Strange behavior, HELP!

[brian5150]

I have two false perc's. One of them has been spending alot of time on the bottom of the tank. I thought that maybe it was laying eggs, because it had a string of white coming from just behind the little fins on the bottom, but now I'm not to sure. I've had them for 2 weeks. Right now it's just sitting on the bottom wiggling alittle. The tanks levels are:
Amm. 25
Nitrite. 20
Nitrite. .5 (been like that for the last couple of days)
Alk. 300
pH. 8.8 (went up from 8.4 just the other day)
Both percs don't seem to be eating to much, They will swim at the food suck it in then spit it back out, so I'm not sure just how much they eat. Hopefully someone can help. thanks

 

[sula]

Is this a new tank? You've got ammonia which shouldn't be present - do a water change ASAP....

 

[bigarn]

Yes, you've got ammonia and nitrites. They should be 0 .... do a large waterchange and run carbon.

 

[brian5150]

Originally Posted by Sula
Is this a new tank? You've got ammonia which shouldn't be present - do a water change ASAP....

It's a month old today. I did a 25% water change, I haven't tested the water yet
But the fish is still on the bottom. He was more hiper after the water change, but maybe he was just stressed. I'll test the water and post the results. Thanks

 

[brian5150]

Originally Posted by bigarn
Yes, you've got ammonia and nitrites. They should be 0 .... do a large waterchange and run carbon.

what do you mean by run carbon?

 

[neoreef]

If you have some AmQuel, add it now. At 8.8 pH the smallest amount of ammonia in your tank is VERY toxic. Do a large water change, test for ammonia, and keep repeating that until your ammonia is 0.

 

[brian5150]

I have a bottle of A.C.E but I'm confused when to add it. I did a 25% water change sunday, did I have to add the A.C.E before I put the new 25% in, are can I add it any time close to the water change? as long as I put it in tap water first. I tested the water and the results were the same:
Amm.= .25
Nitrate = 20
Nitrite = .5
Alk. = 300
pH = 8.4
pH =

 

[neoreef]

Your results are not the same. Your pH went down significantly, however you are not in the clear.
Change 50% of your water as soon as possible. I am not familiar with ACE. Does it detoxify ammonia? If not, get some AmQuel at your local pet store and add according to the directions immediately, and again after your water change.
Clownfish are hardy, but your clown is telling you that it is ill, and you need to take care of this ASAP!
If your clown expires, do not add any more fish until your ammonia is zero. Ammonia is a killer.
Best of luck to you.

 

[neoreef]

Before you put the two clownfish in a 2 week old tank, did you test for ammonia? Do you have live rock?
It is likely that your tank was not cycled and that is why you have ammonia now.
Live rock can cycle a tank in as little as 2 weeks, but without it, you need to wait a lot longer before you add fish, unless you don't care if they die. Some folks do this with cheap fish, but probably not you, since you bought rather expensive perculas.
I really wish you the best of luck and I hope your fish pull through. we live and we learn.

 

[vi3tb0i]

try getting prime it eliminates ammonia and mroe things too.. good lick

 

[brian5150]

I've been testng the water from the get go and around the first of Sep. the amm. level was at 0. The amm. level has been .25 since after I got the fish. The bottle of A.C.E I have stands for ammonia chloramine eliminator it's made by Jungle. I do have a piece of Live rock in there. The test kit I use say's .25 is safe so I wasn't that worried about it. I'll go and try to get AmQuel, you can add that at any time right? it won't hurt the fish? I have a choc. chip star fish also, and I'll do another 25% water change. What are the odds that it's Brookynella? I'm thinking that if ammonia is to blame then the other clown fish would be acting weird to.

 

[neoreef]

Originally Posted by Brian5150
I've been testng the water from the get go and around the first of Sep. the amm. level was at 0. The amm. level has been .25 since after I got the fish. The bottle of A.C.E I have stands for ammonia chloramine eliminator it's made by Jungle. I do have a piece of Live rock in there. The test kit I use say's .25 is safe so I wasn't that worried about it. I'll go and try to get AmQuel, you can add that at any time right? it won't hurt the fish? I have a choc. chip star fish also, and I'll do another 25% water change. What are the odds that it's Brookynella? I'm thinking that if ammonia is to blame then the other clown fish would be acting weird to.
How big is your tank and how much live rock do you have? How did you cycle the tank?
If you did not add something to generate ammonia when you cycled, the bacteria which process ammonia to nitrite will not have had a chance to estabish itself.
Then when you added the fish, you added an ammonia source--fish excrement.
Not enough bacteria to process it, so the ammonia level went up in your tank.
Individual fish react differently to increased ammonia. Some are more tolerant of it than others.
You can use the ACE, it does the same thing as amquel.
Good luck.

 

[brian5150]

It's a 29 gal. with maybe 10 lbs. of live rock. I cycled it with a live rock and a star fish. Your right the star fish wouldn't have made enough ammonia. I tested the water today and the ammonia has went down since I did the water change, the Nitrites are still .5. I'm going to do another water change of 10% tommorrow. How much of a water change and how often should it be done once the levels are where they should be?

 

[neoreef]

How are your fish today?
probably you didn't have enough Live Rock to cycle in such a short period of time. I would do water changes until your ammonia is at 0. After that, I would keep testing daily for ammonia until you consistantly get 0 for a week. Whenever it rises above 0, do a water change. Large changes are more effective than small ones. 50% cuts your ammonia in half, 10% cuts it by 1/10th.
Be careful, however, to match salinity and temperature of the new water to the existing tank water.
Good luck

 

[brian5150]

The fish are doing good. The water levels are:
Amm. = 0
Nitrate = 20
Nitrite= 0
Alk.= 300
pH = 8.4
I just need to get the trates down and everything will be good. THANKS everyone for the help!

 

[neoreef]

Glad to hear it. Your cycle is over and you are good to go. But don't add anything for a couple of weeks!