What is happening??

kynekke

kynekke

Member
I keep a livestock log and today I had to add another DOA log entry... that means I've had 17 things in my tank (not including CuC) and 8 of them have died... I'm doing something wrong and I don't know what!!
My water parameters are good... I feed them mysis...I am following the rules I can think of and still have a hard time keeping fish alive.

Tank:
55 Gallon
20 Gallon Sump
Instant Ocean Salt
Water Flow x22
4-5" sand bed
Unkn how much live rock
260w PC's on 10-12 hours a day
Egg Crate top
Livestock:
1 yellow tail damsel
2 green chromis
1 hawaiian featherduster
1 pulsing xenia
1 zoo frag
1 peppermint shrimp
3 turbo snails
2 ness snails
8 hermit crabs
Lost :
2 False Percs (died in QT, no idea why)
1 Diamond Gobby (haven't seen him in 2 weeks since I put him in)
4 Green Chromis (1 sump diver, the rest I don't know why)
1 Zoo frag (during tank crash)
1 Candycane frag (no idea why)
Water:
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Phos 0
Calc 400
pH 8.2
Temp 78
SG 1.026
Here are some pictures.. it's cloudy but I just fed them mysis so I think that may be why.. normally it's not cloudy.



 
1journeyman

1journeyman

Active Member
That doesn't look like 4 inches of sand to me either.
2 good questions were asked; How old is tank and how are you acclimating. I would also ask if you are getting all from same supplier.
 
kynekke

kynekke

Member
The tank was set up 4/26/07
I acclimate according to the SWF.com acclimation guide. The fish were from 3 different sources.
It was all base rock but is close to being live.. it has green coralline on it and lots of critters in it (featherdusters, hair worms, etc). There's a Penguin filter 350 in the sump though so the filter is still running.
 
matt819

matt819

Member
You just need to let the tank mature, with that rock, it's gonna take a while. Might wanna add some good live rock the store has had in the tank a while. Get a fuge going to just to harbor some more life. Your tank just needs to colonize with the bacterias and other things needed to support the bioload, imo.
 
cjworkman

cjworkman

Member
I agree.. without adding more live rock, your tank has yet to cycle.
Meaning a lot more stuff will probably die during the cycle.
It can happen with just that one piece of LR.. but could take a long time. If you drop another 20 pounds of LR in there it should speed up the process.
The animals in the tank need the natural cycle to occur in order to balance the chemicals and grow bacteria.
 
earlybird

earlybird

Active Member
I think you moved too fast and now you know how important a qt is. I agree also with adding more lr. The base rock that you have is not as porous as fiji lr or the therefore not as much bacteria colonies can exist as compared to them.
 
kynekke

kynekke

Member
I don't have room for any more rock... I have 10 lbs of LR in it at the moment and my chaeto for the fuge should arrive today or tomorrow. As for a cycle I did one, got the ammonia up to 5 and it leveled out,all told took 3 weeks.
BTW, was 4 weeks after I added the damsel that I added new fish and then another 3 weeks til I put in another.
 
jonthefishguy

jonthefishguy

Active Member
Somethings not right here! Those pieces of rock look like SHOW SIZE pieces of base rock and they dont look to be very porous. They look very dense. I would take some of it and break it up with a hammer like the one onthe far left side on the bottom and a couple of the others. hell break up all of them into smaller pieces...thats waaaay too dense. I have to ask. Was that BASE ROCK you bought and then a little piece of live rock to save money on the rock.
 
S

smartorl

Guest
Live rock is not something to try to cut corners on. It is expensive but it is the foundation of your tank. Shop around, today I found some awesome rock, the best I have ever gotten my hands on for $2.00 per pound because a store was tearing down it's display tanks and had no room for the large pieces.
 
kynekke

kynekke

Member
The guy I got the rock from has used it in his 210 and both sons 210 and they all have gorgeous tanks.. it's argonite and very porous, hard to tell on the picture but there are already worms and such living in it. Yes I had to cut corners... I work for a school district and on teacher wages LOL
I'll just sit back and wait before adding more. There's more live rock in the fuge too and some chaeto today or tomorrow for it. I'm sure it'll work out just getting frustrated.
 
jonthefishguy

jonthefishguy

Active Member
Well the first DENSE was cause I didnt think they were dense. The second comment on dense was the fact that the TANK looks dense. Thats why i said break it up so you can get yourself some other areas for your fish to hide and runa round...those pieces look like they take up too much space.
 
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