Any aquarists?

I have an urgent question for the fellow fish fanatics out there....

I live in...well, lets just say an "active" apartment in the city...and I need to set off a couple of roach bombs asap. What precautions do I need to take with my tank? Is throwing a towel over the openings in the hood enough? Is my air pump going to suck in all of the toxins and kill my fish?
Anybody done this before?
 
If it's in the air, it will end up in the water. You can try shutting off the filtration and covering the top of the tank and all external pumps, filter boxes, etc. with plastic - but you will also be cutting off the oxygen supply.

Moving the fish to a safe temporary tank and completely sealing your permanent tank setup with plastic would be a safer option.

-Dave
 
Roach Bombs = DEAD FISH

If I were you I would break down the tank before setting off the bombs, just too risky for your fish.
I've been in the salt habit for the past 18 years, killed my fair share of gorgeous fish - mainly due to lack of knowledge. There wasn't the net around then, NO excuse for that kind of trial and error nowadays. My system consists of a 150 reef upstairs, a 120 reef downstairs and both are connected together with a 100 refurg. Not many corals or fish at the moment- 95% loss of livestock when we remodeled the kitchen ( where the 150 is located) paint fumes impossible to contain given the dynamics of my system. Yes I did cover the tank to the best of my ability, but sps are very delicate.

Thor- Always buy the largest tank you can afford- more volume, more surface area for gas exchange, longer time for ammonia and nitrites to accumulate to potentially lethal levels. Your fish will grow and grow quickly. You should monitor your ammonia levels until they zero out, then monitor for even deadlier nitrites until they zero out - should take about a month for your tank to cycle. Keep you fish population low and don't overfeed. If food doesn't get eaten in 5 minutes net it out or siphon it out or else it will decay and add to your biologocal load - not something you want to do when your tank is new and cycling. You also need to lower the number of fish in a 10 gallon tank to maybe 2 small fish. I believe the rule of thumb for freshwater is 1" of per 1 gallon of water in a fully cycled system. And the fish measurement is based on the Maximum size the fish can attain. My best advice is patience and to read, read, read! Buy some books. The boards that have been listed are excellent, especially for beginners. Listen to the people on the boards, they know their stuff. If you choose not to do what people have suggested for you so far you will not need to buy a bigger tank down the road, you'll end up killing everything you put in the tank, you'll get very dicouraged and quit. I've seen it happen way too often. If you do choose to follow everyone's advice you will be rewarded with a healthy tank with healthy and happy fish. Then and only then would I suggest a larger tank that would support oscars instead of dooming them to an early demise.
Don't get dicouraged, if you need help or advice, just ask. It seems as though there are plenty of people here you can trust and are very knowledgeable. We were all new to this once ourselves.

Kim
 
Andyman,

Another name for a reef tank is MONEY PIT! The crack cocaine of aquariums. There are lots of ways to save money though, and it sounds like you saved yourself a bundle on that 90 getting it second hand. $900 for rock is a jolt, just buy some dead base rock and put in what you can afford in live rock, this will seed the base rock and in time will be good stuff. Plus having experience with boxes of new live rock, the more live rock you have equates with more die off in your tank. If you are going with a dsb pu that in first, then add your live rock on top of that and make sure your skimmer can handle the die off. After the rock has cycled then you can add your live sand. Keep the lights off while the tank cycles and remove dead material on a daily basis. The one advantage to a large amount of live rock from the get go is the increased living organisms on and in the live rock, which can also work against you if you have some nasty hitch hikers like mantis shrimp and any number of crabs that can be detrimental to the livestock you do want to keep from being eaten.
As far as going down to Florida with a couple of coolers, I would definitely pass on that idea. There aren't many reefs there and what are there are protected. Not worth going to jail for. Mail order is what you need to seriously consider.

If you need advice or have any questions, just ASK!

HTH,

Kim
 
heck 900 bucks for rock. i could go snorkeling out at the beach and get all the reef and sea slugs and fish i wanted (fish would be a bit hard to catch)
 
Originally posted by Haoleb
heck 900 bucks for rock. i could go snorkeling out at the beach and get all the reef and sea slugs and fish i wanted (fish would be a bit hard to catch)

Collecting in Hawaii, especially rock, has been illegal for a long time.
Jack
 
Roach Bombs = DEAD FISH


Yeah, that seems to be the general consensus on all the fish forums as well. I wasn't sure if the air pump performed any kind of filtering or not but I'm gonna hold off. I'm actually moving at the end of the month and I just wanted to bomb to keep from bringing any unwanted pests along for the ride. But I'm not taking any chances with my babies...thanks for the input.

I'm hoping to start a reef tank once I get more permanently settled. I've only been doing freshwater so far, about 2 1/2 yrs.

Now I know who to talk to!

:p:
 
heck 900 bucks for rock. i could go snorkeling out at the beach and get all the reef and sea slugs and fish i wanted (fish would be a bit hard to catch)

I'm a big fan of scuba diving and one of its primary mantras (besides never hold your breath) is "Take nothing, Leave nothing".
 
Reef tanks can get expensive alright. I have been using an ecosystem filter that has drastically reduced maintenence. Halogens also are a must if you want to be able to keep a wide variety of corals
 
Originally posted by D-Zyne

I'm a big fan of scuba diving and one of its primary mantras (besides never hold your breath) is "Take nothing, Leave nothing".


Cept' lobsters and crabs out of the traps and scallops off the bottom ;) No joke I know 4 or 5 guys who got their diving licenses just to be able to do that.
 
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