Tank crashing

[tiffanyniehaus]

please help. my tank has been crashing. Slowly my turbos have died. Then two of my fish died. I foung one of my crabs dead also this morning. I have an out break of bubble and hair algea. I have a uvsterilizer, two power heads,and a berlin with a turbo pump.
my nitrate-30ppm
nitrite-0ppm
alk-300ppm
ph-8.3
ammonia-.25ppm
calc.- 320ppm
Phos-.25ppm

 

[who dey]

your ammonia is at a lethal reading. Your nitrates are also abnormally high. Do a 50% water change immediately. YOur hair algae is caused by your high phosphate readings. use the attached product to get down to zero. How long has your tank been running? what is your stock list and filtrations?

 

[tiffanyniehaus]

my tank is about 8 months old. emperor with two 4in biowheels.

 

[who dey]

Originally Posted by tiffanyniehaus
my tank is about 8 months old. emperor with two 4in biowheels.
tank size and stocklist?? How many # of LR?

 

[tiffanyniehaus]

55 gal about 50lbs lr and before everthing died i had two damsels a clown and a hawk. three turbos two astra and two lettice

 

[who dey]

Originally Posted by tiffanyniehaus
55 gal about 50lbs lr and before everthing died i had two damsels a clown and a hawk. three turbos two astra and two lettice
IMO you are under filtered. You should have about 10-15 times the turn over rate in your tank related to gallons per hour more if it's a reef. your emperor is around 400gph which gives you a turnover rate of around 7.5. In my 55g i had two penguin biowheels at about 600gph and that didn't seem like enough. Did you add all the liverock at the begining or have you added some recently?

 

[tiffanyniehaus]

about four to five months ago we added pretty much all the rock. Haven't added any more since about two or three months ago.

 

[ric maniac]

the dead fish could have caused the ammonia. do a 50-75% water change imediately! and as stated above try getting rid of your phosphates.

 

[who dey]

Originally Posted by tiffanyniehaus
about four to five months ago we added pretty much all the rock. Haven't added any more since about two or three months ago.
IMO i would add a few more powerheads to your tank to get your GPH up to around 700. Do your water changes and don't add anymore livestock for a month or so until your tank parameters stabilize. When you are ready to add livestock, do it "Slowly" Any addition to the bioload in your tank will raise your ammonia level. your ammonia should be zero and nitrates under .10 and calcium should be between 400 and 420 ppm

 

[tiffanyniehaus]

well i have a 400 on my uv then i have two 1200 powerheads.

 

[who dey]

Originally Posted by tiffanyniehaus
well i have a 400 on my uv then i have two 1200 powerheads.
was just reading that. As stated above i would not add anything and do your water changes. Your system needs to get out of shock to bring your parameters down. One month without adding anything should give your system enough time to accumulate the right amt of beneficial bacteria to keep your ammonia at a non toxic level. Run the phosban on a constant basis especially if you use tap water. I run it all the time and swear by it. Your will never see a lawn in your tank again! You should probably get a handfull of crabs to help with your nitrate problems. Turbo's tend to die off. emerald crabs are known to help with controlling bubble algae.

 

[tiffanyniehaus]

i have been trying to get emerald crabs ever since it started popping up but my lfs is relocating so they aren't ordering anything till they get moved and that started about three weeks ago and they don't plan to be moved in for at least another month....thanks though i appreciate all the imput!

 

[1journeyman]

What's your salinity at?

 

[tiffanyniehaus]

1.023 i think i broke it last week.....

 

[1journeyman]

What are you using to test it?
Plastic hydrometers are known to be inacurate. Low salinity will definitely kill inverts. As will the presence of copper. Have you ever medicated the tank?
Get a refractometer as soon as possible and tell us salinity.

 

[tiffanyniehaus]

all right thanks i will try that. I used to use the plastic hyrdometer that you just fill with water but it broke so i bought the thermometer one and i broke it too. I don't have good luck with them. As soon as i can i will get that and get back to you on that. I have a big shopping list now. thanks though you guys.