Can I put this in NOW?

dallas

dallas

New Member
Im in the 5th week of a new tank...55 gallon ,fish only,wet/dry w/ skimmer, etc. I started out cycling my tank with 6 clownfish on the advice of my lfs. I monitored the levels pretty closely and saw a rise and decrease in both ammonia and nitrites and slight increase in nitrates. Ph level is 8.2
I added a Naso Tang, dottyback, and algae eating blenny. The clowns started to get sick about a week later and the ammonia and nitrite are both through the ROOF now. I took out all of the clowns and left the others in the tank(Naso,blenny,dottyback). I have been doing 5 gallon water changes EVERY day and cleaning out as much waste(poop) from the tank that I can. What can I do to lower the levels? The clowns were getting pop-eye and starting to lose color on their stripes,etc. I dont have live sand or live rock and I was wondering if I could add some NOW? Or would it possibly start another cycle and kill my fish that are present in the tank? Did I have too many fish in the tank? Your help would be very useful. THanks.
 
kris

kris

Member
You went too fast. You were just finishing the cycle when you blew it by adding all the new ones at the same time. ONE fish at a time. Your tank pretty much has to go thru a mini-cycle with each addition you make, your newly cycled bio-filter was not able to keep up, thus the explosion in ammo. and subsequent deaths. Spend some time doing what your doing-small daily changes till levels are normal again (hopefully some of the fish you have will survive but don't put money on it). Live rock and sand you can and should add anytime, it should not create any additional ammonia spike or anything unless it is not fully cured, so get off your computer and go buy some. Good Luck
 
mr.trigger

mr.trigger

New Member
also try and not feed the fish as much att this point till things get better.....i would feed them everyother day instead....this way the dontt produce as much waste........they will be fine with this feeding schedule for now.......good luck
 
xavier

xavier

Member
True, you added far too many fishes at one time. i fish a week is good until you reach the limit of around 1" per 5 gallons.
Cycling with Clown fishes was not a great idea. They are costly. Damsels would have been better if you wantes fishes.
All I can say is I hope the Naso and the others survive the ammonia levels.
Slow is the best way. This way you can enjoy adding life to your tank longer. It sounds great to add all from day one but later on you will want more and there simply will be no room.
Best of luck and keep us up to date.
 
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