sick damsel?

[row]

I recently started a 55 gallon saltwater aquarium. I currently have damsel fish. I noticed yesterday my blue damsel breathing quite rapidly, with mouth wide open. He/she has hid under the live rock all day today, at the back of the tank where I cannot get a really good view of what is going on. I can't even tell if her fins are moving. Sorry for rambling on, I am new at this. Thanks for any help!

 

[beth]

Hello, Row, and welcome to Saltwaterfish.com.
First off, is your new tank cycled? If not, the problem may be ammonia poisoning. The other thing is that with several damsels, or even two damsels, there is always going to the lowest damsel in the "food chain" so to speak, which will get harassed by the other damsels or the dominate damsels.

 

[row]

My tank is new and I was advised to purchase the damsels to speed up the conditioning process. The ironic thing about this particular damsel, is that it was the most aggressive out of the bunch and now its hiding beneath a rock. I tested the ammonnia and it was 0, but my nitirite was up to 20. All the other fish are doing fine. I appreciate your help.
Thanks,
ROW

 

[beth]

I would do a water change every day, just to dilute out the nitrite. Though nitrite is not as toxic as ammonia, it can still be deadly. This fish is just reacting to this, and water changes will ease the stress.
Be sure that the water you use is well mixed and aerated with a powerhead before use. It is best to let salt water mix for at least 2 days.

 

[row]

Hi Beth,
Thanks very much for your help.

 

[beth]

You're welcome, and keep up posted.

 

[row]

Hi Beth,
Unfortunatley the fish died last night. I did a partial water change because of the high levels of nitrate. The nitrate level didn't drop at all, so I called my lfs and they said that I am more than likely at the end of my conditioning period. I am a little confused because I thought the only way to reduce nitrate was to do water changes, but my lfs said that those levels will drop by themselves. I guess I'll wait and see.
Thanks again,
ROW

 

[stdreb27]

They will eventually drop by themselves. But the water changes does it faster in the hopes of saving your damsels.

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by ROW
Hi Beth,
Unfortunatley the fish died last night. I did a partial water change because of the high levels of nitrate. The nitrate level didn't drop at all, so I called my lfs and they said that I am more than likely at the end of my conditioning period. I am a little confused because I thought the only way to reduce nitrate was to do water changes, but my lfs said that those levels will drop by themselves. I guess I'll wait and see.
Thanks again,
ROW
Are you sure you mean nitrate, and not nitrite???? Nitrate does not drop. It needs to be removed via water changes or a refuge, or some other means.

 

[sepulatian]

Your last post of nitrite was 20. That is extremely high and toxic. Nitrite speeds up the fish's respiration. This triggers a "fight or flight" response. Most fish choose flight. The fish's breathing becomes eratic, they spurt in directions. They completely freak out. Nitrite slows down the amount of oxygen flowing to the brain. Triggering the panic response. Nitrite is (believe it or not) NOT as toxic as ammonia (which should give you a pretty good idea of what ammonia can do) but toxic none-the-less. Anything over .50 nitrite is cause for serious concern. Ammonia and nitrite should be zero at all times.

 

[row]

My ammonia is 0, nitrite is 0, PH is 8.3, SG is 1.022, and nitrate is 20. I did a partial water change last night and the nitrate didn't go down at all. I also use Prime water conditioner and they said that you can use it for an emergency to drop the nitrate. I tried this also and the nitrate didn't go down either.

 

[sepulatian]

I appologize if I missunderstood your post. What kind of substrate are you using? How large of water changes are you doing and how often?

 

[row]

I have 30 lbs of live sand and 20 lbs crushed coral underneath. I did a 10 gallon water change the other night and the nitrate didn't move. I also have about 25 lbs of live rock too. The tank has only been running for about 3 weeks and I noticed today that one of my other damsels is not doing well. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[sepulatian]

The problem could very well be that you have crushed coral under your ls. Crushed coral needs to be cleaned very thoroughly to be kept free of detris. Yours is where you cannot reach it. Therefore anything that is trapped in the crevices becomes trapped nitrates which continuously are released. You realy may want to consider getting that cc out of there. It is seriously going to cause you some trouble. Also 10 galons out of 55 isn't realy enough to have much of an impact. Bump it up to about 20 gallons at a time untill this issue is resolved. You can go back to 10 gallons when you are just doing routine changes.

 

[row]

I'm sorry, trying to help me is probably really frustrating, but I didn't buy crushed coral, I bought live sand and reef sand. I just checked my receipt becasue I remembered the guy at the lfs telling me not to buy cc for the exsact reason you just stated. Any other suggestions or just do 20 gallon water changes? How often should I do them? Thanks

 

[sepulatian]

You are not frustrating me at all!!! Do the 20 gallon water changes every three days untill it is under 10ppm. Trust me, it will drop. After that you can go back to 10 gallons every week. Once everything is stable again you will be able to do 10 every two weeks or so as needed.

 

[row]

Thanks for all the help. I didn't think that this hobby was going to be so in depth, but I have found I am becoming quite addicted. I am on the website everynight. Thanks again I appreciate it.

 

[sepulatian]

You are most certainly welcome, and anytime you have any questions at all, don't hesitate to ask!! Yes, this is a VERY addicting hoby :joy: