Help Me Please Help.....!!

[fishsticks]

hi every1 this is my first time joining an online group i need some help.

i have a 30 gallon tank, i have 35pounds of live rock the tank is a oceanic bio cube it has a filter in the back and has bio-balls the water falls into in the back also it is a curved glass tank with the back being a solid wall. it has 3 lights white light, a blue light, and a moon light. the tank pretty much came complete an its all covered on top it has a little opening in the corner where water is pushed through with a power-head into the tank from the back and i bought a small power-head to push more water on the other side

i mix my own water, i use a 5gallon jug and get my salinity to 1.023 and i add prime and just a little purple up im doing everything as directed on the bottles so im using the right amounts. i use filtered water from our kitchen, i do a water change every week.

i bought a damsel he died 4 days after buying him, could he have been sick.
i also medicated my tank for red slime, i had just a lil coming in the day when i turned my lights on, but all of that stuff in my sand stop showing up the bottle said it wont harm anything in the tank. and today i noticed a dark dark burgundy color on my rock is that red slime?

i have been cycling for 1 1/2 months. with 3 red hermit crabs, 2 blue legged hermits, 3 snails. and they all seem to be doing fine.

i take test
ammonia = 0, nitrites = 0, nitrates = 12.5 mg/l ph = 8.1
the pet-store said im ready for fish. all my water seems good.

i bought 2 clown-fishes they seem to be swimming in one spot and their mouth openin an closing i was wondering is that normal are they gasping for air? what should i do am i over medicating my water or adding too much prime or purple up.

to be honest i spent alot of money and im completely lost so now im turning for help online. please help me.

 

[RyanG]

Well the red slime is to be expected, did you acclimate the clown and damsel? Is one of the powerhead disrupting the surface for oxygen to enter the water?

 

[Altohombre]

the dark dark burgandy could be also called a diatom outbreak which I just had. It was very dark brown/redish/goldish. I bought Sera Marin Silicate Clear and added it to my filter and by the next day it was slowly going away and by 2 days it was almost clear. This product rids your water of silicate which diatoms feed off of. Once it's gone the diatoms go, however you still need to use some sort of phosphate guard like Phos-guard in your filter to keep phosphates at 0 or as close to it to prevent other algaes from growing. Also using RO/DI or straight Reverse Osmosis, or Di-ionized water will help greatly. My Tap Water Filter from API kinda sucked.

 

[fishsticks]

i acclimated for 1 hour and the powerhead to bring in more oxygen i dont get it? its just inside blowing water around. how do i make it bring in oxygen.

some1 said my problems can be the tap water and the prime is not fixing it so just buy r/o water.

 

[Piggy]

RO water is the best way to go. By pointing the powerhead to the top so it breaks the water surface it puts more oxygen into the tank. What size powerhead are you using and how many?

 

[Bifferwine]

I agree with Piggy, aim the powerhead slightly upwards so it causes a ripple in the surface. This will oxygenate the water.

All your parameters seem good. Using RO water is a good idea, but that wouldn't have made your fish sick or die. The Prime and Purple Up would not have hurt anything either.

Where did you buy your fish from? Was it a saltwater store or a chain store like Petco?

 

[fishsticks]

it was an aquarium place all they sale is saltwater fish... some1 also said i dont need purple up because i have nothing in the tank so i can be over supplying...

and the 2 clown-fish keep swimming with the current of my second power-head they wont stop. they been doin that for hours now just swimming against that 1 current in the corner opening an closing their mouths quick

 

[Bifferwine]

What is the temperature of your tank at? And how are you testing salinity, using a refractometer or hydrometer?

 

[fishsticks]

i am using a hydrometer, its at 1.023.
my tank is at 77-78 at all times but when i had my damsel it was goin up an down lowest it got was 74 and back up to 78..

i went to the petstore an they tested my salinity with some weird thing an they said its at 1.025

 

[Piggy]

Salinity and temp are ok. Don't let the temp drop much lower. Are your other readings ok?

 

[fishsticks]

i take test
ammonia = 0, nitrites = 0, nitrates = 12.5 mg/l ph = 8.1
the pet-store said im ready for fish. all my water seems good.

 

[Altohombre]

do yourself a favor and buy a Refractometer and use that instead of the Hydrometer. It is about 40 bucks and is much much more accurate and easier to use.

Your water temperature shouldn't swing so much. Mine stays at between 76.8 and 77 constantly. I use a Ebo Jager Heater.

 

[fishsticks]

ok ill buy a refractometer.

so dont let my temp change alot... my room is always hot but at night can get pretty cold so ill leave my heater set up to about 77 that way in the day it should be off and the temp of my room should keep the water temp up in the day and at night my heater will keep it the same.

 

[Bifferwine]

Your temperature is fine, that wouldn't be causing a problem. Let's see if anyone else can suggest some things, I'm all out of ideas, besides repositioning the powerhead.

 

[yote]

I would suggest taking that hydrometer to your LFS and have then check it.It would also be a good idea to have them double check all your parameters.
Another thing to look for would be stray voltage.You'll need a volt-meter for that.

 

[tizapolgar]

Yeah, the temperature is fine. Small swings, in my experience, don't hurt. In my 25 I go from about 76-79 daily with no problems...people in some places may argue with me, but I've had no issues whatsoever, and I have fish, LPS, a BTA, zoos, and even an ill-advised SPS, all of which are thriving and growing.

I'm guessing oxygen and flow here...point the powerhead up, toward the surface, and wee what happens.

 

[fatman]

You seem to have a problem of low dissolved oxygen as your fish seem to be spending their time purposely where there is a stream of oxygenated water supplied by a power head. Coral, live rock, coraline algae, maco and micro algae all produce oxygen during the day, when they recieve adequate lighting. This is known to cause a pH swing between night and day in all tanks. There is also a related swing in dissolved oxygen between day and night. THe size of those swings depend on the amount of carbon dioxide producers (fish) in relation to oxygen producers. There are also other gases produced by the break down of organics, such as methane, ammonia, and sulfur dioxide. However, you also appear to not be oxygenating your tanks water well even with the help of photosythesis, therefore, you can circulate more water at the air/water interface (surface of water). This may mean removing the lid from your tank until you can come up with a permanent solution, such as drilling some holes in the top lid and installing a computer CPU fan (these can be bought as small as 2 inches in diameter and maybe smaller). You will need to add more fresh water to replace evaporated water more often, but your tank will be a lot healthier. Your nitrates need to be kept lower with partial water changes. Shoot for the optimum zero, but definitely try for 5 or lower. I would do a one or two gallon water change per day until the nitrates is down and the fishes breathing is better. Make sure your water is good RO water and that it is mixed and well oxygenated for at least 24 hours before use. Your bacterial level in the water is probably pretty high now due to the increase in bacteria grown by the live rock to cycle the tank and that in itself will take up a lot of the free oxygen.

 

[dustin_P74]

i wouldnt be to mad about not having that damsel anymore. yeah its sad that it died but its a blessing as your fish will live a less bullied life