A little help (a little Impatient i'd admit)

[Phil501]

Tank is two months old....30 gl
ammonia 0.0
nitrite 0.0
nitrate 0.0
calcium 280
alkalinity 9
salinity 1.025

I have read to be patient but just want to make sure I'm not missing anything due to the fact I just lost 2 clowns and a yellow tang....Tank was set up on 02/08 of this year (with Instant Ocean Bio-Spira Start up) and I still have diatom bloom...I have a penguin 200 filter with a korilia 425 gph, and about 25lbs of live rock...the sponges just started growing on some of the live rock....When the tank was set up I did use tap but since then I have done multiple water changes with RO/DI from LFS....My thing is my LFS is no help to determine why my fish died one after the other...I may have gotten impatient and added them to quickly....also should the diatom bloom still be going on? and what should test am I missing....all Help is greatly appreciated

 

[Mike J.]

Welcome to Reef2Reef. Have you ever had an ammonia or nitrate reading? 0 nitrates makes me wonder if you've ever had a nitrogen cycle.

 

[Chefbill]

not to be tang police, but a yellow tang in a 30g could have been so stressed as to become the proverbial 'ich magnet', snowballing to the deaths of your clowns.

 

[Phil501]

I have never had any trace of those using API saltwater master test kit....but I just thought that was the instant ocean bio-sphere doing what it is supposed to do

 

[Phil501]

now that they are gone do I need to worry about ICH being in the tank once I get everything sorted out?

 

[Chefbill]

assuming it was ich, yes. No fish for 7 weeks? 8 weeks? someone will chime in.

 

[Phil501]

I did notice the white spots appear on he tang before it died....dang so that is for an empty tank but it is what it is

 

[Mike J.]

You'll want to put a shrimp or something in there to introduce ammonia and start your nitrogen cycle. It'll take some time to do that so it'll work out.

 

[Phil501]

so I guess I was miss led by the instant ocean bio-shere...I do have a diatom bloom going on...but from what you guys think my tank has not cycled yet....

 

[mcarroll]

so I guess I was miss led by the instant ocean bio-shere...I do have a diatom bloom going on...but from what you guys think my tank has not cycled yet....

I can't say whether the Bio-sphere worked or not - it may have...at two months in I'd be awfully surprised if the cycle hadn't happened...it normally would have even if you'd done nothing but put water and rocks or sand in.

What I can say for sure is that a tang in that small of a tank, that soon after the tank was set up*, would have been enough by itself to cause this. Also, it's incorrect to look at ich as the cause, ich is a side-effect - they're opportunists. Without stressed fish, they have no host and no way to reproduce. Healthy fish (which means unstressed) don't get sick.

So your job is basically to create an environment that is minimally stressful and to only include animals that can live relatively stress free within that environment's limits. That's basically all we can do. Regardless of stunts you may have read about elsewhere, that tang needed at least a six-foot tank. (Most do.) Yes, at least - bigger would be even better. I only point out this detail to give you an idea of the stress level the tang was placed under (on top of all the stress applied getting him from the ocean to you). Unfortunately this result isn't surprising. (Surprising is when one survives in a small tank....it happens.)

I would look at fish no larger than clownfish for your tank....preferably much smaller. Barnacle blennies are a personal favorite, but there are a number of fish and inverts as well that are small and which would be perfect for your tank.

-Matt

* This would go for everyone, but especially as a beginner. Going the conservative route in your choices and stocking the tank very slowly should be you M.O. until you are very comfortable with the tank and dealing with what happens to the tank when changes are made.

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

I can't say whether the Bio-sphere worked or not - it may have...at two months in I'd be awfully surprised if the cycle hadn't happened...it normally would have even if you'd done nothing but put water and rocks or sand in.

What I can say for sure is that a tang in that small of a tank, that soon after the tank was set up*, would have been enough by itself to cause this. Also, it's incorrect to look at ich as the cause, ich is a side-effect - they're opportunists. Without stressed fish, they have no host and no way to reproduce. Healthy fish (which means unstressed) don't get sick.

So your job is basically to create an environment that is minimally stressful and to only include animals that can live relatively stress free within that environment's limits. That's basically all we can do. Regardless of stunts you may have read about elsewhere, that tang needed at least a six-foot tank. (Most do.) Yes, at least - bigger would be even better. I only point out this detail to give you an idea of the stress level the tang was placed under (on top of all the stress applied getting him from the ocean to you). Unfortunately this result isn't surprising. (Surprising is when one survives in a small tank....it happens.)

I would look at fish no larger than clownfish for your tank....preferably much smaller. Barnacle blennies are a personal favorite, but there are a number of fish and inverts as well that are small and which would be perfect for your tank.

-Matt

* This would go for everyone, but especially as a beginner. Going the conservative route in your choices and stocking the tank very slowly should be you M.O. until you are very comfortable with the tank and dealing with what happens to the tank when changes are made.

+1.

I do have experience with using BioSpira. However, I used it as an aid. I was transferring tanks so I already had a good base of bacteria in the tank. It is possible that the Bio Spira could have been expired. Before adding fish, I would introduce an ammonia source such as a piece of shrimp or ghost feed the tank. Then, I would watch daily for an ammonia spike or a spike in the nitrites or nitrates.

 

[Phil501]

added piece of shrimp last night....here is what my tank looks like

 

[A+Aquatics]

Ouch brother! A little more caution before proceeding next time :-/

 

[Phil501]

Ouch brother! A little more caution before proceeding next time :-/

what's he worst that you see?

 

[Phil501]

should I just start over???

 

[redfishbluefish]

I wouldn't start over.


Since ich was identified, and now no fish in the tank, I'd up the temperature to maybe 82 to quicken the "ich" cycle. Let the tank sit for the next 7 or 8 weeks so the ich cycle can occur without fish. Certainly by then you'll have a nice crop of bacteria to keep ammonia at zero.



EDIT TO ADD: Oops! Just went to check on the life cycle and see that temperature does quicken saltwater ich.....only freshwater.

 

[Phil501]

I wouldn't start over.


Since ich was identified, and now no fish in the tank, I'd up the temperature to maybe 82 to quicken the "ich" cycle. Let the tank sit for the next 7 or 8 weeks so the ich cycle can occur without fish. Certainly by then you'll have a nice crop of bacteria to keep ammonia at zero.

well I do still have a file fish left for aptaisa control....

 

[veselym]

Do some water changes and maybe kill the lights for 48 hours to slow that algae down...definitely no Tangs in a 30G

 

[redfishbluefish]

well I do still have a file fish left for aptaisa control....

The only real way to rid a tank of ich is to let it sit fallow for eight weeks.....that means no fish. I'm not up on file fish, but if it can take copper treatments, I'd move it to a hospital tank and treat for ich.

 

[Phil501]

The only real way to rid a tank of ich is to let it sit fallow for eight weeks.....that means no fish. I'm not up on file fish, but if it can take copper treatments, I'd move it to a hospital tank and treat for ich.

should run the penguin 200 filter while this goes on? guess I need to move the tank out of the living room....It looks horrible as you can see