New Tank Many Problems. NEED HELP !!

jacobus

jacobus

dragon wrasse nut
Dec 4, 2005
67
0
0
38
Singapore.
hi guys. i dont know if im considered a newbie.. i had a 2 feet tank for like 5 months now, and ive recently decided to get a larger one ... if im not wrong its about 60 - 70 gallons ( 4 feet in length with a built in overflow). so i started to cycle the tank with some live rock and livesand(from my smaller tank). i let it run for a day before i put in 3 assorted damsels ( 2 4-bar damsels and an azure damsel. ) to cycle the tank, but they died the next day, i asked my lfs about it and they told me that its ok and to wait a few days. i wait 2 days and added 1 more damsel to cycle, but the poor bugger died the next morning. is there anything wrong ? i checked my salinity and pH and both are fine. i dont have a ammonia test kit so i dont really know about that. i burnt out my allowance buying the rock and tank and totally forgot about the kit .. i suspect it may be ammonia. can there be any other reason ?
 
It's hard to know what to say when I don't know much about the tank. Ammonia isn't likely to kill the fish immediately, but it's possible if it's high enough. If the specific gravity was really different from that at the LFS, that could cause trouble as well. How long dod you acclimate?

To get the tank cycled a lot more easily (and cheaply) than with damsels, start with a cocktail shrimp or other piece of seafood, and let it rot in the tank. Get ammonia and nitrite test kits, so you know where you are in the cycle.

You will be spending a lot of money on livestock. Spend a few dollars on test kits. It's much easier to diagnose problems when you know the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and alkalinity.
 
Does your Lfs offer free water testing? ..at least until you can afford to buy the proper testing supplies. You say it's allowance you spent? .. Make a deal with your parents to do something extra to earn the money for a kit :)

They should, I know most I have been in they do.
 
ive been cycling the tank for about 5 days so far .. its ok to let the shrimp rot in there ? also.. ive spotted some hitchhikers in my tank, like crabs and all, does this mean that the tank's relatively ok ? or are hitchhikers able to survive even the worst conditions ?
 
The point of the rotting shrimp is to produce ammonia to feed the bacteria. It's fine as long as there isn't other livestock in there.

Hard to say what the hitchhikers mean. Some are able to tolerate relatively foul conditions, at lease in the short term.
 
You may want to get them (hitch hikers) out of the tank. Most crab that come on LR do not have back leg swimmers, so the eaasiest way to catch the crabs is to put a jar in the tank against the LR on a slight angle and put some bait in there, the crab(s) will go in there after the food, but can't get back out. this may take a couple of days for the crabs to go into the jar.
 
are the hitchhikers harmful ? i got a ammonia tester and turns out to be safe, the salinity is alright too, but i checked the pH again and realised that it was 7.7 .. so i added in kalkwasser by drip method overnight and i checked it this morning its now 8.0 - 8.3 (the color looks like in between both ) so im gonna like it run for a few more days and maybe try another damsel or use the cocktail shrimp method.. thanks guys ! i'll keep you updated on my progress.
 
Well your LFS looks like are not giving you advice and are just wanting to sell you fish, also not all hitchhikers are bad, would need pics of them or at least a description to see if thier bad or good.
 
All crabs are not regarded as reef safe, all crabs are destructive and will destroy corals one way or another. If you have a fuge you can put them in there, otherwise i would take them out unless you want a fowler, but they may breed and cause a problem.
 
i am using tap water, i realised one thing about my tank . the pH drops very quickly .. like overnight. i put kalkwasser to raise it to the 8.0 range.. and the next day it drops to 7.7 .. is that the problem ? i know that the fish need alkali water... but it keeps dropping .. what do i do ? i got a damsel a few days back again ... it did well for the first night .. but today it died .. is there any other way to check if the tank is really safe to add fish ?
oh and im deciding to have a fowlr
 
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