Not sure whats up with my tank

[juice_1080]

Ok my tank is about 2-3 months old and so far i have a yellowtail blue damsel, a damsel that nobody has ever seen before, a red striped goby, and 15ish blue hermits. I also unfortunately have some new aptasia and a coral that I'm not sure of the species(given to me).
All the fish were fine and happy then 3-4 days ago I added a Sally Lightfoot and all of the sudden instead of coming out and swimming around my damsels just hide in one spot of the rockwork.
I fed them this morning and none of the fish were even interested. Normally the unknown damsel darts around frantically and the yellowtail casually grabs food and the goby chills on the bottom for the food to come to him. I noticed yesterday they were also not near as active for feeding.
Oh yeah if it helps heres my tank info: 29gal, Penguin 350 filter
Does anyone have a clue whats going on or what I can do to make sure they are ok?

 

[rappa]

Check your ammonia levels and your nitrite levels. You could be having a spike and making it extremely stressful on your fish. If your showing either of these, then you should do a water change asap.

 

[perfectdark]

I agree your water chemistry is where I would start. And when is the last time you did a water change?

 

[coraldude]

I agree sounds like a chemistry problem. You should do a 20% water change and see if that helps. Also, do you have a pic of this Damsel that nobody has ever seen before?

 

[juice_1080]

So I don't have an ammonia test kit mine covers Carbonate Hardness, pH, NO2 and NO3. pH is between 8-8.5, Nitrite is 0, Nitrates are about 10ish. I did my last water change (about 10-20%) about 3 weeks ago. My coral which is normally about 2" in diameter is now 1/2-1" so something must be up.
I also had a brown algae problem for about 2 weeks and it went away and now I have green algae growing (if that matters)
I also added a Rio Nano Protein Skimmer the same day I added the Sally Lightfoot. I turned it off this morning tho in case this may be causing any problems.
Unfortunately I am a college student and I am not going to have the time to do a water change till at least 10pm tonight.
I am going to also post a link of that damsel if i can find a good one (hes really camera shy)
Fish

 

[juice_1080]

oh yea I just checked the salt level and its at 1.025 which is kinda high.
Off to class

 

[jhebi]

It could also be lack of oxygen. Do you have any PH's in there? Do some water change and see if it helps.

 

[perfectdark]

Actually your salinity is ok. IMO your water change schedule should be increased. A 29 Gal tank is in the nano area of tanks and their maintence requirements are a bit more frequent IMO. Water changes of 10 to 15% every week will help with any deficiency you might have helping to keep everything in check. The protein skimmer will help alot but keeping good maintenance will be key.

 

[juice_1080]

Ok, I am new to marine so any advice well be helpful I know the salinity is still ok but normally I have it about 1.023 which means that some of my water has evaporated.
This is the second week back to college so I am still trying to work out my tank schedule as well as everything else going on. I am going to try to do a speedy water change before work and hopefully it will help.
So do you think I should plug the skimmer back in then? I was also kinda curious about the skimmer itself if you have any experience with them. There is the tube on the top of it that you hold your finger over to start the siphon. It is adjustable in height which seems to directly effect the foaming action. Well if I set it high enough to start foaming (about 1/16-1/8" higher than the lowest point) within 24 hours it will lose the siphon and the water in the intake tube drops to aquarium level. Do you why it would do this or what I can do to fix it?
Thank you for the help.

 

[perfectdark]

Sorry I am not familiar with skimmers although I do know they aid in soaking up nitrates. Good Luck

 

[juice_1080]

Alright thanks for the help anyways I replaced about 5-6 gallons and dropped the salinity to 1.022-3. Right away they seemed alot more active but it may just be because they were confused. Hopefully things go uphill from here

 

[coraldude]

Originally Posted by juice_1080
Alright thanks for the help anyways I replaced about 5-6 gallons and dropped the salinity to 1.022-3. Right away they seemed alot more active but it may just be because they were confused. Hopefully things go uphill from here
If it's a reef tank you should keep the salinity around 1.025.

 

[reefer75]

About the skimmer. I had a skimmer with tubing for priming. Well on mine there was a place to hook the tubing up to. 2 spots near the collection cup. One

[hr]
for priming, and another. Once primed I had to place the tubing on the other

[hr]
to maintain prime. Hope this helps!

 

[goingpoor]

Ok, I am new to marine so any advice well be helpful I know the salinity is still ok but normally I have it about 1.023 which means that some of my water has evaporated.
i always keep my tank at 1.025 corals like it better but thats just my oppinion,but if i where you i would do a water change,and if your haveing problems with brown algee get some phosphate sponge in your filter...well hope this helps

 

[juice_1080]

Everything seems to be getting better now I did a water change siphoned the CC, killed all the aphasia that I could see(hopefully all of it) and removed some of the rock work. The coral is getting bigger every day and will hopefully get back to its original size in a few days.
The brown algae has all died off in my tank and now I am getting green algae growing everywhere in it. Is green algae good or bad? Will it go away or do I need to get something to get rid of it. My hermits and Sally Lighfoot liked the brown algae but don't seem to touch the green stuff.

 

[emm0909]

get an amonia test kit. Thats always good to watch and easy to test for when youre testing for everything else. Whats one more?

 

[juice_1080]

yea i picked up a test kit 2 days ago and tested and the results were no ammonia. I just had the 5 in 1 test strips that the LFS used to test my water before which only do GH KH pH NO3 and NO4.
I did have a filtration question that maybe someone can answer. I have a 29g tank with a penguin 350(for up to 75gal tanks, 350g/h, w/ 2 bio-wheels) hang on filter on it. it has 4 replaceable filter pads in it. I was just curious how often I should be changing filters. I know that I shouldn't change all of them at one because it could shock the system so I normally do 1 at a time and rotate them. How often should I be replacing them? Right now I have had the tank for about 2-3 months and I have changed out 2 filters. Is this a reasonable pace or should I do it more/less often?

 

[tinmanny]

you should try to keep the salt to 1.025
the filter should have some instructions on the filters I don't use a filter so I cannot help you
good luck
Manny

 

[bbailey231]

Originally Posted by juice_1080
yea i picked up a test kit 2 days ago and tested and the results were no ammonia. I just had the 5 in 1 test strips that the LFS used to test my water before which only do GH KH pH NO3 and NO4.
I did have a filtration question that maybe someone can answer. I have a 29g tank with a penguin 350(for up to 75gal tanks, 350g/h, w/ 2 bio-wheels) hang on filter on it. it has 4 replaceable filter pads in it. I was just curious how often I should be changing filters. I know that I shouldn't change all of them at one because it could shock the system so I normally do 1 at a time and rotate them. How often should I be replacing them? Right now I have had the tank for about 2-3 months and I have changed out 2 filters. Is this a reasonable pace or should I do it more/less often?
Your doing really good trying to keep up, but if I could give you a little advice, the test strips are WAY inaccurate. A few things you should do....get a salifert or red sea test kit and recheck your water parameters. I would also get a refractometer to check salinity...it has been a life saver for me. If you have the proper test equipment it is so much easier to get accurate water parameters and resolve your problem much quicker.
How much gph does that penguin pump? You need your water movement to be about 25x per gallon without any dead spots. If you only have a filter that hangs on the back, your water will have deadspots...you need some powerheads. EDIT: I looked up your pump. It pumps 350 gph which is about half of what you need.
Also, what type of water are you using? RO water or tap water?
Your filter, does it have sponges or is it filter cartridges with the carbon in them? If it is sponges I just rinse mine out about once a month and put them back in to preserve the good bacteria...that may not be the proper way, but it works for me.
What kind of lights do you have? Are they the plain lights you get when you buy an aquarium?

 

[juice_1080]

I have a Hydrometer to test my salinity. Are you talking about the liquid test kits?
Yea it pumps about 350 an hour then I have a Nano skimmer which doubles as a pump and filter(I know it prolly doesnt do much though)
I was planning on getting a powerhead this weekend. I just ordered an RO/DI unit so I will start using that once it shows up. I just changed water yesterday though so it should be here right around the same time that I need to change water again.
The filter has the carbon cartridges in it. I am planning on upgrading to like a Fluval 405 Canister but I have to see what I have for money right now (im in college). I have a 36" florescent 3 light strip with 2 10,000k's and 1 Blue Actinic lights. It's not a PC or MH setup.
Thanks alot for all the help, I am new to Marine so anything I can learn will be helpful.