mikeyfishy
Member
I've searched and found some other threads where fish die when put into the tank, but I don't see any with my particular circumstance. This is my first post and I'm looking for some support/help. I'm quite experienced with freshwater but I'm new to saltwater and am having a helluva time trying to get things running!
My particulars:
46 gallon bowfront tank
60 pounds live sand
small amount of live rock
Aqua Clear 70 filter
Protein Skimmer
4 inch air stone
Temp: 75F
pH: 8.3
Salinity: 1.022
Ammonia: 0 to 0.5 (see below)
Nitrite: 0 to .125 (see below)
Nitrate: 20
I'm going to try to keep this as short as possible as I tend to overanalyze and overtalk things but it ain't going to be easy as I want to give as much info as possible, otherwise I'll end up answering all these questions later in the thread anyway. The tank has been up and running for about 6 weeks. In the beginning, I put in 40 pounds of the Nature's Ocean live sand, ran it for about 4 days, and put a few fish in (2 clownfish, a couple of tangs, and a royal gramma) along with the inverts: three peppermint shrimp, a half dozen tiny hermit crabs, a cleaner shrimp, and a chocolate chip star. For the fish, I did them one at a time spaced about 3 days apart each, monitoring ammonia and nitrites to make sure they weren't rising. The tank ran for about 2 weeks with no problem, then the problems started.
The tank ran at least 2 weeks with no detectable ammonia or nitrites and then all of a sudden they went up to about .5 ammonia and .5 nitrite and kind of just sat there. I'm certain I didn't overfeed and I test with the Saltwater Master Test Kit (liquid chems). I tried every solution known to mankind to bring the ammonia/nitrites down including water changes (can't change enough water to make a big difference and with each water change the fish seemed to get more stressed and look worse), several types of liquid bacteria, and even adding more live sand. I tried Chloram-X and Amquel Plus as well just out of desperation, but nothing worked. The fish all slowly died over about 3 days.
Through all of this, the inverts were all fine and still are. I waited about a week and ammonia and nitrites went back to zero with the inverts still in there so I figured I just tried to add fish too soon and that the "cycles instantly, just add fish" advertised by that live sand just didn't work and now my tank was finally cycled completely. I added one tiny clownfish and one small Heniochus back to the tank figuring it was safe. Within 2 days, my ammonia levels were back at 0.5 and my nitrites were between zero and .25 (I guess about .125). The clownfish died and now the Heniochus looks like it is starting to swim cocked at an angle (the way the others all acted before they eventually lay on the bottom and died).
I was told by the fish store that the clown and Heniochus were hardy enough that they should survive the 0.5 ammonia and 0.125 nitrites and would be able to survive a cycling tank. I don't know what is going on. I read the acclimation procedures and didn't follow those. I did what the store told me: bags in tank for 30 minutes, then double the water volume in the bags by adding some water from the tank, wait another 30 minutes, and let 'em loose. Even though I'm not following the acclimation procedures here, I'm not suspecting that as the problem because the fish seem to do well for a day or two until the ammonia rises, and then they die.
Not sure what to do.
Seems like with three peppermint shrimp, a cleaner shrimp, and a chocolate chip star in there, there should already be some bio-load and adding a couple of small fish shouldn't make it spike like that. Also not sure that 0.5 ammonia and 0.125 nitrites is enough to cause fish fatalities in just a few days. Maybe it's something else???
Thanks for any help,
Mike
My particulars:
46 gallon bowfront tank
60 pounds live sand
small amount of live rock
Aqua Clear 70 filter
Protein Skimmer
4 inch air stone
Temp: 75F
pH: 8.3
Salinity: 1.022
Ammonia: 0 to 0.5 (see below)
Nitrite: 0 to .125 (see below)
Nitrate: 20
I'm going to try to keep this as short as possible as I tend to overanalyze and overtalk things but it ain't going to be easy as I want to give as much info as possible, otherwise I'll end up answering all these questions later in the thread anyway. The tank has been up and running for about 6 weeks. In the beginning, I put in 40 pounds of the Nature's Ocean live sand, ran it for about 4 days, and put a few fish in (2 clownfish, a couple of tangs, and a royal gramma) along with the inverts: three peppermint shrimp, a half dozen tiny hermit crabs, a cleaner shrimp, and a chocolate chip star. For the fish, I did them one at a time spaced about 3 days apart each, monitoring ammonia and nitrites to make sure they weren't rising. The tank ran for about 2 weeks with no problem, then the problems started.
The tank ran at least 2 weeks with no detectable ammonia or nitrites and then all of a sudden they went up to about .5 ammonia and .5 nitrite and kind of just sat there. I'm certain I didn't overfeed and I test with the Saltwater Master Test Kit (liquid chems). I tried every solution known to mankind to bring the ammonia/nitrites down including water changes (can't change enough water to make a big difference and with each water change the fish seemed to get more stressed and look worse), several types of liquid bacteria, and even adding more live sand. I tried Chloram-X and Amquel Plus as well just out of desperation, but nothing worked. The fish all slowly died over about 3 days.
Through all of this, the inverts were all fine and still are. I waited about a week and ammonia and nitrites went back to zero with the inverts still in there so I figured I just tried to add fish too soon and that the "cycles instantly, just add fish" advertised by that live sand just didn't work and now my tank was finally cycled completely. I added one tiny clownfish and one small Heniochus back to the tank figuring it was safe. Within 2 days, my ammonia levels were back at 0.5 and my nitrites were between zero and .25 (I guess about .125). The clownfish died and now the Heniochus looks like it is starting to swim cocked at an angle (the way the others all acted before they eventually lay on the bottom and died).
I was told by the fish store that the clown and Heniochus were hardy enough that they should survive the 0.5 ammonia and 0.125 nitrites and would be able to survive a cycling tank. I don't know what is going on. I read the acclimation procedures and didn't follow those. I did what the store told me: bags in tank for 30 minutes, then double the water volume in the bags by adding some water from the tank, wait another 30 minutes, and let 'em loose. Even though I'm not following the acclimation procedures here, I'm not suspecting that as the problem because the fish seem to do well for a day or two until the ammonia rises, and then they die.
Not sure what to do.
Thanks for any help,
Mike
