need help 1st setup -> new guy

[ahmer1781]

This is my first saltwater setup, never really had a fish before, was always a bird person. I got lucky and bought 55 lbs of LR and 5 lbs of LS to seed my sandbed (about an inch thick) and the guy included hermits, porcelain crabs snails and 2 serpent sea stars, Thanks Kovub! I found him on BostonReefers

So I was looking at the tank today and the water seems to have cleared up pretty well, its' a 40 gallon and a 25 gallon sump/refuge on the bottom. I was thinking of adding some fish soon, maybe just a few chromis, since I think there was minimal die off cuz I bought the rock and took it from one tank and ran to the other with 30 min. There are also a lot of random coral growing which is great.

I live in Quincy and have heard horror stories about Tropical Isle and people getting their sick fish etc... What stores do people recommend? Down the street from me is LovelyPets in Quincy which seems okay but in general I'm scared of going to a big store to purchase. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks.

Ahmer Khan

 

[ahmer1781]

some pics:

http://yusuf2.fotopic.net/c1018676.html

 

[Moe_K]

Close to you: Skiptons in the New Market area (near Southie/Dorchester/Roxbury border; not too far from Andrew Square). I used to shop there when I lived in Southie. Nice store.

 

[S Hunter]

http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=27682 this is a great tool and Welcome Aboard

 

[nichols]

I've always had good luck at Sea Creatures in Revere. (good prices and John knows his fish.) I have also bought fish at Tropical Isle, the are more expensive though.

 

[JohnK]

Great start.

The best advice right now is to move slowly and read a lot. If your looking to get fish I would suggest reading up on fish diseases so you can make some informed decisions on certain points. Main questions are;

to quarentine or not to quarentine,
types of fish that will do well in your tank,
and how quickly to add them.

Even if your rock is well cured it can't hurt to give the tank a couple of weeks to stabalize before adding anything new. This gives ample time to do some reading.

In addition to this fourm there are good ones on
www.reefs.org
and
www.reefcentral.com
(and numerous others.) Reefcentral has a fish disease specific fourm that has a bunch of helpful threads at the top.

I agree Skiptons and sea creatures are nice stores. I would also suggest checking out Coral reef aquarium in seekonk, aquarium gallery in salem NH and aqua addicts also in salem NH. All of the above have fourms in the sponsors section

 

[smcnally]

I was at Lovely Pets this weekend and the pickins were slim. There were very few small fish in the store at all. I was looking for something small and colorful and left empty handed. I need to find out what day they get their stock in, because they always seem empty when I go. Tropic Isle has one of the best selections of fish around even though they get a bad wrap. Skiptons usually has a nice selection too, and the prices are often better than TI. Where ever you go, tell them the size of your tank so they can explain what fish would work, and what wouldn't.

 

[S Hunter]

i was at Skiptons this last weekend... was slim there also...

 

[Liam]

the fish selection and quality is actually the only good thing at tropic isle actually JMHO

 

[Greg Hiller]

Summer is a slow time at many shops. I imagine they are not hot to bring in a lot of stock.

 

[JayM]

I think high fuel prices have put a downdraft in people's disposable income too, so fewer fishy luxuries.......75-80 dollar fillups are starting to hurt.