My tank crashed. Any suggestions?

[lambeaudog]

Hello. I am fairly new to the hobby and have recently lost all of my fish in a tank that has been up for 7 months. I know a part of my problem was that I put way to many fish in a 20 Gal tank that had only been set up for a week prior to adding the fish. I have live sand substrate and 3 pieces of live rock along with 2 pieces of base rock. I use a marineland emperor 200 filter and a nano protien skimmer. I had nitrates in the tank the entire time and could not seem to get rid of them (even through water changes). I suspect that this was because I had two many fish to start (1 yellow tang, 1 blue tang, 1 clown and three damsels). The fish seemed OK, (I did lose an angel along the way) other than the color on the yellow tang was sometimes less than desireable
So my question is this...... Where do I go from here? Do I have to scuttle the whole thing and start fresh or will the chemical balance settle out if I leave the tank sitting for a while with no fish in it? Would adding more live rock help?
Thanks for any advice.
Jamie

 

[bbailey231]

Originally Posted by Lambeaudog
Hello. I am fairly new to the hobby and have recently lost all of my fish in a tank that has been up for 7 months. I know a part of my problem was that I put way to many fish in a 20 Gal tank that had only been set up for a week prior to adding the fish. I have live sand substrate and 3 pieces of live rock along with 2 pieces of base rock. I use a marineland emperor 200 filter and a nano protien skimmer. I had nitrates in the tank the entire time and could not seem to get rid of them (even through water changes). I suspect that this was because I had two many fish to start (1 yellow tang, 1 blue tang, 1 clown and three damsels). The fish seemed OK, (I did lose an angel along the way) other than the color on the yellow tang was sometimes less than desireable
So my question is this...... Where do I go from here? Do I have to scuttle the whole thing and start fresh or will the chemical balance settle out if I leave the tank sitting for a while with no fish in it? Would adding more live rock help?
Thanks for any advice.
Jamie
First, what are all your parameters? Ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, ph???
What kind of water are you using to do your water changes? I was using my tap and found out last night that it has nitrates in it all by itself.
Second, you should have at least 1 pound of live rock per gallon of water.
Third, a 20 gal is not satisfactory for tangs, they need a lot of swimming room. Expect the tang police to get you

Once you post your parameters it would be easier to help you.

 

[petjunkie]

Well what I would do is buy enough live rock so you have about 20 pounds, let the tank properly cycle at least a month and do a couple large water changes at the end, making sure your nitrates end up below 10 and that you have no readable ammonia or nitrites for three weeks before you add any fish.
Biowheels aren't great for saltwater, if you want something to move water and run carbon I would buy an Aquaclear or Whisper instead so you don't end up with excess nitrates. Is your nano skimmer the fission? That one is usually what newbies get sold but it's a piece of crap, I would look into a Tunze nano or maybe an AquaC remora. Keep in mind that a 20 gallon can really only hold three small fish max to not have problems.
You need to research all fish before you buy them and learn their needs, aggression levels, and make sure they can live in a 20 gallon for life, stuffing fish that get huge (Tangs, Angels) into a small tank is a bad idea, the fish suffer, your water quality suffers and your tank crashes or gets disease as you already discovered. Go slow, buy a couple books and do a lot of reading while your tank is cycling.

 

[bill109]

start fresh, do some research and pick up a good book.
let the tank cycle and test till the cyle finishes and let it stablize, then start adding ur cleanup and add small fish weeks apart.
but research research research.

if u have a questions ask it h ere. the only dumb question is one tht isnt asked

-bill109

 

[lambeaudog]

Thanks to all.
Parameters are:
Nitrates 80ppm
Nitrites 0 ppm
Alkalinity 300 ppm
PH 7.8
Also I forgot to add that my salinity dipped to 1.019 at the start of this, but I did a water change (with tap water) and got the salinity back to 1.022. The nitrate level is pretty much what it has been since I put the fish in.
Does this mean I need new substrate or can I still cycle the tank considering the bioload it has already had?
Thanks again.
Jamie

 

[kingfish8302]

Hey welcome. Ok CC is very bad to have imo. I had CC for 4 years and it was a losing battle with cleaning it and nitrates. i did a 80% water change and a 20% water change the next day to finally it down to zero after i change my CC to live sand. After a while, with water changes and spikes of nitrates the water bill for premix is going to add up fast. Change the CC to live sand and you'll save time and money and trouble in the long run.

you can buy live sand from this site and have them ship it over night to you and you dont have to cure it. But if you buy the prepackage stuff put it in a large or small trash can (new) with a ph to cycle it.

 

[fishn808]

Originally Posted by Lambeaudog
Thanks to all.
Parameters are:
Nitrates 80ppm
Nitrites 0 ppm
Alkalinity 300 ppm
PH 7.8
Also I forgot to add that my salinity dipped to 1.019 at the start of this, but I did a water change (with tap water) and got the salinity back to 1.022. The nitrate level is pretty much what it has been since I put the fish in.
Does this mean I need new substrate or can I still cycle the tank considering the bioload it has already had?
Thanks again.
Jamie
Like BBailey pointed out, looks like your water may be the issue.

 

[bbailey231]

Originally Posted by Lambeaudog
Thanks to all.
Parameters are:
Nitrates 80ppm
Nitrites 0 ppm
Alkalinity 300 ppm
PH 7.8
Also I forgot to add that my salinity dipped to 1.019 at the start of this, but I did a water change (with tap water) and got the salinity back to 1.022. The nitrate level is pretty much what it has been since I put the fish in.
Does this mean I need new substrate or can I still cycle the tank considering the bioload it has already had?
Thanks again.
Jamie
Like the others say, read read read is the first thing so that you understand what is required.

What is your ammonia???
A few things I would point out,
1. Your live sand is fine and there is no need to replace it.
2. Your ph is low, get it up between 8.1 and 8.4;
3. Quit using tap water and use ro water. You can buy it from your fish store or get it from a store by you that sells the water where you can fill your own jugs. My walmart has it, 33 cents a gallon.
4. Add live rock where you have at least 20 pounds, 30 pounds would be better IMO.
Once you get your ph right and your live rock added, let the tank cycle. Read about cycling a tank here https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/116184/saltwater-aquariums-101-the-cycle
Also, here is an excellent thread that has a wealth of information https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/264597/a-list-of-extremely-helpful-threads-for-all-hobbyists
One thing to remember, HAVE PATIENCE, this is not something you can just throw together and watch it bloom. You have to take your time and do it right, step by step.
WHEN you do get to a point to start adding fish again to your tank, go here and read about the type of fish you want to purchase to make sure you are set up right for it and so you know how to take care of it properly. You can also purchase your fish here too

https://www.saltwaterfish.com/Aquarium-Supplies_c_3.html
I am pretty new at this myself, but am just pointing out things that I personally did wrong. Hope it helps some

 

[lesleybird]

None of those fish are able to live in a tank as small as a 20 gallon. A 20 gallon is a nano tank for saltwater. In fresh water tanks you can maybe place 1 inch of fish per gallon or two, but in saltwater it is one inch of fish per 4 gallons after the tank has been up for a few months. Get yourself some good books on saltwater fish and maybe a larger aquarium of at least 55 gallons which is still small for what you want to put in there. The yellow tang and the blue tangs need a tank of at least 90 gallons, but better in about a 135 gallon or larger. Lesley

 

[lambeaudog]

Thanks everyone, I am going to add live rock, change the water and then let things mellow for a while. Then see what happens. I do plan on moving up to a 55 gallon tank in the future, but I wanted to make sure that I can keep this one going before doing that.
Thanks again.
Jamie

 

[flcandy]

Its actually easier to keep a larger tank as there is more room for error in the water area. (Not saying dont test it and keep it clean, still have to do but takes longer for bad stuff to build up.)
I had a 30 gallon running for 3 years and just moved to a 70 gallon. The 30 is now a goromie tank and they are happy and so are my salties.
Just take you time and I am sure you will be told, patience patience patience is the big thing.
Have fun read up and stay with smaller fish, you should be fine.