HELPPPPP!!!! My tank is a mess

[soccerstriker5]

any one who can help please .. my brother unplugged my filter 2 weeks ago. i noticed my water was getting cloudy and it was smelling like the bay during low tide and everything was dead 4 days ago. So I did a 75% water change and cleaned my filter. It did NOTHING, i did another water change this time 20% yesterday. today i went to my local FS and they did a water test said everything was good told me to buy a little cheap fish ( clown goby). Just got it home and within 5 min its dead. '
SOME ONE PLEASE HELP!!!

 

[speg]

You need to test the water yourself. Use the LFS test as a "second opinion".
Also, you can't just throw the clown goby in..you need to acclimate fish correctly and slowly.
Let the tank settle and test it yourself.

 

[flower]

Originally Posted by Speg
http:///forum/post/3283511
You need to test the water yourself. Use the LFS test as a "second opinion".
Also, you can't just throw the clown goby in..you need to acclimate fish correctly and slowly.
Let the tank settle and test it yourself.

+1000
Instead of fish buy a marine master test kit.

 

[soccerstriker5]

Thanks guys . will do.. how do i properly acclimate a fish?

 

[flower]

Originally Posted by soccerstriker5
http:///forum/post/3283519
Thanks guys . will do.. how do i properly acclimate a fish?

There are many ways…the idea is to get the new critter used to your tank water SLOWLY. Me, I put my new critter in a container with the water it came with, then I remove a little water and add back the same amount using a turkey baster marked FISH ONLY.
It is summer so temp really isn’t an issue right now. I add a little new tank water every 15 minutes, for an hour (two hours for inverts like sea stars) Then I net my critter and add him to the quarantine tank, or main tank for inverts or corals.

 

[fangelillo01]

No one should buy a fish just to test to see if it would live or not. Test kits tell you all of that, trust me this past week ive had a serious crash and i lost everything. Use RO water to do your water changes, clean everything dead out and make sure you have that filter running plus powerheads to move the water around. If my brother did that he'd be in for one REAL INTENSE beating!!!!

 

[btldreef]

You may need to re-cycle your tank. Running some carbon will help as well.
Personally, I like Flower's method of acclimating fish, I do this as well.
As other's suggested, buy a test kit, one of the best investments you can make. Try to get API or Salifert. DO NOT buy Red Sea or Nutrafin, they're garbage. Also, you want chemical drop test kits with test tubes, NOT test strips that you dip in the water.

 

[jstdv8]

thats how I acclimate as well.

 

[hunt]

If you look to the left side of the screen theres a little tab thing that says, Acclimation, click it and that will show you how to drip acclimate fish.

 

[sepulatian]

You most CERTAINLY need your own test kits. You cannot go by how "cloudy" the water gets. I am sorry, but how did you not notice that the filter was off for two weeks? Adding new fish isn't really an option right now. You have to get your water readings within normal limits.