New Fish
- Thread starter skt12344
- Start date
Rcpilot
Reef enthusiast
How long has the tank been set up?
Have you completed the nitrogen cycle yet?
What kind of fish?
If this is a brand new tank -- take the fish back to the store where you got it. It'll just die in the tank.
If the fish store sold you a damsel to cycle the tank, take it back. You can cycle the tank with any piece of shrimp. Go to the grocery store and head for the fresh deli department. Buy a single fresh (uncooked) deli shrimp and toss it in the tank. After about a week, you can remove the rotten carcass and flush it down the toilet. There will be enough rotten meat in the tank to start and finish your initial tank cycle.
Wait about 4 or 6 weeks for the tank to fully cycle. Test daily for ammonia and nitrites. Both will go up to very high levels and then slowly drop back down to zero. When both have dropped to zero, you can test for nitrates. Determine your nitrate levels. Usually a 50% water change is in order at this point. Try and get nitrates under 10ppm. 0ppm or 5ppm would be better.
Only AFTER that initial cycle is complete -- THEN you can introduce a new fish.
Putting a new fish in a new and un-cycled tank is cruel and not necessary. You can cycle the tank with a deli shrimp.
If your fish store sold you a fish to use as a sacrificial fish to cycle the tank, I would NEVER return to that store. They are just selling you fish to get your money and don't give a crap that it will probably die.
Have you completed the nitrogen cycle yet?
What kind of fish?
If this is a brand new tank -- take the fish back to the store where you got it. It'll just die in the tank.
If the fish store sold you a damsel to cycle the tank, take it back. You can cycle the tank with any piece of shrimp. Go to the grocery store and head for the fresh deli department. Buy a single fresh (uncooked) deli shrimp and toss it in the tank. After about a week, you can remove the rotten carcass and flush it down the toilet. There will be enough rotten meat in the tank to start and finish your initial tank cycle.
Wait about 4 or 6 weeks for the tank to fully cycle. Test daily for ammonia and nitrites. Both will go up to very high levels and then slowly drop back down to zero. When both have dropped to zero, you can test for nitrates. Determine your nitrate levels. Usually a 50% water change is in order at this point. Try and get nitrates under 10ppm. 0ppm or 5ppm would be better.
Only AFTER that initial cycle is complete -- THEN you can introduce a new fish.
Putting a new fish in a new and un-cycled tank is cruel and not necessary. You can cycle the tank with a deli shrimp.
If your fish store sold you a fish to use as a sacrificial fish to cycle the tank, I would NEVER return to that store. They are just selling you fish to get your money and don't give a crap that it will probably die.
Last edited:
Rcpilot
Reef enthusiast
Okay. No problem putting the fish in the tank.
For acclimation on fish, I usually dump 1/2 the water out of the bag right away. Then float it in the tank for about 15 minutes to equalize the temperature. After 15-20 minutes, use your turkey baster to suck up some tank water and add it to the bag. One turkey baster of water only. Wait 10-15 minutes. Suck up another turkey baster of water form the tank and add it to the bag. Wait 10-15 minutes. Suck up another turkey baster of water form the tank and add it to the bag. Wait 10-15 minutes. Suck up another turkey baster of water form the tank and add it to the bag. Wait 10-15 minutes.
Keep doing that until the bag if full of water or maybe 3/4 full.
Now go dump 1/2 the water in the sink.
Use your turkey baster to suck up some tank water and add it to the bag. One turkey baster of water only. Wait 10-15 minutes. Suck up another turkey baster of water form the tank and add it to the bag. Wait 10-15 minutes. Suck up another turkey baster of water form the tank and add it to the bag. Wait 10-15 minutes. Suck up another turkey baster of water form the tank and add it to the bag. Wait 10-15 minutes.
When the bag is full again, go dump all of it down the sink. Hold your fingers around the fish so it doesn't end up in the sink.
Take your empty bag and fish back to the tank. Dump the fish in. Toss the bag in the trash or rinse with fresh water and save.
For acclimation on fish, I usually dump 1/2 the water out of the bag right away. Then float it in the tank for about 15 minutes to equalize the temperature. After 15-20 minutes, use your turkey baster to suck up some tank water and add it to the bag. One turkey baster of water only. Wait 10-15 minutes. Suck up another turkey baster of water form the tank and add it to the bag. Wait 10-15 minutes. Suck up another turkey baster of water form the tank and add it to the bag. Wait 10-15 minutes. Suck up another turkey baster of water form the tank and add it to the bag. Wait 10-15 minutes.
Keep doing that until the bag if full of water or maybe 3/4 full.
Now go dump 1/2 the water in the sink.
Use your turkey baster to suck up some tank water and add it to the bag. One turkey baster of water only. Wait 10-15 minutes. Suck up another turkey baster of water form the tank and add it to the bag. Wait 10-15 minutes. Suck up another turkey baster of water form the tank and add it to the bag. Wait 10-15 minutes. Suck up another turkey baster of water form the tank and add it to the bag. Wait 10-15 minutes.
When the bag is full again, go dump all of it down the sink. Hold your fingers around the fish so it doesn't end up in the sink.
Take your empty bag and fish back to the tank. Dump the fish in. Toss the bag in the trash or rinse with fresh water and save.
Sharkie
The Damsel Defender
instead of dumping half the water with the fish in it and then dumping it completely with the fish in it i'd suggest turkey basting out half while the fish is still in and then when you have your final full bag use a net to get the fish out and into the tank BEFORE dumping the water down the sink, its less stress on the fish :)
Bifferwine
I am a girl
Or use a net to scoop the fish out of the bag and add it to the tank.
yote
In Memoriam
I use basically the same method as Rc.Except I keep an empty bucket by the tank.I'll take a baster full of water from the bag and discard it into the bucket,then another squirt from the tank into the bag.I do that untill the salinity from the bag matches that of my tank.Then I'll pour the fish into my net (the water goes into the bucket).
Then I'll dump the discarded water in a plastic drum I keep in the shed.I use it to spary around the foundation of the house so I dont have to weedeat it:mrgreen:
Then I'll dump the discarded water in a plastic drum I keep in the shed.I use it to spary around the foundation of the house so I dont have to weedeat it:mrgreen:
project5k
Reef enthusiast
i've been wondering what the concentration of salt in our discarded water would do to plants...
if it'll kill plants, then i'm gonna start carrying all my dump water in the driveway.(i have a crushed rock country driveway from the "paved road" up to my workshop and the weeds are growing like crazy in that rock...
if it'll kill plants, then i'm gonna start carrying all my dump water in the driveway.(i have a crushed rock country driveway from the "paved road" up to my workshop and the weeds are growing like crazy in that rock...
yote
In Memoriam
With the way that summer sun comes down in Seguin,it'll kill the grass in the drive way.But keep in mind too,what that salt will do to your vehicle.Salt and metal dont mix very good.
