Help!
- Thread starter DreamReef04
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SashimiTurtle
Turtle
One thing that concerns me is your rock looks awfully white for 5 months old. That stuff usually turns all kinds of green and brown in a month and by 5 should be covered in color.
Im guessing you have a dim light, and you probably do not leave it on very long?
The swimming sideways, curved and twitching around looks exactly like ammonia toxicity to me.
Im guessing you have a dim light, and you probably do not leave it on very long?
The swimming sideways, curved and twitching around looks exactly like ammonia toxicity to me.
Honestly, it sounds like you added fish a little too fast. I totally felt the rush with my tank too and mistakenly killed three clownfish over a four month span (those guys are $20 each!). I started with dry rock too and within the 2.5 month mark my rock and sand was covered in nasty brown diatoms. Im not a pro, but I agree with the aforementioned counsel of cycling your tank.
What I did was seed my tank with beneficial bacteria in a bottle, Microbacter 7, and “feeding” my bacteria with a shrimp. You can go to pretty much any grocery store, and buy a fresh caught shrimp that has no preservatives or anything in it. I put the shrimp it into a mesh bag, and let the beneficial bacteria eat away at it until there was almost nothing left.
My API kit ALWAYS says I have ammonia - it drives me crazy! I’m saving up for a Red Sea testing kit or a Salifert one. Nothing wrong with using the basic API kit to start with, but it’s a good idea to upgrade when you get the chance. Wish you all the best!!
What I did was seed my tank with beneficial bacteria in a bottle, Microbacter 7, and “feeding” my bacteria with a shrimp. You can go to pretty much any grocery store, and buy a fresh caught shrimp that has no preservatives or anything in it. I put the shrimp it into a mesh bag, and let the beneficial bacteria eat away at it until there was almost nothing left.
My API kit ALWAYS says I have ammonia - it drives me crazy! I’m saving up for a Red Sea testing kit or a Salifert one. Nothing wrong with using the basic API kit to start with, but it’s a good idea to upgrade when you get the chance. Wish you all the best!!
DreamReef04
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So you're thinking it is ammonia toxicity?
Flippers4pups
Fins up since 1993
Take a water sample to your LFS for a second opinion.
The lfs will use api, and a bottle bac sale will ensue, though no 5 mo tank should be adding any.
I think no six posters are ever going to agree on ammonia sourcing for challenge tanks it will always be an enduring suspect in the hobby
Ill vote disease as primary loss cause, whether a dead fish causes a brief ammonia spike afterwards isnt really surprising when we're looking at a dead carcass. many tanks would have a brief spike.
a handy way to get a third party referee on whether ammonia precedes or follows your losses is to pull up any google cycling chart and see # of days, they're all the same for a reason. Youre 5x out past them.
I think no six posters are ever going to agree on ammonia sourcing for challenge tanks it will always be an enduring suspect in the hobby
Ill vote disease as primary loss cause, whether a dead fish causes a brief ammonia spike afterwards isnt really surprising when we're looking at a dead carcass. many tanks would have a brief spike.
a handy way to get a third party referee on whether ammonia precedes or follows your losses is to pull up any google cycling chart and see # of days, they're all the same for a reason. Youre 5x out past them.
Brad Waddell Wrath's Reef
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I think one big thing is your tank is still fairly new. I lost a fire fish around the same time frame. differently hold off on new fish until you figure this out. really sucks when you loss fish but don't let this be a reason to scare away from the hobby. We all loss fish and inverts. I think you should do some water changes to help get rid of any parasites if any.
DreamReef04
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Ok thank you. Several weeks ago the rocks were covered in diatoms and then just suddenly disappeared. What color should my rocks be?
Greg P
Valuable Member
Thanks for chiming in Brandon. I figured your input would be better than mine right now.
