need help now

jjgomillion

jjgomillion

Member
I added a percula, haitian pink tip anemone, peppermint shrimp, and a little red crab yesterday. All of my parameters were fine then. However today when i got home from work, my shrimp is dead, percula is in the same spot as when I left this morning, (he has been down at the sand so close that the sand has moved and made a ditch, but he is still alive, the anemone is flared out really big ( iam not sure if thats normal or not, looks pretty like that) also i have 3 four stripe damsels, all of which are acting strange. The white on one of hem is turning silvery grey. My water params are way off now. They are:
Specific Gravity: 1.022
Nitrate: 40ppm (my concern)
Nitrite: 0ppm
Ammonia: .20ppm (another concern)
How do I fix this?
Thank you in advance!
 
leopard_babe

leopard_babe

Active Member
How long has your tank been set up? is this the first time that you have added anything? You should ony add 1 thing at a time. Sometimes what you add can affect your water parameters. I am not expert. Anyone else? To get the levels more even you can do a partial water change.
 
toddpolish

toddpolish

Member
start doing a water change.
I agree, you added too much at once. Add 1 thing at a time.
"All of my parameters were fine then"
- what were the parameters and for how long were they stable like that?
- how long have you been set up?
- an anemone in a tank less than 6 months old is most likely not advised ( I know I wouldn't attempt that )
 
jjgomillion

jjgomillion

Member
Specific Gravity: 1.022
Nitrate: 10ppm or less
Nitrite: 0ppm
Ammonia: 0ppm
pH: 8.2 still is
those have been my readings since I started in early July.
Well I hope everything does ok. I will let you guys know. Keep yor fingers crossed.
 
jjgomillion

jjgomillion

Member
ok i did about a 20% change. Fish are already looking better. Ammonia went down some. Might have to change out more. Can I do another change this soon?
 
T

thomas712

Guest
You may have overloaded your bio load, but maybe not by much I don't think, a stable aged system should be able to handle it.
Did you use the water that was in the bag that your fish and inverts came in, in your tank?
What was your acclimation process? how long? drip method or add to the bag from the tank?
What type of water are you using for your WC?
Thomas
 
jjgomillion

jjgomillion

Member
Did you use the water that was in the bag that your fish and inverts came in, in your tank?yes
What was your acclimation process? how long? drip method or add to the bag from the tank?
over an hour or so I added my tank water to the bag as it hung in my tank.
What type of water are you using for your WC?tap water - i know i need to use better water. I am not sure about this but, I used the same water and dechlorinator in my cichlid tank before i started this on. Is it ok to use Chlor-Out now? Never had a problem before.
By the way everyone, after a few hours, my fish are doing awesome! The perc is swimming around and so are the damsels!
Thank you guys for all the wonderful help.
 
michaeltx

michaeltx

Moderator
adding the water from the store or online shipper isnt recomended EVER
if shipped ammonia will go up and ph will drop in the bag along with any chemicals that might be added to help in the shipping process that may not be to good for the tank. you also risk adding copper to a system and in a system with inverts it can be deadly.
on acclimation the best way is a drip methos useing a airline tubing to slowly drip tank water in with the new arrivals. anemones inverts and such can be very sesitive to water changes and even a small change can effect them harshly and even cause death. I use this method and monitor the water in the container and the tank til they are the same before adding the new arrivals.
I have never used chlor-out in a sw tank so I cant answer that one. but I would be heasatant of useing any chemicals that I didnt have to in a SW tank. some of the stuff on the market is not safe for SW inverts and wipe out your bacteria population quickly.
when you siad that
those have been my readings since I started in early July
does this mean that the ammonia has never went up in the tank. or after the cycle its been those readings?
Hope everything works out.
Mike
 
jjgomillion

jjgomillion

Member
i meant after my cycle.
Well, now i know what not to do next time. I will use the drip method. I really appreciate your help. do you just drip the water into the bag or what. how do you do it?
 
michaeltx

michaeltx

Moderator
I use a styo-foam container that LR rock comes in I add the water and new arrival into and then start the drip at a rate of about 1 drip per second and let it go. for fish and items that are smaller I have a small styro-foam coller that hold about a six pack that I use.
you can get them usually from the LFS when they get their order in just ask them for one of them.
I thought thats what you meant just checking LOL
it could be one of 2 things that I can think of with your tank.
1 to much to fast and the biofilter couldnt handle it.
or
2 the acclimation wasnt enough for something and when death occured the ammonia went up because the sudden source of ammonia in the tank it has caused stress for the rest.
it really could be either of them though.
Mike
 
T

thomas712

Guest
Good show MTX, my thoughts were the same. Couldn't get back to this post right away.
We seem to have found another bad batch of Instant Ocean in another thread.
Thomas
 
michaeltx

michaeltx

Moderator
I am starting to think IO has reall gone down my tank I had to redo because of hair algae and all that good stuff has went nuts high phosphates and nitrates again and its not anything adding to the water, I am really starting to think IO is the culprit.
thanks T
Mike
 
jjgomillion

jjgomillion

Member
oh ok. what if the water doesnt cover the fish/invert/or whatever else in the foam container. It doesnt seem like there is that much water in those bags they come in.
BTW that is what i meant. came acroos weird, sorry. lol
 
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