New tank cycled....The beginning.

uscstaylor · Sep 1, 2013

Thanks man
That makes a lot of sense.....

uscstaylor · Sep 3, 2013

Hey guys,
I just bought a Fire fish today and put him in after I acclimated him to 2 hours will the royal gramma wont leave him be, he seems to be kind of bullying him so I'm wondering will the firefish eventually be okay or should I have to remove the Royal gramma?

Palting · Sep 3, 2013

Royal gramma have huge mouths, and can do serious damage. Try keeping the lights off for a day, giving the firefish time to find a safe cave. If the bullying cotinous, you'll have to decide which fish to keep. Personally, I prefer the fire fish.

BTW, firefish are known jumpers, especially if they are being bullied. Make sure you have a screen cover over the tank, as well as over the overflows.

uscstaylor · Sep 3, 2013

The fire fish has already found a hiding spot . The royal gramma seems to want to charge at him and at the last second stops. Right now I only have four Fish in there, two clowns, royal gramma and a firefish. I Turn the lights off for the rest of the day and hopefully by tomorrow they,ll be better.

Palting · Sep 3, 2013

Fingers crossed things work out. I lost a Royal gramma during hyposalinity treatment, and have not replaced him. I still prefer the firefish if you have to make a choice. Here's a photo of mine to help influence you, heh-heh

uscstaylor · Sep 3, 2013

Nice you have the purple one pretty, I feel bad cause I was so excited to bring him home and then the gramma kinda of puts a damper on things. I hope tomorrow that once I feed them I see a little difference. I don't want to stress out the firefly and keep him hidden all day long, I want all my fish to be able to get along...if I would have know that the gramma would turned out to be a bully then I would have never have gotten him.

uscstaylor · Sep 4, 2013

Well The next morning I woke up to see the royal gramma was not a royal gramma but in fact the dotty back that looks like a royal gramma. Except their species are even more aggressive. I did the only thing that I could do I rearranged the rock and that didn't solve the problem, so I had to get rid of him. I hated to do it cause he was so beautiful, but way to aggressive and as soon as I took him out of the tank it felt like all the fish knew he was gone. They all started swimming around again. The attitude was much different in the tank now. Peaceful.

SeahorseKeeper · Sep 4, 2013

Yes, the royal dottybacks are VERY aggressive!! I had one that tried to beat up my fuzzy dwarf lionfish. Glad you got it figured out.

eliramos · Sep 4, 2013

Palting · Sep 5, 2013

uscstaylor said:
Well The next morning I woke up to see the royal gramma was not a royal gramma but in fact the dotty back that looks like a royal gramma. Except their species are even more aggressive. I did the only thing that I could do I rearranged the rock and that didn't solve the problem, so I had to get rid of him. I hated to do it cause he was so beautiful, but way to aggressive and as soon as I took him out of the tank it felt like all the fish knew he was gone. They all started swimming around again. The attitude was much different in the tank now. Peaceful.

Good move. Reef tanks should be tranquil.

uscstaylor · Sep 5, 2013

Well,
The Firefish is doing well, the tank is peaceful and I'm even thinking about getting another Firefish so the first one so he has friend.
Does anyone here have an GFO/carbon reactor? I have one but it keeps getting clogged anyone have a fix for this?

Longnose Hawkfish · Sep 12, 2013

Love your patience and the fish you chose!! By the way, what water test kit are you using, I really need to order one. Nice choice with the fire fish!

uscstaylor · Sep 12, 2013

I use the API saltwater test kit and then I bought a reef kit as well...thanks for the comments.

uscstaylor · Sep 12, 2013

I'm going to get another Firefish this weekend for my other one to have a friend, I may get a Goby or Blenny as well. That will give me 5 fish total.....then I'll wait for 2 months to get my coral beauty. My tank will have been running for 8 months by then.