Ammonia and Nitrites too high

[jla9508]

I have a 55 gal. Salt tank, it has been up for about two months. I have a small blue regal tang and a small gold striped maroon clownfish. I have been doing water test once a week. About two weeks ago I noticed that my ammonia and nitrites were getting a little higher so I went to a local pet store and they gave me a product called TLC which is live bacteria that is supposed to take ammonia and nitrites out of the water. Well, I have been putting it in as directed and the levels of ammonia and nitrites are still rising. What should I do? I have ordered an Emperor 280 Power filter and a Prizm Protein Skimmer.

 

[dugan]

What kind of filtration do you currently have? How much LR? How much do you feed? With 2 fish in that tank you should not be having those problems.
Katie

 

[jla9508]

Right now all I have is a Whisper Power Filter (thats why I ordered the Emperor and Prizm) I feed them a small amount of flake food once a day.

 

[ocellaris_keeper]

You have no place for your bateria to grow in. Some live rock and substrate to help cycle and control the ammonia and nitrites should help - about 1/2 to 1 lb of live rock will do the trick.
our tank is simply beginning the cycling process.
Brewski

 

[beth]

Tangs and clownfish are inappropriate fish for cycling tanks. Please find a better home for these fish while your tank cycles.
There's nothing wrong with your tank cycling and the reason you are worried is becaue you have fish in there and will probably lose them because of the toxic conditions of your tank.
These days it is unnecessary to scarifice marine organisms to cycle new tanks. Do yourself and your fish a favor and find a suitable living alternative for them until you complete your cycle. Once they are out of the tank, you can rest easy and let your tank cycle wo worrying about killing your fish.
You can cycle with fresh store bought shrimp or, better yet, some live rock.

 

[pete]

Sometimes that bacteria that you add to the tank can provide inaccurate test results. I had a similar problem when i was adding stress zyme to my tank and it kept on giving me false readings on my tests.

 

[jacrmill]

do you turn your protein skimmer off while you add that stuff? ive read that your protein skimmer can pull alot of that good stuff you are adding out of the water. i have never used TLC but i have used StressZyme and had very good results. but i always added more than the bottle directed. instead of measuring a little or whatever i just gave it a good squirt right over my biowheel. sure seemed to help alot. Beth is also correct, i dont know if your tank has cycled or what, but right now your tank is either cycling or re-cycling which is both bad for your fish. you should either take your fish back to a LFS or soemthing or do frequent enough water changes too keep ammonia and nitrites down. these water changes would extend your cycling to a long time. good luck.