What is going on in my tank?

burpuffer

burpuffer

Member
I have a 100 gallon tank that i have had set up for almost 2 years. It has about 100 pounds of LR and about 75 pounds of LS. I run a CPR overflow into a 15 gallon sump which i have a berlin protein skimmer,some bio balls, LR,& a UV sterilizer. I also have a bak pak because the Berlin doesnt work that well.I cant figure out why nothing survives in my tank. I do 20 gallon water changes every week. About a month ago i bought 2 two spot gobys, and within a day they were both dead. I waited 2 weeks and bought a cleaner shrimp & yellow headed sleeper goby and the shrimp died within 5 minutes and the goby died 4 days later. And just last night my Kole tang was acting really funny he normally is all over the place and last night he was just sitting behind a rock. I took a sample of my water to my LFS and i told them to test everything they could and they said everything looked fine only thing they saw was that my phosphates were just a tad high but it was right before i did a water change.
Heres my stock list
1 percula clown
1 kole tang
1 yellow tang
a bunch of hermits & snails
1 tiger tail cucumber
1 serpent sea star
1 crocea clam
1 star polyp colony
1 batch of green mushrooms
1 BTA
my levels
nitrates 20
nitrites 0
ph 8.2
salinity 1.024
 
rudedog40

rudedog40

Member
Have you seen the cucumber lately? Does he seem OK? I've read where some cucumbers are toxic, and can kill everything in your tank if they die.
 
burpuffer

burpuffer

Member
i got the tank from my uncle used but it was cleaned really good and i have the tank up & running for about 2 years and it is just in the last 6 months that stuff hasnt been lasting
 
burpuffer

burpuffer

Member
ya i usually see my cucumber out in the morning when the light is off. he is a tiger tail the things i have read about him he is not toxic
 
burpuffer

burpuffer

Member
i float them in a bag for an hour then pour a cup of water in the bag then wait 15 minutes and do the same thing one more time then net them ( depending on what it is ) and put them in the tank
 
renogaw

renogaw

Active Member
may be acclimation shock (especially for the shrimp).
do you make sure the PH and Salt levels are the same before dumping in?
also, what do you do with the water, do you pour it into your tank or discard it?
have you tested for ammonia?
 
burpuffer

burpuffer

Member
ya ph & salt levels no problem. i discard the water. never goes into the tank. And on the ammonia i have nitrates & i have heard that if i have nitrates there will be no ammonia. Thats what a LFS owner had told me
 
jc74

jc74

Member
Ok, you have a grand system there.
Let me tell you what I have:
75 gallon tank
Fluval 404 canister
Remora hang-on skimmer
That's it, plus some powerheads. And you know what? NOTHING in my tank dies. In fact, everything grows like wildfire. Everything in my tank becomes super-sized in no time flat.
It makes me wonder if too much really is too much. I think I have the bare minimum for a reef tank, and it's like someone dumped some miracle grow in it.
 
paintballer768

paintballer768

Active Member
Originally Posted by burpuffer
ya ph & salt levels no problem. i discard the water. never goes into the tank. And on the ammonia i have nitrates & i have heard that if i have nitrates there will be no ammonia. Thats what a LFS owner had told me
But if youre overfeeding or something has died unknown to you, it will turn into ammonia, and ammonia is deadly to fish. Try testing that and let us know what its reading.
 
jc74

jc74

Member
Originally Posted by renogaw
may be acclimation shock (especially for the shrimp).
do you make sure the PH and Salt levels are the same before dumping in?
also, what do you do with the water, do you pour it into your tank or discard it?
have you tested for ammonia?
I don't believe in acclimattion shock. I've never acclimated any of my tank additions, and they have all thrived. I've had marine fish off and on for the past 15 years.
Acclimation is a myth IMO.
 
burpuffer

burpuffer

Member
Everytime something dies i have taken it out almost right away. As far as feeding i feed every other day just a little squirt out of the bottle. I have an amonia card in the tank and that is reading fine. So........?????
 
burpuffer

burpuffer

Member
but i have had this kole tang for about 3 months and last night he looked like he wasnt doing to good. he wasnt swimming around he was just sitting behind a rock. What do you guys recomend for acclimation??
 
usefulidiot213

usefulidiot213

Member
Do you know if you made any changes right before all the dying started..? New equipment, animal, anything....? Have you tested for any metals..? Maybe something is leeching into the system that the current animals have slowly gotten use to, but would be to much of a shock to anything new....
 
burpuffer

burpuffer

Member
No major changes in a while. The first year the tank was set up i had it as an agressive tank. Then i wanted to turn it into a reef so i had drained half the water out of it and bought a sump and an overflow then had it run for about a month and slowly started buying stuff. At the time i had added about 50 pounds of LR. I had taken a sample to LFS and i told them to check everything and they said everything looked really good, but maybe they didnt check for metals?? I am thinking there has to be something in there that has been a problem for a while but i cant figure it out.
 
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