Rant

[WannaRace]

Here's the scoop:

My girlfriend has a friend that just set up a 125 gallon tank less than one week ago. It contains live sand, maybe 75 pounds of live rock, lots of air stones for oxygenation/decor, and a sunken ship/fake plant decor. Now, to be honest, this tank looks amazing. But, there were a lot of things that concerned me. I do not know these people so I didn't feel like it was in my place to educate them on solid rules of thumb. For instance, on the same day they set up the fish tank, they immediately added 14 fish at once. There is no typo there, they added all 14 at once! A week has passed and only a lionfish has perished.

Some concerns of mine: Nitrate levels down the road with a sump that contains bioballs (however, it is a fish only tank--so they may be ok). Salt creep due to the air stones. The spike in parameters that every cycle usually sees. And eventually, all decor will be covered in algae, right?

Will most fish be able to withstand the cycle? They are: 2 yellow tangs, 2 percula, 2 tomatoe clown, 2 anthias, 4-5 damsels, firefish, and some others. Inverts: 1 fire shrimp and several crabs

 

[cthegame]

What they are doing is WRONG!!! tell them to remove all fish immediately or they will die. 14 on the same day is simply wrong and i hope they didnt get that idea from their LFS.

Tell them to remove all fish and let the tank cycle first. Additionally, they need live rock and a skimmer. What do they have for filtration?

Fake plants is not my thing...and not very common in reef tanks.

My suggestion is that they educate themselves just a little before buying fish especially 14. especially fish that will not make it thru the cycle. There are a few starter fish like damsels but tags, lionfish, etc, will not survive.

 

[WannaRace]

Well I do not have contact with them nor will I see them again anytime soon. I'm sure the LFS knew what they were doing since they probably bought all of them at the same place.

The tank has dual overflows that goes to a sump with bioballs. No skimmer is on the tank, and yes, they need more liverock.

Forgot to mention, they also have a blue hippo tang.

 

[stagofdoom]

Wow 14 at once....BAD!!!

Take them out or they are dead. Also airstones...Ive never heard of that in a salt water tank..
They need a protein skimmer and need to have the tank cycled.

They will learn when their expensive fish die. Wow this is bad.

 

[cthegame]

poor fish!

 

[WannaRace]

I would never add anything fake to my tank either but the way they set it up really WOW's you, it looks like they have a natural touch for decoration. Even with what little rock they have, it looks like it could be fake and bought the way they have it set up. Really nice look to it..

 

[cthegame]

It wont look so nice with 14 dead fish floating...can you find a way to tell them to remove the fish?

No fake plants can replace the beauty of real corals no matter how much talent they have.

 

[Ironman]

just curious what there goal is for a tank, did they set this up to be a reef or a fish only tank? they did make a mistake to add the fish they added either way, but if they are going to have a fish only tank and not a reef tank then the bio balls are ok and they can survive without a skimmer, as for the airstones I assume they are only for visual affect because the bio balls are taking care of any oxygen issues. but salt creep and evaporation will be an issue with those. If they have a reasonable amount of liverock then they should after the tank has cycled and stabilized remove the bio balls, and a skimmer would make the tank alot more stable. as for the fish, they will probly lose the tangs and anthias minimally, the clowns have a chance of survival and can usually survive a cycle fine, but they really need to be informed that any saltwater tank needs to be approached with patience, even if the tank was cycled 14 fish is really asking for trouble, I wouldnt put 4 new fish in my reef that has been going for 5 years and has great equipment it just is a heavy load for a system. good luck and good job trying to look out for fellow hobbiests

 

[runningrandy04]

Wow...Even the asshole of an LFS that I used to go to would not allow that. They charge $6 to check your water. Thats just how bad they were. They told me get live rock, live sand, and filter. Then come back in 2 weeks with some water to test.

 

[WannaRace]

I think they have reached their goal as far as what type and how many fish they wanted in their tank. I'm fairly certain it will remain a FO tank. The airstones are only for visual effect, you are correct. The reason I believe this, is the simple fact that they rushed into everything in order to stock the tank the way they wanted.

The only question I have is about how long does it usually take for those parameters to spike and cause havoc? The tank has had its inhabitants for a week now with only one loss.

 

[Gooseman]

they will start losing fish within the next week or two ... inverts will be the first to go ... then the fish will start dying one by one ... all they are doing is causing them a slow agonizing death! :death: :protest:

 

[Ironman]

its really hard to say how long and what exactly will happen without being able to see what exactly they have going on with the tank, and what steps they take to keep the system going,I have actually seen stores setup systems for customers who arnt willing to be patient in a matter of days, especially fish only tanks, but they are suplying already cycled water and bioballs, so basically they are supplying an instant cycle so to speak, there are still problems and chances when doing this and i dont recomend it, but it can be done. do you know if they just mixed the water fresh and started with new dry bio balls, or is it possible the Lfs sold them cycled water from there tanks and bioballs from there tanks? if they started from scratch then it shouldnt take long at all for some of the fish to start showing stress and parasites.

 

[WannaRace]

I haven't any idea as to how they started the tank. I did ask, however, if they had tested their water parameters, salinity, and temperature. They told me that everything was spot on.

 

[cthegame]

I dont think so. One week seems to be too short for all parameters to be perfect.

I have a feeling they will end up learning the hard way. I mean, even the biggest newbie in the world can figure that 14 fish on the same day of the purchase of the tank is too much.

Even after the tank has cycled, adding 14 fish together is still too much, let alone adding to a brand new tank.

Meh, guess it dont matter now since you cant contact them. Im sure they can afford mistakes...i couldnt even afford 4 fish together.

 

[Piggy]

Got to throw this in. "What were they thinking?" I just don't understand why someone would add that many fish at one time. Unless the tank has cycled a lot of them are going to fish heaven. I for one would of asked them lots and lots of questions and shared what I learned about saltwater tanks.

 

[WannaRace]

I thought that maybe the parameters hadn't even a chance to spike yet? I'm not sure, I thought the way it goes was all levels zero, spike, then zero again. I'm not sure, in my experience I always wait a couple months to be sure anyway...I think they are still in stage one.

 

[cthegame]

Well all i know is that with 14 fish they will surely see a dramatic change very soon. Oh no, there goes the tang...:mrgreen:

 

[Ironman]

well I guess it depends on what they mean when they say all the parameters are good? what parameters are they checking? after a week with 14 new fish they should have an enormous amonnia spike, if they truely have test kits that are showing good im thinking they probly setup the tank with everything already cycled. which still isnt the best idea and not fair to the fish, but it can be done.

 

[sen5241b]

Can you give me their phone number? I have some marine jackalope fish I'd like to sell them.

 

[WannaRace]

I actually had someone get a hold of them. I had them explain everything to them as best they could. They said they tested their water and it went through the cycle already. Supposedly they waited 2-3 days before adding fish. Cycles do not complete nearly within 3 days. I did not feel like arguing through a 2nd party, let alone with someone I do not know. I want to get an update on these fish in a couple weeks and I will report back.