Twotables
New Member
Hi everybody. I might as well be a born again saltwater tween that everyone shakes thier heads and fingers at because the words to follow will probably make someone want to have Justin Timberlake sing Cry Me A River because *sob* only the Diatomic Fish Fling story makes this worthwhile. So Hi, I'm 38 and wanted fish TV back in my bedroom. I had a 55 gallon Frankentank in college that no one said was possible, plus fish stores where I went to school basically said: 'Good Luck with that' and sent you and your purchase down the road. That said, I went to the beach and carried away two buckets of crushed seashells and stunk my apartment up baking shells and grossing out neighbors letting them cool on my back porch. I put that on top of an undergravel filter.. and a friend from Weyerhauser gave me some marle and after similar treatment, I had my base rock. OOooh. Mix instant ocean, bought two blue damsels. I had that tank five years and moved it with half its water riding in my complaining mother's car, and everything lived. What an easy life that was, and I missed watching my tank and using a flashlight to watch in dismay my coral banded shrimp eat everything that didn't move or peck him back.
That aside, on a whim, after years of talk, I discover nano tanks! Wow, I can have fish TV again. Note to self, no shrimp, no phantom dying snails, and as an added bonus, no boyfriend to argue aquatics with. So, I get out my trusty old books and read, and get on craigslist and get a deal on a jbj 24 gallon tank that was brand new. I'm joyous at this moment because my husband could care less and it was my project. Lets find local fish people. Enter overenthusiastic sales girl who laughs at my list of items and attempts to sell me an entire tank of bull in a day. Are you kidding me? NO.
I just watched you put your hands in the tank with the live rock and tell me its ok if I do. WHAT? I quietly buy sand, a cleaner, a test kit, and what was considered live rock pebbles, a heater and one yellow tailed damsel. I had tested the tank for cracks, and had filtered my well water through a pur filter. {I know} Well, Figi sand and Just say no had everything correct except ph in three days. I had to add buffer(and still do). I waited. Two weeks later I bought one mushroom and I fell for corals.
Lets just say I'm wigging because fish store people should have said throw away sponges, don't use bioballs.. did they? No. I became queen of clean up and what the *(#%(# that was not there this morning!!
So in short, I am dreading digging out those things in the back of the tank but after detritus was everywhere and I was dunking my liverock to clean it, I will be brave. I have two fish. Romeo and Hansel. Romeo is the damsel. Hansel is a Dottyback that decided to hangout inside the rock and come out in my hand at one am because all this happens before vacation. I am screaming like the woman on the stool in Tom and Jerry the cartoon knowing if I step down it will be on the #41#### fish. Needless to say, Hansel fell into the bucket. If it were one am and you packed for a week and a slimy fish fell into your hand, you'd scream and fling too.
Romeo served as my Rin Tin Tin the other day, as I rearranged my rock to get rid of dead spots. I found him looking out at me and my spastic damsel who was a dog in another life.
Anyway, that was a cascade effect from deciding I wanted three fish and bought a large damsel that decided to knock rock down and look like my dog chewed on the middle of his spine. I returned it to the fish store crying and the owner still has my forty dollars swimming around and looking at me. A$*%()#%(*#)(
So what is the point of this? I have a tank my hand is in way too much. My girlfriend let the tank temperature drop six degrees but left the lights on and messed up the timer.. but nobody died.
Right now all my levels are right and then I start reading about minerals and copper and iodine. Crap Nuggets. Somebody give me a book source to buy because I wish I had more time and had taken more time to research things. I need some reliable people to tell me which threads to go read, and please pardon the directness, because I love these forums, but I don't have time. I do know these tanks require work, but I really don't think daily other than lights.
I will add some pics soon, because I have a case of what the heck is that? and eww gross is soon to be whined over.
And I have no crew. Except for a hitch-hiker brittle star and tube worms. The shrimp from years ago scared me off. More to follow on the corals I have that are being mighty nice to me.
That aside, on a whim, after years of talk, I discover nano tanks! Wow, I can have fish TV again. Note to self, no shrimp, no phantom dying snails, and as an added bonus, no boyfriend to argue aquatics with. So, I get out my trusty old books and read, and get on craigslist and get a deal on a jbj 24 gallon tank that was brand new. I'm joyous at this moment because my husband could care less and it was my project. Lets find local fish people. Enter overenthusiastic sales girl who laughs at my list of items and attempts to sell me an entire tank of bull in a day. Are you kidding me? NO.
I just watched you put your hands in the tank with the live rock and tell me its ok if I do. WHAT? I quietly buy sand, a cleaner, a test kit, and what was considered live rock pebbles, a heater and one yellow tailed damsel. I had tested the tank for cracks, and had filtered my well water through a pur filter. {I know} Well, Figi sand and Just say no had everything correct except ph in three days. I had to add buffer(and still do). I waited. Two weeks later I bought one mushroom and I fell for corals.
Lets just say I'm wigging because fish store people should have said throw away sponges, don't use bioballs.. did they? No. I became queen of clean up and what the *(#%(# that was not there this morning!!
So in short, I am dreading digging out those things in the back of the tank but after detritus was everywhere and I was dunking my liverock to clean it, I will be brave. I have two fish. Romeo and Hansel. Romeo is the damsel. Hansel is a Dottyback that decided to hangout inside the rock and come out in my hand at one am because all this happens before vacation. I am screaming like the woman on the stool in Tom and Jerry the cartoon knowing if I step down it will be on the #41#### fish. Needless to say, Hansel fell into the bucket. If it were one am and you packed for a week and a slimy fish fell into your hand, you'd scream and fling too.
Romeo served as my Rin Tin Tin the other day, as I rearranged my rock to get rid of dead spots. I found him looking out at me and my spastic damsel who was a dog in another life.
Anyway, that was a cascade effect from deciding I wanted three fish and bought a large damsel that decided to knock rock down and look like my dog chewed on the middle of his spine. I returned it to the fish store crying and the owner still has my forty dollars swimming around and looking at me. A$*%()#%(*#)(
So what is the point of this? I have a tank my hand is in way too much. My girlfriend let the tank temperature drop six degrees but left the lights on and messed up the timer.. but nobody died.
Right now all my levels are right and then I start reading about minerals and copper and iodine. Crap Nuggets. Somebody give me a book source to buy because I wish I had more time and had taken more time to research things. I need some reliable people to tell me which threads to go read, and please pardon the directness, because I love these forums, but I don't have time. I do know these tanks require work, but I really don't think daily other than lights.
I will add some pics soon, because I have a case of what the heck is that? and eww gross is soon to be whined over.
And I have no crew. Except for a hitch-hiker brittle star and tube worms. The shrimp from years ago scared me off. More to follow on the corals I have that are being mighty nice to me.
