Need HELP... pls....

n4ru

n4ru

New Member
Hi There,
I need help on my salwater tank, I dunno what went wrong and how to fix it. I just started in saltwater for a couple months ago. Right now I havea 15 Gallons tanks, a heater , a filter, and some T5 Lights. I had lost almost 500 bucks on my died fish, and I don,t even know what went wrong. So, here I am looking for helps for you guys.
I attached some pics of my tanks. Please give me your comment about it, and what should I do/buy to make it nice. Like the that you guys have -_-.
thx.





 
nytrillium

nytrillium

Member
before you get yelled at for overstocking by someone else....
You have way too many fish for your 15 gallon and not even close to enough live rock.
Have you tested your water levels.
Amonia
nitrate
nitrite
PH
Salinity
Most likely you have a build up of ammonia and nitrates from high fish population and low live rock surface area for filtration/nitrate cycle/amonia cycle
 
1journeyman

1journeyman

Active Member
Welcome to the boards.
There are plenty of people here willing to help you.
First off, don't buy anymore fish! You need to figure out what is wrong.
Did i read your post correctly? Your tank is 15 gallons? If so... you've got WAY too many fish in it.
Do a search on this forum for the word "cycle". You will find many great posts on "cycling" a saltwater tank.
Are you testing for anything? Listing your parameters will help diagnose your problem. At minimum you need to tsest salinity, Ammonia, and nitrite. Post those readings.
 
n4ru

n4ru

New Member
salinity level is 1.024 I measured it using Hydrometer. The amonia level and Nitrate, I don;t know. But I'll buy the tester tomorrow and I'll post it here.
thx. Need some guidance-.-
 
nytrillium

nytrillium

Member
You may want to try and return some of the fish you have... in 15 gallons you should probably limit it to 2 or 3 fish at the most. You also should get more Live rock and cycle it outside the tank so it doesnt kill the fish you have.
 
zanoshanox

zanoshanox

Active Member
Do you have a clean up crew? You are definetly going to need some more Lr...Right now your fish are under a lot of stress...They are crowded, they have no places to hide...aND THERE ARE TOO MANY FISH ON THEIR BACKS...gET MORE ROCK, GET YOUR TEST KITS, A CLEAN OR CREW (I.E. CRABS, SNAILS, ETC. ) AND WE WILL GO FROM THERE...
 
pashari

pashari

Member
Get some testkits and test your parameters - I bet they're all out of whack. It looks like you don't have the proper filtration and/or set-up. Before you go any further, take a few hours and read over these many posts here. There are many posts here that detail the steps and process to set up a good tank. I don't mean to be blunt, but your tank is SAD!!!! No decent filtration either biological or mechanical.
I'd recomend getting LR and some power heads - about 1 to 1.5 lbs per gallon and let your tank cycle for about 4 or 5 weeks. Until your pH is stable at around 8.2, your Ammonia is 0, your nitrite is 0 and your nitrate is 0. First, though, take that poor lion back to the LFS. It isn't going to make it in the tank you have. Take back everything except your damsels. I'd probobaly take them back as well, but if you NEED something in your tank during the cycle process you might as well let it be the damsels.
After your tank cycles (while it's cycling you can spend that time reading some good books or the archives of this site to gain the knowledge you need to have a successful tank) add a decent clean-up crew and, from all the reading you've done, you will know what fish will live happily and healthy lives in your tank.
Good luck.
lisa
 
1journeyman

1journeyman

Active Member
Ok... if you haven't tested for ammonia I'm guessing that is the culprit.
Again, do a search for the word "cycle". You'll find some great posts explaining the ammonia cycle. Basically you need to let your tank sit with water in it for a while (4-6 weeks) with a source of ammonia (decaying cocktail shrimp) in order to build up ammonia fixing bacteria.
Ammonia is produced by decomposing fish food/waste. It is HIGHLY toxic.
My guess is that you have been adding fish to a toxic soup. The ammonia is too high and is killing things.
Don't add ANYTHING (clean up crew or otherwise) yet. We need to get your tank stable first.
 
n4ru

n4ru

New Member
In the pics u see there are some snails, hermits, and a crab -_-". Yes, I'll probably return the damsels, and keep the lion and wrasse. btw, the lion survive for 3 mnths there. I found that amazing after all the reply posts I read -_-. btw what is LR and LFS? (sry).
thx alot.
 
n4ru

n4ru

New Member
I got another LR, which I found taking so much space in my little aquarium so I took it out. I attached the pic. So should I put it back in??
And my LFS offer me 120bucks for 29 gallons tanks, is that a good deal? Should I get it?
So, basically I need to figure out the amonia, nitrate and pH water. I'll go to LFS 2mrw and get those, should I buy some additive concentrate too?
 
nytrillium

nytrillium

Member
dont bother with additives at this point until you cycle the tank and get your levels under control. you dont necessarily need the larger tank. you just need to get it under control and set up correctly.
Recommended amount of LR is at least 1 lb per gallon. So yes. your tank will look cluttered but if you get smaller pieces and arrange it well it will look good. search for "aquascaping" on here. If that hunk of rock has been out of the water for more than a few hours/day or two its useless as live rock now. Its probably mostly dead. besides if you put it in it will probably just make your amonia even higher and kill the fish you have.
 
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