Recent content by Gordo15

Well that's the thing, both guys I've dealt with run multiple tanks of their own. They were enthusiastic, bustin their own pics out, telling me stories about all of their fish and corals. It's just crazy how much looser some tank owners are than others. I tend to be more cautious in all phases...

Good call. Starting to realize that. Good thing about this place is it's right around the corner from my place, so I'll be popping in frequently. Also of all places I've been they have by far the healthiest looking corals. Great prices too. They'd be morons to take advantage of a potential...

Will do. Monitor monitor monitor monitor monitor.........

Had heat and flow the whole time too. Just no rock. Rock, corals, and inverts ALL went in same day, per LFS employee's approval. Oops.

Ok thank you. I think my best option is to remove the corals, bring them back to the LFS and store them there until I properly cycle the tank with absolutely no doubts. I really appreciate the help everyone. Such an involved, intricate process. Even though I screwed this up a bit, I'm really...

Yes I used live sand. Dumped the bottle a couple of days after letting the substrate settle. The LFS dude told me this would be sufficient to cycle the tank if I let it sit for 2-3 weeks. That's what I did, and clearly he left out major steps to the process, the biggest one being that I did not...

Definitely a crab carcass, not the shell. And the bottled bacteria was supposed to be my ammonia source. With tossing the shrimp in--if the tank did not go through the amo cycle yet would the shrimp spike the amo and then kill my coral?

One dead hermit. Corals still look healthy. Invert death within a week a sign of cycle issues? Or is this common?

Great, thanks. They're inflating like crazy during light hours. They've looked to be getting progressively healthier day to day, but I understand that can all turn upside down in a flash. Really appreciate all the help everyone.

Thanks Mac, that's exactly what I'll do then. Just regular old cocktail shrimp eh? Any early signs to pick up on if the corals are suffering? Like I said they look great right now approaching a week.

Haha absolutely no way I'm giving up! I think I'm going to ask that I keep my coral back in the store's tanks until I know I've had a proper cycle. At the end of the day they mis-informed me, or at least lacked necessary knowledge, so while everything is still alive and kickin this is the most...

The tank cycled for 2 1/2 weeks before adding the rock and coral.

**** it. Place is called New Fish in Chicago. But like I said the equipment and bacteria was bought from a different location, just the rock and coral were bought at New Fish. Sad thing is--I'm extremely patient. I had no issues kicking back and waiting to insure everything would be done right...

When I say "sat with nothing but substrate" I mean that's all that was in there while the filter and power head were operating. I added the heater and lights about a week after.

I did not mention that with my original purchase (filter, substrate, skimmer, water, power head) I also snagged a bottle of concentrated bacteria per the employee's rec (different store than where I picked up the coral). He said it would simulate everything a couple of dead shrimp would in order...