My clown fish are breathing rapidly and all parameters check out besides ammonia which has been <0.15 for awhile. Idk why but I’ve tried everything in the world to get it down. Feed is at a minimum and do weekly water changes. One clown swims into the power head which I’ve read could be signs of velvet any help would be greatly appreciated
HELP!
- Thread starter Pman12
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I’m not an expert but ammonia might be the case. They don’t look like they have velvet. How long have you had the tank running? Here’s a picture of my puffer with velvet
vetteguy53081
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May be brooklynella which affects clowns the most commonly.
Although not correct treatment, I’ve had luck with Correct treatment is formaldehyde based FORMALLIN, and also lowering salinity to 1.022 temporarily
Although not correct treatment, I’ve had luck with Correct treatment is formaldehyde based FORMALLIN, and also lowering salinity to 1.022 temporarily
About 8 months. I’ve tried to get the ammonia down and I’m not sure what is causing it. I’ve checked my test kit(salifert)I’m not an expert but ammonia might be the case. They don’t look like they have velvet. How long have you had the tank running? Here’s a picture of my puffer with velvet
Elevated ammonia suggest your tank hasn't cycled. How old is the tank?
How big is your tank and how many pounds of live rock do you have?
Your nitrifying bacteria colony may not be able to handle the bio load produced by your inhabitants.
Water changes to bring down the ammonia help, but they have to be faithful and regular water changes. You may also want to add bottled bacteria after water changes to help seed your bacteria colony.
How big is your tank and how many pounds of live rock do you have?
Your nitrifying bacteria colony may not be able to handle the bio load produced by your inhabitants.
Water changes to bring down the ammonia help, but they have to be faithful and regular water changes. You may also want to add bottled bacteria after water changes to help seed your bacteria colony.
little_sardines
Active Member
Have you tried putting prime in your tank to detoxify any ammonia? as a precaution.
Aside from that - maybe double check your salinity, when I very first started with salt tanks I had a hard time managing the salinity and a clown of mine behaved similarly to how you are describing, seemed to get better when I corrected my salinity issue.
Aside from that - maybe double check your salinity, when I very first started with salt tanks I had a hard time managing the salinity and a clown of mine behaved similarly to how you are describing, seemed to get better when I corrected my salinity issue.
Cell agreed.
Its not biologically possible to have any sustained ammonia, any free ammonia in a reef tank by rule must be compounding every few hours to a lethal, cloudy water level w death of fish, or, it goes down to zero and stays. no mid ground. test error. as soon as prime is used, all testing becomes invalid although using it is harmless. it will cause misreads in that water supply.
your issue is disease or items other than ammonia. from the pics alone and the timeframe we can tell its zero ammonia, you'd be cloudy if it wasn't and the home would smell bad.
Its not biologically possible to have any sustained ammonia, any free ammonia in a reef tank by rule must be compounding every few hours to a lethal, cloudy water level w death of fish, or, it goes down to zero and stays. no mid ground. test error. as soon as prime is used, all testing becomes invalid although using it is harmless. it will cause misreads in that water supply.
your issue is disease or items other than ammonia. from the pics alone and the timeframe we can tell its zero ammonia, you'd be cloudy if it wasn't and the home would smell bad.
My tank has been crystal clear. My gf was talking about this last night how clear it was. I did lose one clown and I was keeping a watchful eye and tried everything I could to save him. He was not in the tank very long after he died so down to one and he seems to be doing good
in no way do you have free ammonia, check out the sheer number of examples on page one here
www.reef2reef.com
The microbiology of reef tank cycling.
You can skip your cycle. Ive been reefing online for twenty years and have never waited one second for a tank to cycle, because I buy rocks that are already cycled and move them home. Here's two: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/octo-high-end-sps-skip-cycle-build.713256/...
www.reef2reef.com
? I’m confused. Follow up?in no way do you have free ammonia, check out the sheer number of examples on page one here
The microbiology of reef tank cycling.
You can skip your cycle. Ive been reefing online for twenty years and have never waited one second for a tank to cycle, because I buy rocks that are already cycled and move them home. Here's two: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/octo-high-end-sps-skip-cycle-build.713256/...
all the ammonia readings taken are wrong, I know how harsh that sounds but we show on page one of that study thread about 10 or 15 examples as to why all ammonia testing for today is wrong pretty much.
from that info, meaning you have no free ammonia, we have to use other ways to call your cycle closed and we show in the thread how # of days underwater, and the behavior of fish, make the final call. You have no free ammonia nor have had any. if you use prime, the misreading gets worse. page one of that thread has examples where Prime changes the testing even further off
have to check out the thread, no other shortcuts avail to learn accurate tank microbiology.
its a ton of info but above is the summary impact of ammonia test misreads.
from that info, meaning you have no free ammonia, we have to use other ways to call your cycle closed and we show in the thread how # of days underwater, and the behavior of fish, make the final call. You have no free ammonia nor have had any. if you use prime, the misreading gets worse. page one of that thread has examples where Prime changes the testing even further off
have to check out the thread, no other shortcuts avail to learn accurate tank microbiology.
its a ton of info but above is the summary impact of ammonia test misreads.
Will do but in your opinion what should I do at this point to get them down??all the ammonia readings taken are wrong, I know how harsh that sounds but we show on page one of that study thread about 10 or 15 examples as to why all ammonia testing for today is wrong pretty much.
from that info, meaning you have no free ammonia, we have to use other ways to call your cycle closed and we show in the thread how # of days underwater, and the behavior of fish, make the final call. You have no free ammonia nor have had any. if you use prime, the misreading gets worse. page one of that thread has examples where Prime changes the testing even further off
have to check out the thread, no other shortcuts avail to learn accurate tank microbiology.
its a ton of info but above is the summary impact of ammonia test misreads.
its that you have zero, there is no free ammonia. If you put away the test kit, the tank continues running. no reaction needed you are done cycling. the tests misread, that's all that is occurring. your tests are accurate when a fish dies and rots in the tank and they spike out to 7 ppm along with that cloudy water signal.
a signal always always accompanies free ammonia, and you can see, smell, or touch that signal without any test kit. this is how we audit posted ammonia readings. the tests are almost never right when dealing with low level sustained readings. Ive never seen one confirmed right in 2o yrs of online reefing.
True free ammonia is a tank killer, within about 3 hours the fish are dead and the water is opaque and skunky in a few more hours. it cannot go days with free ammonia
a signal always always accompanies free ammonia, and you can see, smell, or touch that signal without any test kit. this is how we audit posted ammonia readings. the tests are almost never right when dealing with low level sustained readings. Ive never seen one confirmed right in 2o yrs of online reefing.
True free ammonia is a tank killer, within about 3 hours the fish are dead and the water is opaque and skunky in a few more hours. it cannot go days with free ammonia
Ok thanks for the follow up. I’ve got another question then. I’ve got some Algea on rocks. It’s not like hair algea but is green but is almost impossible to ge off the rock and a few clumps in the sand bed. How do I get rid of this problem. I’m a noob and I know it’s something that I done or haven’t I’m just trying to remove the cause and have the knowledge to keep it away
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