Hey everyone,
This is my first reef tank (I have had fresh water before) and been running into some issues. I will give you all the information on the tank first then explain what has been happening. I have an innovative marine Nuvo 38 that I let sit cycling for about a month and a half. Here is a list of all the equipment in the tank and some parameters:
"¢ Dual T5HO light fixture (ATI coral plus/ATI actinic)
"¢ Filter Floss (Media Rack)
"¢ Carbon (Media Rack)
"¢ Ceramic media bag (Media Rack)
"¢ 550gph return pump
"¢ Spin stream nozzles
"¢ 150w hydor heater
"¢ Hydor slim skim (larger version)
"¢ Jebao pp4
"¢ Salinity 1.025
"¢ Temperature 77F
So about two weeks ago I purchased my first pair of perc clowns and ended up losing both of them within two days. Realized my test kit was expired and I am borrowing an api kit from a local reefer. Tested my water and my levels were around .25-.5 ammonia, 0 nitrite and 30-40 nitrate. Not great but it doesn't seem like enough to kill a fish? I did two large water changes and ended up changing arpox 30% of the water. I monitored the water quality closely for few days and things looked stable. Water came down to 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and 5-10 nitrate. I decided to tank a stab at it again and picked up one snow flake clown on Feb 22. I monitored things closely again and 3 days later I picked up a second snow flake clown as everything seemed great and the water quality. On Feb 26 I ended up picking up a 6 head frog spawn and added him to the tank. He has opened up nicely and is still doing great. On Feb 26 I noticed the original snow flake clown swimming around quite a bit with the lights out and had noticed they use to like to stick together in a corner when the lights are out. I didn't seem to think twice about it. I was quite happy with the tank at this point and was planning on leaving it for a few weeks to mature as is. Come Monday morning, immediately after waking up I check the tank and noticed he had passed (original clown I purchased on Feb 22). I took him out and tested my water immediately. The results were .25 ammonia, 0 nitrite and about 20 nitrates. I don't think this is enough to kill a fish still? The other clown seems to be doing well. I did a 10% water change and tested the water shortly after, 0 ammonia 0 nitrite and about 10 nitrates. The next morning I wake up and check the tank, the last clown was not doing well. His colors looked very pale and was barley swimming so I have him the flush. Not too sure what is happening here. Is the tank just too new or am I missing something here? I also checked for stray voltage and AC was 33 and DC was 0, are these acceptable numbers? I have done a lot of research before getting into this and have had help locally from a local reefer but we are stumped. What am I missing? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
This is my first reef tank (I have had fresh water before) and been running into some issues. I will give you all the information on the tank first then explain what has been happening. I have an innovative marine Nuvo 38 that I let sit cycling for about a month and a half. Here is a list of all the equipment in the tank and some parameters:
"¢ Dual T5HO light fixture (ATI coral plus/ATI actinic)
"¢ Filter Floss (Media Rack)
"¢ Carbon (Media Rack)
"¢ Ceramic media bag (Media Rack)
"¢ 550gph return pump
"¢ Spin stream nozzles
"¢ 150w hydor heater
"¢ Hydor slim skim (larger version)
"¢ Jebao pp4
"¢ Salinity 1.025
"¢ Temperature 77F
So about two weeks ago I purchased my first pair of perc clowns and ended up losing both of them within two days. Realized my test kit was expired and I am borrowing an api kit from a local reefer. Tested my water and my levels were around .25-.5 ammonia, 0 nitrite and 30-40 nitrate. Not great but it doesn't seem like enough to kill a fish? I did two large water changes and ended up changing arpox 30% of the water. I monitored the water quality closely for few days and things looked stable. Water came down to 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and 5-10 nitrate. I decided to tank a stab at it again and picked up one snow flake clown on Feb 22. I monitored things closely again and 3 days later I picked up a second snow flake clown as everything seemed great and the water quality. On Feb 26 I ended up picking up a 6 head frog spawn and added him to the tank. He has opened up nicely and is still doing great. On Feb 26 I noticed the original snow flake clown swimming around quite a bit with the lights out and had noticed they use to like to stick together in a corner when the lights are out. I didn't seem to think twice about it. I was quite happy with the tank at this point and was planning on leaving it for a few weeks to mature as is. Come Monday morning, immediately after waking up I check the tank and noticed he had passed (original clown I purchased on Feb 22). I took him out and tested my water immediately. The results were .25 ammonia, 0 nitrite and about 20 nitrates. I don't think this is enough to kill a fish still? The other clown seems to be doing well. I did a 10% water change and tested the water shortly after, 0 ammonia 0 nitrite and about 10 nitrates. The next morning I wake up and check the tank, the last clown was not doing well. His colors looked very pale and was barley swimming so I have him the flush. Not too sure what is happening here. Is the tank just too new or am I missing something here? I also checked for stray voltage and AC was 33 and DC was 0, are these acceptable numbers? I have done a lot of research before getting into this and have had help locally from a local reefer but we are stumped. What am I missing? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
