HELP! MY MOM BOUGHT ME FISH!!!

[Nburg's Reef]

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.

If everything makes it, you'll have survived your first crisis in this hobby which is huge. Also, you'll be attached to these clowns now since you all went through it together! The only fish I got attached to were the ones that have a story like this behind them.

BTW, the rock work looks great so good luck with the tank!

 

[lilgrounchuck]

Dump in a big bottle of Biospira and you should be good to go.

 

[Bryce M.]

If everything makes it, you'll have survived your first crisis in this hobby which is huge. Also, you'll be attached to these clowns now since you all went through it together! The only fish I got attached to were the ones that have a story like this behind them.

BTW, the rock work looks great so good luck with the tank!

+1 to this
rock looks amazing and yes your first crisis!! it's like a rite of passage. I went a year before my first, everyone has a crisis if not multiple, it's really what separates the hobbyists from the people who want a pretty living room decoration
(not saying we don't like how our tanks look, I'm saying we just care about the fish too)

 

[Squidward]

Add a bottle of bio spira and you're good!

 

[M3d1C]

They really like that corner.

 

[Radman73]

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.

Looking good!

As others mentioned, I'd stick an ammonia alert badge on there and use that to gauge if you need water changes. No need to change water unnecessarily. If you get(or already got) that live rock from the LFS, you'll be fine.

 

[Radman73]

They really like that corner.

It seems clowns do that. Mine picked the lower left corner when I started with a 29gal biocube. They liked the back right of the 60 cube I upgraded to, and now the back left of the 220. Since you weren't able to do an "official" QT keep a close eye on them.

Good luck!

 

[BeejReef]

I don't know what your tank philosophy was starting out.. Sounds like you were trying to start clean with dry rock and a fishless cycle. Man plans and then mom buys fish (god laughs)... lol.

I'd try to find a temp home for your fish. Another option would be a big water change, a bottle of bacteria, and a few chunks of wet live rock. You might get something close to an instant cycle, but your pest free fantasy dies a quicker death than it would have otherwise

Now I've changed my mind about rehoming the fish. Put in some live rock and make it work. Give your mom a hug and thank her for your fish. Women in our lives who are supportive of our fish sickness are to be cherished

 

[Nburg's Reef]

The one on the left looks awesome with that weird face spot.

Signs to look out for that may be related to ammonia poisoning: labored breathing, red or puffy gills, swimming up to the surface to gulp oxygenated air.

 

[Snowxcross]

My mom just showed up a few hours ago with 2 snowflake clownfish and what looks like a zoa coral for my tank as a gift. The problem with this is my tank is only a week old and not cycled yet! I have the fish and coral in their bags floating in the tank so they don't get cold but I just tested my tank and my ammonia is still 1ppm. I called the store she bought them at and asked if they would take them back for credit or quarantine them for me but they won't. A friend of mine suggested a 50% water change and a bottle of nitrifying bacteria. What should I do?!

Screw that store, some help they are jeesh - you're going to have to take a chance and get them in the tank, hopefully you've been adding bacteria the past week to it.

 

[M3d1C]

Screw that store, some help they are jeesh - you're going to have to take a chance and get them in the tank, hopefully you've been adding bacteria the past week to it.

I have yeah, and a big dose this morning. I've been given a bottle of Biospira on top of the big bottle of Colony I have so I'm gonna double dose daily till the ammonia drops.

 

[M3d1C]

Okay, so here's my plan tentatively. I work as a firefighter/paramedic and tomorrow starts my 3 day weekend shift (couldn't have been given new fish at a worse time I know...). So, I'm going to have my wife double dose Colony over the next 3 days and target feed only 1 or 2 mysis shrimp with a long eye dropper in the mornings. Then when I get off work Monday morning I will do a one gallon water change. The tank is 7 gallons btw, I know people have been asking. How's that sound for a plan?

 

[Malifry97]

Sounds great. Everything should be fine. Also, have the zoas opened? And what lighting are you using. You might want to turn up the blues so you don't get crazy algae growth. blues are also a little better for corals

 

[MTBake]

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

Saw it with my own eyes. There's over 2000 fish in his 1000gallon system at any one time. Talking baby clowns but still. The bio mass adds up. It's amazing how life can sometimes find a way to survive. Plus, there a good chance this could be total ammonia and not free ammonia he is testing. The free ammonia is what's toxic to fish. I also believe some fish are more sensitive to ammonia toxicity than others.

 

[Katrina71]

Ammonia should be zero with livestock.

 

[Luis1992]

Take the offer and let someone local save them

 

[Devisissy]

This is so weird. Maybe I'm old school but a mom buying their kid, adult kid, a fish? I mean maybe? I mean this is all super weird to me. The easiest thing to have done would have been to return the fish to the store and the coral. Done, mom gets money back fish are OK. The fact you didn't tells me something else is going on here. Is the store like 200 miles away or something? I'm going to call my mom and ask her to buy me some fish, shes going to tell me to **** with that... LOL!

 

[Malifry97]

This is so weird. Maybe I'm old school but a mom buying their kid, adult kid, a fish? I mean maybe? I mean this is all super weird to me. The easiest thing to have done would have been to return the fish to the store and the coral. Done, mom gets money back fish are OK. The fact you didn't tells me something else is going on here. Is the store like 200 miles away or something? I'm going to call my mom and ask her to buy me some fish, shes going to tell me to **** with that... LOL!

The store wouldn’t take the fish back he said.

 

[Glott3133]

This is so weird. Maybe I'm old school but a mom buying their kid, adult kid, a fish? I mean maybe? I mean this is all super weird to me. The easiest thing to have done would have been to return the fish to the store and the coral. Done, mom gets money back fish are OK. The fact you didn't tells me something else is going on here. Is the store like 200 miles away or something? I'm going to call my mom and ask her to buy me some fish, shes going to tell me to **** with that... LOL!

There's nothing weird about the situation. A mother doing something nice for her son shows love and respect for what he is currently in to (his new reef tank). What's weird is that the store is so pathetic that they won't take a return immediately after it was purchased. But it happens. My LFS doesn't take saltwater fish back either.

 

[Devisissy]

Oh I didn't realize the store didn't take returns. I was so weirded out about a mother buying an adult son fish I didn't catch that part. I'm 40+ years old and I'm not about to buy my adult son parts for his hobby car! LOL!