first casualty, please help!

aelene

aelene

Member
Here are the readings I got. I tested the main tank last night and I tested the QT tank this morning. I will test the main tank again today to check the readings. These measurements are liberal as well FYI. My readings are always higher than the LFS... for example when I think my PH is 8.0 they say it is 8.2, etc
Main Tank 8/13/05:
PH - 8.0
Ammonia - 0
Nitrites - 0
Nitrates - 10
SG - 1.021
Temp - 81
QT Tank 8/14/05:
PH - 8.0
Ammonia - .50
Nitrites - .25
Nitrates - 20
SG - 1.023 (Salinity 31)
Temp - 79
If that ammonia reading is correct on the QT tank, does that mean it's started a cycle? Remember both the water and the rock were put in yesterday... the water is from the main tank (with a little new mixed in) and the rock is mostly cured, but not all the way from what I was told when I bought it.
Spegg - what does the carbon filter do? I was told I didn't really need that portion in my filter... is that wrong? If so I need to buy a replacement for it.. the one I have has been in there every since I originally set up the tank (5/1/05)
 
speg

speg

Active Member
Running carbon removes a lot of bad crap from your water... although it's not picky and removes some of the good as well.. this is why a lot of people keeping reef tanks will NOT use carbon filters.. but if you have fish only... i'd personally never go without carbon. Its really not horribly bad to use carbon in a reef tank once in a while either... a lot of people do it and have plenty of success.. I am currently NOT doing it.. and probably never will.
If there is ammonia in the tank.. thats the start.. you know the cycle has begun once you see nitrites - so since you have nitrites... then yes you're cycling the QT.
 
aelene

aelene

Member
:waves:
well, I wanted to give an update on how things are going. So far so good I think. No more deaths, the cleaner shrimp and the blenny get along well Click here for post about shrimp "cleaning" the blenny
My QT tank has finished cycling I believe. Today is the first day I tested it that ammonia and nitrites are at 0.
Here are my current tank readings/status:
Main Tank:
Stats: 40g - 40 lbs LR, 60 lbs LS, Hang on protein skimmer and filter, powerhead and actinic lighting (24" 65W 2-Lamp 24 hour lighting system)
Stocked with: 11 medium to small hermit crabs, 3 medium snails, 1 cleaner shrimp, 1 LMB and 1 asterina seastar (for now anyway, he's a hitchhiker)
Water Levels:
PH - 8.4
Ammonia - 0
Nitrites - 0
Nitrates - 0
SG - 1.022
Temp - 81F
PH just recently went up from 8.2 to 8.4 ... not sure if my reading was off or not and the nitrates just recently went from 20-30 range to 0 (yay)
Ok - so keep in mind this tank has never really cycled. In the last 4-6 days I have had a pretty heavy outbreak of green (and red) algae. Since getting the LMB I have added a sheet and a half of algae for his food but that's it.
Is the algae a prob? Will it cause anyone in the tank to have issues? Is this normal b/c of the switch to actinic lighting?
P.S. I also added the carbon back in the filter, as discussed.
Quarantine Tank:
Stats: 26g - 12 lbs LR, hang on filter, no special lighting
Stocked with: no known inhabitants
Water Levels:
PH - 7.8
Ammonia - 0
Nitrites - 0
Nitrates - 20
SG - 1.024
Temp - 78F
Now that the QT tank has cycled, does that mean that my LR is cured and it can go in the main tank, or will it need longer? It's only going on two weeks now..
 
fishmamma

fishmamma

Active Member
I jumped down but so far from what I read here is what I would do.....run BOTH carbon AND a Polyfilter in your tank (poly will also remove ammonia), buy some Amquel for an emergency and make sure to always have 4 gallons at a minimum of pre-mixed saltwater heated up and ready to go. Then I would leave everybody be, do daily water testing for ammonia and nitrites, slowly bring salinity back up and keep your fingers crossed. What are you planning on feeding that LMB? Is there a lot of algae on your rocks? If adding food feed sparingly over the next 3 or 4 days. If your ammonia levels get too high ( more than barely there on your test kit) do a water change, and also do a daily change if necessary to keep nitrites down. If you get an ammonia spike dose the Amquel or Prime as an alternative. This stuff does help- but it is not a miracle cure so your filters and frequent water changes will be very important. Good luck to you and your critters, don't panic, keep a close eye and hopefully you will not lose anybody else. :joy:
 
aelene

aelene

Member
Originally Posted by fishmamma
I jumped down but so far from what I read here is what I would do.....run BOTH carbon AND a Polyfilter in your tank (poly will also remove ammonia), buy some Amquel for an emergency and make sure to always have 4 gallons at a minimum of pre-mixed saltwater heated up and ready to go. Then I would leave everybody be, do daily water testing for ammonia and nitrites, slowly bring salinity back up and keep your fingers crossed. What are you planning on feeding that LMB? Is there a lot of algae on your rocks? If adding food feed sparingly over the next 3 or 4 days. If your ammonia levels get too high ( more than barely there on your test kit) do a water change, and also do a daily change if necessary to keep nitrites down. If you get an ammonia spike dose the Amquel or Prime as an alternative. This stuff does help- but it is not a miracle cure so your filters and frequent water changes will be very important. Good luck to you and your critters, don't panic, keep a close eye and hopefully you will not lose anybody else. :joy:
I don't have ammonia in my main tank, I never have. There is algae... which is what the blenny has been eating. In fact that was the question I needed answered was just off my recent post, not the others :) Here is what I need help with:
Is the algae in the main tank a prob? (I have pics posted above) Will it cause anyone in the tank to have issues? Is this normal b/c of the switch to actinic lighting? Can this be the reason why PH went from 8.2 to 8.4?
Now that the QT tank has cycled, does that mean that my LR is cured and it can go in the main tank, or will it need longer? It's only going on two weeks now.. so I'm not sure if I'm ok to put it in with the main tank or if I need to wait (ammonia spike during the QT cycle only hit .50 btw as a max) I read a post in a different thread that Bang Guy put up about his preferred method of cycling. Should I try to do a second spike in the QT tank before changing anything up?
 
rainfishy

rainfishy

Member
OK I'm just catching up on this post. So your saying that you have never had an ammonia spike on your main tank (now running almost a month) but at one point you had nitrates of 20?? Cause I'm thinking that the nitrates came from somewhere, that somewhere is nitrites, which originally was ammonia. Is my thinking here logical? Wouldn't having nitrates mean at some point she had ammonia? Not really sure maybe some experts can explain this better. Good Luck, hopefully you wont lose anything else.
 
rainfishy

rainfishy

Member
Sorry I didn't respond to any of your current quetions, just catching up

I don't think the algea is a threat to anything's life, dealing with algea, especially on a new tank is an ongoing issue. But you said you added a sheet and a half of algae for your fish to eat, that is way to much IMO. I add less than a dime size piece at a time, when I feed algae and that's for four fish. The algea in your tank isn't because of your type of lighting, but the change in lighting and increase in intensity can produce algae blooms. Not sure about a second cycle on the QT, you'll have to get other opinions on that. If it was me I would leave the live rock in the QT for a while longer to make sure it is fully cured before adding it to the main tank. As far as your PH, I would read some of the threads on here about PH, ALK, and CALC. Ok hope some of this helps.
 
aelene

aelene

Member
Ok, so far I have had no deaths since my clownfish. Right now I have the following tenants still:
11 Hermit Crabs
3 Scarlet Hermits (new)
3 Bumblebee snails (new)
3 Asterea snails
1 turbo snail (new)
1 Cleaner Shrimp
1 LMB
The blenny has been in the tank since the day the clownfish died, and so far he seems to be doing well. He hides more than he used too, and sometime his behavior seems a little erratic though. Is that normal?
The shrimp has been in the tank since the beginning (7/30), and the blenny is going on three weeks now... so does that mean I'm out of the woods? I'd like to maybe add another fish... or if I'm feeling really brave maybe a soft coral. Is that a bad idea? Should I wait longer?
:help:
 
fishmamma

fishmamma

Active Member
Aelene- maybe I need to go back and re-read but I thought htere was mention of tanks not being cycled properly- the main and QT tank, this would certainly lead to an ammonia reading upon the addition of new stock or a second cycle occuring. If I am making this up I apologize for my last reply. As far as the algae goes in thise pics it looks like regular stuff that appears on live rock, nothing to worry about. The problem may actually be that your LMB will run out of algae very quickly in that size tank. Is he eating aother foods at this point?? If he is now no worries there either, you will have a happy fat LMB on your hands. How are you feeding the algae sheets? Your hermits may be eating them not the blenny- but you ptobably have seen your blenny go after them right away if he is eating them............I had one in the past and he would sit in the crevices and jump about rather quickly and aggressively biting at the rock so the behavior you described seems normal to me from my short experience with my LMB (wouldn't eat nori or flake or sea veggies etc.. and was deadly). Your aquascaping looks good- lots of cool nooks and caves.
 
fishmamma

fishmamma

Active Member
Oh, and I wouldn't add anybody else until at least two more weeks have gone by. Stock very slowly from here on out and everything should stay steady for you.
 
aelene

aelene

Member
Originally Posted by fishmamma
Aelene- maybe I need to go back and re-read but I thought htere was mention of tanks not being cycled properly- the main and QT tank, this would certainly lead to an ammonia reading upon the addition of new stock or a second cycle occuring.
Nope Fishmamma you aren't making that up. However, I haven't had the ammonia spike with any additions I've done so far. At this point I'm wondering if maybe my main tank did a small cycle the first week and leveled out before I checked the readings after the first week? I guess it's a possibility... To this day I still have not had any of the readings come out bad and I test on an every other day basis.
The QT Tank *has* cycled now and it seems to be doing fine.
I will take your advice on livestock though, it can't hurt to wait longer.
Thank you!
 
fishmamma

fishmamma

Active Member
How much live rock did you have in your main tank when you set it up? I have always cycled my tank using live rock and live sand instead of the dead shrimp method. This does cause a spike in ammonia, nitrite, then nitrates- but to a much lesser dergree than with other methods since my rock is already cured. If you saw NO ammonia/nitrite spike that means one of two things.....either you were not testing daily and missed it or you have not yet had a cycle. :notsure: Either way you are still not showing any spike which is good news, but IMO reinforces the fact that you should stock very slowly. I would wait 4-6 weeks before each addition to give your system time to catch up to the new bio-load. BUT, the cool way around this if you get impatient is to purchase new stock and house them in your QT for at least two weeks, maybe even 4 now that it is cycled. The best of both worlds right???
 
fishmamma

fishmamma

Active Member
oops- i forgot to say that I had ammonia and nitrite readings for two weeks with one tank set-up, just over a week with the other, both using 20-30 pounds of live rock. :joy: Good luck with your LMB- they are such cool fish.
 
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