Nothing Makes it in my tank!!

[mswalter]

:mad2:
I have no idea what is going on. I have had this tank set up for several months. Everything i have put into it has died at one point or another. I dont know what to do!! I am looking for anyone to help me!!

I have another post under "Anemone question"

I am very frustrated and anything would help

Thank you

 

[kimsie]

Ok - you said anything would help. I have to say that I still have under 1 year experience at this so someone else might be more qualified - but you said 'anything'

Based on your other post - I think your salinity was a large problem, you never posted your other tank parameters, that would help a lot of people try to figure out whats wrong.

To be honest - you probably have a bad LFS - I know you thought that they were very trustworthy, but that could be the root of your problem and it's not your fault that you trusted them. When you start out - they're the person you lean on for information. Now that you're here - we can all try to help.

In all honesty - I would not add anything more to the tank. Keep trying to feed what's left - if you give us a detailed list and your water info - we can help you put things back together. But remember - nothing in this hobby happens fast and it maybe 6 months before your tank is ready for new things. It could very well be sooner - but just to be aware that this won't be easy making your tank a healthy environment!

Don't worry - my LFS sold me a flower pot as my 2nd coral too - it's still doing well - but I have to feed constantly and found it the right spot in the tank.

So - let's get more information from you! Also - feel free to PM me if you want...

 

[kimsie]

Ok - so I just saw page 2 of your other post with all of your water stats... sorry about that! will you give us a list of what you've tried to put in - what has made it and what hasn't? maybe that will help?

 

[mswalter]

OK my first problem and i know this for a fact that i added too many things at one time. to start off first i had 6 damsels and this was to get my tank started get the right bacteria in there.

I had 3 yellowtail, a 4 striped damsel, a domino damsel and a blue chromie. Next i caught 3 of those and returned them to the fish store. (we are allowed to do that and get credit.) I then put a maroon clownfish, a yellow tang, a lawnmower blenny. I have a clam, and then my three anemones. all of these fish died at one time when I added another fish(not sure of the name). I was told that it was ick. They all had white spots that looked like salt granules on the sides of them, they breathed hard and would stay in one spot. They all died within three days. I waited over a month, I was told ick dies in a month, and ended up putting three more damsels in my tank. A yellowtail, a 4 striped, and a domino. The domino died already but i think it was due to a fight. The remaining two damsels remain alive. My clam is doing amazing. The mantels open real wide and it has always looked beautiful. Thats the only thing i have going for me.

also during all that time before ick appeared i added a plusing xenia , it died. And my flower pot, well it died.

 

[kimsie]

Wow - ok so the flowerpot is dead already? And the xenia died... Do you have any other corals now? Or are you just working with the fish, clam and anemones?

I think Ich does die in about 6-8 weeks in a fallow (without fish) tank. So it may have all died in that month and you could have just lost the damsel due to the fighting like you thought.

 

[ccampbell57]

what are your tank readings??? It sounds like you have a very mismanaged water chemistry

 

[ccampbell57]

It could also be that you dont have the right environment.

 

[mswalter]

I have seriously had my water checked once a week. But here are my readings

Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
Nitrate- <5ppm
Phosphates <.25 ppm
PH - approx 8.4
KH (hardness) 11
Salinity - 1.02
Im pushing 800 gallons per hour
Calcium appro 260-300

What do you mean by right environment?

 

[mswalter]

I have a link that has pictures of my tank on my other post. Its under Anemone question

 

[Sk8r]

Flowerpot won't live even for experts.
For the rest, you have too many phosphates: have algae? If yes, you have more than .25.
your salinity should be 1.025. Your calcium should be 400-450. Probably your magnesium is way low, to have calcium that low [they're related.]
WHoever said 4 weeks for ich was unfortunately wrong: it's 6-8, and with the luck you've had, go long.
First, set up a quarantine tank and use it religiously for your next fish for 4 weeks---especially for fish from a source that has given your tank ich once already. Leave your main tank fishless for 8 weeks.
Fix your water, and get the temperature stable at 80. Shoot for 7.9-8.3 ph, and 8.3-9.3 alkalinity. Set up a routine for tests and water changes, and log your test results so you're dosing INTO the trend, not dosing to try to make up for a bad situation.
Clowns are notorious for two diseases: ich, and brook. Look up those on the internet and become familiar with the symptoms: if they break out in quarantine, you can cure them.
Try to prevent your water having highs and lows of quality: if you don't have an ATO [auto topoff] get one ASAP.
Use only ro/di water. Conditioners don't remove all the bad things from tap water.
I think the 2 things that will do you most good are a quarantine tank and a well-kept, well used logbook.

 

[wicked_NaCl_h2o]

Water changes always help and it is usually a good water fixer, but not if you use tap water. Make more water changes..like 10% a week and you should see a change in your tank in a few weeks. Without a protien skimmer water changes are very important..no..extremely important. I have to do waterchanges on my 24 twice a week because it doesn't have a skimmer. I notice if I don't keep up the water changes things in my tank look very unhappy or worse..start to die.

 

[jubjub]

i dont know why this comes to mind but is the tank brand new when you started it because otherwise copper could be in the tank is whats causing problems. are you using ro/di water or tap?

have you tried different brands of salt/stores to buy salt.....

 

[wicked_NaCl_h2o]

1. get your salinity up
2. do a 10% water change weekly with out a protien skimmer I think you should do a little more than just a 10%
3. check your magnesium levels ..if levels are low..then bring them up to a normal level.

after you do these things for a while and start to see a good difference in your tank..keep up with the water change routine and you should have a beautiful tank in no time. If you don't keep up with the water changes..you'll go back to where you are now.

 

[garygb]

It doesn't sound like copper is an issue, the clam is doing "great." Copper anihilates invertebrates. You post your specific gravity as 1.02 in this post and in the other one, the 3rd digit after the decimal point is important.

As someone else posted, water changes are generally the best thing you can do in a tank that is having problems. Do you use RO/DI water? Phosphates could be coming from your tap, if you don't use RO/DI.

 

[Cheebs]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11716898#post11716898 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mswalter

...
Im pushing 800 gallons per hour
...

Could this be the problem? I've got 3900 gph of flow in my 75, and I think that 800 gph in a 55 gallon tank is significantly lower than the recommended flow. My fish and corals love tons of flow, some more than others of course, but if your flow is too low it could create dead/stangant spots in the tank. I'm not sure if it would have any effect on the ich problem, but I figure it couldn't hurt to get them swimming around a little more.

I don't have a ton of experience either, so hopefully someone can tell us if this is a potential problem...

 

[garygb]

I think 800gph could be okay, it's probably true a little higher would be preferable, but I think a protein skimmer is even higher on the list.

 

[mswalter]

Today I added a polyfilter. I am hopefully going to find the problem with that. I am having the electric current checked in my tank in the next few days. I have made up a data sheet to where i can keep track of all the water changes, how much of what i added. A place to where i can record all my water testings so i will notice any flexuation in the numbers. I also have a place where i can record what i add, what day i add it . Next on my list is a protien skimmer. It might be alittle bit before i can make this addition to my tank. But what is the best way to take maintain the water right now until i get a protien skimmer?

I just use regular tap water. I put a declorinator in the water. It is also supposed to help with ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite.

Also with the concern of not having enough water movement, I also have a powerhead located in the back corner of my tank trying to held cirrculate the water around the rocks.

I asked about how to test magnesium today at the fish store, but they dont do that there and said that the testing kit is expensive and reminder I am in college and do not have the money to purchase one of those.

Another question, would anyone mind telling my what your lighting schedule for your tank is? when the lights go one, when you turn them off? And i am also interested in feeding schedules? I guess I am afraid of overfeeding and because of that i might under feed.

 

[dreckis]

Ok, first off let me start off by saying SLOW DOWN AND STOP PUTTING ANYMORE FISH INTO YOUR TANK!!!!

You have done EVERYTHING wrong that you could have done. You have a clam? What heck are you doing???? You don’t even know what your water perimeters are and you have anem's and clams? Please stop your killing everything in our environment!

Now lets get back to what’s wrong with your tank and what you could be doing to fix it.

First thing.... are you running any live rock in your tank? If yes good. You don’t have ANY MORE LIVE STOCK! This will cycle your tank appropriately. Right now when you add 500 things at once you don’t have enough biological bacteria to handle this amount inhabitants in your tank! This means your bio-load exceeds your maximum!

Once your tank has cycled average of 4-6 weeks... you can do this by testing the parameters weekly! This way you know there is progress. Only AFTER your stuff turns up clean I would add 1 FISH! 1 ONLY!!!! Preferably a damsel since they are very hardy! Do not even think about adding a clean up crew at this time because they are not needed.

Then once everything has become established and you see your parameters are correct and good then you may add another fish wish higher BIO-LOAD NOT A TANG FISH SINCE THESE PRODUCE A LARGE AMOUNT OF BIO!!!

Also DO NOT uses any declorinator in your water!!! This is not needed for salt water and not even needed for fresh water!

Make sure you are making your salt water correctly... review your process. Once the salt has been mixed let it sit with a power head 24/48 hours then you may do a water change!

Get rid of your filtration unit since you DONT NEED ONE when you have a skimmer!! Only thing you need to ensure is that you have proper flow throughout your tank!

Please give everything I said a thought. You really need to stop and slow down. All of your mistakes have been accomplished by SEVERAL people on this board.

If you need anymore help please PM me.

Also make sure you up your salinity to a proper level 1.025 :\

 

[garygb]

First of all, you should be applauded for taking the time and energy to get your tank in check. I wish everyone were as diligent as you are.

Adding the polyfilter is a good thing. You can now see, based on the color, if indeed any heavy metals are present and, depending on how quickly it turns brown, you can speculate regarding the amount of organics.

I personally wouldn't stress too much over magnesium, if you are using a good salt brand, that isn't likely to be an issue. I would want to test the phosphates in the tap water, it might be available in a water report for your municipality.

As far as photoperiod, mine is 12 hours. Some people stagger theirs so some lights, such as actinic comes on an hour before the main lights and stays on an hour later, etc. But generally, you will want a minimum of 10 hours of full lighting on your tank.

 

[mswalter]

OK first of all I havent put anything in my tank is awhile other than the flower pot and i only put that in there because well i really dont know why. But it doesnt even matter. I am taking the time to try and do things right that is why i got on this site in the first place. Please dont sit and tell me everything I am doing wrong because trust me I pretty much know something isnt right. All I know is what everyone tells me. So please dont attack me but i am considering everyones help and it is much appreciated. And yes i do have a clam and i have had it since the beginning!!!! It is the only thing that has made it through the whole time. Its even grown. SO i know i am doing something right. Right now i have two damsels, live rock, and a clam. My anemones i think are dead. And its fine, I am ok with that because everyone has to learn some way.

I use Instant ocean as my salt.

Right now i do not have a skimmer, i have two emperor 400 and a powerhead.

http://s252.photobucket.com/albums/hh29/mandyswalter/
Here are some pictures of my tank. It shows my clam, anemones, and damsels and live rock.