I set up a 15 gallon AIO nano tank on Saturday, Feb 17 (5 days ago).
I used RO saltwater from LFS, 10 pounds of live sand, and a few pieces of dry rock. I have a heater set to 76-78. The AIO has a filter on the back with a sponge on top, charcoal media bag in the middle and ceramic rings on the bottom. I was told to leave the light off for a week so I don't get any nasty algae so the light hasn't been on yet.
LFS said I was okay to put a pair of clowns in after dosing with Fritz TurboStart on Saturday (the day I set up the tank). And if I was going to put on a protein skimmer I could keep a small third fish which I chose a royal gramma. I haven't started up the skimmer yet since Fritz TurboStart directions say to wait five days.
I ended up adding a one year old snowflake ocellaris on Saturday and then a baby ocellaris and royal gramma (not sure how old he is) on Monday.
I don't know what happened but I woke up to the baby clownfish dead in the filter intake this morning. I don't know if he died and was sucked up or if he was sucked up and died. Both clowns were hosting the corner with the instake so they hung out in that area quite a bit. Since I don't know what happened I decided to test the water. I've been testing every other day. I'm using a Sera Kit.
pH has been a consistent 8.0 for last three tests.
Ammonia was 0 on setup day then rose to .50 and is still there today.
Nitrite was .25 on setup day, then dropped to 0 two days later, and today (another two days later), it's at 1.00.
Nitrate was 0 on setup day, then rose to 5 two days later, and today (another two days later), it's 10.
Salinity has been around 1.026-1.027
Do I need to do a water change today or are these swings just the tank cycling? If my levels killed the baby clownfish then obviously I want to fix the tank ASAP so the other two stay okay. And if I need to do a water change will that effect the cycling process with Fritz TurboStart?
I used RO saltwater from LFS, 10 pounds of live sand, and a few pieces of dry rock. I have a heater set to 76-78. The AIO has a filter on the back with a sponge on top, charcoal media bag in the middle and ceramic rings on the bottom. I was told to leave the light off for a week so I don't get any nasty algae so the light hasn't been on yet.
LFS said I was okay to put a pair of clowns in after dosing with Fritz TurboStart on Saturday (the day I set up the tank). And if I was going to put on a protein skimmer I could keep a small third fish which I chose a royal gramma. I haven't started up the skimmer yet since Fritz TurboStart directions say to wait five days.
I ended up adding a one year old snowflake ocellaris on Saturday and then a baby ocellaris and royal gramma (not sure how old he is) on Monday.
I don't know what happened but I woke up to the baby clownfish dead in the filter intake this morning. I don't know if he died and was sucked up or if he was sucked up and died. Both clowns were hosting the corner with the instake so they hung out in that area quite a bit. Since I don't know what happened I decided to test the water. I've been testing every other day. I'm using a Sera Kit.
pH has been a consistent 8.0 for last three tests.
Ammonia was 0 on setup day then rose to .50 and is still there today.
Nitrite was .25 on setup day, then dropped to 0 two days later, and today (another two days later), it's at 1.00.
Nitrate was 0 on setup day, then rose to 5 two days later, and today (another two days later), it's 10.
Salinity has been around 1.026-1.027
Do I need to do a water change today or are these swings just the tank cycling? If my levels killed the baby clownfish then obviously I want to fix the tank ASAP so the other two stay okay. And if I need to do a water change will that effect the cycling process with Fritz TurboStart?