I am in the third week of cycling and have went through 4 damsels. HELP! What am I doing wrong??? The chemical readings are doing what they are supposed to do, but I keep losing fish. Everything has recently dropped chemical-wise so I added a cleaner shrimp yesterday to maybe help out the last damsel(domino) and when I got home guess who was dead. Yup. I have already fought one bout of ich and I think that's what got the last damsel...he was scratching the day before on the rocks in the tank. I now only have the one lonely shrimp and a blenny. I'm losing hope and beginning to think it was a bad idea to go salt water...I have a 40gal fish only(when they are alive that is) tank.
New Tank/Fish Dying HELP!!
- Thread starter shanek
- Start date
What you are doing wrong is cycling with damsels. What is your filtration setup, do you have any test kits? Basically you are still cycling, and not doing a very good job of it. Read te other posts on this board about cycling, read some books and start doing it properly. Sorry if this sounds harsh, but you should find this out before you start, and before you kill anything else
Man. That WAS harsh. I HAVE read up on this and I have also talked to other SW Tank owners and THEY are the ones that suggested cycling with damsels. I'm not buying these fish just to spend the money and kill them...I have other things to spend money on...like bills. If you were out to make me lose all hope in this tank.......it worked......if you were trying to give advice......try again.....sheesh.
I have heard that mollies are good to cycle tanks with, as they are quite ammonia/nitrite proof.
At the end of the day a lotta different people say a lotta different things. Living Rock is the only way to do it, Aragonite is the only way to do it, fishless is the only way to do it, taking sand from a mature tank is the only way to do it etc...
Shame you are losing fish, perhaps go for a fishless cycle?
Sadly the books are woefully inadequate to advise in these circumstances...
What rates are your chemicals at? Did they each spike then drop to zero for a few days? What levels are they at now?
Some tanks (like mine) just take forever to cycle...
At the end of the day a lotta different people say a lotta different things. Living Rock is the only way to do it, Aragonite is the only way to do it, fishless is the only way to do it, taking sand from a mature tank is the only way to do it etc...
Shame you are losing fish, perhaps go for a fishless cycle?
Sadly the books are woefully inadequate to advise in these circumstances...
What rates are your chemicals at? Did they each spike then drop to zero for a few days? What levels are they at now?
Some tanks (like mine) just take forever to cycle...
I heard that about mollies too...unfortulately for them it's like rubbing salt into an open wound...very painful...but I guess weighing in that the other fish are dying, that may be the best way. I am measuring ph, ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. I don't have the numbers in front of me, but from what I can remember, the ph was 8.0, the ammonia was 0.0, the nitrites were very low and the nitrates were dropping. I can't remember what the nitrates peaked at, but I know it's dropping. The chemicals spike about three days ago and are now WAY down. There is a little bit of brown algae in the tank and I am filtering with a millenium 2000 hanging pump with a current generator jet on the opposite side of the tank.
Perhaps get the fish back to the shop, then cycle fishless? Saves killing/injuring any... Nitrites are still quite poisonous, and I thought the way to get rid of Nitrates was to do a water change. I am also very new to this game... PH might want to go up a fraction to 8.3 though.... 3 days is quite a quick spike to zero rate IMHO for a non living rock tank.. Have you matured water in there or anything like that?
Actually there are a few ways to fishless cycle a new tank.
1)Add a raw cocktail shrimp to the tank and let the decomposition supply the ammonia for your cycle.
2)Start the tank with uncured live rock (1 - 2 lbs per gallon) and let the die off from the curing rock supply the ammonia for your cycle.
3)Start the tank with 1 - 2 lbs per gallon of cured live rock. Test your water parameters for 1week. If after the week, you have no signs of ammonia or nitrites you can begin to add fish at the rate of about 1 every 3 or 4 weeks. What you have done using this method is immediately started your tank with an existing biofilter(bacteria on cured LR)..
4)Dose a daily amount of pure ammonia to culture your bacteria bed(same method as FW)
Brian
1)Add a raw cocktail shrimp to the tank and let the decomposition supply the ammonia for your cycle.
2)Start the tank with uncured live rock (1 - 2 lbs per gallon) and let the die off from the curing rock supply the ammonia for your cycle.
3)Start the tank with 1 - 2 lbs per gallon of cured live rock. Test your water parameters for 1week. If after the week, you have no signs of ammonia or nitrites you can begin to add fish at the rate of about 1 every 3 or 4 weeks. What you have done using this method is immediately started your tank with an existing biofilter(bacteria on cured LR)..
4)Dose a daily amount of pure ammonia to culture your bacteria bed(same method as FW)
Brian
Well, as with all these things, some people say only use RO water. Bear in mind I am exceedingly new to this game, this is my first EVER fish tank, but I have read an awful lot, though of course this is no match for the experience of the guys on the board, I wish they would answer you more..
Could be worth taking those fish out though, as they could well survive the process but end up stressed leading to disease later on which will then affect any stock you put in.. Just leave the tank to cycle completely, it could take 5/6 weeks until your Nitrites are down to Zero, but surely that is worth it to get this hobby started the safest way? I am practising what I preach by the way, I am sitting 10ft away from a very empty tank right now, it's been cycling for 27 days or so now......
Good luck...
Could be worth taking those fish out though, as they could well survive the process but end up stressed leading to disease later on which will then affect any stock you put in.. Just leave the tank to cycle completely, it could take 5/6 weeks until your Nitrites are down to Zero, but surely that is worth it to get this hobby started the safest way? I am practising what I preach by the way, I am sitting 10ft away from a very empty tank right now, it's been cycling for 27 days or so now......
Good luck...
JasonF~ Thanks. I value the fact you are taking time to answer my questions. This has turned into a REAL struggle. I'm about two days away from shutting it down for good and taking my two poor remaining residents (cleaner shrimp and blenny) back to the store. I've been giving this tank more attention than I give my kids and yet it still crashes and burns...well a tank can't burn, but you get my point. I'm also dealing with an impatience spouse who, today, bought a tang. SHEESH. Gonna try to take it back if I can convince her.
Sorry I sounded so harsh. Ammonia at zero is good, and nitrites dropping is good - both these should be at zero, and traces of these wen they weren't zero are probably what killed your fish.
I can really only suggest you get a copy of Mike Palettas book, a step by step guide to setting up. For about 15 dollars you will save yourself endless misery. Cycling with damsels, no live rock and an external filter is not a good, sustainable, low maintenance way to go, and that's the sorry truth - things have moved on, though many shops don't seem/like to realise it. If you're smart and do your research this isn't a difficult thing to do, but you're pretty well in a bad position - there really isn't an easy way to get you out of trouble, and more to the point, keep you out other than biwekly water changes and hope for the best.
I would also get a tapwater analysis to see if it's good enough to use.
I can really only suggest you get a copy of Mike Palettas book, a step by step guide to setting up. For about 15 dollars you will save yourself endless misery. Cycling with damsels, no live rock and an external filter is not a good, sustainable, low maintenance way to go, and that's the sorry truth - things have moved on, though many shops don't seem/like to realise it. If you're smart and do your research this isn't a difficult thing to do, but you're pretty well in a bad position - there really isn't an easy way to get you out of trouble, and more to the point, keep you out other than biwekly water changes and hope for the best.
I would also get a tapwater analysis to see if it's good enough to use.
No worries.
Once you have the fish back to the shop so they are nice and safe, then let the tank cycle, you will be able to start stocking it again, one fish per week or so (depending on readings of course) and then in 6 months you can have a lovely tank to be proud of. It must be worth the wait..
As wayne says, can be worth checking your tap water to make sure it isn't full of crap which may damage the fish too...
Once you have the fish back to the shop so they are nice and safe, then let the tank cycle, you will be able to start stocking it again, one fish per week or so (depending on readings of course) and then in 6 months you can have a lovely tank to be proud of. It must be worth the wait..
As wayne says, can be worth checking your tap water to make sure it isn't full of crap which may damage the fish too...