In December i purchased a tank off of craigslist that had a calurpa explosion. I got the 125G tank, stand, canopy, lights, sump, skimmer, pump, sand, and all the liverock that came with it. I also purchased an apex, and sold the T5s it came with and bought 4 kessil A360n (only three of which are currently mounted because of the way the canopy is set up and because i am going to start with softies so i dont need the 4th yet). I set it all up, threw out all the sand, and dried out and scrubbed the rock, then i filled the tank and put the rock in there by iteslf, using the dieoff on the rock as an ammonia source to season the tank. It cycled through just fine, i did a few large water changes, and once the nitrates were low enough, i added a few fish. First i added a dozen crabs, 2 dozen snails, a seahare, and a royal urchin. Then, a few days later, I added 2 barred dartfish. A few days went by, and i never saw them, so i figured a few tankmates would help get them out of hiding. I added 2 red firefish, 2 scissortail gobies, and a starry blenny to make sure the calurpa diddnt reappear. Well, the next morning i found the corpses of the two dartfish. The following morning i found the firefish and the scissortail gobies dead. I tested and found 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and 12ppm nitrates. I decided the elevated nitrates meant i had a small spike and that must be what killed the fish. So i did a water change, waited a week, and added a pair of ORA TR percula clowns and 2 more firefish, along with a few zoas and a cabbage leather coral. I watched parameters testing at least once per day, twice if i felt like it, no ammonia, no nitrites, nitrates clibed up to 8ppm before i did a water change. But within a week, both firefish were dead. At this point all i have left in there is the starry blenny, been in there two weeks, and the two clowns, who have been in there a week. Also, my zoas are not opening and im not getting full extension on the cabbage leather. They are currently under 3 kessil A360N ramping to 50% power for 6 hours, then ramping back down. Parameters are as follows:
Temp: 77.9 (measured by apex probe which was callibrated to average of several digital thermometers and an infrared)
Salinity: 35ppt or 1.026sg (measured by hydrometer since apex probe is soaking)
Ph: 7.99 (apex probe and hannah digital checker)
ORP: 218 (irrelevant since it is newely installed and has no trending data, also probe not callibrated)
Ammonia: 0ppm (Api test kit, only one i have with ammonia readings)
Nitrites: 0ppm (also api)
Nitrates: 4ppm (red sea pro test kit)
Ive never had this problem cycling a tank before, something is killing the gobies off and i dont think its the 8ppm nitrates. I also dont know why my zoanthids arent opening, they arent melting, per say, but they are all closed and certainly dont look happy. Any thoughts? I have yet to get the sump up and going, because when we disassembled the tank, we had to take the bulkeads out (she glued in the plumbing) and sand and crap got in there, then i stupidly put the bulheads back on without cleaning out the holes in the glass and i think there is sand under the bulkhead making it leak. I still have yet to crawl in there, unhook it all again, clean out the holes and put it back together. But still, the only effect this has is that i have no skimmer, i should be able to keep firefish without a skimmer. Any guesses as to why all my gobies and firefish are dying?
Temp: 77.9 (measured by apex probe which was callibrated to average of several digital thermometers and an infrared)
Salinity: 35ppt or 1.026sg (measured by hydrometer since apex probe is soaking)
Ph: 7.99 (apex probe and hannah digital checker)
ORP: 218 (irrelevant since it is newely installed and has no trending data, also probe not callibrated)
Ammonia: 0ppm (Api test kit, only one i have with ammonia readings)
Nitrites: 0ppm (also api)
Nitrates: 4ppm (red sea pro test kit)
Ive never had this problem cycling a tank before, something is killing the gobies off and i dont think its the 8ppm nitrates. I also dont know why my zoanthids arent opening, they arent melting, per say, but they are all closed and certainly dont look happy. Any thoughts? I have yet to get the sump up and going, because when we disassembled the tank, we had to take the bulkeads out (she glued in the plumbing) and sand and crap got in there, then i stupidly put the bulheads back on without cleaning out the holes in the glass and i think there is sand under the bulkhead making it leak. I still have yet to crawl in there, unhook it all again, clean out the holes and put it back together. But still, the only effect this has is that i have no skimmer, i should be able to keep firefish without a skimmer. Any guesses as to why all my gobies and firefish are dying?
