Reef Tank Emergency

[GucciKingXII]

Hello this is my first post sadly it is an emergency. I have a 6 mo old 15 gallon nano reef tank! This is my first ever reef tank and I did all of the setup and followed instructions from my LFS. I cycled the tank and suring cycling brought in water samples every other day to make sure everything was going smoothly. After I was certain my tank had cycled I added 2 clowns, a few branching hammers a duncan frag, and some Xenia. I have been bringing in water samples to have my water tested about once a month.

A few weeks ago I found a good deal on a Black widow BTA and it was doing alright for a few week, and then died and after a couple days one of my clowns died so i did a 5 gallon water change and brought in a water sample a couple days after and now my parameters are as follows:

NH3- .25
NO2- 5.0
NO3- 20
Salinity 1.023
KH- 10
pH 7.8
Ca- 320
PO4- .25

My LFS recommended doing .5 gallon water change every day for the next few days and then bringing him another sample. Is this the best course of action, because i fear losing corals or even another clown. He told me not to dose anything and the only way to make it better is time. Your advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[JayFish4004]

Hello this is my first post sadly it is an emergency. I have a 6 mo old 15 gallon nano reef tank! This is my first ever reef tank and I did all of the setup and followed instructions from my LFS. I cycled the tank and suring cycling brought in water samples every other day to make sure everything was going smoothly. After I was certain my tank had cycled I added 2 clowns, a few branching hammers a duncan frag, and some Xenia. I have been bringing in water samples to have my water tested about once a month.

A few weeks ago I found a good deal on a Black widow BTA and it was doing alright for a few week, and then died and after a couple days one of my clowns died so i did a 5 gallon water change and brought in a water sample a couple days after and now my parameters are as follows:

NH3- .25
NO2- 5.0
NO3- 20
Salinity 1.023
KH- 10
pH 7.8
Ca- 320
PO4- .25

My LFS recommended doing .5 gallon water change every day for the next few days and then bringing him another sample. Is this the best course of action, because i fear losing corals or even another clown. He told me not to dose anything and the only way to make it better is time. Your advice would be greatly appreciated.

Your tank is not cycled if you’re still seeing NO-2 - clownfish are about as hardy as they come if they die its guaranteed ammonia poisoning.

 

[3429810]

Your tank is not cycled if you’re still seeing NO-2 - clownfish are about as hardy as they come if they die its guaranteed ammonia poisoning.

I believe you can find many posts about API misreading in this exact same way on here. Is that the brand you and the lfs are using op?

 

[GucciKingXII]

I believe you can find many posts about API misreading in this exact same way on here. Is that the brand you and the lfs are using op?

Im not sure what brand they are using sadly

 

[Doctorgori]

if the readings are accurate then that tank doesn’t look ready … I’m not sure what to do now that you already are stocked but perhaps one of the bacterial products or if your pockets are deep enough: already cycled live rock

 

[JayFish4004]

I would keep an eye on how much you’re feeding - sounds like your tank didn’t get fully cycled or something caused it to re-cycle. I would back off feeding to every other day and get a bottle of Dr Tim’s to seed the tank with some beneficial bacteria.

I would say the likelihood is pretty high of more death until your tank cycles - if your LFS can hold your clown for you I would go that route until you no longer see nitrites.

 

[Doctorgori]

I believe you can find many posts about API misreading in this exact same way on here. Is that the brand you and the lfs are using op?

I was wondering how/ what the reading were obtained

 

[3429810]

I was wondering how/ what the reading were obtained

It sounds to similar of a story to all the API misreads I have seen not to be. 6 months is old enough it should be well past cycled. We should wait for his response to be sure though. I don’t know a lot about nems but if all was good then a nem died could it not have released toxins? Op are you running carbon at all? Anything else new you did/added leading up to the nem death?

 

[JayFish4004]

It sounds to similar of a story to all the API misreads I have seen not to be. 6 months is old enough it should be well past cycled. We should wait for his response to be sure though. I don’t know a lot about nems but if all was good then a nem died could it not have released toxins? Op are you running carbon at all? Anything else new you did/added leading up to the nem death?

Nitrite should be pretty easy to read on API - if it aint light blue you got problems.

but yes I agree after 6 months hard to believe it didn’t cycle unless theres no sand bed or rock.

 

[Dburr1014]

The death might have started with the new nitrite.
You are definatly to young for a anenome.
I would suggest a 20% water change. Keep testing. Buy some quality test kits.
BRS has some videos on new tank setups and how to care for them.
Look for a new LFS.

 

[JayFish4004]

OP don’t want to sound harsh but your first problem is not testing yourself - you’re relying too much on a 3rd party when you need to own this testing so you understand it inside and out. I learned this hobby by pretty much purging BRS videos on YouTube - highly recommend doing the same.

In the meantime sorry for your loss - we’ve all been where you’re at before. It’s the ones who persevere through these roadblocks that end up successful. Best advice is keep going, keep learning, you’ll get it there.

 

[Karen00]

I'm echoing what @bert236 said. I agree that a 6 mos old tank should be well past cycling especially if it has had inhabitants for quite awhile. Is it possible the dying BTA released toxins causing a recycle of the tank or maybe clown + BTA has caused the readings? How quickly did you get both out of the tank?

Did you get a pic of the clown? The two deaths might be unrelated. The clown might have died from disease.

 

[JayFish4004]

I'm echoing what @bert236 said. I agree that a 6 mos old tank should be well past cycling especially if it has had inhabitants for quite awhile. Is it possible the dying BTA released toxins causing a recycle of the tank or maybe clown + BTA has caused the readings? How quickly did you get both out of the tank?

Did you get a pic of the clown? The two deaths might be unrelated. The clown might have died from disease.

Ahh leaving the BTA in there too long post-death could definitely be the reason - the tank couldn’t handle that amount of ammonia and caused a recycle. Personally I have a 20 gallon and would never consider an anemone - they are super high risk in a tank that small both from a toxicity standpoint and they are aggressive - they’ll eat fish and sting coral.

 

[Saskdevil]

I found if I added too much stuff too quickly right after a cycle my parameters would go wack. Try and go low and slow when adding thins into a nano. Everything you add means a change in the bio system (more food, more waste) I usually wait another week or 3 after my cycle completed before adding anything.

 

[Karen00]

Ahh leaving the BTA in there too long post-death could definitely be the reason - the tank couldn’t handle that amount of ammonia and caused a recycle. Personally I have a 20 gallon and would never consider an anemone - they are super high risk in a tank that small both from a toxicity standpoint and they are aggressive - they’ll eat fish and sting coral.

I have never kept a nem but my voracious reading of all things R2R has brought me to threads where a new tank can be bad for nems but not always however leaving a dead nem in too long can be a real problem. Not sure if that's the case here though.