken back. It's a win win situation for him at your expense and the fish...giving the Saltwater Hobby a bad reputation.....
 
Adding to thincat's statement about your LFS, they are very hard to catch with any rock at all in the tank.. As a rule of thumb you should not add a fish you plan to remove at a later time... causes a lot of stress on the fish and the keeper as well.
 
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