Help!

rong · Mar 31, 2013

I did a water change this morning, now all my fish are acting funny. My clowns are hanging at the bottom hardly moving and my royal gramma is hiding in a corner hardly moving. I checked chemistry and all is normal. Nitrates are about 30 ppm, but it has always ran there. Everything else is zero, ph is 8.0.

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Reefing Madness · Mar 31, 2013

Ya spook em? They used to you doing water changes yet? 30 Trates ain't bad, don't think thats it. What was the Temp and SG of the new water?

RalphsReef · Mar 31, 2013

Was the salt completely dissolved in the new saltwater before you did the water change? If not, they could be experiencing gill burn. Or, was there a big difference (especially if it was much colder) in the new saltwater going in? Water changes aren't normally tricky as long as the water going in is similar to the water you removed. Keep us updated.

rong · Mar 31, 2013

I do weekly water changes, SG of new water is 1.024, tank was 1.026 before I changed, it is close to 1.024 now. I put in a bit of RO to help lower below 1.025 so it can drift up a bit with evaporation. Temp is steady at 82F.

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rong · Mar 31, 2013

Yes, it was dissolved, it had been mixed for about a week. They are still lethargic, my gramma is hiding in a rock and not moving. My jawfish looks normal, as normal as he can anyway for a goofy looking fish!

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Reefing Madness · Mar 31, 2013

Only thing i can think of is your Redux is low. You run a skimmer? Run powerheads to break up the water surface?

rong · Mar 31, 2013

Protein skimmer in sump and powerhead angled up to break up surface.

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Reefing Madness · Mar 31, 2013

Im no help. I have no idea, everything seems to be in line.

SeahorseKeeper · Mar 31, 2013

Is it possible that the water change water could have gotten contaminated with something? Or maybe you had something on your hands that got in the tank?

Pappy · Mar 31, 2013

Maybe a temp swing?

PaulKreider · Mar 31, 2013

How are they acting funny? Breathing heavy? Twitching? Swimming circles? Tilted axis of symetry(swimming sideways)? More description would help!

always reefin · Mar 31, 2013

what are your water parameters?

twintrades · Apr 1, 2013

Do you have a stray voltage in the tank ? Like a bad powerhead or cracked heater?

Lol Easyest way to tell is if you have a Nick or cut on a finger. Stick it in and see if you get tingles.... Dont worry about electrocution your fish would be dead by now.

Daniel@R2R · Apr 1, 2013

It seems most everything I would have guess has already been covered (temp, salt dissolved, contamination, etc.). Maybe it would help if you could describe how you went about the water change... Did you add it directly to the display or to the sump? Any chance some of your equipment got bumped or a filter media spilled? Sorry you're having issues.

rong · Apr 1, 2013

Paul, they don't appear to be breathing heavy, they are just lethargic, staying in one spot, my clowns hardly ever do that unless they are sleeping.

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rong · Apr 1, 2013

Well, don't know what went wrong, but everyone seems to be back to normal. They weren't doing much this morning, but when I came in at lunch they were all fine.

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46gReef · Apr 1, 2013

Not to be "that guy" but I think 30ppm nitrates is very high......although fish can tolerate high levels for a short period of time high nitrate levels slowly poison fish. You should do what you can to get those down.....

Reefing Madness · Apr 1, 2013

30ppm ain't nothing, even LPS and Softies like em 20-30

rong · Apr 1, 2013

I havent seen a bit of problems at 30 ppm, it has ran there for over a year. I have GSP, chili coral, zoas, and they are all growing like crazy. I have a refugium with chaeto that is growing well, not sure I could do any more to bring down nitrates. I've always heard that if your corals are doing well, your tank is doing well.

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