Well folks. It is a sad day.
Last night, I did a 5 gallon water change. I used 5 gallons of water listed as RO from Walmart. I mixed in the instant ocean, and checked the specific gravity and it came in at 1.022. I aerated it for a while and then siphoned out the approximate ammount.
I then poured the new water in. The fish seemed fine.
This morning, I woke up to find that the water was slightly cloudy. I didn't think anything of it as it had been cloudy when we had first got it and topped it off. SO I fed the fish and they were very active chasing down food. Figured all was well.
Well, I head off to work. I get a call from my fiancee who tells me that the Ammonia reading has jumped to 2.0ppm. Wierd I thought...I didn't really stir up the sand bed when I vacced some of the excrement and left over food out. So she did an ammo lock treatment and headed off to work.
Fast forward to this evening. I get home and let out my dogs and head in to check the tank. Cloudy. So cloudy in fact, you can't see through it from one side to the other.
I go into a panic and start checking for fish. Found the damsel...she was dead at the bottom. I start looking around for the Maroon clown and nothing. I start pulling the stuff out of the tank and still nothing. I get a batch of water mixed up in a clean bucket and get the live rock into it along with the still thriving red legged hermits. I then start siphoning water out and finally find our poor little Squirrel. She is dead at the bottom of the tank.
So now, I am pulling the rest of the water out and keeping the live rock and crabs in a bucket with 2 air lines in it to provide some aeration.
So being that I have to start over from scratch, where do I go from here?
My plan was to finish draining the tank and rinse the sand/coral mix as best as I can. Get the tank refilled with good water, either pick some up locally or order some live rock and start over from scratch.
So anyone up for helping a newbie out? Any advice is greatly appreciated. I am sad for my little Maroon Clown. But I do not want to put another fish through the same thing.
I should have left well enough alone and let the damned thing continue it's cycle but was worried that the ammonia levels were not dropping fast enough....and now...well let's just say that i am an idiot...
Help me.
Ryan
Last night, I did a 5 gallon water change. I used 5 gallons of water listed as RO from Walmart. I mixed in the instant ocean, and checked the specific gravity and it came in at 1.022. I aerated it for a while and then siphoned out the approximate ammount.
I then poured the new water in. The fish seemed fine.
This morning, I woke up to find that the water was slightly cloudy. I didn't think anything of it as it had been cloudy when we had first got it and topped it off. SO I fed the fish and they were very active chasing down food. Figured all was well.
Well, I head off to work. I get a call from my fiancee who tells me that the Ammonia reading has jumped to 2.0ppm. Wierd I thought...I didn't really stir up the sand bed when I vacced some of the excrement and left over food out. So she did an ammo lock treatment and headed off to work.
Fast forward to this evening. I get home and let out my dogs and head in to check the tank. Cloudy. So cloudy in fact, you can't see through it from one side to the other.
I go into a panic and start checking for fish. Found the damsel...she was dead at the bottom. I start looking around for the Maroon clown and nothing. I start pulling the stuff out of the tank and still nothing. I get a batch of water mixed up in a clean bucket and get the live rock into it along with the still thriving red legged hermits. I then start siphoning water out and finally find our poor little Squirrel. She is dead at the bottom of the tank.
So now, I am pulling the rest of the water out and keeping the live rock and crabs in a bucket with 2 air lines in it to provide some aeration.
So being that I have to start over from scratch, where do I go from here?
My plan was to finish draining the tank and rinse the sand/coral mix as best as I can. Get the tank refilled with good water, either pick some up locally or order some live rock and start over from scratch.
So anyone up for helping a newbie out? Any advice is greatly appreciated. I am sad for my little Maroon Clown. But I do not want to put another fish through the same thing.
I should have left well enough alone and let the damned thing continue it's cycle but was worried that the ammonia levels were not dropping fast enough....and now...well let's just say that i am an idiot...
Help me.
Ryan
