Hello. It’s been a rough couple days.
We set up our first saltwater tank a couple weeks ago. On January 16th we added Fritz Turbo Start and dosed with Dr Tims ammonia and started testing. I tested daily, watching the ammonia drop, nitrites spike and drop, nitrates spike and then drop. On Saturday the 23rd, we added a second bottle upon advice of our LFS because ammonia was at 0 but there were still nitrites and nitrates that hadn’t budged in 3-4 days. They suggested that the cycle may be stalled because the bottle may have warmed during transport, causing issues with the bacteria. We added 2 clowns that evening after adding the 2nd bottle, following the bottle directions that fish could be added immediately. There were still nitrites and nitrates, but assuming the second bottle of bacteria would kick in and reduce them quickly. Another person on this forum posted about how nitrites are far less toxic to marine fish than freshwater, so I thought it would all be OK.
The next day, one of the clowns had died, in less than 12 hours. It didn’t seem to adjust well- it swam hard against the current since we put him in. We chalked it up to a problem with the fish, and purchased a 2nd clown to replace him.
Today, the 2nd initial clown died. On the sand, barely moving, breathing heavily. Had been acting normally until this afternoon. We have the remaining clown we purchased on the 24th still alive, acting normal from what I can tell, but he’s hiding in a cave and not coming out.
Results of testing with Red Sea test kit and digital Hanna salinity tester are below and information on our setup is below. Any idea what’s wrong, or what we’re missing? We have a friend who has had reef tanks for 20+ years and he says we did everything by the book. I’m sad and frustrated, because we just sank a lot of money into setup and have been researching and planning for over 4 months. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but I’ve had fresh water tanks my whole life and was expecting to not fail miserably right out of the gate. We are not going to add any more fish until we have this figured out. any advice you can give would be appreciated.
Test Results from 1/25:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: .05
Salinity: 34.6
RODI water, 0 TDS when tested
Setup:
Live sand, dry rock, hw marinemix salt, Red Sea reefer 425XL tank
Fish were acclimated by drip method in a clean bucket, allowing water to double over the course of 30 min after floating the bag for 15 min. We did not quarantine, we talked in depth with the LFS about their medication process and how well they care for and watch their fish. I’ve bought fresh water fish from them for over a year and never had any issues.
We set up our first saltwater tank a couple weeks ago. On January 16th we added Fritz Turbo Start and dosed with Dr Tims ammonia and started testing. I tested daily, watching the ammonia drop, nitrites spike and drop, nitrates spike and then drop. On Saturday the 23rd, we added a second bottle upon advice of our LFS because ammonia was at 0 but there were still nitrites and nitrates that hadn’t budged in 3-4 days. They suggested that the cycle may be stalled because the bottle may have warmed during transport, causing issues with the bacteria. We added 2 clowns that evening after adding the 2nd bottle, following the bottle directions that fish could be added immediately. There were still nitrites and nitrates, but assuming the second bottle of bacteria would kick in and reduce them quickly. Another person on this forum posted about how nitrites are far less toxic to marine fish than freshwater, so I thought it would all be OK.
The next day, one of the clowns had died, in less than 12 hours. It didn’t seem to adjust well- it swam hard against the current since we put him in. We chalked it up to a problem with the fish, and purchased a 2nd clown to replace him.
Today, the 2nd initial clown died. On the sand, barely moving, breathing heavily. Had been acting normally until this afternoon. We have the remaining clown we purchased on the 24th still alive, acting normal from what I can tell, but he’s hiding in a cave and not coming out.
Results of testing with Red Sea test kit and digital Hanna salinity tester are below and information on our setup is below. Any idea what’s wrong, or what we’re missing? We have a friend who has had reef tanks for 20+ years and he says we did everything by the book. I’m sad and frustrated, because we just sank a lot of money into setup and have been researching and planning for over 4 months. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but I’ve had fresh water tanks my whole life and was expecting to not fail miserably right out of the gate. We are not going to add any more fish until we have this figured out. any advice you can give would be appreciated.
Test Results from 1/25:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: .05
Salinity: 34.6
RODI water, 0 TDS when tested
Setup:
Live sand, dry rock, hw marinemix salt, Red Sea reefer 425XL tank
Fish were acclimated by drip method in a clean bucket, allowing water to double over the course of 30 min after floating the bag for 15 min. We did not quarantine, we talked in depth with the LFS about their medication process and how well they care for and watch their fish. I’ve bought fresh water fish from them for over a year and never had any issues.