Hi, I'm Emma :-)

Why do people do absolutely no research, dive into the hobby by going o a store and buying a bunch of crap and then expect to have success?
These topics frustrate me.
 
cvcdrk.... I have kept fish for over 20 years! I had been looking into marine aquariums for quite some time, This was the first site I got a live response other than the store where I purchased the setup, I only wanted 4 or 5 fish (and which ones I wanted) so they said that the tank they were showing me would be suitable and showed me what coral was best to go with the few fish I wanted. I always ask loads of questions before I buy, I only wanted a small setup as I know that they are hard work and need a lot of time and money. I did question them about the tank size being suitable and also the lighting before I bought the tank, they informed me (quite convincingly I might add) that as I wasn't looking to increase the tank size at any point that the one I was shown would be perfect, so I went with their recommendations. I had also been told by several other people who used this store that they knew what they were talking about and so I did that ultimate thing and put my trust in them. It is only having people actually reply to my posts on "marine keepers" sites that has shown me how wrong that trust was. I always research any animal to ensure it is going to be right for me and my family. I keep geckos, turtles, and have 4 fish tanks in total, and as I said have had over 20 years experience keeping fish, it is only the marine that is new to me and yes I guess if I'd found this site sooner maybe (no I would've) done things a lot differently, but please don't judge people because they have been misinformed when doing their research :(
 
Keeping freshwater for 20 years means nothing when getting into saltwater. This is typically the FIRST thing anyone who is ACTUALLY researching the hobby should realize.
A series of simple google searches would have given you many of the answers you seek....including advisories not to torture and result in the death of at least two creatures you had no business owning.

Asking questions on a site like this BEFORE you wasted your money and those creatures would have been a logical and responsible course of action. What made you think you could keep a fish that could grow to be 1' long and requires more than 150 gallons of water in a tank that holds less than 11 gallons? What "research" gave you that information?

Either way....you'll do what you want and nothing can be done now...but I will not apologize for being frustrated when I see topics like this.
 
Cvcdrk, get off your high horse and knock it off. You arent helping a damn thing.

We expect people working at the stores to be knowledgeable about the products they are selling. When I go to an electronics store to buy something I fully trust that employees will not lie to me and will help me get what I want. Same goes for most of the things I really dont know much about, like cars or other types of equipment.

It really is an anomaly that you cant always trust the sales people in the pet industry. I wouldnt have realized that unless someone pointed it out to me. I would have expected that talking to people in a LFS is a reasonable source of research. But now we know better and do our own research. Did you start this hobby knowing that you needed to do independent research? I doubt it, in fact I would be willing to bet that I pointed it out to you when you first started.

She clearly cares and she is clearly taking the steps needed fix the situation. Why would you jump on her back now? She isnt Zayyy who is telling us we are full of shit and she isnt Homer spreading false information about bristle worms. If you feel the need to be upset with someone, go bother Homer.
 
Thank you little fish, I really did do research first, I received no replies from other sites over 6-8 months and a lot of information on google sites seem to contradict one another, so yes I did go to a store that advertises itself as being specialists in Marine aquatics. I went in and spent over an hour discussing with 2 members of staff what fish I wanted (I only wanted 2 clown fish) I also talked through tanks and what I would need, ie the lighting, filtration, live rock etc. The tank I picked out was a small one as I already have a 3ft tropical tank and only wanted a small tank to go in the other corner of my living room. I reserved my fish and took home my tank along with the salt water and sand to get it running. I then left it to settle for 2 weeks, I then added some live rock and hermit crabs and turbo snails, again I let them settle in for two weeks before adding a couple small pieces of mushroom coral, and it was another 2 weeks before I went to collect the clown fish. It was when I was collecting them that one of the staff stated that the tank would look nice with a couple of cardinals and a blenny to set it off, so based on their recommendations - even though I questioned if the tank was big enough - I took home the clowns and blenny first and a week later 2 cardinals. After that it was about 2 months before I added in anything else and that was my colt and a polyp colony, all of which flourished well and I was getting to grips with the pH and the salt levels and water changes (again using only their water which was premixed) It was at one of these visits that I saw the tangs and enquired about them as they were exceedingly small (only about 3/4inch in size) I asked what size they get to and if they would be suitable in my tank or if I needed to increase tank size if I wanted to keep one. They informed me that it would be fine but that it does grow quite big so I'd not be able to put anything else in the tank. Yes I believed what I was told by supposed specialists - silly me! I do care greatly about anything I undertake and was merely stating about keeping freshwater fish for 20 years to ensure cvcdrk that it was not on a whim that I decided to try my hand at marine. I knew what questions I needed to ask and what sort of things could affect the very delicate balance of the tank. I hadn't bought my own test kits simply because the store is open 7 days a week and is only 8 miles away so I could quite easily and fairly quickly get to see if there was a problem with the water.
 
little_fish said:
Cvcdrk, get off your high horse and knock it off. You arent helping a damn thing.

We expect people working at the stores to be knowledgeable about the products they are selling. When I go to an electronics store to buy something I fully trust that employees will not lie to me and will help me get what I want. Same goes for most of the things I really dont know much about, like cars or other types of equipment.

It really is an anomaly that you cant always trust the sales people in the pet industry. I wouldnt have realized that unless someone pointed it out to me. I would have expected that talking to people in a LFS is a reasonable source of research. But now we know better and do our own research. Did you start this hobby knowing that you needed to do independent research? I doubt it, in fact I would be willing to bet that I pointed it out to you when you first started.

She clearly cares and she is clearly taking the steps needed fix the situation. Why would you jump on her back now? She isnt Zayyy who is telling us we are full of shit and she isnt Homer spreading false information about bristle worms. If you feel the need to be upset with someone, go bother Homer.
Click to expand...

I did start this hobby through online research. The internet was the primary (and still to this day the ONLY) research I've done. I walk into fish stores and the people working there are high school kids. They may know more than the average person but they're not knowledgeable and this is painfully obvious.

So yeah, I'll stay up here as long as I please. Like I said, a simple google search would have saved the lives of at least two creatures, probably all four. An hour of looking up "saltwater aquarium hobby" on google would have provided a wealth of information that the TC could have used far better than wandering into a fish store and believing everything they tell her.

Maybe it's just me but that's common sense.
Regardless, I won't take up any more of this topic with petty barbs. Suffice to say, use the actual resources that are clearly at your disposal, TC.....do ACTUAL research and you'll get better.
 
btw we got all the way through this topic and nobody bothered to ask her if she cycled the tank properly, which she did not....another thing that would be at the top of any google search on starting a saltwater aquarium.

k I'm done now.
 
cvcdrk, have you actually read any of my posts? I did do the cycling of the tank using the live rock and sand as the store informed me to do. It was why I did not add anything other than the crabs and snails for the first 6 weeks and I was told to feed the tank as if there were fish in there in order to aid and speed up the cycling process to stabilise the ammonia levels. I guess my mistake was believing specialists and getting no other advice from marine forums when I asked questions, I did find plenty of information on the internet but a lot of american sites all contradict each other, so I asked my local store who advertise as marine specialists. I didn't come on here to be judged or belittled, I simply came to ask for help to understand where I was going wrong after following information I was given. I don't know what TC stands for but obviously you are being derogatory towards me. You don't know me and obviously can't read or you'd realise that yes I did research and ask plenty of questions, and yes obviously believing specialists (both of which were definitely older than high school and claimed to have kept their own marine tanks for over 10 years each - so if that doesn't qualify them to advise and me to believe I don't know what does - perhaps you can enlighten me?!!) in a store is the wrong thing to do, I think I have quite comfortably established that and am trying my hardest to rectify my trusting issues in specialists and give my tank and the fish what it is that they need to be happy and well cared for.
 
just ignore cvcdrk...there is always someone like this on every forum

and yes there is contradicting information on sites so it is hard to know if you are doing it right
 
I was just about to say that anyone actually doing research would know that 10 minutes of googling will do nothing but confuse you, despite the fact that everything on the Internet is true!. You're in the right place, most of us here have made mistakes before and haven't been perfect at life. I don't fault you at all, I'm glad you're taking the time to figure out what's wrong and not just giving up. Ignore the naysayers.
 
Thanks guys, I really want to get my tank stable and happy. I am grateful for all advice. Little fish thanks for the link I will certainley take a look... especially if they do tropical too :) I love all my animals as they are not just my hobby, its like they are an extension of my children.. they sometimes need as much care and devotion, but without the shouting and tantrums in return! I find great pleasure in keeping fish and watching them do well it is why I am quite devasted at my losses. I think I will definitely upgrade tank size in April, but not by too much. I presume I will still need to cycle it before I can transfer the current tank? Or will it be ok seeing as I will not be getting anything else new in there for a while except some extra sand.adding extra water wouod be like a top up then? I have also ordered my refractometer and liquid test kits yesterday off the internet, will be about 7-10 days for delivery so will be more able to keep a closer eye on what is going on :)
 
I dont know actually, but I think we need to start a thread on UK vendors. I will get that project going.

As far as upgrading, you can probably move everything in one day, but don't reuse the sand unless you clean it really really really good
 
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