Help! Tank going crazy!

[Mtrask]

That'll be fine. As I said it's no huge emergency, just do what you can to lower the current ammonia and nitrite levels and I'm sure you'll be fine.

Thanks again!

 

[Oscaror]

Thanks again!

Happy to help

 

[Hitman]

Two of many things I recommend always keeping on hand is Prime and Bio - Spira. Both have a great shelf life.
Happy to have helped. Just remember slow and steady wins in this hobby and anything that happens fast usually is not good.

 

[Mtrask]

Well your fish do look perfectly fine as you stated (And btw nice aquascape) so this isn't really that much of an emergency, but should be acted on quickly.

Thanks! They seem to like all the little caves and such. The hawk has plenty of perches. I just wish he didn't eat my shrimp. That was an expensive treat lol

 

[Mtrask]

Two of many things I recommend always keeping on hand is Prime and Bio - Spira. Both have a great shelf life.
Happy to have helped. Just remember slow and steady wins in this hobby and anything that happens fast usually is not good.

Thanks again! I thought I was doing ok but I am learning a ton and did so much research before I even started. Hopefully I can resolve this tomorrow! I just added prime since that's what I have. I will make sure I have extras in hand going forward!

 

[Hitman]

Thanks! They seem to like all the little caves and such. The hawk has plenty of perches. I just wish he didn't eat my shrimp. That was an expensive treat lol

Hawks love Shrimp. One of there main foods in the wild. I had 6 Fire Shrimp that cleaned all my fish until I started adding groupers. Ya they cleaned my groupers then the groupers eat them.

 

[Oscaror]

Thanks! They seem to like all the little caves and such. The hawk has plenty of perches. I just wish he didn't eat my shrimp. That was an expensive treat lol

Yeah lol, but I bet he enjoyed that fancy dinner

 

[Hitman]

Thanks again! I thought I was doing ok but I am learning a ton and did so much research before I even started. Hopefully I can resolve this tomorrow! I just added prime since that's what I have. I will make sure I have extras in hand going forward!

Your doing just fine. Growing pains lol.

 

[Mtrask]

Your doing just fine. Growing pains lol.

Thanks!

 

[Mtrask]

Yeah lol, but I bet he enjoyed that fancy dinner

I bet he did. So can I not have shrimp anymore? The hawk was expensive!

 

[Oscaror]

I bet he did. So can I not have shrimp anymore? The hawk was expensive!

No shrimp unfortunately

 

[Hitman]

I bet he did. So can I not have shrimp anymore? The hawk was expensive!

You can have as many as you want as long as you know he will have them all for dinner. Lol

 

[Mtrask]

You can have as many as you want as long as you know he will have them all for dinner. Lol

Haha true. More snails it is then!

 

[Hitman]

Haha true. More snails it is then!

Hermit Crabs seem to be ok with them as well if your looking for other cool clean up crew members. I love my Pin Cushion Urchin but they will carry snails and frags around as hats which the first time is cool and funny but when it’s every morning your having to put things back where they go it gets old. Here’s mine carrying around a 3” Porties frag a few weeks ago. Lol

 

[KrisReef]

You might want to slow down on feeding your fish until the bacteria catch up and remove the ammonia and nitrite.

Welcome to R2R.

 

[Mtrask]

Thanks everyone for all the help! My husband and I are still learning but appreciate how nice and helpful everyone is! My kids love having the tank so I want to become a pro someday lol!

 

[Hitman]

We are all here to help and learn. It’s a great family hobby for sure!!!

 

[Bruce Burnett]

Welcome to Reef2Reef. Something nobody really said but two months is not long for a newly started tank. The cycle just barely finished. If you do things to quick you can cause multiple cycles but each one will normally be shorter. To give an idea i just re-did my rock work and even though I used same rock and 60% of the same water I went through a cycle on a 300 gallon system. The cause was trimming and removing too must coral and palys at one time, the tank was not stable with alk when I did it and it increased die off which caused cycle. The saying is nothing good happens fast. have done it before with no cycle at all. I have been thinking about a hawk fish since I don't keep shrimp, crabs or snails there are a more fish I can keep. But since I am bare bottom it also limits some fish. Always look at what you are planning on keeping and check compatibility you may decide to do without some in favor of others. Have fun it is addicting, many get out of the hobby but hard to stay out long.

 

[ReeferJen]

The tank already went through a full cycle though. Why would everything crash so suddenly? The three fish we're happy and water was good until I added the hawk and he ate my shrimp lol.

The added hawk was the "straw that broke the camel's back" in terms of bioload. With new tanks, wait a good month between fish adds if you're approaching your gallons/bioload capacity. Also, the fact he killed the shrimp likely caused a bunch of decay which = Amonia spike. Solution: water change and bioload reduction. Do you have a friend who can hold the hawk for a bit?

 

[mikes686]

What is in your tank? Sand bed? Live rock? These help with nitrifying bacteria. But understand that an aquarium your size will swing very dramatically where one 10 times larger will swing slow. Many times a full cycle takes around 3 months. New tank fever is when you just start adding livestock and **** happens. I did it early on with my first tank, this is a hobby of patience. Good luck.