Tank Crash,A litttle help please..

koldsouth

Member
Last night was not a good night. First I had my LTA get caught in a intake. A little damage,But he is stressed Bad. Then in the turmoil I had sand from the bottom of the tank get blown around by a power head. Now this morning I have an invert problem. My pair of Coral Banded shrimp are dead and my 6 line wrasse is dead. The Anemone is Hiding under a LR in the very bottom of my tank. The other inhabitants in the tank are doing fine. There is 2 false perk's, 2 red damsels,3 feather dusters, 10 hermits, and 5 snails.
My PH is at 8.0, Ammonia is 0, Nitrate is between 0 and 5.0
Any and All Opinions will be great.....I'm as stressed as my Anemone now.
 

koldsouth

Member
It has been cycled for about 2 or 3 weeks. Everything has been doing fine. Eating good. until last night. I had a quick 2 week cycle due to already established rock thats why the timeline seems so short.
 

spanko

Active Member
I don't believe you were overstocked with the inhabitants you listed, just stocked too soon. With each addition, no matter if your tank was fully cycled or not, there should be a waiting period before the next. This would allow your biofiltration to "catchup" with the increased bio load. You shocked your tank by putting too much in too soon. Sit back, relax and let the tank level out some. See how it goes for the next 2-4 weeks before adding another fish. This is maybe overly cautious advice but advice that will help your tank non-the-less.
JMO
 

t316

Active Member
If you haven't already, do some water changes over the next few days. Let everything settle and try to save what's left. Don't add anything for awhile. With all tanks, but especially one your size, all of your livestock has to be added very slowly over a period of time as to not throw off the bioload.
 

wildjosh

Member
Originally Posted by meowzer
http:///forum/post/2967375
And remember that you should not add anemones until your tank is AT LEAST 6 months old.
+1
I remember I wanted an anemone so bad when I first started in the hobby, but patience is everything. I waited almost a year before I got one. They are very finicky and need an established tank, one that's at least 6 months old.
 

bang guy

Moderator
Originally Posted by koldsouth
http:///forum/post/2967364
It's a 29. So I overloaded it and now this in nature comming bact to get me..
You summed it up pretty good right there.
In addition, when Anemone get caught in pumps, powerheads, overflows, etc. the waterflow rips nematocysts right out of their flesh. These are spring loaded venom tipped mini-harpoons. When an animal has these things brush against their gills or skin the nematocysts fire. If they get enough of these it can be fatal.
 

koldsouth

Member
Thanks Guys,
All the info helps alot. I guess I did get alot ahead of myself.
Now I'll sit back and watch the things that survived and feel lucky it didn't cost me alot more $$ to learn a lesson.
 
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