Tank in trouble?

hondadude2k5

hondadude2k5

Awesome Dude
I went away for the weekend and when I came back I found my tank went through some bad changes. My levels shot up bad.

Ammonia 1.0
Nitrite .25
Nitrate 40ppm

I have already taken steps to get the Ammonia down. It is now .25 as well. I am in the process of starting a 50% water change in 3 seperate water changes. My problem is the clowns have slowed down their activity and they look like they may have lost a spot or 2 of white color in the strips. Is this normal or do I have somethign to worry about?
 
What do you think caused the problem? To get a Ammonia/Nitrite spike would indicate that there was possibly overfeeding? Or something else as a result of a change in the normal routine? Did something possibly die and cause a larger bio load on the system? If the clowns are slowing down, I would make sure there is plenty of oxigen in the water, turn down the temperature possibly a few degrees and definately do a major water change. Check the clowns for heavy breathing and watch them for indications of parasites. also, if the sandbed was stirred, that can sometimes cause these kind of problems. I think after the water change is done, you should see definate improvement.
 
Can Nitrate shoot up in a few days? I thought it had to be gradual. I'm just asking because I wonder if something more long term has been brewing.

Good luck! Owning a reef tank is a good exercise in humility!
Clint
 
I did have a death. That caused the ammonia spike I am sure. I do not know if that would have caused the nitrate jump but i know when i did feed alittle too much before i left that i contributed to the params to change. I am no longer worried about the parameters, I am just worried about the clowns. I do see small spots on the smaller of the 2 and the larger is free of spots but looks like her slime coat is fuzzy. Any ideas?
 
Are the spots darkish? Remember when I asked you if the clowns had any stings from the frogspawn or whatever it was they decided to host in? That could be what the spots are. How is the breathing? Using an airstone may be helpful. Make sure the water change is well mixed.
 
Yup, it was the tang that died. When I left friday morning, the tang was swimming and eating and being just as active as can be. I had a bad feeling all weekend long. I came home and the Tang was dead stuck to the filter intake. I tested the water params and that is when I got the above readings. I did water changes and now I am back to my perfect readings but the rest of my fish appear to have Ich. I am fighting that and the last thing i want to do is lose my 80dollar clowns.
 
what kind of clowns do you have i want to get the black perks is that what you have and if so would you recommend them?
 
I have a pair of True Black Onyx percs. They aren't the all black ones you may be talking about. They are wonderful. Full of personality.
 
Not trying to be mean here, but you were kinda asking for a problem with putting that tang in there, He probably died from stress and then you were not home to fish him out and he polluted your water.
 
I am certain he polluted the water when he died but I am not sure it was because he was in that tank. The tang was a very small baby. In fact that is the only reason I got him so soon. I am setting up a custom 55 gallon this week. I kind of figured the 3 larger fish which are still less than 3 inches a piece would survive in there for a week. I had less than 9 inches of fish in a 24 inch tank. I made the mistake of thinking that would be ok for a week.
 
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