everpresentnoob
Community Member
new to saltwater, but had fresh water for 20 plus years. realizing I really dont know to much about this.... lol This is a long post as im trying to say everything that has happened and been done to this tank so you can hopefully help and tell me where I went wrong and how to fix it.
Bought a 75 gallon tank from a guy with Current USA orbit marine lights, Reef Octo classic 150 int skimmer, 30 ish gallon sump. added a reefmat 500 and a Jaebao return pump. also have two Jaebao MOW-8 powerheads. 70 pounds or so of rock, and fiji pink sand to a depth of 1 inch. Hygger heater that is maintaining 78.5 in the DT.
I know this next part is a bad thing and I apologize to the fish gods for it...
bought premixed water from the LFS, which is the same water they use in their tanks in the shop. added a bottle of Fritz Turbo 900 and added a Clown fish. I wont get into the discussions from the little kids that just HAD TO HAVE NEMO rather than an empty tank... I tested with an API kit and saw ammonia get up to .08 ish. But the little clown seemed to be ok. loved to hide in the rocks but wasnt breathing heavy or scraping or anything. Lots of reading on here about API kits not being accurate so I bought a Hanna checker. then realized that in order to use it you have to have the PH reading and temp and then do some math. Bought a decent PH tester and did the math. Ammonia was at .05. next day tested again ammonia was lower. Clown still doing fine and the kids have named him Dreamsicle after their favorite popsicles.
Started hearing about the salifert test kits so I bought that to compare to the Hanna as well as bought one of the SeaChem ammonia alert badges to hang in the sump. salifert read the same as the hanna, while the API started reading higher. i stopped using the API... Seachem badge turned green, for alert at first. kept checking everything and the ammonia dropped to .02 and the seachem badge turned yellow saying safe.
This whole time I have been running the reefmat only as Im not sure my skimmer is working right, but that's another discussion. I have been feeding the Clown fish frozen Brine shrimp and he eats it. mostly...
due to the alert badge saying safe I added two small firefish gobys. beautiful fishies and I loved the tall fin that popped up off their backs!
they liked to come to the front of the tank and watch me as I messed with the tank and sump. after a week I wok up to one of them dead on teh bottom of the tank. when I fed them the night before they both were active and fine. Ate well. then boom. one gone. The other fire fish was still acting fine, watching me, swimming around and ate that night, but I never saw him again. Havent even found the body.
tested water again, ammonia still at safe range on badge, PH around 7.8, salinity still at 1.02, temp at 78. Wife didn't realize I was concerned and she bought two blue and yellow Azure Damsels that she thought were pretty to surprise me with. they were introduced on Saturday, ate well that night, then in the morning one was dead. I went to take off my long sleeve shirt (had just got home from church) and by the time I got back to the tank his body had floated away and I haven't found it. the second damsel died that afternoon and was promptly removed.
But the CLOWNFISH LIVES!! although he has stopped eating for the last two days... I honestly don't know what to do at this point. I wont put anything else in this tank until I know it has a good chance of surviving... LFS says all their stock are quarantined and don't need to be again... But at this point I'm not sure. Thinking about changing the clowns name to Marcus Luttrell.....
I have done 10 gallon water changes each weekend, and plan on doing a large 30-50 gallon tonight. Ive noticed in the last few days that I am starting to get a light coating of brownish algae growth on my rocks and back of the sand bed. I thought this might mean my tank is starting the ulgy phase, but Im not sure now...
What should I test for? what should I do next? Im totally at a loss, and the LFS guru has bacically told me that everything Ive done is right and my tank should be good to go...
Bought a 75 gallon tank from a guy with Current USA orbit marine lights, Reef Octo classic 150 int skimmer, 30 ish gallon sump. added a reefmat 500 and a Jaebao return pump. also have two Jaebao MOW-8 powerheads. 70 pounds or so of rock, and fiji pink sand to a depth of 1 inch. Hygger heater that is maintaining 78.5 in the DT.
I know this next part is a bad thing and I apologize to the fish gods for it...
bought premixed water from the LFS, which is the same water they use in their tanks in the shop. added a bottle of Fritz Turbo 900 and added a Clown fish. I wont get into the discussions from the little kids that just HAD TO HAVE NEMO rather than an empty tank... I tested with an API kit and saw ammonia get up to .08 ish. But the little clown seemed to be ok. loved to hide in the rocks but wasnt breathing heavy or scraping or anything. Lots of reading on here about API kits not being accurate so I bought a Hanna checker. then realized that in order to use it you have to have the PH reading and temp and then do some math. Bought a decent PH tester and did the math. Ammonia was at .05. next day tested again ammonia was lower. Clown still doing fine and the kids have named him Dreamsicle after their favorite popsicles.
Started hearing about the salifert test kits so I bought that to compare to the Hanna as well as bought one of the SeaChem ammonia alert badges to hang in the sump. salifert read the same as the hanna, while the API started reading higher. i stopped using the API... Seachem badge turned green, for alert at first. kept checking everything and the ammonia dropped to .02 and the seachem badge turned yellow saying safe.
This whole time I have been running the reefmat only as Im not sure my skimmer is working right, but that's another discussion. I have been feeding the Clown fish frozen Brine shrimp and he eats it. mostly...
due to the alert badge saying safe I added two small firefish gobys. beautiful fishies and I loved the tall fin that popped up off their backs!
they liked to come to the front of the tank and watch me as I messed with the tank and sump. after a week I wok up to one of them dead on teh bottom of the tank. when I fed them the night before they both were active and fine. Ate well. then boom. one gone. The other fire fish was still acting fine, watching me, swimming around and ate that night, but I never saw him again. Havent even found the body.tested water again, ammonia still at safe range on badge, PH around 7.8, salinity still at 1.02, temp at 78. Wife didn't realize I was concerned and she bought two blue and yellow Azure Damsels that she thought were pretty to surprise me with. they were introduced on Saturday, ate well that night, then in the morning one was dead. I went to take off my long sleeve shirt (had just got home from church) and by the time I got back to the tank his body had floated away and I haven't found it. the second damsel died that afternoon and was promptly removed.
But the CLOWNFISH LIVES!! although he has stopped eating for the last two days... I honestly don't know what to do at this point. I wont put anything else in this tank until I know it has a good chance of surviving... LFS says all their stock are quarantined and don't need to be again... But at this point I'm not sure. Thinking about changing the clowns name to Marcus Luttrell.....
I have done 10 gallon water changes each weekend, and plan on doing a large 30-50 gallon tonight. Ive noticed in the last few days that I am starting to get a light coating of brownish algae growth on my rocks and back of the sand bed. I thought this might mean my tank is starting the ulgy phase, but Im not sure now...
What should I test for? what should I do next? Im totally at a loss, and the LFS guru has bacically told me that everything Ive done is right and my tank should be good to go...
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