Please help...several problems

rodgro

rodgro

Member
Hello,
I am brand new to the message board and to the hobby. I have a couple of problems going on during the cycling process. I have a 44 pent. tank with 35 pounds live sand, 90 pounds live rock, protein skimmer, wet/dry and am currently in day 9 of all up and running. My salinity is good...maybe a little high, ammonia is thru the roof as I heard it would be and temp is steady at 75. My live rock came with alot of critters and lots of small coral (from Florida). Should I be concerned about clams, coral, etc dieing from high ammonia?? Also a few pieces of the rock is starting to be covered with white colored....I don't know what. Particularly pieces that were heavily covered with coraline (purple/orange). It is not slimy and has almost like a shell to it. I also introduced 2 3-stripe damsels to the tank at someone's suggestion..to help cycle. I noticed today that one is not moving around very well and one of his eyes has become swollen or popped out. Help please
 
kelly

kelly

Member
Rodgro,
From your post is sounds like you started with uncured rock. If this is true, you will have high ammonia, nitrates, nitrites, until you tank goes through a major cycle. Most of the corals will die off, and you will probably loose your fish.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news. You should have done a little research before getting started into this hobby.
Did you live rock smell when you got it? If it did, the critters dieing and starting to decompose. Your tank will take long while to cycle, but will make it, even though you will loose the majority of the critters on the live rock.
You have a few options at this point. You can do some water changes over the next few weeks, and remove the dead stuff from your tank. The tank will cycle, but it will be a while...
You can try to cure the rock in another container and put it back in your tank when it is cured. Search on curing live rock.
You can scrub the rock outside of your tank in saltwater and put it back in your tank, and let it finish cycling.
I would recommend removing the fish and the corals that you can immediately and put them in a seperate tank otherwise the will probably die. If the coral is on the rock, you may not be able to remove it. Then I would scrub anything that is dead or dying from off of the rock.
Did you purchase the rock off of the internet, or from a local fish store?
Welcome to the message board.
 
rodgro

rodgro

Member
Kelly,
Thanks for the suggestions and the welcome. I am really learning that knowledge is king in this hobby and you can never know enough. The live rock is uncured. I was told that since the tank was new it didn't matter. The corals, clams, etc. were on the rock when it arrived. I was shocked it was covered with so much life. I purchased it and had it in my hands within 12 hours. Picked it up at the airport. The rock was still very wet and had crabs and starfish walking around on it when I opened it. I did try to read and get advice before starting but I guess not enough. This is a great message board.
 
rodgro

rodgro

Member
what should I do from here. it doesn't appear that much is dieing on the rock but the white algae or whatever it is concerned me. The clams and everything are still alive and they have been in there for almost 10 days. What can I do to keep all alive...if anything. Thanks
 
rodgro

rodgro

Member
Mark,
Thanks for the help. I will take the fish out and put them in a small tank I have. I thought the live rock i bought (on-line) would be similiar to the stuff I saw in local stores but was really surprised upon opening it. I knew I was a little over my head when it had so much life. I have a bakpak skimmer, 1 powerhead, a wet/dry HOT filter right now. Should I add anyhting else
 
reef master

reef master

New Member
Rodgro,
I would agree with most of what everyone else has said thus far. The water chances are very key though. By doing this you can drop your amo, nites down quicker than letting your wet/dry get the bacteria going. The heavier the load on the tank on a new wet/dry the longer it takes to get your system stable. If you lower the load on the filtration by doing water changes it can build up its bacteria faster. At this point in your tank you are probably going to loose a few things anyway so by keeping the water fresher is better. You might even save a few things.
Your tank will take a few weeks to stablize after this huge load on your filtration though.. You will see your ammonia and nitrites to drop off when this happens. Then you will need to keep an eye on nitrates they are the next step in the tank cycle. You will need to do even more water changes to take care of that.
Once your tank has stablized your water changes should not exceed 20% in any given water change. Most people do a 5 to 10% water change ever week or two.
Hope all this helps. Happy Holidays..
 
predator

predator

Active Member
Remove the fish and wait it out.There is no sense in a water change.It will take paitence but you have to wait it out.Did you go with live sand?It will help you out,but with that much un-cured live rock in that small of a tank it will be at least another week or longer before you should introduce anything like fish.That damsel has got popeye.Go get some MARICIN for the fish.Your going to have to move him though.With your water being as un-cycled as it is you can't treat him in your tank.
 
von_rahvin

von_rahvin

Member
he can't post sites that sell stuff on here board rulz.
Personnaly i would do some water changes. make a few major ones. this will remove the ammonia that has built up in the water. how much stuff is your skimmer pulling out of the water? for the first week of the rock being in there you should be pulling very large quantities of nastiness with the skimmer. when i cure rock i do a few (say like 3) 80% water changes. Check you numbers. you should get a rise in nitrites and then nitrates. I do not know how much you know but this is called the nitrogen cycle. the water changes speeds up the cycle. becareful about those damsels. they are a pain to catch out of an established tank and the 3 stripes can be quite mean.
remember that a saltwater tank takes time. nothing else will let it run properly. if you have any question email me
enjoy
 
bradsmack

bradsmack

Member
DO NOT DO A WATER CHANGE FOR A FEW WEEKS
the worst thing you can do is a water change to a "cycling tank" that just slows the cycle down because then you are adding more water to cycle! Just Dont touch the tank for awhile let it go..
 
seabass

seabass

Member
I agree with bradsmack, dont do a water chang! take out the fish, and I would even disconect the skimmer! wait it out
 
wamp

wamp

Active Member
Dont do a water change? What are you talking about? When cycling a tank you do a 10% on the 7th, 14th, and 30th day.. I thought everyone on here knew that.. Without water changes you are prolonging your cycle. You HAVE to remove some of the ammonia via a water change. Nitrates build up fast but go away very slowly. When you do a water change you remove some of this allowing your biological system to come up to speed. You try to cycle to fast or do not remove nitrates and you will get a big ol' algea bloom.. I think you need a book on the Nitrogen Cycle of a tank..
 
wamp

wamp

Active Member
By the way brad... you are not "cycling" the water, you are growing bacteria in the rock, sand, and filter. New water from a water change is the best thing fo a tank.
P.S. never turn off your skimmer during a curing of live rock or during a cycle of a new tank.
 
burnnspy

burnnspy

Active Member
I recommend buying 20lbs of Nature's Ocean LS if you can find it at a LFS, it may save your livestock and stop the cycle.
The white crust is dead coraline algae.
Check out my Reef Basics webpage for some condensed info that you need right now. www.spyreef.homestead.com/home.html
Good luck,
BurnNSpy
 
kris walker

kris walker

Active Member
Hi everyone,
With regards to water changes, IMO, both sides are right, in a way. Doing a water change during a cycle does take away some of the food the ammonia/nitrite-consuming bacteria need to multiply, but not all the food.
On the other hand, nitrates build up fast when going though a cycle. So it is really a question of what do you deem the worser evil--high nitrates or a somewhat slower cycle.
IMO, I would only do a water change based only on nitrate levels. When levels go up above a particularly uncomfortable level, do a 20% water change. A 10% water change for me never makes much of any difference.
It makes absolutely no sense to me to follow a water-change rule (like every 7 days after the start). Each tank and therefore cycle is different, and so nitrates build up at different rates.
Just my opinion,
sam
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top