Help!

[aquafox]

Okay...I think I did a really dumb thing and may lose some of my fish as a result. I was attempting to catch one of my fish the other day and I removed some of the live rock in order to do so. I pulled it out and laid it on a plastic bag for no more than about 5 minutes. I had just tested my water and the levels were perfect. Within about 24 hours, I lost my long tentacle anemone. I tested my water again and it's all messed up. I have NEVER had nitrates...now I am getting strong reading for both levels of nitrates...the first one at .50 and the second at 20. My ammonia and ph levels are normal. I think my tank may be cycling again due to the liverock being moved out for a few minutes...is this what I am experiencing? And if so, is there anything I can do that will help my fish through this process?? I hate to lose them over my stupidity! I have four fish...a blue damsel, a cinnamon clown, a porcupine puffer, and a volitan lionfish. They are all fairly small - the largest is the lion and puffer who are about 3 inches each. I have 23 lbs of live rock and live sand in the bottom. The tank has been set up for several months now and the water readings have always been level. This is the first time I have had problems with nitrates. My filter is a bio-wheel 330 and I have a protein skimmer on the tank as well. Everything appears to be working properly. Can anyone help? My lion is the only one showing signs of stress so far...I have invertebrates as well, about 6 tiny hermit crabs, 1 small horseshoe crab, 4 turbo snails, and two chocolate chip starfish. All are accounted for.

 

[aarone]

I dont think that taking a piee of LR out for a few minutes would kik start another cycle. Its your nitrates that went up. not ammonia.
Test for ph. Something may have gottten into the system without you knowing.

 

[aquafox]

The PH is sitting at 8.0 which is normal for my tank. I tested yesterday and today and it's sitting solid...no change. The nitrates are reading the same as yesterday as well. I have searched for anything in the tank that could be causing it. A couple of my hermits molted, but I pull the molts out right away and this has never caused the nitrates to read high before. Is there a product out there that might knock them down some temporarily....until I figure this out? I really don't want to lose my fish. Also, I am now being told by my LFS that they think my anemone was still alive when I removed it Saturday thinking it was dead. It was a large long tentacle anemone. It shriveled down to nothing and appeared to expel some type of tissue (the tissue was attached to the body) from it's mouth opening. I assumed it had smothered from the nitrates. It wasn't sticky or clingy at all...completely limp and lifeless....I waited about an hour after I felt it was dead and pulled it out. I must admit I am very inexperienced with anemones, but I had read up on them and had never read anything on this type of behavior. My LFS now tells me that it was probably expelling waste and I killed it by pulling it out of the tank. She said if a LT anemone dies, it falls apart and stinks really bad...is this true? Or am I a murderer? I can't believe how dumb I am!

 

[aarone]

To get the nitrates down do a 25% water change ASAP. I hate to tell you this but you might be a murderer, well lets call it involuntary manslaughter.
Stuff like this happens all the time. Anemones are hard to keep. You may have not had enough lighting, or it was just expelling waste. When they die they seem to melt away, and yeah they do smell pretty bad.

 

[michaeltx]

if stirred up the sand when you did this it could cause a mini cycle just a thought though.
I second arrones advice though
Mike

 

[aquafox]

Oh! I bet that's what did it! When I put the rocks back in, I stirred the sand up pretty good looking for the horseshoe crab...I didn't want to put a rock on top of him...I think you may be right about that being the cause. So how long will it take the tank to get through this? I tested again at lunch...and when I get home from work tonight I am taking aarone's advice and doing a 25% water change. Hopefully that will knock the nitrates down enough to where the skimmer can handle the rest. Thanks to both of you for the kind words and the good advice!! I feel alot better at least with some sort of plan of action.

 

[michaeltx]

it can take a few days or a week but nowhere near what a true cycle would be.
try not ever stirring the sand to deep because of this it locks some of the crud in and when you stir it up you release it back into the water. but it should take to long for it to come back inline where it needs to be.
Mike

 

[aquafox]

Okay...I did the 25% water change last night and my readings are still pretty wacky but a tiny bit better. Here they are:
Ph 8.1
Ammonia .25
Nitrate No2 .25
Nitrate No3 10
My question now is: at these levels are my fish still in serious danger? I am worried about them suffocating due to the nitrates...the nitrates appear to be lowering but will it be fast enough? The fish are all very active (even a little more so than usual - which is kind of why I am worried) and all are eating well - except my lionfish - he is eating but less than usual. They are beginning to get ick also. I am treating with kick ick as I felt a freshwater dip would be too much additional stress at this point. Once the nitrates level off I will attempt to freshwater dip - does that sound about right?? Any assistance is still most appreciated!!

 

[beaslbob]

fish can survive with relatively high nitrAtes levels, but not so for ammonia and nitrItes. I am not sure about the ammonia level of .25 ppm but if that is not in the Green and still in the yellow then it is low. I do not trust ammonia kits at low levels. If the amonia is in the green then you have very serious problems.
The nitrIte test is more sensitive at lower levels and therefore I have a better trust of them.
If you nitrItes are lowering they should fall fast. Hopefully in a day or too. If not then try not feeding the fish for a day or two. With the nitrItes already on the way down, they should drop to 0.0 in that time.
The stress of the non zero ammonia and nitrItes probably brought on the ICH problem. After the nitrItes return to 0.0, you might try garlic soaked food. Hopefully the fish will recover as conditions improve.
If you do not have plant life then add some immediately.

 

[birdy]

FYI, NO2 is actually nitrites not nitrates, nitrites are very dangerous and it is that level along with the Ammonia level that is causing the problems, normally a nitrate level of 20 or under is not a problem (but you do want nitrates as low as possible). The only really good way to treat for ick is to remove the fish into a QT tank and do hyposalinity treatment. Kick ich only has a low chance of treating your tank, If doing hypo in a QT is not possible then I would continue to do water changes until those nitrite levels are down, one every couple of days or so. Once the stress of the water quality is gone the ich may go away but it will always come back if there is any stress in the tank.
Good luck

 

[dburr]

I agree with birdy. It sounds like they maybe alittle stressed but also not acting to strangely. Wait it out a couple more days. Doing alot at this point may stress them more than needed. If you see ick, do try garlic soaked food. Read up on the cycle of ick so you know what the cycle is.
Beaslbob:
If you do not have plant life then add some immediately.
What is this all about??? Plants don't consume ick and I don't think that will help with a mini cycle.
Dan