New here and need some help

[Jeebz]

well I should have done more research prior to purchasing this 80 gallon salt water tank. I figured I'd just order the service from the store and I would be fine........ wrong lol! Pretty much would like some guidance and hope I can get some with out getting ripped a new one.

This tank is about 7 weeks old. I have the following in my tank

- chocolate chip starfish
- zebra eel
- cat shark
- spotted grouper
- tiger cowrie snail
- zebra sea urchin
- sifting sand starfish
- 3 turbo snails


The following have died in my tank in the last 3 weeks

- Porcupine puffer
- 3 chocolate starfish
- small sting ray

Something isn't right and here is what I'm getting as my readings. I hope I'm reading this right

GH - 180
KH - 40
PH - 7.5-8.0
NO3 - 160
NO2 - 1
Ammonia-0.5

First off I know I had way too many fish but I guess the fish store didn't want to lose on a big sale. Second I know not add any more fish. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Robink]

Your tank is too new to have those occupants. Your parameters are way off. I'm guessing that by GH you mean calcium. There should be no ammonia.
How did you cycle the tank? Or did the LFS just set it up and leave?

 

[Robink]

https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/the-supreme-guide-to-setting-up-a-saltwater-reef-aquarium.84/
I hope this helps.

 

[Humblefish]

Your tank is too new to have those occupants. Your parameters are way off. I'm guessing that by GH you mean calcium. There should be no ammonia.
How did you cycle the tank? Or did the LFS just set it up and leave?

Agreed. The presence of ammonia and nitrites indicates this tank isn't fully cycled yet. The OP needs to dose ammonia neutralizer (exs. Prime, Amquel) and also do large WCs to control the ammonia before more livestock die.

Also, start dosing one of these (in mass quantities) to add more bacteria to the tank: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/ammonia-control-in-a-hospital-tank.296119/#post-3620230

 

[melypr1985]

Agreed. If the store recommended this size tank for these fish, they messed up. The zebra eel is going to be too big for the tank as well. I would suggest removing most of those and going a different direction in terms of livestock. In an 80 gallon tank you could have a wonderful, active community of fish and inverts. Just try to keep them smaller and introduce them slowly so your bacteria can catch up with each new addition.

 

[melypr1985]

At my store, my customers call me the dream crusher. It's my super power. They call me that because I won't let the purchase things that shouldn't go in there tank even if they break out cash and/or puppy eyes. lol

 

[Humblefish]

At my store, my customers call me the dream crusher. It's my super power. They call me that because I won't let the purchase things that shouldn't go in there tank even if they break out cash and/or puppy eyes. lol

There should be more LFS employees like you. Livestock would live a lot longer, and hobbyists wouldn't feel "crushed" when everything comes crashing down. This is especially disheartening when you think back to the "high" you felt when buying your tank and setting everything up. Better to manage people's expectations than allow them to become emotionally (and financially) devastated.

 

[Mike N]

There should be more LFS employees like you. Livestock would live a lot longer, and hobbyists wouldn't feel "crushed" when everything comes crashing down. This is especially disheartening when you think back to the "high" you felt when buying your tank and setting everything up. Better to manage people's expectations than allow them to become emotionally (and financially) devastated.

+1000

 

[Brew12]

well I should have done more research prior to purchasing this 80 gallon salt water tank. I figured I'd just order the service from the store and I would be fine........ wrong lol! Pretty much would like some guidance and hope I can get some with out getting ripped a new one.

This tank is about 7 weeks old. I have the following in my tank

- chocolate chip starfish
- zebra eel
- cat shark
- spotted grouper
- tiger cowrie snail
- zebra sea urchin
- sifting sand starfish
- 3 turbo snails


The following have died in my tank in the last 3 weeks

- Porcupine puffer
- 3 chocolate starfish
- small sting ray

Something isn't right and here is what I'm getting as my readings. I hope I'm reading this right

GH - 180
KH - 40
PH - 7.5-8.0
NO3 - 160
NO2 - 1
Ammonia-0.5

First off I know I had way too many fish but I guess the fish store didn't want to lose on a big sale. Second I know not add any more fish. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

My sympathies. It is awful when you go to a fish store, expecting them to be the experts and steer you in the right direction, only to be given such bad advice.

You have been given some great advice, especially in adding a product like Seachem Prime to reduce the toxicity of the ammonia and then to add a bacteria product. I would also try to get the fish store to take the cat shark back for store credit. Sharks are dirty animals to keep and feed and getting him out of the tank will reduce the amount of ammonia generated. Not to mention that cat sharks should really be in 200+ gallon rounded tanks to be healthy. They will injure themselves swimming into corners.

For any future purchases, I recommend using a website like http://www.liveaquaria.com/ to do some research. They will tell you how hard the fish is to keep, how big of a tank you should have for that fish, and compatibility charts.

 

[leahfiish]

I recommend finding a different LFS. In the mean time, you've been given good advice. Get some bottled bacteria (Seachem stability, and start smart complete are the ones I use) and some ammonia neutralizer (prime) and start making some water for water changes. And look for new homes for some of those fish. How are your fish looking? Are they eating well?