Hello,
I have a 29 Gal one week old tank. Occupants include a Cinnamon Clown, Feeder Crab, pooty-tang Damsel, and 17-20lbs of Live Rock. I have a calcium suppliment and buffer I've been adding but don't think its applicable.
I'm not a rookie to fishtanks in general (had several successful freshwater tanks in the past) and know that ammonia is bad. I recently tested the water to see how things were and noted the following readings:
Temp: 80* (fluctuates from 76* at nite to 80* during day)
PH: 8.0
Ammonia: 0.2
Nitrate: 10.0
Nitrite: 0.2
I know that the ammonia is high, and looked between .2 and .4. My fish are not really showing signs of ammonia poisoining, except I do note that the Clown doesn't appear to be as high-strung as usual.
The Clown was added on day 1 of the tank, the Damsel on day 2. The reason for adding the Damsel is that the Clown looked really bored and just kept running up and down the side wall of the tank...actually became kinda annoying. I figured a Damsel would be a nice cantidate for a fish he could beat on to occupy his time...
Turned out, he would eat everything in sight and I was worried the Damsel would die (I really don't care if it dies, but then the Clown would be lonely again) from starvation. I ended up compensating by providing plentiful enough food for the Damsel to at least get a few stragglers of flake falling from the surface that the Clown didn't see. I added a brine shrimp cube which even my crab got a piece of.
I have been too plentiful in feeding them and see this in my ammonia level. What I'm wondering is...can I skip feeding for the next 24 hrs to reduce my ammonia level? Basically, is ammonia something that will drop on its own or do I have to buy tablets etc etc...
The tank is an Eclipse unit with the bio-wheel and activated carbon filtration, and now I'm kicking myself in the butt because I can't get a protien skimmer to fit. I'd like to keep the tank as natural as possible FWIW, and use it later on as a QT. Any advice?
Jon
I have a 29 Gal one week old tank. Occupants include a Cinnamon Clown, Feeder Crab, pooty-tang Damsel, and 17-20lbs of Live Rock. I have a calcium suppliment and buffer I've been adding but don't think its applicable.
I'm not a rookie to fishtanks in general (had several successful freshwater tanks in the past) and know that ammonia is bad. I recently tested the water to see how things were and noted the following readings:
Temp: 80* (fluctuates from 76* at nite to 80* during day)
PH: 8.0
Ammonia: 0.2
Nitrate: 10.0
Nitrite: 0.2
I know that the ammonia is high, and looked between .2 and .4. My fish are not really showing signs of ammonia poisoining, except I do note that the Clown doesn't appear to be as high-strung as usual.
The Clown was added on day 1 of the tank, the Damsel on day 2. The reason for adding the Damsel is that the Clown looked really bored and just kept running up and down the side wall of the tank...actually became kinda annoying. I figured a Damsel would be a nice cantidate for a fish he could beat on to occupy his time...
Turned out, he would eat everything in sight and I was worried the Damsel would die (I really don't care if it dies, but then the Clown would be lonely again) from starvation. I ended up compensating by providing plentiful enough food for the Damsel to at least get a few stragglers of flake falling from the surface that the Clown didn't see. I added a brine shrimp cube which even my crab got a piece of.
I have been too plentiful in feeding them and see this in my ammonia level. What I'm wondering is...can I skip feeding for the next 24 hrs to reduce my ammonia level? Basically, is ammonia something that will drop on its own or do I have to buy tablets etc etc...
The tank is an Eclipse unit with the bio-wheel and activated carbon filtration, and now I'm kicking myself in the butt because I can't get a protien skimmer to fit. I'd like to keep the tank as natural as possible FWIW, and use it later on as a QT. Any advice?
Jon
