Help?!? new tank- 22days old....

[jrzymuscle21]

Help?!? new tank- 22days old....well now like 3 months...

I'm new to the marine tank setup... Bought myself a 46Gallon tank 3 weeks ago now.
I have crushed coral and dead rock in my tank for deco. I added dechlorinated sea salted water and then waited 6 days before I added my first fish.
7th day added 3 damsels. one died two days later. at this point, ammonia started to go up to .25 and then for a week it leveled. So on like the 14th day I bought 1 tomato clown, a seargent major damsel(striped) and a cleaner shrimp and blood shrimp. I've fed the fish flakes and pellets and some live brine shrimp.

The fish seem to be doing fine.. water is pretty clear.
I have a biofilter and great aeration and one of those glass heater tubes that have a controlled thermastat. Temperature is set at 79-80 degrees constant.
I also have a blumarine bulb and a regular bulb thats on for a total of 12 hours a day.

Now I'm on my 22nd day and checked the water and here is my results:
Nitrate: 0
Nitrite: .5-.75
Ammonia: 1.0 to 1.5
Ph is approximately 7.9

Whats next?
I'm worried the ammonia may get to high and kill the fish...

Suggestions?

THANKS!:razz:

 

[cwby416]

WELCOME TO RF!!

you need to take it slow, your tank has not even cycled yet. the first fish shouldn't be added until your amonia, nitrite, and nitrate all finish spiking and go back to Zero. that amonia and Nitrite in your tank is not good for any livestock. At this point about all you can do is water changes and hope some of them make it through, that or take your livestock to a friend or lfs. For some more info on cycling, do a search here for cycling your tank......you came to the right place....research....research.....and more research.....

 

[cwby416]

How are you testing the water? what is your salinity at?

 

[jrzymuscle21]

Salinity is 1.021 -- i'm using an Aquarium Pharmeceuticals Testing Kit

How do I do a proper water change? Do I just get a bucket, put in the proper dechlorinizer and salinity balance and just refill what I've taken out of the tank?

 

[cwby416]

well I can't recomend using dechlorinization, It would be better to go to the supermarket or lfs and buy the water out of the RO/DI machines...
But yes pre-mix the salt in the water at least 24 hours before using and just slowly replace the tank water that you have taken out. Make sure you dont flux the temp while doing it....

1.021?? is there a reason your keeping it low? Recomended is 1.024-1.025

 

[jrzymuscle21]

Well the pet store told me that the meter is wrong usually and if it reads 1.021 that its most likely .01 to .02 higher... not sure if thats true- isn't the recommended 1.020 to 1.024?

I will go buy like 5 gallons of water tomorrow and premix the sea salt and let it sit over night- hopefully the chems don't spike too much in two more days... should i cut back on feeding?

 

[cwby416]

Feed slow, and let the fish eat it all....dont let too much go un eaten

yeah the hydrometers are POS. but it could be off either way, up or down. if you dont have money for a refractometer yet, just take a sample in to a lfs that has one....possibly one other than the one giving you the advise thus far??

 

[jrzymuscle21]

I see... how do you raise and lower the salinity?

 

[cwby416]

raise lower with the new water change water.....

 

[4251cpd]

I see... how do you raise and lower the salinity?

Take a gander at my newbie nano thread, I know you have a big tank but some of the tips and clues that cwby correctly refers to, I go into further detail on , you just have to multiply. Good luck, Mike.

 

[jrzymuscle21]

thanks- definitely reading around- any more comments/suggestions are well appreciated

 

[NaH2O]

You're receiving some good information so far. Here is a link to the thread 4251cpd was referring to: Newbies Guide to the Nano Reef. As stated, it is in reference to nanos, but good information for any newbie is found there.

With regards to your specific gravity - 1.0255 is recommended for a tank with invertebrates, (corals, anemones, shrimp, crabs, snails, starfish, etc.). The specific gravity you are looking at is fine for fish only, but since you have some inverts you'll want to raise it up slowly.

Do you have a skimmer on the tank?

Your ammonia and nitrite readings show that the tank has not completed its cycle (the different bacterial populations aren't large enough to process all the ammonia to nitrites then to nitrates yet). Once ammonia and nitrites are zero, it is recommended to add livestock. The invertebrates you have in the tank (the shrimp) may not survive these readings. Keep up on your water changes to give the livestock the best chance of survival, or as stated before, find someone to house them for a short period until your tank is ready.

No worries, though. Marine tanks take time and patience. Everything should be done slowly, including stocking the tank. After the initial bacterial cycle, you will begin to experience algae cycles. The algae cycles are a normal part of a new tank, so don't jump to "quick fixes" to irradicate them. Snails will likely be in the near future for you, and a good variety is recommended, so do some research on what will be the best options for you.

Often times, you will hear crushed coral leads to eventual nitrate problems. Make sure you siphon up the detritus and waste on the bottom often (during water changes), to prevent the accumulation of wastes.

I'll also recommend a good book. The Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Bob Fenner is a great one. Don't be afraid to ask questions here, we're all here to help with our knowledge and experience!

Welcome to Reef Frontiers!!!

 

[jrzymuscle21]

Thanks Nikki, I appreciate your kind words... I hear about skimmers... what is that??
What would be the proper way to slowly raise the salinity?

 

[bobfnp]

You might want to invest in some live sand or GARF GRUNGE from GARF.org, this is full of beneficial bacterium and will seed your substrate , starting your biological filtration going,... all kinds of life, pods etc to get your bio diversity going !!! and will help all that nitrogenous waste pretty quickly, it's like aging your tank quickly,... they will tell you how much you need when you call. There is also tons of coraline algae spores in the stuff that reall made my rocks turn eevery shade of pink and purple quickly (with good lighting ofcourse) Hint, when you fist put it in don't run a skimmer for a while as it will need to settle out....it's ok to mix it in with your substrate...ask them about snails too as they have a good selection....peace, Bob

 

[NaH2O]

Thanks Nikki, I appreciate your kind words... I hear about skimmers... what is that??
What would be the proper way to slowly raise the salinity?

Here is some information on protein skimming: Skimming Basics 101: Understanding Your Skimmer by Frank Marini, Ph.D.

Here is a link for you on raising your salinity: SaltyZoo's Salinity Adjustment Calculator. ***Only use values in ppt (DON'T use specific gravity values). The specific gravity (i.e. 1.021) calculates funny readings

Salinity Conversion - this will help you change the specific gravity readings to ppt (salinity)

The calculator will tell you what salinity to make your water change water to, and how many times to do a water change at that salinity. I don't think I would change more than 1 ppt per week. IMO, shoot for a target salinity of 35ppt, which is 1.026. Also, if you can check your water against a refractometer, then that would be great. There could be a chance that the hydrometer is not reading correctly (either too high or too low).

 

[jrzymuscle21]

man this is starting to get confusing... lol...
so I need to buy a refractometer... how much are those..?
and a skimmer? how much do they go for and what kind should I buy? I also thought skimmers come into the picture later when the cycleing is complete..? is that not true? should I get one now? -- just fyi- my tank is 46 gallon TALL... like real tall.. almost 3 feet tall..

 

[4251cpd]

An ATC refractometer(auto temp correcting) (or sumpin like that) you can go to Dr Fosters&Smith.com and get one for 40.00. If you request the catalog, it will give you a $5 off coupon code w/your first order. Look into E-bay too. As for a protein skimmer, I don't use, hit the general discussion forum and do a search for skimmer. Skimmers are a lot like cars to the generation that begot us, lots are good, some bad, but you'll see a lot of customer loyalty, where they might overlook a small fault. Look at marinedepot, bigalsonline and Dr.F&S for pricing and brands. Mike.

 

[DonW]

Do you have any intensions of turning this into a reef?? If not I wouldnt worry to much about salinity anything 1.021 to 1.025 is fine. Really you just need to get past the cycle and get a decent skimmer. You can get by without a skimmer in a fish only system if you can keep the bioload low enough and do good faithful water changes. Just give it some time for your biofilter to cycle then start adding fish. Dont go hog wild your tank is quite small.

Don

 

[ronj]

maybe you could put some small peices of cured live rock in the tank to help speed the cycle process

 

[NaH2O]

I agree with Don, in that if you don't want a reef tank, then you don't need to worry about your salinity. HOWEVER, you added shrimp to the system, so you should meet their needs, which require a higher salinity than what you have right now.

As stated, protein skimmers come in all sorts of styles and brands. I personally wouldn't run a tank without one. I do have a 12 gallon nano cube without one, but that's only because I can't seem to fit a skimmer on it .

Refractometers are a nice addition and make reading salinity really easy. Do you have to have one? No. But, it is a good idea to check your hydrometer against a refractometer to see how accurate it is.

Hang in there - it can be overwhelming at first, but soon all this information will fall into place. Don't forget to check out the book I recommended. It is a good one for just starting out. Also, if you go to the sponsor's page, you'll see places like MarineDepot, Premium Aquatics (among alot of others) that sell all kinds of equipment and livestock. Check them out to see who has the best prices on things.

Hope this helps!