What's wrong with my tank?

[MnFish1]

Just discovered my protein skimmer wasn't working. Could that have perpetuated the Ammonia problem?

unrelated P.S, Is anyone else having a problem with the Reef2Reef App? I get notifications that I get new messages, but when I open the app, the notifications are always empty.

Have you rechecked the ammonia to verify that its really a problem? If its 'truly high' - dying stuff in the skimmer might be enough to raise the ammonia some. esp with the 'dead space' in the skimmer.

 

[Xandalf]

Have you rechecked the ammonia to verify that its really a problem? If its 'truly high' - dying stuff in the skimmer might be enough to raise the ammonia some. esp with the 'dead space' in the skimmer.

Just found it, cleaned and fixed the skimmer just now. Will be rechecking the ammonia soon.

 

[Rjukan]

Sorry if I missed it but have you calibrated your refractometer recently? Reason I ask is that I was getting readings of 1.029 on mine and checked it to RODI and sure enough it was a couple points high. Adjusted the screw and water tests bang on 1.025 now. Just a thought.

 

[BranchingHammer]

Sorry if I missed it but have you calibrated your refractometer recently? Reason I ask is that I was getting readings of 1.029 on mine and checked it to RODI and sure enough it was a couple points high. Adjusted the screw and water tests bang on 1.025 now. Just a thought.

+1, make sure you use calibration fluid and not RODI water. When I used RODI my readings were off until I bought 35ppt calibration fluid. Just my 0.02.
But back then my water was RO water so idk...

 

[BranchingHammer]

If it is ammonia, seachem’s prime will detoxify it to fish and corals. Also, not sure if you went into this, but how much rock do you have in that tank, this could be a biological filtration problem.

 

[Rjukan]

+1, make sure you use calibration fluid and not RODI water. When I used RODI my readings were off until I bought 35ppt calibration fluid. Just my 0.02.
But back then my water was RO water so idk...

I've read conflicting things on calibration fluid vs RODI, I'm guessing it really relies on the quality of your RODI water if you're going to use it as a calibration tool. In my case it confirmed the SG of a fresh bucket of SW mixed to the specs on the bucket.

 

[CindyKz]

When was the flame angel added to the tank?

 

[Matt Carden]

May be an insulting question, if so sorry, but did/are you top/ping off with saltwater? I have seen that here that's why I ask.

 

[MnFish1]

I've read conflicting things on calibration fluid vs RODI, I'm guessing it really relies on the quality of your RODI water if you're going to use it as a calibration tool. In my case it confirmed the SG of a fresh bucket of SW mixed to the specs on the bucket.

No - It should be calibration fluid to 35. Thats the goal of the tank not RODI (0). There is no controversy....

 

[MnFish1]

It it was ammonia it would not have killed 1 fish. In fact - it was probably the death of the flame angel that caused the MINOR if even real spike in ammonia....

 

[fattiremike]

The smaller the tank, the more quickly things can change. Nano-tanks can quickly get out of hand. If you have any ammonia, then the tank is cycling for whatever reason. If that is the case, then doing a water change will lower the ammonia in the short term, but then the new water has to cycle as well. So, the ammonia isn't going to go away. Find out what is causing your ammonia. A skimmer takes out DOS, or "dissolved organic compounds". Not likely to cause ammonia but could help reduce it quicker. Is something wasting away? Crud in the tank or sump? Also, the higher the salinity, the harder it is for a fish to process it. Many times, if you factor in all the little things, it adds up to big things that weaken a specimen to the point it dies. Over the web, none of us can do anything but speculate what is going on with your tank. I hope that you have done more than two water tests in the time-frame shown. I test three things every day, DKH, Calcium and Magnesium. Magnesium I will let slide, maybe not everyday but most days, since it isn't used at the same rate as calcium or alkalinity. I test PH weekly. I keep a pad of paper that I keep track of it on. I have found with my 200 or so gallon system that PH won't swing much if I keep my alkalinity stable. I know the rate of consumption for my calcium and alkalinity, so I am comfortable with weekly PH tests. My point is is that to know what is going on with our systems, we have to do some frequent testing to find out what's up. Get your ammonia to non-testable (going to take time), Nitrites to non-testable (more time), then watch your water parameters like a hawk. A few minutes of water testing a day can prevent a lot of heartache. Hope this helps.

 

[Xandalf]

When was the flame angel added to the tank?

Last August

 

[CindyKz]

Last August

So not an acclimation issue. Was anything visibly wrong with the fish - funny spots, tail ragged/some missing? Did it always eat well? Swim around, or sit on the bottom and hide?

There are a lot of possibilities here. Your salinity is high, on it's own not likely to have killed a fish but still a stressor. Also, 26 gal is too small for a flame angel - especially with 2 clownfish, they can be mean. Also a stressor and we don't know if the clowns were harassing the angel. Could have been a disease.

Unless you have some evidence indicating an illness or injury, I would just fix my salinity (slowly!) and move on. Also find out if you actually have an ammonia issue, you didn't say if you tested it before or after the angel died. A dead fish in 26 gal will surely cause ammonia to rise. If you're using API to test ammonia throw it out and get a better ammonia test kit, Salifert or Red Sea or something. API is well known for testing at .25 when there isn't any ammonia present.

If you choose to replace the fish, select an appropriately sized one. If you go to Live Aquaria and click "30 gallons" as the tank size from the drop down box you will get 12 pages of options.

 

[Xandalf]

So not an acclimation issue. Was anything visibly wrong with the fish - funny spots, tail ragged/some missing? Did it always eat well? Swim around, or sit on the bottom and hide?

There are a lot of possibilities here. Your salinity is high, on it's own not likely to have killed a fish but still a stressor. Also, 26 gal is too small for a flame angel - especially with 2 clownfish, they can be mean. Also a stressor and we don't know if the clowns were harassing the angel. Could have been a disease.

Unless you have some evidence indicating an illness or injury, I would just fix my salinity (slowly!) and move on. Also find out if you actually have an ammonia issue, you didn't say if you tested it before or after the angel died. A dead fish in 26 gal will surely cause ammonia to rise. If you're using API to test ammonia throw it out and get a better ammonia test kit, Salifert or Red Sea or something. API is well known for testing at .25 when there isn't any ammonia present.

If you choose to replace the fish, select an appropriately sized one. If you go to Live Aquaria and click "30 gallons" as the tank size from the drop down box you will get 12 pages of options.

Before I even bought this fish, I looked up fish that were appropriate for nano tanks, and flame angels were on the list provided they were't paired with some other angels. The Clown fish never bothered him at all. They are still really small and mostly just hang out in the corals. The flame angel was always very active, constantly all over the tank, always came out to greet me, the only thing I noticed over the past few days before he died was his coloration looked slightly faded, In fact, I was't even sure if I was just seeing things, or if this faded color was real. It was difficult to tell.

 

[Xandalf]

So, this is a 26 gallon Bow front tank with a HOB refugium that holds roughly 2 gallons, For my protein skimmer I have a DIY made just like the reef glass skimmer. Also I have a Cheato Algea reactor, A few weeks back I did remove a lot of cheato out of the reactor because it was jam packed. Normally I do water changes weekly, admittedly this time in particular, I got busy and had not done one of my normal water changes for a few weeks. (I tried doesing with little luck, and found the best luck seems to happen when I water change, it's not a huge amount of water so my water changes are done with the pre-mix Pacific ocean water you can buy at Petco)

 

[BedrockIOMC]

YOu need to top your water off daily that will mess with fish badly. Salinity going up and down alll the time isnt good at all and angels are real touchy as well. I had a flame that die a while back that a damsel with messing with and ended up killing him. You really do need to get everything stable before adding things like angels though. And I seen where you said one of your test wasnt tested sense 10/11, you can not go that long without testing thing with a saltwater tank. everything needs to be tested weekly and some times more then that until you get a handle on everything and learn your tank. If you change anything you need to test a couple of times that week to see what else it changes and make sure everything stays good. You really do have to stay on top of it a little better, things with a saltwater tank can change over night. good luck

 

[BedrockIOMC]

Sorry if I missed it but have you calibrated your refractometer recently? Reason I ask is that I was getting readings of 1.029 on mine and checked it to RODI and sure enough it was a couple points high. Adjusted the screw and water tests bang on 1.025 now. Just a thought.

You should check you meter before every test that you do. I have to adjust mine just about every time.

 

[Rjukan]

No - It should be calibration fluid to 35. Thats the goal of the tank not RODI (0). There is no controversy....

You should check you meter before every test that you do. I have to adjust mine just about every time.

I'm going to pick some up next time I place an equipment order. No reason to chance it.

Yeah, I've been checking with RODI every time after the meter started testing higher than what I was expecting.

 

[MnFish1]

You should check you meter before every test that you do. I have to adjust mine just about every time.

Thats interesting - I'm not sure why that would be the case - unless the adjustment screw is moved. I mean if you're taking a measurement every 3 months - thats one thing - if you're doing it every a test every week - I'm not sure its necessary to calibrate each time. Now having said that I have an apex - so I have 2 measurements. a refractometer and the apex - so there's that.

 

[MnFish1]

Before I even bought this fish, I looked up fish that were appropriate for nano tanks, and flame angels were on the list provided they were't paired with some other angels. The Clown fish never bothered him at all. They are still really small and mostly just hang out in the corals. The flame angel was always very active, constantly all over the tank, always came out to greet me, the only thing I noticed over the past few days before he died was his coloration looked slightly faded, In fact, I was't even sure if I was just seeing things, or if this faded color was real. It was difficult to tell.

I agree with you - A flame angel should do fine in a tank this size. It would be interesting for the sites that make these recommendations to give some reasons. It also depends on how much rock etc is in your tank.