New member and aquarium owner

[Chatzielein]

Hi all,
for Christmas my boyfriend surprised me with a Red Sea Max 130d (34g) aquarium. In January we set it up with live sand, three weeks later we added snails and hermit crabs, then few weeks later live rocks.
two weeks ago we bought our first fish, a Blenny ... had to buy the rock where he was hiding too, he just did not want to come out lol.
Saturday we finely went and bought an anemone and my first clown fish (always wanted one) ... we put the bag in the aquarium for like 20 Min. then opened the bag and slowly dripped water in to the bag to get the fish slowly used to the new water, and then my boy friend purred the water in to the fish net, thinking that the fish would fall in to the net and then transported in to the tank. BUT the fish got stuck in the corner of the plastic bag ........ The poor fish has been acting strange, he is swimming like he is very stressed and gasping.
We tried to offer him food, but he has not been eating either. We will try that trick with the garlic tomorrow and buy him some frozen food. Right now I tried giving him small pallets and cut offs from that frozen fish that we bought for the anemone.

Also, I think I found a bristel worm in my tank tonight YIKES, guess it's a good fella, so will let him live

 

[dkpate]

Welcome to AA! Glad to have another "Northwestsider" on here!
Your fish could just be stressed from the move, so give him a few days to acclimate. I could be wrong, but there will be some saltwater pros on here in a while.

 

[austinsdad]

Welcome to AA!

I'm not getting a warm and fuzzy about your setup history as you explained it. Do you know what cycling a tank involves? I'm not sure you did that well and can sustain life yet. The crabs and snails lived even after you added the rocks later???

It usually goes like this - add sand, water and live rocks. Cycle (takes about 2-4 weeks) testing the water frequently to monitor the cycle. Ammonia and nitrite go up and come back to zero. Change 50% of the water after cycle is complete. Test water again. If OK, add crabs and snails (clean up crew/CUC). Begin to add fish slowly - without the water from the lfs I hope. Check and maintain good water conditions over a few months while adding fish that you've quarantined in another small tank for 2-3 weeks.

Then, after nearly a year, add your anenome. I hope you're lucky, but I think you're headed for trouble. You're moving too fast.

Have you tested your water at all for nitrates, Ph, or anything else?

 

[thuffman03]

Welcome to the forum! Hope everything works out for your setup.

 

[ampa one]

welcome to AA

 

[Chatzielein]

Hello austindad

we did cycle the tank and checked the water levels constantly. We bought the crabs and snails because the alges where taking over and I tell you, they had a party when they got in to the tank after ca. 1 1/2 month.
The rocks where cured already before we had put them in the water, and the water quality checked every day.
The first fish that we added to the aquarium (a blenny) is doing great and so are the snails and hermit crabs. Only problem with the snails is, that they turned green, but they are moving all over the tank.
my biggest consurn right now is the Clown fish, he wont eat (i think) because he got caught in the bag when transferring him.
All water levels are OK, we do water changes once a week to keep the ph at a good level. Before we bought the clown fish, we even got the water checked by the store and they confirmed that the levels where good.
I had no idea that you had to wait a year before adding the anemone. Let's hope that he will continue to do well, so fare he has found himself a place to stay (in the back of the aquarium lol.
We'll hold off adding any thing more until we will be sure that the tank can handle it. I should had set up a quarantine tank, but that one is set up and getting cured right now.

Thank you for your advice! I really appreciate it I'll slow down

Welcome to AA!

I'm not getting a warm and fuzzy about your setup history as you explained it. Do you know what cycling a tank involves? I'm not sure you did that well and can sustain life yet. The crabs and snails lived even after you added the rocks later???

It usually goes like this - add sand, water and live rocks. Cycle (takes about 2-4 weeks) testing the water frequently to monitor the cycle. Ammonia and nitrite go up and come back to zero. Change 50% of the water after cycle is complete. Test water again. If OK, add crabs and snails (clean up crew/CUC). Begin to add fish slowly - without the water from the lfs I hope. Check and maintain good water conditions over a few months while adding fish that you've quarantined in another small tank for 2-3 weeks.

Then, after nearly a year, add your anenome. I hope you're lucky, but I think you're headed for trouble. You're moving too fast.

Have you tested your water at all for nitrates, Ph, or anything else?

 

[Chatzielein]

Hello dkpate
thank you for your welcome message! I sure hope that you are right regarding my clown fish, he is acting a little better today but still did not eat any thing. I made him tiny bits of fish with garlic. He almost went for one of the peaces. It was a mess trying to get the uneaten food out of the tank, even though the hermit crabs looked like they enjoyed it.

 

[Chatzielein]

Thank you thuffman03, I sure hope so too. It's testing my patients that's for sure lol

 

[Chatzielein]

Thank you for your welcome message ampa one

 

[mgamer20o0]

Welcome to AA.

 

[melosu58]

Welcome to AA