my fish are diein

[georgehorn]

ok here are the test results ammonia 0.50,nitrite0.25 my nitrate level is between 20 and 40 ppm are these really bad for a fish only set up...did this cause the death of my fish...i know 1 fish died yesterday and i had to basicly tear down the whole tank to find it( he was under the very last rock go figure) and i woke up to day and found 4 more dead...........was it the test results or was it stress from the tear down that did it or both............man i am really confused about all this oh and my ph was 8.0 and 8.2

 

[greatfullreefer]

There should be 0 ammonia and NitrItes as they are extremely toxic to fish. No fish should be in a tank that has not yet cycled.

 

[jacknjill]

yep it was either the ammonia or the nitrite that killed them. the nitrates are a little high but that wouldnt have killed them. it sounds like you tank is cycling, how long has it been set up? also what is your temp. and your salinity?

 

[georgehorn]

my tank has been set up for at least 5 months..........temp is about 79 or 80............salinty is fine as well...........i just cant figure it out

 

[georgehorn]

could this be new tank syndrome? i did kinda jump in to things a little bit.

 

[ophiura]

I think we really need to know a lot more about your set up:
filtration, history of water quality, livestock, when they were added, feeding, water changes, etc. There is just not enough info here, IMO, to know.
How did you cycle your tank when you set it up? New tank syndrome usually refers to tanks in the very early weeks of running.
Fill us in on as much as you can about the history.

 

[georgehorn]

i have a 90 gallon tank.........wet dry filter.........protein skimmer a uv sterlizer..........cycled with live sand and a four striped damsel..........did my first water change about the 7th week in i used declorined tap water.........didnt no it was a bad ........my test results would go up and after the water change would go down to zero except for nitrates.........moth 2 i added prolly 40 pounds of lr and i added a blue damsel at the end of the month my test results would go up and i would do another water change the test results would go back down to zero except my nitrates would rise just a little month 3 the same thing alittle more rock and a fish or two same thing with the tests they would rise another water change they would go back down to zero no problems un til now........since the begining of feb ive added about 25 more pounds of lr and 3 fish..........1 died so i did a post askin if my ever risin nitrates was the problem.........some one suggested that maybe somethin else was dead i found nothin in my tank after i tore down everything and i remembered i feed my fish some brine shrimp i found like 200 dead ones in the bottom of my filter so i cleaned them out and went to bed. planned on doin a water change today we diaster hit all but two fish a cleaner shrimp and some crabs and snails remain...........wtf happened

 

[ophiura]

I am really not entirely sure the tank truly "cycled." Normally, if cycling with fish in that size tank, you would add like 15 damsels and feed heavily. The more "humane" and affordable way would be to put dead shrimp in there....something to really provide a LOT of ammonia and challenge the biological filter. The fact that you keep seeing these ammonia spikes leads me to believe that the tank wasn't pushed very hard. :notsure:
Nitrates do not usually become a fatal problem for fish - especially damsels - until they are astronomically high. I've seen over 200 without to much trouble....

 

[georgehorn]

ohh i feed every day..........flake food

 

[georgehorn]

so what should i do............another water change and wait and see what happens

 

[georgehorn]

or should i just take it on the chin and start over..........if i started over would my sand and live rock be ok

 

[scubadoo]

The live rock you are continually adding is probably not cured with some die off. THis would cause your tank to continue to cycle. Test your water and make sure all your parms are good. Add nothing additional during this time. You may want to remove what is in there...teh live rock will cycle the tank...you could loose the rest of the inhabitants.
Add your fish SLOWLY. Everytime you add something new your biologiical filter needs to grow due to the increased bio-load. THe 25 pounds of live rock added this month along with the three fish caused this in my opinion.
Also, you need to cure the rock or make sure it has been cured before adding it to your tank.
You should add one small fish and wait 2-4 weeks bedore adding another. If you add a medium or large fish you should wait 4-6 weeks before adding another. No absolute rule here but slower is better and safer. I would add hardier fish first,...and wait to add angels., etc. Not sure is you have a FOWLR tanksor a reef...sounds like a FOWLR and a cleaning crew
Based on what you have posted in your comment...looks like a combination of too may fish too fast...and possibly live rock that was not cured and probably had some die-off. This would cause what happened to your tank.

 

[scubadoo]

I was not clear...I would remove the fish, etc..leave the lr and sand. Let the tank complete the cycel..then go SLOW. See if the lfs will take the fish, etc. Good luck...sorry for your loss. It can be frustrating.

 

[snipe]

I figured it hadn't cycled all the way either. Since you only cycled with 1 damsle in a 90 gallon tank it probly didnt even budge at all. Since you are adding "quite a bit" live rock "and" fish at the same time it is starting a cycle everytime and you doing a water change is just causing it to stop. I would agree take all live back keep the live rock place around 5 or 6 2 to 3 inch cocktail shrimp in there and let it cycle properly.
On the fish you can find a friend with a tank and have them babysit or you can take them back to the lfs and pay them a fee to babysit or you could just take them back and get store credit or your money. But no mater what your tank needs to cycle.