Odd Behaviour...

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ChandlerB

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Jun 14, 2013
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So here is the story and then I have a few questions after you get some background information.

Purchased a 30 gallon tank off a guy locally it was used for saltwater and I saw the tank running in good condition lots of corals and seemingly in good health. I take the tank home get a glass top custom made for it instead of being rimless. that takes about a week or so. I then purchase from a work colleague his contents of his tank (live rock small amount 15 lbs or so , 1 clownfish and a dartfish, 1 hermit grab and a few small little crabs ) I take the water he has in his tank and transport rock fish and water to my house about 20 km away. Now after filling the tank it was a bit cloudy but the fish seemed okay with that. Its been 2 days now and they dont seem to want to eat or I dont see them eat anything that I put in (brine shrimp or pellets). They just hover below the rock and hide.The clownfish really likes to simply lay on the sand bed (2 inch thick) and he looks like hes breathing rather quick or something... anyway my question is could the behavior simply be because of the new environment they are in and will take a bit to get used to? or maybe something was wrong with the water I got off the guy before hand and should have purchased new water?... I will list current tank info.

Temp: 80 F
2 hydor power heads 1 rated for 550 gph and the other was given to me with the purchase of the tank not sure what it is but less powerful than the other.
1 HOB protein skimmer.....not sure at all of the brand It is very small and I havent got a chance to play with it.
1 HOB filter (which seemed to do the job in the tank when i saw it running at the previous owners home.)
and 1 Korallen Zutchen 4 bulb light (3 lights on it work one doesnt...apparantly a broken ballast) 10000k bulbs T5-C24
and an internal temp guage.


Now I know its only been 2 days but this seems like behavior they may exhibit before death....I cant see and bloody gills or red marks on either of them....? Hoping they survive I want to test the water very soon and see what it is at.

I appreciate your suggestions very much. Anything can help!

Tank is only 31.5" long by 12" high by 12" wide.
 

authmal

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Aug 4, 2011
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The smart folks probably will need test results before they can say much of anything else. That said, I do believe most marine fish like water cooler than 80. Google up care for the fish you have. For instance, I'm pretty sure the clown fish needs temps in the 72-78F range.
 

greech

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May 13, 2009
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First, welcome to the hobby!

80 degrees shouldn't do the but it's higher than I like. 78ish is a good temp.

Little confused about how you got to this point. Sounds like you bought a used tank from one person and then bought live rock and livestock from another? It was good that you kept the live rock wet so there should not have been much die off. It's always risky to set a tank up fast regardless of whether rock is cured. Did you use sand from one or both of the tanks? If so how was that transported and did it get stirred up?

If you have not done so already, you need to test for ammonia. If it tests positive, use Prime, Amquel, etc. to neutralize it and prepare water for a water change (be prepared for several in the near future if ammonia is present). Lso test for nitrites and nitrates as soon as you can. The glass top is limiting gas exchange and probably not helping with pH. Not sure how they are positioned, but the power heads should be rippling the water surface to hep with gas exchange. The skimmer will help with O2 levels as well so get that running ASAP.

You mentioned corals, did you buy them and if so how do they look? Fleshy or retracted?
 

ChandlerB

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Jun 14, 2013
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Okay the tank is now down to 78 F. I purchased it yes used of one person and waited for a bit before filling it up. I purchased live sand from an aquarium store in edmonton about 40 lbs and only used about half of it. none of the sand from the tank which I purchased the fish rock and water from. as I live 5 hours away from the place I purchased the sand from. The sand did get stirred up when I filled the tank but cleared up in 24 hours (oh also the sand is CaribSea white oolite) I did test for ammonia today and it seems that there is some present according to the test. Also tested the pH it was at 8.0 . Also did nitrite testing (results were between 0.3-0.8 mg/L). Finally I tested for nitrates and got the following results : 20-50 mg/L . I will purchase prime and treat the tank tomorrow. How long should I wait after adding prime to change the water? Okay I will also adjust the powerheads up the tank a small amount and see if that affects it more. I dont have any corals in the tank yet just live rock and some hermit crabs. Just the Korallen-Z light. I think I need a different skimmer this one is not producing any foam in the cup at all Or maybe I am running it wrong. I will take a photo and put it up as soon as I can. Either Way the clown and dartfish are still doing the weird thing staying in low lying areas and out of sight. the clown just lays there in the sand and gets up when I get near. Also another question is it normal that neither has eaten aynthing I put in the tank brine shrimp or pellets?

Thanks Greech youve been very helpful!
 

ChandlerB

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Jun 14, 2013
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ammonia test.JPGph test.JPGnitrite test.JPGnitrate.JPG
above are my test results in the following order ammonia, pH, Nitrate and Nitrite . Let me know If i am reading them wrong.

ammonia test.JPG ph test.JPG nitrite test.JPG nitrate.JPG
 

fsn77

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Feb 22, 2006
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Any amount of ammonia and nitrite is not good for the fish and will stress them. The levels you're seeing are from the tank going into a hopefully small and quick cycling process as a result of the move (bacteria that process nitrogen waste are not present in large enough numbers to convert ammonia and nitrite into less toxic nitrate). The pH of the tank is a bit low, but I would not recommend trying to adjust it at this point while the nitrogen cycle is working itself out.

Being stressed, the fish may have no interest in eating. Do not panic though, as the fish can go several days without food (as long as they have otherwise eaten well prior to you obtaining them). Uneaten food in the tank will only add to cycling issue, as it will create more nitrogenous waste, so I would recommend holding off on adding any food until the ammonia and nitrite levels drop to 0.

While all of this is going on, it may benefit you to simply leave the light off. With no corals to worry about and the fish already showing signs of stress, any light plus the spike in ammonia and nitrite can result in the start of a nuisance algae bloom.
 

greech

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May 13, 2009
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Completely agree with fsn77. In fact, adding food that will not get eaten will only increase the amount of ammonia in the system. Also, the next time you feed, try frozen mysis shrimp. My fish seem to prefer hykari brand. Another seemingly irresistible food is Nutramar Ova if you can find it.
 
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