darrenkarp
Reefing newb
Hi all,
As this is my first post on this forum I think a little background information on me is needed.
I used to keep marine fish in a large tank (some 6ft x 4ft x 3ft) about 7 years ago without any problems whatsoever. We sold the tank as it was costing a fortune in running costs and we needed more space in our living room.
My daughter (13) is fascinated with marine fish and for her birthday in September of this year we bought her an Aqua One Aquamaine 900 tank complete with Marisys 240 filtration system. I set the tank up with coral sand, RO water, and about 60 kgs of excellent living rock from a fellow enthusiast. I let the tank cycle for around 3 weeks before adding our first 2 fish - a pair of mated percula clowns, the female was huge!
Two weeks later we then added a small spotted grunt and a yellow tang.
Everything was fine, the fish were happy and eating very well. I did weekly 10% water changes and tested the water for, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Phosphates (I use a small bag of Rowaphos in the filter), pH and salinity. My water was great with only a slight under 10ppm of Nitrate.
On friday my daughter called me at the office to tell me the female clown was dead and she couldn't find the spotted grunt. I raced home to find the yellow tang panting on the floor of the tank. I tested the water and found Nitrates were at 20ppm and performed an emergency 20% water change. All other water tests were fine.
No sign of the spotted grunt and my daughter couldn't remember the last time she saw him, so he must have a died a few days beforehand. The next fish to die that evening was the yellow tang. We only had one fish left now, the male clown. He died this morning.
Yesterday I took a sample of my water to my local shop and he said the water was fine and put down the deaths to a lack of oxygen in the water. He said to increase the water movement at the surface which I did by angling my Tunze upwards, creating a large amount of water movement. The male clown still died 24 hours later.
Now all we have left is a load of clean up crew and a cleaner shrimp and my daughter is devastated, as am I.
I obviously don't want to add another fish until the cause of such sudden deaths has been found.
What can I do guys?
TIA
Darren
As this is my first post on this forum I think a little background information on me is needed.
I used to keep marine fish in a large tank (some 6ft x 4ft x 3ft) about 7 years ago without any problems whatsoever. We sold the tank as it was costing a fortune in running costs and we needed more space in our living room.
My daughter (13) is fascinated with marine fish and for her birthday in September of this year we bought her an Aqua One Aquamaine 900 tank complete with Marisys 240 filtration system. I set the tank up with coral sand, RO water, and about 60 kgs of excellent living rock from a fellow enthusiast. I let the tank cycle for around 3 weeks before adding our first 2 fish - a pair of mated percula clowns, the female was huge!
Two weeks later we then added a small spotted grunt and a yellow tang.
Everything was fine, the fish were happy and eating very well. I did weekly 10% water changes and tested the water for, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Phosphates (I use a small bag of Rowaphos in the filter), pH and salinity. My water was great with only a slight under 10ppm of Nitrate.
On friday my daughter called me at the office to tell me the female clown was dead and she couldn't find the spotted grunt. I raced home to find the yellow tang panting on the floor of the tank. I tested the water and found Nitrates were at 20ppm and performed an emergency 20% water change. All other water tests were fine.
No sign of the spotted grunt and my daughter couldn't remember the last time she saw him, so he must have a died a few days beforehand. The next fish to die that evening was the yellow tang. We only had one fish left now, the male clown. He died this morning.
Yesterday I took a sample of my water to my local shop and he said the water was fine and put down the deaths to a lack of oxygen in the water. He said to increase the water movement at the surface which I did by angling my Tunze upwards, creating a large amount of water movement. The male clown still died 24 hours later.
Now all we have left is a load of clean up crew and a cleaner shrimp and my daughter is devastated, as am I.
I obviously don't want to add another fish until the cause of such sudden deaths has been found.
What can I do guys?
TIA
Darren
