HELP!!!!!

[Namscam]

who said i m adding them right away..I m gonna wait like a few weeks to see if things settle down first...I m just saying this will give me a chance to get new fishes like a lion fish or something like that

[Namscam]

also Plus I think my tank was pretty stable....its not like these fishes died due to me not slowing down...If they were do die due to poor water quality or high ammonia or nitrate spikes or what so ever then i could acept the blame that it was me that killed the fishes but in this case it wasnt even my fault...anemones do move and mine just happened to moved into the impeller of the powerhead and released a large amount of toxins which killed the fish therefore it wasnt due to any fault of mine that killed the fish except for perhaps buying the anemone....but u cant control where to put the anemone, they move to where they desire

[EmilyB]

where do you start in a thread like this...


fresh start?

huh...yah go dude

[MitchM]

Um, namscam, actually..it is your fault.

It was up to you to provide a safe home for that anemone. It was doing fine until you placed it in a tank with an open powerhead. If you have powerheads in a tank with anemones, you must use foam on the intakes.

Mitch

[AJ_77]

Richie, it's tough to know all this stuff right away - that's why people here have been telling you from Day 1, "take it slow." You could honestly spend a year just reading all the boards, following threads on other people's experiences, and learning from all the mistakes they make. Then you could avoid many of them yourself...

The common factor is that impatience leads to problems. It's really a hard one to learn, but this isn't a hobby for fast results - at all. That may be why some might openly question whether or not you should continue in it. Sounds harsh I know, but if we can't learn from the people on here that have shown success through their methods for years, then we're screwed...

If I hadn't relied on the reefers I met on this board when starting out 2 years ago, I doubt that I'd still be here at all. But I took the hard acvice, and found an approach that works for me, and it's been great. A lot of learning and patience, sure, but that's all good.

Don't know how you came up with a Ritteri, but I feel for you. That thing is one of the hardest animals to keep, period.

[Delphinus]

Originally Posted by Namscam

but u cant control where to put the anemone, they move to where they desire

FWIW, that's not entirely accurate. It's up to us to create a spot for the anemone that it wants to be in. Ritteri's have a reputation for being the worst wanderers, but it's because unsuspecting aquarists rarely put them in a spot that they like. If you look at where you'll find a ritteri on a real reef, you'll notice a few clues as to what they need. For one, they're at the top of the reef. They can even found above the low tide line in shallow water. That puts them as close as they can be to the sunlight, and it puts them right into the surge zone.

To be honest, if your tank is only three months old, it is no place for a ritteri. I'm sorry but that's my opinion.

I don't want to sound like I'm picking on you too, but, .... now you're talking about a lionfish. You're all over the map here, going from one extreme to another. My advice to you is, figure out first what exactly you really want to do. Try to imagine where you want your tank to be, two years from now. That might help you distill down what your next few steps will be. Before committing to purchases, look for examples of what you would like to try. We all do it -- we look at other examples, and then we try to emulate those examples. I see things that work, and I take away something from that. I see things that don't work, and I take away something from that, too. Read, read, read, and read some more.

I'm very sorry for your losses. Failure is a hard pill to swallow, but, try to take a good hard honest look at what happened and see what you can take away from this. What can you do differently from now on? We all do this too. If something doesn't work out the way we'd hoped, we ask ourselves, "whereupon did I go wrong in all of this?" Whether it's just because you were unlucky, or whether you were flirting with disaster from the get-go, you can always seize it as an opportunity to change something so that the risk is minimized for the same thing from happening again in the future.

[BCOrchidGuy]

I like the saying, "I haven't failed, I've just found 10,000 ways that don't work". Sometimes, even with the best of intentions we do things we regret later. I for one think it's difficult to know when the right time to add things is. There is something that goes on after a tank cycles, it's why alot of stuff does so much better in an established tank. Some inverts don't do well in a tank that's less than so many months old regardless of how well they are maintained but someone who neglects water changes, doesn't dose additives, doesn't use a Ca reactor, dosen't add kalk, doesn't change light bulbs will be able to keep stuff thats considered ultra difficult. The hobby is one where we need to be open to ideas, and sometimes criticism, I'd be willing to bet 99% of the criticism that goes on is from a trying to help perspective rather than an attack against a person.
Why not sit down and write a list of fish you'd be interested in keeping, and inverts. If you go for a lion fish, you'll not be able to keep much else in with it. Shrimp, crabs etc will all be a tasty treat in no time. A lion fish will also put a fair bio load on your tank, so corals may not like the company.
Just my two cents worth.

Doug

[Namscam]

Dont worry I wont take any of your comments the wrong way, and I know what you are all trying to say...I am not saying that I will 100% be getting such fishes but they are just in my list of prospect fishes. I know that most things tend to do well under established tanks but you can never tell when a tank is established...some ppl say it can take anywhere from 6-12 months but they dont really know forsure..just like how some says it can take 30 days for the ammonia/nitrate cycle but I have seen it within a matter of 3-4 days so no one can really tell how long it takes to actually get it established...it is up the the reefer to decide when their tank is stablised...I have found that all my parameters have been stablized as i check them every week..although I do not keep cal reactor but I do does it with ca additives and find that everything has stayed within the same range. and I have gone through all the differnt cycles that you can think of whether it be algae bloom, brown diatom, red slime, nitrate, and what ever cycle you can think of I have gone through it all.

and I know that someone of you say that rotteri anemone are hard to keep but b4 this incident the rotteri has been sitting in the same spot for like a month now and hasnt moved an inch. Even though you say that some animals are hard to keep, but what is hard to keep for one aquarist isnt particularly hard for another..I am not saying that I am a pro or anything because I am the exact opposite of that. its just like how some say that clams can not survive under PC (maxima and crocea) but my friend has been keeping 4 of these clams under PC lights for 2 years now and they are growing and surviving,. I know that there are many aquarist who keep SPS under PC and they have thrive, when in fact most of you out there would say that they would die or not do well. jsut think of the time b4 MH were invented, how did these aquarist keep their corals.
and to Carpenterreef: I am sure that not everyone keeps foams on their intake. I do not do it because I find it that t restrict flows.. Its like how you should be keeping a cover for your tank so that the fishes do not jump out but yet ppl do not keep tank covers.. You probably do not keep tank covers so I could say that you are not keeping a safe environment for your fishes. therefore it is not NECESSARY to keep foam in your intake.

also I know that rotteri like to be on top because mine is on the highes ledge of rock that it can find and my powerhead is placed in the middle of the tank and the intake for that powerhead is close to the bottom end but it just happened to move in that directing and witht he high flow rate of that powerhead(600gph) I guess it was enought to just pull one or two tentacles into the intake and there you have it toxins left and right

To all of you who gave me comments that look they they were attacking my ways of doing things, I am not offended by them but welcome your comments for I know that you are just trying to help me and I approciate your help
Thanks for the comments

[Namscam]

Well at least there is one good new that came out of this incident or at least 2. when I woke up today I saw that my white BTA had split into two and my yellow cucumber had also split.

[MitchM]

Originally Posted by Namscam

and to Carpenterreef: I am sure that not everyone keeps foams on their intake. I do not do it because I find it that t restrict flows..

...and it also kills anemones.

Its like how you should be keeping a cover for your tank so that the fishes do not jump out but yet ppl do not keep tank covers.. You probably do not keep tank covers so I could say that you are not keeping a safe environment for your fishes. therefore it is not NECESSARY to keep foam in your intake.

None of us have perfectly set up tanks, but there are things that you can do to prevent the premature death of your tank inhabitants.

For example, as with open top aquariums, you can pile rocks towards the center, not the back or sides. That will help prevent fish from having a perch close to the edge of the tank where it would be a short jump over the edge if they became spooked. You could also make sure that you have a large enough tank with few inhabitants that have plenty of swimming room and hiding spaces. Make sure you know the characteristics of the fish you keep, so that they can have as peaceful co-existence as possible.

....or foam intakes on powerheads where there is a possibility of an invert or small fish being sucked in.

My issue with your previous post was that you took no responsibility for the death of the anemone.
We all make mistakes. It is best if we learn from them. These boards are great in that we can learn from other peoples mistakes as well.

Mitch