please help!!!

[richg315]

okay,
so i have my first setup up and running...29 gallon fowlr for two weeks. Added 13 lbs of cured fiji liverock about a week and a half ago. Tested my water for the next week or so and did not notice a cycle. All parameters were normal. So next i added a damsel. Got home and noticed that the fish had a chunk taken out of his tail. looked fine and was acting okay for a couple of days. woke up the next day and his whole tail seemed to "rot" away overnight. He also had some wierd stuff around his mouth. Well, today he died. Just got done doing a 10 gallon water change and was wondering if i could add another fish. I'm not sure what the other one had, and i dont want to infect future fish in my tank. I've had my tank for a couple of weeks and am starting to get frustrated. Please help!!!

Rich

[brians4671]

its normal to let a new tank go atleast 3 weeks without livestock. after that i would add a fish. after a week and a half it was midcycle that likely killed the damsel.

[JennyL]

Hi Rich,
Your tank is still in the process of cycling and adding a fish during this toxic period will result in death of the fish.

You must have some patience and allow the cycling process to be completed.
If you would post your exact water perameters it would help. Just saying they are fine or normal doesn't really tell us anything.

[richg315]

Okay,

here are the latest as of today

Ammonia - trace - .025
PH - 8.3
Nitrate - 10 p.p.m.
Nitrite - .1 p.p.m.
Salinity - 1.024
Temp - 80 deg.

As you can see, all the parameters seem fine, so thats why i was wondering if the fish had some sort of bacterial infection or disease... thanks for everyone's help!!!!

Rich

[stuccodude]

you need to see what hitchhiker took a piece of your damsels tail.

[enerfin]

it could also be a hitchhiker like stuccodude said. it is common for the first fish to go but damsels are pretty tough sometimes.

[returnofsid]

Not sure why you say all your parameters seem fine. They're not at all fine. Ammonia, Nitrate and Nitrite should be a 0. Any detectable levels of Ammonia are potentially deadly.

[richg315]

so if im still showing levels, should i wait a couple days, do a water change and then go from there?

[Playa-1]

Your not done with your cycle dude. You may also have a hitchhiker and you definately do not have enough live rock in the tank.
Get your self roughly 30 lbs of live rock in the tank. Allow the
Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate to reach zero before you do any thing else. (In the mean time do some research on QT tanks)
Or you could just keep doing it your way and watch more poor lil fishies die

[Tswifty]

Originally posted by stuccodude
you need to see what hitchhiker took a piece of your damsels tail.

... and once you find him... thank him. Damsels are nightmares, he did you a favor.

[tmz]

I wait two months after set up before adding fish even with cured rock.

[Tswifty]

Originally posted by tmz
I wait two months after set up before adding fish even with cured rock.

+2

That's what I did when I upgraded from my 55g to my 90g

[commonstranger]

Be patient. Listen to what people are telling you and just have fun with it. I have had my tanks two years and the ony time I wanted to pull my hair out was a 2 and a half month battle with green hair algae. Laugh

[weluvfish54]

stop rushing it..
and let it go..
more live rock!
and wait out the cycle.
your parameters as said are NOT normal...
research into it more..
and WAIT it out.
dont test it with a damsel..
wait a good 2 months to be safe and keep testing.

[richg315]

I just wanted to thank everyone that replied....you have all made this experience easier with the combined knowledge one could not find anywhere else. Sounds like i need to slow down a little bit. One more question....can i add more liverock even though my tank is in the middle of cycling? i would hate to have it start cycling all over when i put a new piece of rock in....your help is appreciated everyone!!!!!

Rich

[brians4671]

the sooner you have your rock introduced the sooner your tank will complete its cycle. yes you can add it in the middle but the cycle starts over.

[Playa-1]

Add it. You should have added it to begin with. If you use cured live rock then It may not extend the cycle much at all. If you buy uncured liverock then you can expect to wait a couple of months while the liverock cures in the tank.

[tmz]

Whenever you add it it will have some die off
(even if it looks clean and smells ok there is likely to be something inside that will increase your nitrification demands) and may start a mini or a large one dependending on how much die off and how much rock you add.

[abulgin]

I agree, except that having 0 nitrates is not a necessity. Nitrates are not toxic to fish at low levels. Ammonia is toxic and nitrite even worse. If you are showing ANY ammonia or nitrites, your tank is not done cycling. Adding more CURED live rock should speed up your cycle time and will increase your filtration/nitrifying capacity.

[jamest0o0]

Too tired to read entire thread. Basically ammonia should ALWAYS BE 0!!! Any ammonia is deadly to critters in the tank. Nitrate doesn't affect fish as much as inverts. My tank has a hard time going under 20 for nitrates(I think partially do to stupid CC). As long as nitrates arn't crazy though you can keep most fish and basic corals. Nitrite is a useless test IMO. Try to raise salinity to 1.026 although I'm sure that is not what is causing the death of your fish.

[gatorsfan]

Your tank has not cycled yet you need to be very patient and wait til it cycles. Your water parameters are high even for a poor little old damsel. I would definitely add more LR now and not after your tank has actually completed its cycle.

[tmz]

Originally posted by abulgin
I agree, except that having 0 nitrates is not a necessity. Nitrates are not toxic to fish at low levels. Ammonia is toxic and nitrite even worse. If you are showing ANY ammonia or nitrites, your tank is not done cycling. Adding more CURED live rock should speed up your cycle time and will increase your filtration/nitrifying capacity.

Nitrite is not toxic to marine fish. Nitrates will feed nuisance algae and have other unwanted consequences for sps corals in particular.

[abulgin]

Lol. I'll make a deal with you Tom. Put your most expensive fish in a tank with just nitrites. If it dies, you'll pay me $50. If it lives, I'll pay you $100.

Where in the world did you read/discover that nitrites are not toxic to marine fish? That is just, plain and simple, bad information. Google "toxic nitritre fish".

[returnofsid]

Nitrites aren't AS toxic for Marine Fish as they are for Freshwater fish, however, they are still toxic.

[jamest0o0]

Nitrites are less toxic than nitrates and it takes very high nitrates to harm fish, if your nitrites are high enough to harm your fish you have a serious problem.

Abulgin instead of attacking someone post your opinion and why so we can learn and not start arguments. Nitrites are more important to folow in FW than SW. IMO nitrite testing is a waste unless you have a problem in the tank you can't figure out.