This hobby is stressfull to say the least
 

So ive been really stressing over my tank, and ive just started. Its been 3 months since ive add my rock, and 1 month since i added my clean up crew and my first corals and a fish.

Im just out of the gate, and i feel like im already far behind. I know no one is gonna ace this hobby and know everything right from the get go. Call me a reef hypochondriac, but thats how overwhelmed i feel right now.

Ive been streesing over this clown goby i put in over a week ago. I may have jumped the gun on this fish, but i was thinking if this guy is dead, isnt he gonna create a serious ammonia spike? So i decided to hunt for this guy and move a bit of rock around, in doing so i found a piece with a serious aiptasia and bubble algae infestation. I removed the piece and it is currently sitting in RO water, after a flash boil. If i put this rock back in, will it create a mini-cycle due to all the living stuff dying off? Anyways, no sign of the goby. good or a bad thing, you decide.

Next my skimmer is pulling nothing, and i know i have next to no bio-load, but shouldn't some foam be flowing into the cup?

Now i did over a year of studying before i set anything up, but the more i read, the more i think i am over my head. I knew this hobby burns a hole in the pocket, and i should have realized just how much, being on a student budget and all. It just seems i need to buy every piece of equipment out there for my tank to flourish, and not just flourish, survive.

Maybe i just don't like to loose.
This is a good place to vent,
Stay tuned for my rant on how much i dislike this snow.

Take a deep breath. Its not a race and everyone has a bit of a learning curve in this hobby, even old timers :wink:

Clown gobies are cute but they can be a pain in the butt to get feeding and love to hide out in the rock. Sometimes its just part of the acclimation, sometimes they're doomed from the start. A tiny fish like that will not cause an ammonia spike. If you're worried about it, do a few small water changes over the next week.

With a low bioload, you probably won't see much in your skimmer cup. Unless there is something in your tank that is producing something to skim, don't expect to see much. What kind of skimmer do you have?

Putting the boiled rock in may cause a mini spike (or it may not), however with little in your tank except for one fish, this would be the time to put it back in rather than waiting until your tank is full. Again, if you're worried, do several small waterchanges as you go. Likely you won't see a spike at all unless there is lots of stuff dying on the rock as it cycles.

With a 28G HQI tank I would imagine you won't really need all that much in the way of equipment for your tank depending on which way you go with corals. You're pretty much set. Just take it slow and try not to stress out over it. Eventually you'll settle in and wonder what the big deal was :razz:

relax, really.

Listen to Christy, she isn't steering you wrong
One thing that the books don't tell you , things happen slowly and don't worry, relax and enjoy your tank .
besides the goby could still be alive , they are very good hiders, I got one by buying some live rock at the store and it was like an hour the rock was out of water before I got home and it was still alive, swam out of the rock!

There is nothing to worry about so as you've already been told -relax. Sounds to me like the tank is cycled and a one inch long dead fish doesn't mean your tank is the problem. What tests have you done? I would stress more over the little skiff of snow we had last night.:wink: If you have questions to ask Canreef is the right place to get your answers.

Patience and research are the keys to saltwater reef keeping. I have had several problems with my reefs over the years from parasites to tank melt downs.

If your fish has passed it is possible that your clean up crew has taken care of it before water contamination was possible. Check your water parameters before making any extreme changes.

All good advice & just relax...but since you've boiled the rock anyhow you might as well scrub as much off of it as you can before you put it back in (if you're really worried)

If you're worried, test your tank. I assume that being a stressed reefer you have all the test kits right? ;)