HELP! MY MOM BOUGHT ME FISH!!!

W1ngz · Feb 12, 2020

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I can suddenly hear 14yo me whining 'Mommmmm, noooo!' Clueless, but sweet in thinking she was doing something good.

The 2 buckets for tank transfer is a good plan. At least you'll know they won't have ich or get ammonia burn.

Sirspeedy77 · Feb 12, 2020

kapnkush608 said:
Remember when we used to cycle tanks with fish lol, good luck man just stay on top of water changes and you should be good.

Damsels to the rescue Lol. I had two domino damsels that I wanted to remove after a cycle back in the day... they were aggressive to everything else lol. Had to dang near empty the tank to catch them!

Mical · Feb 12, 2020

Where are you located at? If you're close I'ld be happy to hold them for you. If not maybe someone is close that can help you out.

M3d1C · Feb 12, 2020

Wow! You guys are amazing! Lots of really awesome advice. Color me impressed as a new member! I did a pretty good water change and dosed generously with ATM colony. Ammonia went to .5ppm. Did drip acclimation of clowns and added them and they seem to be doing very well. Just sort of hanging out in the back left bottom corner messing with their reflections. I'll keep dosing the tank every day for the next week and do a 20% water change this weekend.

reefiniteasy · Feb 12, 2020

Now call your mother and say thank you! Seriously though, water changes are your best friend! When something is going wrong for me, I change the water. Problems usually fix themselves.

Rock work looks great.

Jeeperz · Feb 12, 2020

Biospira

phatduckk · Feb 12, 2020

Careful with prime as it only binds the ammonia for 48 hours. https://seachem.zendesk.com/hc/en-u...-How-often-can-I-dose-Prime-?mobile_site=true

You might be better off with a massive water change plus a ton of bacteria (dr Tim, turbo start). Ideally you just house them in a fresh 5g tank and essentially QT them while you cycle.

Cristy17 · Feb 12, 2020

Sirspeedy77 said:
Damsels to the rescue Lol. I had two domino damsels that I wanted to remove after a cycle back in the day... they were aggressive to everything else lol. Had to dang near empty the tank to catch them!

Yes! I remember having the same issue but with keyhole damsel!

MTBake · Feb 12, 2020

That's great! Feed them some quality food and they should do well.

Scwahl44 · Feb 12, 2020

I hope everything goes okay for you, best thing to do is just relax and do the proper research , and a fresh water dip would help a lot to make sure the fish does okay

Dave Cureton · Feb 12, 2020

Thankfully your mom got you some of the hardiest reef creatures available. Like others have said keep an eye on ammonia and you should be fine.

Eva Rose · Feb 12, 2020

May have already been mentioned, but I would place am ammonia alert badge on tank. They are inexpensive, but great to help you monitor the tank.
The Seachem one is found in most LRS.

fishguy242 · Feb 12, 2020

M3d1C said:
Wow! You guys are amazing! Lots of really awesome advice. Color me impressed as a new member! I did a pretty good water change and dosed generously with ATM colony. Ammonia went to .5ppm. Did drip acclimation of clowns and added them and they seem to be doing very well. Just sort of hanging out in the back left bottom corner messing with their reflections. I'll keep dosing the tank every day for the next week and do a 20% water change this weekend.

wow ,well done ,love to see a better pic of clowns ,picasso or divinchi's give your mom a kiss on the cheek ,any probs you know where to go now ,happy reefing

fishguy242 · Feb 13, 2020

btw WELCOME TO THE REEF going to love it here

pics required....lol ..we all love pics
but i would like to see those clowns soon

SPR1968 · Feb 13, 2020

I dont think you’ve said how big the tank is, (forgive me if I missed it) but if it’s reasonably small why not empty it, get new saltwater and start again rather than battling problems from the start ?

The LFS should hold this fish for you until you sort the water out, or if the tank is small enough maybe you can do it easily anyway.

Once the water is up to temperature and salinity, add the ATM colony if you have enough left or get some more, in the correct dosage and then add the fish and just feed lightly that’s it, and no ammonia issues. Just follow the instructions.

The problem is, you have ammonia so your doing water changes, but if you’ve used a bottled bacteria you’re removing it with the water changes (because it’s not established in any rockwork for example and still floating in the water column) so.....

M3d1C · Feb 13, 2020

Well, so far so good. I woke up and everyone is still alive. I actually woke up to my mom calling me and asking if the fish made it through the night. Lol! But so far so good. Gonna keep dosing the Colony over the next few days and watch for ammonia to drop further.

steallife904 · Feb 13, 2020

if it where me I would do a daily water change for the next few days, maybe week. Just do a few gallons a day. it will help with the ammonia. if you stick with weekly in a small tank the ammonia might climb back.

DaneGer21 · Feb 13, 2020

MTBake said:
I'm also friends with a clownfish breeder. His systems can read off the charts on ammonia some days. All the clowns I've gotten from him have been fine.

I hate to be “that guy”, but I do NOT believe this one bit. Ammonia off the charts and everything is “fine”.

Sorry, but highly unlikely

Pau Hana Reefer · Feb 13, 2020

Awesome mom! And as others mentioned, do not return to that store where she made the purchase. They clearly care more about money than whether the living things they sell end up living or not.