I am 5 weeks into my cycle. My pH is 7.8, Ammonia up b/w .25 and .50 (it was at 0 for a few days), Nitrites are .50 and Nitrates are 20. I had two damsels and a blue tang (yes, I know. It shouldn't have been in there.). They seemed fine all day but my husband went upstairs for a few minutes and when he went back down they were all dead. My percula clowns seem fine as well as my sand sifting sea star and cleaning skunk shrimp. Go figure!! I also have very tiny white bugs all over the walls of my tank. The LFS said this is all part of cycling and I'm doing prety good to have had my fish make it this long. My husband did a 15% water change tonight and added a little bit of Amquel Plus. Should we do another change tomorrow? I have no idea what to do now, I am so afraid that my other fish are going to die while I'm sleeping.My Fish Are Dying!!
- Thread starter cara
- Start date
I am 5 weeks into my cycle. My pH is 7.8, Ammonia up b/w .25 and .50 (it was at 0 for a few days), Nitrites are .50 and Nitrates are 20. I had two damsels and a blue tang (yes, I know. It shouldn't have been in there.). They seemed fine all day but my husband went upstairs for a few minutes and when he went back down they were all dead. My percula clowns seem fine as well as my sand sifting sea star and cleaning skunk shrimp. Go figure!! I also have very tiny white bugs all over the walls of my tank. The LFS said this is all part of cycling and I'm doing prety good to have had my fish make it this long. My husband did a 15% water change tonight and added a little bit of Amquel Plus. Should we do another change tomorrow? I have no idea what to do now, I am so afraid that my other fish are going to die while I'm sleeping.
Bigger water changes.
Daily.
Maybe even twice a day.
If you do lose the rest of your fish, please do not buy any more until after your cycling is done. Nitrites hurt!
Fishless cycling is much easier, cheaper, and humane.
Daily.
Maybe even twice a day.
If you do lose the rest of your fish, please do not buy any more until after your cycling is done. Nitrites hurt!
Fishless cycling is much easier, cheaper, and humane.
That's a very cavalier attitude- again fishless cycling is the way to go.
try to get some food to feed the star, they eat waste and stuff that is in the sand bed, if your tank is only 5weeks old there won't be anything for it to eat in there... sorry to hear about the rest of your fish 
Sand sifting stars are real hardy and can survive a wide range of conditions, alot of inverts are more tolorant then fish in certain infavorable conditions, but will still die over long term exposure.
I thought all stars didn't handle bad conditions, or changes thats why its recomended to acclimate them for a few hours?? I know shrimp can hold their own...
that is what I thought too, but it has lasted the longest. Maybe stars are more hardy than we thought! Still, all of my fish are dead! It stinks. Does anyone know of a way to move the cycle along so I can add some snails and crabs to eat my algea? Also, if I add more life rock soon will that be okay?
Most starfish are sensitive to rapid changes in water chemistry, if the change is done gradually they will tolorate it better then alot of fish will, hence why they should be acclimated for 2-3 hours. However once they are acclimated and if no sudden change in water chemistry happens overnight, they can hold thier own. Knobby stars like Cholcolate chip and serpent stars like regular sand sifters are real hardy.
I was told NEVER to change marine tank water. My stockist has been keeping fish for over 20 years and he told me that water changes in marine tanks should never be done. You should set up your tank and leave the water filtering for 2 weeks before you put anything in. After 2 weeks you can add marine rock, then after 6 weeks of first setting up your tank, you can add your first fish. Maybe its the stress thats causing them to die. You should really only add 1 fish per month to avoid stressing out any of the fish.