very confused & getting mixed advice

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hermit crab

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Aug 9, 2004
Messages
17
Location
california
I recently bought a 12 g nano cube and i am currantly waiting for it to cycle i have had it for about 10 days i have live rock and live sand in it.one of The fish store employees said that it was o.k. to put a tester damsel fish in the water about eight days ago, so i did without ever really changing the water because after i bought the fish another employee told me that i should have waited until algae started to grow.So two three days ago i noticed that the damsels mouth was deforming and his fin was roting just a incy bit.

so i called the one who knw a bit more about fish and nano cubes(because he has one himself)and he said it may be columinaris and that i should just wiat it out to see what happens.

The fish was shacking alot but yesterday and today he seems to be doing better and some brown algae is starting to appear and i was wondering three things

1: can the fish fight off the disese on his own without meds because i dont have a qt tank.

2:when should i add new fish and if i add them will they catch the disese from the tank even if or when i remove this current fish

3; when will i know if my tank is fully cycled,How much longer will it take?

Every one keeps giving diffrent advice or they are to busy to help me and end up being very rude to me.

Please help!
Thanks :cry:
 
You can use a frozen shrimp to cycle your tank next time, no need to put damsels in hostile conditions.

1: can the fish fight off the disese on his own without meds because i dont have a qt tank.
in my experience, the fish usually succumbs and dies without treatment.

2:when should i add new fish and if i add them will they catch the disese from the tank even if or when i remove this current fish
Without a QT or treatment the disease will always be around (as long as their is fish in there, and for some time afterwards) and the new fish will have a possibility of getting the disease.

3; when will i know if my tank is fully cycled,How much longer will it take?
You need to buy a test kit, and the tank is cycled when nitrite and ammonia are at zero. It can take from 3-8 weeks.

You can generally buy a 10 gallon tank for $10, a cheap whisper filter, a cheap heater, and some PVC for under $50. A QT would be a very good investment.
 
thanks alot for the advice.So how do i remove the disese from the tank?

and what does brown algae mean is that a good sign of anything?

thanks again :|
 
Sounds like you really need to do some reading before moving any further. Just wondering if yu did water tests before adding the damsels. IMO, the LFS shouldn't have told you to do that in order to "test" the tank. Ammonia and Nitrite testing would've told you when to add fish.

Robert Fenner's Concientious Aquarist is the best I've found.

Good luck.
 
The only way to remove disease from the tank (assuming that's what it is) is to remove all life from the tank for a long enough period of time for the disease to die off. Usually 6-12 weeks. If you have no plans of putting inverts into the tank, you can medicate the tank itself.
 
I agree The Concientious Marine Aquarist by Robert Fenner is an excellent 'all in one' saltwater book.

Never medicate your primary tank. The medications WILL kill off your live rock's inhabitants...which isn't cool at all.
 
BTW ... the brown algae is probably diatom, and is usually a part of the cycle process. It will go away in time if you keep your water parameters in check.

You really should take a sample of your water (at least a pint) to the LFS and ask them to do a thorough test battery. They will be able to tell you where you are at in your initial cycle, as well as any problem areas you need to address. You will run into all kinds of problems if you don't know what exactly is in your water. Most reputable LFS will test your water for a few dollars. If you prefer, and it is probably more economical to do this, go buy a good saltwater test kit. Salifert makes a good kit that isn't terribly expensive. You will definitely need to learn to monitor your water at a minimum of once a month, and more likely every two weeks with a system that small. The smaller the tank, the less room for error you have.

I agree with everyone above about the Fenner book and needing a QT tank unless you are going to add all the fish and/or inverts to the tank at the same time and they are all from the same source. That isn't a good idea, BTW, so get the QT tank. You will regret it if you don't.
 
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