New Beginnings

grantfoster02

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Today I just purchased my first saltwater fish. It's a Clownfish and I can be any more ecstatic. He's currently in an AIO 13 gallon as I continue to get my 40g set up. Any tips on them are greatly appreciated.

clown.jpeg
 

mdrieder

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Hey @grantfoster02 Give us some background. If your anything like me with my first tank.. the tank is uncycled, the water is at an unknown salinity and there's a whole world to discover ahead of you. Let me know what you know and we can tell you what you still need to know!
 

vetteguy53081

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How long has tank been running and how and how long was it cycled?
 
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grantfoster02

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So my water is Nutri-seawater, I did ask my LFS about their water salinity and compared it to mine and decided to do a drip acclimation. There was not much of a difference, but I wanted to stay on the safe side. The salinity that I have is 1.024. It was set up for 3 days before I decided to go and buy the clown. And what I was led to believe was that I did not have to cycle the Nutri-seawater. But that is all of the information I have for right now.
 

mdrieder

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Well that's not ideal, but I don't want you to be discouraged. I strongly recommend limiting feeding and doing frequent water changes because your little clown is gonna have to go through the cycle (or bringing it back to the store until your tank is cycled). Id also recommend bingeing this YouTube playlist. Its rapid fire information but its really worth it/needed.
 
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CMMorgan

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Stability will help but follow through on those water changes. Your fish will thank you!
Congrats on being a new fish parent!!
Welcome to the salty saide!
 
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grantfoster02

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Stability will help but follow through on those water changes. Your fish will thank you!
Congrats on being a new fish parent!!
Welcome to the salty saide!
Thanks! I’ve been on the freshwater side for a good minute. Now I’m taking my hand on doing both
 

MaxTremors

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So my water is Nutri-seawater, I did ask my LFS about their water salinity and compared it to mine and decided to do a drip acclimation. There was not much of a difference, but I wanted to stay on the safe side. The salinity that I have is 1.024. It was set up for 3 days before I decided to go and buy the clown. And what I was led to believe was that I did not have to cycle the Nutri-seawater. But that is all of the information I have for right now.
Why do LFSes do this? You need to get some bottled bacteria ASAP (biospira, Microbacter, Dr Tims). Simply adding sea water with no live rock, live sand, or bottled bac does not cycle your tank. The only bacteria you’ve got are the tiny amount from the slime coat of your clown fish, if you don’t add some more bacteria (either live rock or bottled bac), you’re going to have a deadly ammonia spike before the bacteria have reproduced enough to process the ammonia the fish is creating. You need to do this ASAP. Also, test for ammonia and do water changes in the meantime.

Edit: Also, welcome! Don’t mean to scare you or blame you (you’re just doing what your lfs told you), but you were given bad, potentially deadly advice (especially in such a small tank). Just add some bacteria and test for ammonia and do water changes until you start to see the ammonia processing into nitrite and then to nitrate, and your fish should pull through.
 
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grantfoster02

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Here’s an update: got him to a friends quarantine tank for the time being. Thank god for good reefing friends. My LFS is just a Ma and Pa shop and said they wouldn’t be able to hold it for the time being. I’ll start a build thread of the tank. For the time being it will be a FOWLR tank.
 
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