Fustration
 

Ok so this morning I helped a friend setup his 25 gallon nano reef tank put an inch of sand down put the rocks I gave him in the tank setup the HOB Skimmer got the lights and timers setup for the aquarium gave him an old powerhead to circulate the water helped setup his RO/DI water system and mixed the first batch of salt water and then filled the tank up. We started at 10 this morning we were done by 1pm I get a call from him tonight asking why the fish he put in the tank was dying!!!!

I took my time over past couple of weeks explained to him and his wife about waiting and letting tank cycle got them to peruse canreef, Nano-reef and reef central forums and helped pick out the fish that would eventually go in the tank. He turns around an hour after I left went to the LFS bought a chromis threw it in the tank and then watched as it began to die because he figured the fish swimming in the tank would make it cycle faster.

I gave them all the knowledge and help that I could make available to him then he does a move that isn't very smart. Talked to him tonight and told him not to be so boneheaded and wait got his wife to promise to make sure he waits and to let me know if he isn't being smart.

You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink....this is how I felt tonight ....frustrated to the nines

Stupid is what stupid does and you can't fix stupid.
Poor fish.:sad:

What's he going to say when he reads this?...

He knows about it already and his wife printed it and taped it to the tank for him to see and remember

Hopefully he listens to you going forward. It's typical for newbies to have tank envy and think they can take shortcuts, especially if they've seen someone else's in person. Let him know, those mistakes get costly fast and if he's serious about this hobby, he's got to learn to enjoy each stage, even the boring cycle. Good luck, he's lucky to have you as a friend.

And we never made mistakes when getting started:question:

NEVER! C'MON :rolleyes:

Technically you can cycle a tank with damsels. Maybe they just mixed up the info:wink:

I used blue-green chromis to cycle my tank. I still have 2/3 and only lost one because he decided he wanted to inspect my new flooring.

Either way your obligation as a friend is complete once you've provided him with the assistance and advice to get him going. If he decides to ignore what you suggested then it's on him. Why get frustrated?

That was the point of me helping him to avoid most of the noob mistakes that could be potentially made however as my friend said last night after our talk "Mouth engaged, Brain in neutral"