New tank, changed 10% water but...

[abdullah993]

Hello everybody,
hope yo all are doing great..
this is a wonderful community
anyhow, this is my first post here, lets see what i get back..
so i have a JBJ nano reef HQI 28 gallons, and i started it on 20, jun, 2011 and I recently changed 10% water like 2 days ago, the problem is even after my water change and even after almost near a month of tank being running, i have the following parameters:
Specific Gravity: 1.022
PH: 8.0
Ammonia: 0.25 (it became 0 before the water change)
Nitrates: 0.25
Nitrites: 15 (was 10 before the water change)
Tank info:
I have 1 - 1.5 inch sand bed,
a few live rocks,
a yellow tail damsel,
a velvet blue damsel,
2 clownfish,
1 bannerfish,
1 cleaner shrimp (who just molted yesterday)
and 1 fire shrimp
also, the color on my banner fish is kinda fading, the black stripes on its body were JET black, but now they are kinda fading away,
what could be the problem? please respond soon..
thanks alot

 

[monsinour]

How long did the tank cycle without fish in it before you added the fish or shrimp?
When you did the wc, did you accidentally stir up the sand bed?
Are you using RO/DI water for the WC? Atleast RO water, right?

 

[abdullah993]

hello, i added the 1st fish (yellow tail damsel) after 5 days and then then 2nd one after 2 weeks...
i did accidentally stir up the sand bed and no i use tap water with declorinator ..
i have to purchase RO unit..

 

[abdullah993]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Monsinour http:///forum/thread/386667/new-tank-changed-10-water-but#post_3397596
How long did the tank cycle without fish in it before you added the fish or shrimp?
When you did the wc, did you accidentally stir up the sand bed?
Are you using RO/DI water for the WC? Atleast RO water, right?
hello, i added the 1st fish (yellow tail damsel) after 5 days and then then 2nd one after 2 weeks...
i did accidentally stir up the sand bed and no i use tap water with declorinator ..
i have to purchase RO unit..

 

[siptang]

yes, ro is good. Tap water is bad there are too many things in there besides chlorine.
Also you need to cycle more specially if you put live rock and such. Do more small water changes (10%) pretty often and keep your eye on the water parameters.

 

[meowzer]

first of all you have too much in that tank and WAY TOO SOON.....you should never add a fish until the initial cycle has started and there is NO ammonia or nitrites
IMO you should get rid of the bannerfish...as it requires a 100g tank...and an established one at that
You should also get rid of the damsels since they are trouble in the making
WHAT do you mean a few live rocks???? About how many pounds are there?
Do you have a protein skimmer? Do you have a picture of your tank set up???

 

[1guydude]

+1 meowzer is correct and has some good Qs!
I didnt do any water changes on my tanks when i set em up for like 2 months!
pictures help and we love em!

 

[flower]

Hello and welcome to the site. We are not trying to be mean or put you down so please don't take what we are saying the wrong way.
A banner fish????? In a 28g tank seriously? My book says 300g minimum tank size...those "banner" fins get huge. So your fish is losing color because it is stressed.
You still have nitrite and ammonia readings because your tank isn't cycled.

 

[swisswiss]

hello and welcome, first off congratulations for the molt. secondly as some have stated and i agree with them, you might have rushed into things a little. also keep in mind the smaller the tank the short your reaction time margin to correct your water values.
This, together with the fact that a coral ocean fish should not be kept in a small box are the reason why I'm not a very big fan of these so called nano tanks.
regarding the color loss, flower's explanations makes perfect sense to my eyes.
also your SG is a little low

 

[siptang]

How big is your banner? I didn't even know what that fish was and I just skimmed through.
I'm not the one to tell you that you need a bigger tank because Lord knows that I have things that I'm not supposed to in my tank but if it's still juvenile, finding a more suitable home for him might be a better idea.
Siptang

 

[abdullah993]

thanks for replying everybody..
well, I have about 3 - 5 kgs of live rock
i do have a skimmer
my LFS said that i can put banner fish in there.. i seriously didnt knew that i cant
so what do you guys recommend me to do now?
and what should my SG be?
my banner fish is around 2 wide inches..
please see the pics below...
let me know what can i do asap ..

Front view

Front View

Side view

 

[meowzer]

First of all you have to remember that pet stores are out to make a buck....not all of them, BUT it sounds like the one you went to is one of them....if you can....GO SOMEWHERE ELSE
see if they will take back the bannerfish and the damsels......the clowns will be ok...BUT....You need to get you ammonia and nitrites to 0....DO NOT stir the sand
ALWAYS...do your own research before you buy a fish, and as you have noticed...we here will help if we can
1.025 is good salinity point.....and you might want to point one of your returns down...looks like you have them both pointed across the top of the water......more live rick may be a good idea too
what exactly do you want to do with this tank??????

 

[abdullah993]

what do i need to do to get my ammonia and nitrates to 0?
also my water isnt very clear at the moment, why is it?
and i will try to return them if possible..
regarding the tank, i wanna make it reef and keep some corals aswel
what do you suggest?

 

[1guydude]

Well 1st id return the 3 fish meowzer is talkin about. Try and get credit at least. Meowzer is correct the store is tryin to make a buck off you! If you cant get credit, try another fish store (preferably not *****)!
Put ur fists together and get at least two more rocks that size! Turkey baster the rocks out so the make a decent bio filter and hopefully that will help with ur parameters!
Man i forgot how bare the tanks look when 1st starting! Wats the lil tank up in the corner for? Acclimation station? Or in tank fuge or wat?
no questions are to silly to ask so ask away and im sure someone will try and help u out!
Keep it up!

-devin

 

[meowzer]

FIRST....having too much stock i nthe tank will make your parameters stay above 0....and YES...also will contribute to the cloudiness
get rid of the fish I mentioned ASAP.......and then do a decent 15% w/c......I think once you get rid of that large bio-load you will start to see some better results

 

[abdullah993]

thanks for the quick reply guys..
1guydude... the small tank was to trap yellow tail damsel, as it was trying to fight with all others..
and you guys think i should point my return flow to the live rock?
also, will adding more live rock increase any ammonia or nitrates? and will my cloudiness disappear then?

 

[meowzer]

I mentioned earlier that I would point one of the returns down.....IF you get more rock you need to get fully cured....bring it home wet, and you will (should) not have any parameter fluctuations.....just be careful to NOT stir the sand
also.....live rock will not do anything for your cloudiness.....you need to get rid of some fish

 

[abdullah993]

Ok thanks alot..
Another q
Can i can an anemone yet or is it too early?
Also what do u mean by bringing them in wet?
I usually take them out from water and bring them in a plastic bag, theyre not dipped in water but theyre wet/damp

 

[meowzer]

NO ANEMONE...>..first of all a tank must be a minimum of 6 months old...and your water parameters must be stable and good
YES...bring the rock in wet...some people bring a bucket with some SW in it....some just bring wet newspaper....depending on how far you have to go should dictate how you transport the rock

 

[1guydude]

imo u need a SW tank BOOK! Do some research as this hobby is very extensive! read read read!!!!