please help

[weeder]

my percula clown appears to be dying. it is laying on the bottom and is breathing hard. it also has lost its color. i did a water change last night and the salt content has not changed. the temp has not been steady because i have an old heater. but it has not changed by much. the fire fish goby is doing fine along with the inverts i have(snails, shrimp, star fish, crabs
)
what can i do to save him.

 

[tony detroit]

Test for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, salinity again, pH and phosphate. How does his body look? Pale, spotty, blotchy, red gills??? If your tanks is new(1-3months) it is most likely a ammonia spike. Describe your system in great detail.

 

[weeder]

the nitrites are 0 and the nitrates are 20. my test kit is off on the ammonia, it never shows 0. the sg is at 1.024 which it has been since the set up. he? is pale but that is it. not blotchy and the gills are not red.
i have 55lbs of live rockand about 3 inches of sand. i have two power heads and a hang on the back power filter. i know i need a protein skimmer and i'm getting one soon.
i also know that my nitrates are high compared to what i've seen on here. what is the best way to get them down to 0?
i'm not getting any more fish until i figure this out.
any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[tony detroit]

I'm confused, your ammonia test is always reading zero, or it is reading wrong, this is very important, ammonia will wipe out fish. You may want to do a water change everyother week to get the nitrate levels down. Also, a very stable temp is a necessity, if your heater is not working right you need to replace it.

 

[weeder]

my ammonia never shows 0. when my tank was cycling it kept showing .5 but my nitrites were 0. when i took the water to the lfs they tested the ammonia at 0. and i have read that the test kit i have is known for showing ammonia when there is none.
i also do water changes every week. i am going to replace the heater. it is at least 15 years old, i should have done that to begin with.
is there any chance of the fish surviving, and why is the fire fish doing so well, or is it just a matter of time

 

[thomas712]

If its a glass heater is there any condensation on the inside of it. Do the heater coils look rusty or coroded?
Test for stray voltage.
Run fresh carbon.
Look for a powdery residue on the fish.
Just tossing out ideas.
Thomas

 

[jlem]

It seems like every year as summer approaches there is an onslaught of Brooklynella cases in marine fish and expecially clown fish.

 

[weeder]

well the fish is gone. when i checked on it this morning i could not find it. chances are me green brittle star got him. i read on here that they like to eat sleeping fish. well a dying fish is pretty much the same. any ideas on how to get rid of the star. i talked to a few lfs's but nobody wants it. and yes i do feed it so it won't eat my fish but i don't want to take any more chances. i bought a peppermint shrimp 2 weeks ago and it decided to go under the star that was resting in the rocks. at least i got to see the shrimp get eaten instead of wondering where it went.
as for the clown, it has to be the temp. not being steady.