Losing Fish (as we speak)- HELP

chercik

chercik

Member
I have a 44 gallon salt tank with 4 fish, some live rock and 3 corals.
Yesterday I switched from a magnum 350 with biowheel to a wet/dry filter. In my haste I forgot to add the bio-wheel to the return from the sump. I also forgot to add active carbon.
Overnight, I lost 2 fish and my corals are receading. I tested my water and test results are normal. A bit of ammonia. Nothing alarming. Could this all be happening because there is no biologic in the system? This morning I added the bio-wheel (The bio-wheel stayed wet overnight) back on to the system and I also placed the filter sponge that was in the magnum filter into the sump area.
I also added good quality carbon to the filter.
HELP - anything else I can do so I don't lose the other 2 fish or the corals?
 
W

wildmike

Guest
have you added anything new to the tank? or just changed the filter? Do you have any crabs or anything that might have picked at the fish?
Mike
 
quazi

quazi

Member
Did you just replace one with the other???:eek: :confused:
That was a bad idea. You should have run both for a week, then taken down your magnum.
Any ammonia in a reef tank is alarming! It means the entire nitrogen cycle has broken down, and has to re-start. This is why you have lost fish!
Incidentally, I would not run a wet/dry with corals. I would go with a 3" sand bed and a LR and a good skimmer. The bio-balls with make a lot of nitrates and you will have many problems with algae and general reef health. Use your W/D as a sump, and setup a LR refugium or put a light on it and keep macro algae in it. Very good for 'pod production and reef health.
Also, if you are not adding kalkwasser in evaporation make up water, do so NOW. It will keep pH up (and your pH IS trending down as we speak) and will help your corals.
Finally, because I am a polyFilter nut, go buy some polyFilters. They work better than carbon and you can see the results in the color change.
 
maroonclownfan

maroonclownfan

Member
Can you give a little more info? Type of fish? How long has the tank been up?
It might not be the lack of bio filter. It could be something else. However, ammonia could be the culprit. Did you test for Nitrites??
The presence of ammonia will sometimes also signal the presence of Nitrites.
Sorry about the losses.........MCF
 
A

alti

Guest
for a system that old you might be ok. you should have enough bacteria to keep the ammonia fairly low.what is the ammonia level exactly? how much lr do you have? putting the filter media in the wet dry should help. keep an eye on the ammonia levels and mix up some water just in case it gets high so you can do an water change if needed.
 
chercik

chercik

Member
The reason for the wet/dry is because it's not 100% live rock and coral.
Will the carbon help the ammonia or should I do a 10% watert change now?
 
A

alti

Guest
dont mess with the tank if its not that bad. what is the ammonia level??????????? carbon wont help. first thing you need to do is relax. haste decisions will probably make it worse.
 
quazi

quazi

Member
There is little benefit to a 10% water change. Change 30% if you must. Good carbon or polyfilter will have a very good effect.
Again, do not go wet/dry. You are inviting more problems down the road.
 
chercik

chercik

Member
I lost a yellow tang and a Naso tang but one striped demsel and clown are seemingly ok. The nitrite levels are about 0.5 and the ammonia less than .25ppm.
I would say more of the rock is not live rock. But I do have a 3 inch or so crushed coral - live sand combo
 
A

alti

Guest
you relax too quazi,
how can you tell the guy to do a 30% water change without knowing how bad his problem is. im sure he does not have water mixed up already and adding newly mixed water is probably not going to help unless his ammonia is really high.
 
maroonclownfan

maroonclownfan

Member
Any Nitrites can be lethal....
Damsels and clowns are more adaptable to water quality swings than tangs.
I would say that the TRITES are the prob.
MCF
 
chercik

chercik

Member
My umreall leather seems to be rebounding slowly and my green brain coral is puffing back up nicely. Water does have a slight odor - not sure if this is from the dead fish being in the water overnight or not.
 
chercik

chercik

Member
So to treat the Nitrite problem:
What's the best way and when, if at all, should I do it.
I can mix up some what now and do the water change later today.
 
chercik

chercik

Member
So to treat the Nitrite problem:
What's the best way and when, if at all, should I do it.
I can mix up some what now and do the water change later today.
Also, I do add the Bionic Calcium 2 part system for corals
 
maroonclownfan

maroonclownfan

Member
Your bio-filtration may be catching up. Keep a close eye on the ammonia and nitrites.....
Your corals probably got shocked from the sudden change. The dead fish would contribute to the rise in ammonia.
MCF
 
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