i have a 2month old 29g marine tank. with 1 tang, 2 clowns, 2 damsels, 1 small sabea anemonea, and 3 hermit crabs. my nh4 is lethally high, my no2 is high, and my no3 is high. my ph is 7.7, i have a protein skimmer and undergravel filter with aerating power head. temp is 80f, 25w 50/50 30" bulb on for 14hrs a day. base is 1" crushed coral and 3 limestone rocks. thats it. ive been to every fish store and they all give me a bottle of tlc live bacteria to put in. ive done that for 5 weeks and nothing has changed. can anyone please help? ive only lost one fish so far a mandarin goby, but i want to prevent anymore! so please help!
29g marine water chemistry problem
- Thread starter teppink
- Start date
oh man, where to begin.........
Ok, let's just run down the list:
i have a 2month old 29g marine tank. with 1 tang
Mistake #1, no Tang is suitable for a tank that size. Find it a new home ASAP...
2 clowns
Same species? Clowns are not generally interchangeable... If you have the same species, then these are probably the only 2 suitable for your tank from what you've listed...
2 damsels
Which kind? Damsels are VERY territorial despite their sizes, and in a tank that size you are gonna see them turning very deadly very fast... Fine em new homes...
1 small sabea anemonea
What kind of lighting do you have on this tank? Anemones require very intense lighting to survive... Also, no 2 month old tank should be home to an anemone...
3 hermit crabs
The general rule of thumb is 1 per gallon, to keep up with the amount of waste produced...
my nh4 is lethally high, my no2 is high, and my no3 is high.
You are grossly overstocked, this is the direct result of that...
my ph is 7.7
Your pH is low, very low, possibley because all those fish are using up the 02 in the water, producing excessive c02 which is carbonic (or carbolic? I forget) acid, which will in turn drive the pH down... Many other reasons can be to blame here, but that is my initial suspect...
i have a protein skimmer
I bet that sucker is overflowing with the brown goop of happiness, ain't it? That's good, keep the thing emptied so it can try to keep up with the bioload...
and undergravel filter with aerating power head.
UGFs are considered by many to be old school methodology... The thing now is to do what is called a DSB, or Deep Sand Bed and LR (liverock)... This provides massive biological filtration where the UGF doesn't...
temp is 80f
about right...
25w 50/50 30" bulb on for 14hrs a day.
Ok, that answers my lighting question... No doubt, take the anemone back to the store before it wastes away... Also, you might want to shorten your photo period (time the bulbs are on) before you develop a massive algae bloom...
base is 1" crushed coral
Crushed coral is generally frowned upon nowadays in favor of a DSB as described above...
and 3 limestone rocks
Limestone will leech harmful substances into your water over time... The test to see if anything is safe to go into your tank is take a few drops of vinegar or hydrochloric acid and place them on there... If it bubbles, it can't be used in the tank..
ive been to every fish store and they all give me a bottle of tlc live bacteria to put in. ive done that for 5 weeks and nothing has changed. can anyone please help? ive only lost one fish so far a mandarin goby, but i want to prevent anymore! so please help!
First off, find new fish stores if those are the ones that sold you all of this stuff... They should know better... YOU are not at fault here aside from not doing enough research beforehand... I know what happened, you went in, saw that tang, had to have it... Saw that cool anemone and had to have it.... It happens, I see posts like this everyday on the boards I frequent... I realize my words probably sound pretty harsh, but no one is judging you here, ok? Take this advice as constructive criticism and you'll go far =) Give us an update right after you take the tang, anemone and damsels to their new homes, then we will work on the other problems from there =)
While yer out, pick up a copy of The Conscientious Marine Aquarist: A Commonsense Handbook for Successful Saltwater Hobbyists by Robert Fenner at a bookstore... You'll find that all these mistakes were completely avoidable =)
Welcome to the salty side of life
Ok, let's just run down the list:
i have a 2month old 29g marine tank. with 1 tang
Mistake #1, no Tang is suitable for a tank that size. Find it a new home ASAP...
2 clowns
Same species? Clowns are not generally interchangeable... If you have the same species, then these are probably the only 2 suitable for your tank from what you've listed...
2 damsels
Which kind? Damsels are VERY territorial despite their sizes, and in a tank that size you are gonna see them turning very deadly very fast... Fine em new homes...
1 small sabea anemonea
What kind of lighting do you have on this tank? Anemones require very intense lighting to survive... Also, no 2 month old tank should be home to an anemone...
3 hermit crabs
The general rule of thumb is 1 per gallon, to keep up with the amount of waste produced...
my nh4 is lethally high, my no2 is high, and my no3 is high.
You are grossly overstocked, this is the direct result of that...
my ph is 7.7
Your pH is low, very low, possibley because all those fish are using up the 02 in the water, producing excessive c02 which is carbonic (or carbolic? I forget) acid, which will in turn drive the pH down... Many other reasons can be to blame here, but that is my initial suspect...
i have a protein skimmer
I bet that sucker is overflowing with the brown goop of happiness, ain't it? That's good, keep the thing emptied so it can try to keep up with the bioload...
and undergravel filter with aerating power head.
UGFs are considered by many to be old school methodology... The thing now is to do what is called a DSB, or Deep Sand Bed and LR (liverock)... This provides massive biological filtration where the UGF doesn't...
temp is 80f
about right...
25w 50/50 30" bulb on for 14hrs a day.
Ok, that answers my lighting question... No doubt, take the anemone back to the store before it wastes away... Also, you might want to shorten your photo period (time the bulbs are on) before you develop a massive algae bloom...
base is 1" crushed coral
Crushed coral is generally frowned upon nowadays in favor of a DSB as described above...
and 3 limestone rocks
Limestone will leech harmful substances into your water over time... The test to see if anything is safe to go into your tank is take a few drops of vinegar or hydrochloric acid and place them on there... If it bubbles, it can't be used in the tank..
ive been to every fish store and they all give me a bottle of tlc live bacteria to put in. ive done that for 5 weeks and nothing has changed. can anyone please help? ive only lost one fish so far a mandarin goby, but i want to prevent anymore! so please help!
First off, find new fish stores if those are the ones that sold you all of this stuff... They should know better... YOU are not at fault here aside from not doing enough research beforehand... I know what happened, you went in, saw that tang, had to have it... Saw that cool anemone and had to have it.... It happens, I see posts like this everyday on the boards I frequent... I realize my words probably sound pretty harsh, but no one is judging you here, ok? Take this advice as constructive criticism and you'll go far =) Give us an update right after you take the tang, anemone and damsels to their new homes, then we will work on the other problems from there =)
While yer out, pick up a copy of The Conscientious Marine Aquarist: A Commonsense Handbook for Successful Saltwater Hobbyists by Robert Fenner at a bookstore... You'll find that all these mistakes were completely avoidable =)
Welcome to the salty side of life
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re: chemistry
thanks i appreciate it, its hard to find good advice these days even if its hard to swallow
thanks i appreciate it, its hard to find good advice these days even if its hard to swallow
excellent, my advice didn't send you into a rant! You might have the patience this hobby demands afterall =) Seriously though, you need to act quickly or that livestock is going to be the victim... I suggest you do daily water changes until you can get them back to the store or else that ammonia is going to kill them all very quickly...
Did one store sell you all of this stuff? And what did they explain about cycling the tank? Oh PLEASE tell me they explained cycling the tank?
Here, check this out...
Goto www.theoscarspot.com and go into the forums... Hit the saltwater forum and read the threads titled "Step 1, Step 2" and so on... This explains cycling, selecting appropriate fish, filtration, etc... I need to post these over here someday probably hehehe
You've got a bad start, but you can still salvage things if you act responsibly and quickly here =)
Did one store sell you all of this stuff? And what did they explain about cycling the tank? Oh PLEASE tell me they explained cycling the tank?
Here, check this out...
Goto www.theoscarspot.com and go into the forums... Hit the saltwater forum and read the threads titled "Step 1, Step 2" and so on... This explains cycling, selecting appropriate fish, filtration, etc... I need to post these over here someday probably hehehe
You've got a bad start, but you can still salvage things if you act responsibly and quickly here =)
fish stores
the town i live in only has 3 stores and they all told me the same thing they hinted at cycling but they all told me something just a little different. also one other question i had... if i use a base of sand i cant use the undergravel filter so how do you properly aerate the tank then? also the tang and the anemone are taken back now.
the town i live in only has 3 stores and they all told me the same thing they hinted at cycling but they all told me something just a little different. also one other question i had... if i use a base of sand i cant use the undergravel filter so how do you properly aerate the tank then? also the tang and the anemone are taken back now.
Excellent! Eventually when you upgrade your lighting and the tank matures, the anemone can come back but the tang just would not have enough space to move around in a 30" tank. I started with a 29 also and I was constantly frustrated when these board guys would say to me "No, you can't have that, or that, or that...." but I finally learned I should be listening to them...
Did you read the articles I sent you to? One of them covers cycling... Sounds like you need to send your LFSs to see that site aswell
The aeration question is a common one, cuz without a real filter, how does it work?!? right?!?
All you need is 1 - 50lb bag of play sand from Home Depot, a few lbs of sand from someone else's tank (crushed coral will work too) to mix in with your play sand, ~20lbs of liverock and ~10lbs of baserock (baserock is any kind of tank-safe rock you want to use.. Lacerock and Tuffa rock are good choices... Lava rock, is not...) and a couple of powerheads to circulate the water. One powerhead should be aimed towards the surface to break-up the skim that will develop and provide the aeration you asked about... You can also run a power filter, HOB, for extra mechanical cleaning if you need it... I have a small one on my 55 that I run when I clean, just to clean the tank faster... The Liverock can be added as you can afford it, start with a couple pieces and add to that...
Did you read the articles I sent you to? One of them covers cycling... Sounds like you need to send your LFSs to see that site aswell
The aeration question is a common one, cuz without a real filter, how does it work?!? right?!?
All you need is 1 - 50lb bag of play sand from Home Depot, a few lbs of sand from someone else's tank (crushed coral will work too) to mix in with your play sand, ~20lbs of liverock and ~10lbs of baserock (baserock is any kind of tank-safe rock you want to use.. Lacerock and Tuffa rock are good choices... Lava rock, is not...) and a couple of powerheads to circulate the water. One powerhead should be aimed towards the surface to break-up the skim that will develop and provide the aeration you asked about... You can also run a power filter, HOB, for extra mechanical cleaning if you need it... I have a small one on my 55 that I run when I clean, just to clean the tank faster... The Liverock can be added as you can afford it, start with a couple pieces and add to that...