Lr?

[CindyC]

Hello everyone. I have been reading posts regarding new tanks and such. I guess I goofed after reading the "wait a month" thing before putting anything in your tank thing, but the fish place said all I had to wait was 4 days. Anyhoo, I have seen pictures of your alls lr with all the things growing on them after only 3 days. My tank is a week old and nothing even close to this has grown on my rocks. The only thing I see that is forming on my rock that is even close to yours is different colored coraline, like purple and green. No "fuzzy things". When I bought this LR it was in a tank filled with water already and more water being pumped into this tank and was probably in this tank for several weeks, maybe even months. Does this mean the rock had already went through the dying process? I also bought some of the rock they had in their display tanks that had alot of coraline on it. When I brought my water sample in for testing after 4 days, they said it was perfect and I could start adding small invertebrates and fish. I put in a pair of red coral (I think) shrimp, 2 damsels and a red star fish in. I checked the nitrate levels yesterday (after 4 days of the animals in the tank) and it was measured at 0.1. Fish store said I didn't need all the other testing equipment, that this was pretty much the only test I should be taking. What do I know..I put my faith in these guys!!

 

THanks in advance for the input.

 

P.S. have a 12g nano (could have shot myself and wished I had bought the bigger 35 gallon one I REALLY wanted..the fish store talked me out of it and said this would be a good starter tank for me)

[tinyreef]

fish store = greedy idiots

 

sadly, this seems more true than not. i do know of many knowledgable stores but they are either not newb-tolerant or 100% staffed with 'good people'.

 

good starter kit should be as big as possible imo. you can start small but it's just a little more difficult than big. kinda contrary to the whole 'starter' thing then.

 

get some test kits, simple cheap tetra ones are fine. especially for the ammonia and nitrite ones. starting out, you want to know as much as possible and not cut corners. usually you just end up paying more in multiple trips to the store. good luck!

[nalbar]

your rock is probably fine. sometimes it takes a while for stuff to appear. the best stuff seems to take the longest.

 

its hard to say without seeing it in person though.

 

if you had asked BEFORE you took your LFS's advice you would have almost certainly gotten this advice from us.. 'get the tank you want, follow your dream'.

 

however, the fact is that the 12 IS a good beginner tank because everything is cheaper, particularly the rock. its a nice tank. in a year or so, if you have it filled up and need more space, you can upgrade. while many here protest, 'save money NOW, dont upgrade later', upgrading is a fact of life in this hobby. if you are successful, you want bigger. its as simple as that.

 

 

 

nalbar