Help?

[imshellyc]

I have had freshwater aquariums for years. My BF wanted to try a saltwater setup. We didn't want to put out a whole lot of money before we knew if we could handle it.
So we converted a 10 gallon tank (I know most places recommend at least 30.) We bought 10 lbs of live rock. We used a power filter and added aeration with an airstone. We let this sit for about three weeks. Stuff started to grow on the rock and we had ammonia levels at zero.
We added two damsel fish and a hermit crab. One fish died within 3 days with no obvious signs of distress. He was active and fine one night, the next morning...dead. The other damsel was doing great. We had him for a month and he was very active. Then he developed what I believe to be popeye. One eye was protruding from his head and he couldn't seem to swim upright...kept listing to the side. He died after a couple of days of this.
We have a significant amount of (red algae?) on the sand. It is bright pink with stringy stuff. This appeared to spread right before the fish got sick. Everything I have seen says that this algae is not harmful to fish. Is that right? We were told in the fish store to just vacuum it off.
Do we need to treat the aquarium water with some kind of medicine before adding a new fish? Should we try to get rid of the algae?
We were going to try to have this setup for a few months before moving to something bigger if we had success. We thought we were doing well since all our water levels were within range. We did a partial water change every weekend.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks.

 

[saltn00b]

what test kit are you using? are you relying on the local fish store (LFS) water testing?
the algae is called cyanobacteria or "cyano" / red slime in the trade. its is caused by a few factors. most common is lack of flow in the tank, over feeding (which leads to higher phosphate levels) and too lengthy photo-periods. combinations of any of the above are a sure formula for this stuff.
it is not harmful to fish, but it is unsightly. you dont want it in your tank, and a healthy tank wont have any.
first thing is to get us all of your water readings from a decent test kits.
that would include
the ammo cycle : ammo, nitrite , nitrate
phosphate
pH
Alk
specific gravity or Salinty (clean hydrometer or refractometer (preffered) )
oh and remove the bubbler because that is not needed in a SW tank, and it lowers the pH. the flow should be at least 10x the tank volume in GPH (gallons / hour) for a basic SW tank. if you go reef (corals) you will need more. this flow is what oxygenates a SW tank.

 

[imshellyc]

We bought test kits from PetSmart with the test tubes and chemicals.
We check the salinity with a hyrometer, but I have read that hydrometers are not that accurate.
So is the air flow created by the filter? Should we have a different type of filter? We have not purchased a protein skimmer. Is that something we need for a small tank or for larger setups only? I'm not sure what it is for.
How much light should we have? I have a hood with flourescent (sp?) bulbs. This is on a timer and we currently have it set to come on at 6 am and off at 10 pm. Is that too long?

 

[saltn00b]

yea cut the light down to 12 hours for sure. at least. maybe even less.
for now a hydro is ok for your purposes, but clean it with white distilled vinegar to keep it accurate.
i think most 10g tanks run without skimmers. skimmers act as mechanical filtration and the LR / LS acts as biological filtration.
what brand is the test kits from?

 

[imshellyc]

I'm not sure on the brand. I will have to look when I get home. I am at work and don't have internet at home, so I will post that info tomorrow.
I appreciate any advice.
Thanks.

 

[saltn00b]

cool, take a look, do some tests and write it all down for tomorrow.
welcome to the boards btw and happy aquaristing.

 

[teresaq]

you should add a small powerhead for flow. That will help with the algea
T

 

[big]

Welcome t othe Boards!!!!!!
Hey Teresa, that mutt still have popsicle sticks on it's ears!!!

BTW.....Your Greemies are on the way this week, I got bags!!!!!!
Ohhh check out our Mutts ears!!!!!!!!

 

[teresaq]

no no more sticks, but one ear is a flop. Need to work on it.

Those are some ears now. should have named it batty

Sorry shelly didnt mean to hi-jack-- Welcome to the boards.
T

 

[imshellyc]

No problem. Thanks for the welcomes.
Okay I went home last night and checked out some stuff.
The kits are API (Aquarium Pharmaceuticals)
The levels are as follows:
Salinity: 1.022
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 0 ppm
Ammonia: 0 ppm
pH: 8.8 (high, right?)
I have a Whisper 10-20 power filter and a heater set at 72.
Should I treat the water with something since the fish died? I don't want to add a fish and then have it die with the same thing. Should I lower that pH? If so, how?
I changed the timer on the light to come on at 11am and go off at 10 pm and I removed the airstone.

 

[subielover]

You will want to bump up your temperature also. I keep mine between 80-81. Try adding a koralia nano, for added flow. That should help to get rid of the cyano. I would also wait a couple weeks before adding anymore fish, this way you don't have to feed the tank and give the cyano more nutrients to keep growing

Good luck to you and welcome to swf.com

 

[markeo99]

excess ph is usually cause by excessive die off aka feeding to much or lots of trapped detirious so is the cyano
I would increase flow and get a skimmer

 

[subielover]

Personally I don't think a skimmer is a necessary piece to a nano tank. I think if you are diligent with water changes and basic husbandry, a skimmer wouldn't be needed. Just start siphoning out the cyano on your next water change, try a 50% change to start.

 

[imshellyc]

I just read on another thread that airstones can cause popeye.
Do you think that is what happened to my Damsel?

 

[big]

Unlike Fresh, air-stones are not a good idea..............But do add a power-head to help with the algae. and circulation...........
Also, both temperature and salinity could come up a bit.... Salinity around 2.05 is better for many of the critters we all like . Especially the invertebrates do better at the higher numbers........... Raise it slowly by using less or no top off water for several days till the tank water is at 2.05 , then one time only add your Saltwater mixed to bring the tank up to the prior level. This is a good way that changes the salinity level gradually............But after this never use mixed saltwater for top off, it is odd how many folks make this mistake............ Good Luck with the new obsession!

 

[saltn00b]

agreeing with big. it is important to understand, H2O evaporates, but the salt / minerals / chemicals do not.

 

[imshellyc]

Yeah I know not add salt water to top off.
The book we have says 72 for Damsels; that is why it is set at that level. 80 seems like a big difference. Should I get the temp up that high?
Do I need to treat the water since the fish died to prevent future fish from getting sick? I'm not adding any until I get this cyano problem under control. I've seen water treatments, but I don't want to do anything to harm my hermit crabs or live rock.

 

[saltn00b]

the fish were not sick with a disease, they died from complications from the water not being at the proper levels. they do not leave toxins in the water that will kill other fish if introduced. unless of course, you left them in the tank to fester and rot, causing an ammo spike.

 

[imshellyc]

But what wasn't at the proper levels?
The only level that was high was the pH and my BF said I didn't do that test correctly. I was in a hurry and didn't read the directions when I did it the other night. He read the directions and did the test and it came out as 8.4. All of them were within range according to the test booklets.
So the fish died due to what? The temperature? The airstone?

 

[big]

Originally Posted by ImShellyC
http:///forum/post/2817831
But what wasn't at the proper levels?
The only level that was high was the pH and my BF said I didn't do that test correctly. I was in a hurry and didn't read the directions when I did it the other night. He read the directions and did the test and it came out as 8.4. All of them were within range according to the test booklets.
So the fish died due to what? The temperature? The airstone?
8.4 would be right on for the PH after a day of light, it drops at night with no light..........
As to losing a fish, the 10 gallon will be hard to keep stable because of the small volume of water. And sometimes fish just die, We hope to reach a point that we never lose a fish or coral, but we all have at one point or another..
Where the fish acclimated correctly would be another issue.??????..... Read the Acclimation flash on the site in the left column ....... But again the 10 gallon size may be what you have, but try to find a way to upgrade to a larger tank before you become too disenchanted ....... Also try reading as much as you can in the "sticky threads" under New Hobbyist..... A bunch of very knowable folks spent a lot of time and work trying to make things easier for beginners.......... Good Luck and don't give up.....