Advise on cycling?

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Pegasus416

New Member
Hello all. I just joined this forum as I am restarting my FOWLR 75 gallon. I set up my tank 8 years ago as a birthday present for my wife. I had great results with it but let it go to hell within a year of my wife passing away 3 months after I set it up for her. My last clown recently died and I decided to start over again. And here's where I made my major screw-up, leaving my brain in the closet. I dragged a garden hose into the house and kept repeatedly cleaning the live sand and crushed coral base until it was clean. I cleaned my canister filter, but of course (duh) filled it with fresh water. Then I mixed up a salt solution but only had enough to bring the tank to 1.008 where it sat for a week. By the time I got more salt and brought it up to normal salinity, I fear I most likely killed off all the good bacteria in the base and live rock. I don't know what I was thinking. :( In any event, I realized I have to cycle it again so it's in-progress. Finally getting an ammonia spike, but no sign of nitrites yet. So here's my questions. First of all, should I run my protein skimmer to catch some of the dead bacteria and other proteins? I am getting some brown skimate. Secondly, should I feed the tank in an effort to cycle it quicker? I appreciate any advise. I want to do it right this time. Thanks everyone! I'm so glad that I found this forum.
 
Kristin1234

Kristin1234

Active Member
Hey where did the other Pegasus go?

And yes. Ghost feed to help the cycle along.

And I agree with Jay. Crushed coral is so 5 years ago.
 
jay0705

jay0705

Well-Known Member
The dead bacteria will just help the cycle. The dead is what feeds the good bacteria. Time is your friend be patient
 
beaslbob

beaslbob

Well-Known Member
balance out your tank with macro algae.
Use a molly acclimated to saltwater to cycle the tank.

Then do the rest.

my .02
 
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Pegasus416

New Member
Hello all. I want to update on what's going on and to get some advice. in my original post I stated that after my last clown died after 9 years, I decided to get my badly neglected 75 gallon FOWLR aquarium back up and running. Unfortunately I didn't think it thru and made some serious errors. I ran a garden hose into the house and kept cleaning the base and LR until the water ran clear and let it sit with very little salt for about a week. A week later I filled it with 1.022 water and started the cycle again. After 6 weeks I was pretty happy with the chemistry, getting a good ammonia spike followed by 0 nitrites and nitrates. I've been doing weekly 25% water changes.

2 percula clowns were added and they are thriving, very energetic, and eating well. Water chemistry to this day is right on the money. Only thing out of the ordinary is I have been fighting diatoms, which I accept as new tank syndrome. I started adding additional fish, 2 royal grammas, a flame angel and a diamond goby. All died within a few days of adding to my tank. All were acclimated for about an hour before adding into the tank. The clowns continue to thrive well.

I'm at a loss on what's wrong, as well as my LFS that I have been dealing with for over 10 years. I have gone as far as checking for electrical current in the tank but read 0 milliamperes, so I know electrical leakage to not be the cause. The only thing I can think of is that something is dying off in the LR and/or base poisoning the fish.

Any ideas? Time to start over from scratch? I really would appreciate any guidance and suggestions. Thank you!
 
jay0705

jay0705

Well-Known Member
The fish you added,are not hardy for a new tank. Basically that's what you have. You also added way to many at one time. The goby is a sand sifter,you have very little to no fauna in your sand bed to eat. Never add 2 grammas to a small tank. They will fight. A flame is a hard fish to keep even in a established tank.
Take time let the tank mature before adding more fish. General rule of thumb is a month between adding new fish. This works well with quarantine. Bc once the qt fish go in the dt. You can purchase and qt your new fish.
 
beaslbob

beaslbob

Well-Known Member
I think you basically kicked off a mini cycle which killed the new fish.

(not to mention the possible fights as well)

my .02
 
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Pegasus416

New Member
Thank you all for your replies. I will give the tank a couple of more months to stabilize before adding additional fish. I guess I was a little worried about waiting too long with the two clowns becoming territorial. When I am ready, would you all mind if I came back for advice? I really want to avoid and further mistakes in my choices.
 
jay0705

jay0705

Well-Known Member
They should be fine. Clowns really aren't too bad unless it's a small tank.
U can always ask questions
 
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