- Joined
- Feb 17, 2016
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- Location
- Orange, California
- What state or country do you live in
- California
So my wife and I searched around for all of 15 minutes for fish tanks when we found a 60 Gallon tank. 48 x 13 x 24. We just had to have it. So we set off to the local petsmart and pick up the tank and stand for $150. We get home put it up right next to the front window of the dining room where there is all kinds of direct sunlight and immediately leave for Petco right up the street. We purchase a random bag of salt mix, few bags of sand, 2 small pieces of dry nasty looking rock and a HOB filter.
Once we get back to the house, I dump the sand in set the ugly rock right in the middle and grab the garden hose to top off the tank. Tank fills up, I dump the bag of salt in, turn on the filter and grin a big smile so excited to put life into the tank.
3 days later I'm convinced my tank was special and instantly cycled and was ready for fish.
off i went to a LFS that was within walking distance of my house. purchased 5 or 6 fish, some more rock, a "fancy" LED strip light.
Take a guess what happened? Within 2-3 weeks, all the fish died, tank was looking rather ugly.
I didn't even take a picture at the time.
I ripped apart the tank, threw everything out, sand, rock, filter media.
thought to myself, ehh, maybe ill just to artificial "pretty" stuff...which wound up looking like...
I just had to have triggers. so I stroll back to the LFS and pick up a Niger and Huma Huma Triger.
my thought process was... "well there's only two fish in this big tank, so even though they need giant 180 plus gallons, this will be fine..."
Only difference between the first go around and this one was I waited an extra 5 days for a total of 8 before adding the fish, and i added a second HOB filter thinking "this will fix the algae problem for sure!"
any guesses on what the outcome was??
nope, they didn't die. the huma was a jerk so the niger only hid, tank became riddled with algae, water changes didn't appear to help, i refused to shorten the light cycle because i wanted to see the tank. long story short the algae over ran it, the tank began to stink. I again, ripped the tank apart a put it on the side yard.
few months go by, I clean it up and try again, with some decent success after taking the time to research and go to a reputable LFS that actually gives good advice and wants to help others succeed.
Fast forward to a 18 months ago, found a 60G cube with stand and sump for a solid price, had to have it. Tank was up and running, Coral and fish were healthy, was actually really proud of the tank.
unfortunately, the cube was old and cheap, developed a leak in one of the seams, paranoid of a flood my wife asked me to take it down.
I typed this up pretty much out of boredom.
Research prior to purchase. I killed fish and coral just because I didn't know what I was doing. also wasted a pretty big chunk of $$ in the process.
Don't by something just to buy it, save the money and buy the item you actually want that's of good quality
If you did read this, hopefully I didn't put you to sleep, just thought I'd share my starting experiences and mistakes. We all started with no knowledge of the hobby and how much actually goes into keeping a nice healthy tank. I never thought I would be into the hobby as much as I am. I owe a lot of my successes and gained knowledge to people on this forum, so thank you for being the kind community that it is.
Happy reefing!
Once we get back to the house, I dump the sand in set the ugly rock right in the middle and grab the garden hose to top off the tank. Tank fills up, I dump the bag of salt in, turn on the filter and grin a big smile so excited to put life into the tank.
3 days later I'm convinced my tank was special and instantly cycled and was ready for fish.
off i went to a LFS that was within walking distance of my house. purchased 5 or 6 fish, some more rock, a "fancy" LED strip light.
Take a guess what happened? Within 2-3 weeks, all the fish died, tank was looking rather ugly.
I didn't even take a picture at the time.
I ripped apart the tank, threw everything out, sand, rock, filter media.
thought to myself, ehh, maybe ill just to artificial "pretty" stuff...which wound up looking like...
I just had to have triggers. so I stroll back to the LFS and pick up a Niger and Huma Huma Triger.
my thought process was... "well there's only two fish in this big tank, so even though they need giant 180 plus gallons, this will be fine..."
Only difference between the first go around and this one was I waited an extra 5 days for a total of 8 before adding the fish, and i added a second HOB filter thinking "this will fix the algae problem for sure!"
any guesses on what the outcome was??
nope, they didn't die. the huma was a jerk so the niger only hid, tank became riddled with algae, water changes didn't appear to help, i refused to shorten the light cycle because i wanted to see the tank. long story short the algae over ran it, the tank began to stink. I again, ripped the tank apart a put it on the side yard.
few months go by, I clean it up and try again, with some decent success after taking the time to research and go to a reputable LFS that actually gives good advice and wants to help others succeed.
Fast forward to a 18 months ago, found a 60G cube with stand and sump for a solid price, had to have it. Tank was up and running, Coral and fish were healthy, was actually really proud of the tank.
unfortunately, the cube was old and cheap, developed a leak in one of the seams, paranoid of a flood my wife asked me to take it down.
I typed this up pretty much out of boredom.
Research prior to purchase. I killed fish and coral just because I didn't know what I was doing. also wasted a pretty big chunk of $$ in the process.
Don't by something just to buy it, save the money and buy the item you actually want that's of good quality
If you did read this, hopefully I didn't put you to sleep, just thought I'd share my starting experiences and mistakes. We all started with no knowledge of the hobby and how much actually goes into keeping a nice healthy tank. I never thought I would be into the hobby as much as I am. I owe a lot of my successes and gained knowledge to people on this forum, so thank you for being the kind community that it is.
Happy reefing!
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