Hey guys, I'm brand new to this hobby. Well I bought everything I needed to start. I'm using a 55 gal tank. I have live sand in it, a few live rocks. I have 4 clowns swimming around. My pH level looks to be about an 8. Well the problem is my ammonia level is getting high. About 5 days ago it was at a 1.0 and now it looks like it's at a 2.0. I went to the local fish store and they told me not to feed them anymore and they also sold me a bottle of bacteria they said to add once a day. Well it's been about 5 days now and it looks like the level is getting higher. They said not to do a water change because it's a new tank. The tank has been running for about a month now. Any help at all??? I don't want the fish to die.
New and need help asap
- Thread starter Brandong91
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1. Pick two clowns and remove the others, 4 clowns isn't gonna work in a 55.
2. Ammonia at 2.0 is very toxic to fish. Add some seachem prime asap, or remove the fish into new saltwater.
3. The tank should have cycled much longer. If you can have the lfs take the fish back, do that (maybe they'll watch them for a few weeks), let the tank cycle, then readd two clowns only. If you can't do this, prepare to do water changes and add prime often.
4. If any shops near you sell fritz turbo start 900 (must be refrigerated), add the 4oz bottle and it'll help cycle faster, probably in like 3-4 days.
2. Ammonia at 2.0 is very toxic to fish. Add some seachem prime asap, or remove the fish into new saltwater.
3. The tank should have cycled much longer. If you can have the lfs take the fish back, do that (maybe they'll watch them for a few weeks), let the tank cycle, then readd two clowns only. If you can't do this, prepare to do water changes and add prime often.
4. If any shops near you sell fritz turbo start 900 (must be refrigerated), add the 4oz bottle and it'll help cycle faster, probably in like 3-4 days.
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As long as you don't have any copper in the tank use Prime to knock that ammonia level down. As said above 2 clowns is probably what you want until you get more advanced. 4 clowns unless you set it up pretty carefully can be an issue. What do you have for filtration and flow? Have the fish been in for a month as well or did you just add 4 fish to the bare tank?
rkpetersen
walked the sand with the crustaceans
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+1.
Buy some refrigerated, unexpired Fritz Turbo Start; that will knock your ammonia down fast. It's expensive, but very worth it.
Other bacteria products may or may not work and if they do it will take a lot longer.
RobW
Valuable Member
Sounds to me like the tank is still trying to cycle. I agree, 4 clowns in a 55 is not so great. How much and how often have you been feeding? What type of filtration do you have? Do you have a skimmer? What are the other parameters of the water as well? Salinity, nitrite, nitrate, etc. How long ago was the sand and rock introduced? Was it at the very beginning or have you been adding gradually. If adding gradually throughout the course of the tank cycling it is probably your tank trying to catch up to the new loads that keep getting added to the tank.
Tons of questions here. My intuition is that this is a new reefer that went to the petco, bought a $55 55g tank, put in some sand and crap, poured in some bottled magic, and added 4 clowns because "they're fine all together in one tank at the store so 4 will definitely be fine in my tank."
Watch the brs 52 weeks of reefing, post some pics of your tank, and do a ton of research, this hobby doesn't have to be difficult but it's not as easy as put fish in water.
Watch the brs 52 weeks of reefing, post some pics of your tank, and do a ton of research, this hobby doesn't have to be difficult but it's not as easy as put fish in water.
RobW
Valuable Member
What's perfect? And how are you measuring said perfect levels?
Look, I'm not looking to be ridiculed. I joined this fourm to find help and to learn. Yes I'm new to this hobby. This is my first salt water tank. I've had plenty of freshwater tanks and a large successful koi pond. I devidec to try my luck with salt water. No I am not experienced like y'all but I'm sure at one point neither was you. I didn't get my stuff at Petco. I got it at a place called Bob's tropical fish. Not sure if that's a chain or if that's just local. But anyways, I did everything they told me at the store. And yes they did say 4 was fine to put in the tank. Maybe he didn't know what he was talking about? I don't know. But that's why I joined this site to find other answers.
A canister filter will be a disaster nitrate factory for this tank within 3-6 months. Read through some of the build threads for 55 gallon tanks on this forum, see what others are doing, and try to imitate that.
You'll honestly do better with a large hang on back filter and a hang on back skimmer.
No worries dude, not intending to ridicule, but your story is not uncommon. Crappy lfs are part of the problem, but you can be part of the solution. Do as much research as you can, try to become an intermediate level in the fish you want to keep, and never go back to that store lol.
RobW
Valuable Member
No one is ridiculing you. I asked some pretty simple questions about your tank to try and help. If you cant provide stats of the tank it is hard for anyone of us to help you out. Also it sounds like Bob's tropical fish was just trying to spend your money. Look into hannah checkers for checking out your tank parameters.
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