Code RED - EMERGENCY FEllAS - Experts please HELP!!!

[bmallia82]

To all, HELP Please

I have recently been introduced to this hobby 1 month ago. I dont know much however I have been doing a lot of research and learning here. My friend got me into the hobby by giving me his 10 gallon tank that was in his office. The office has been up for about 6 months and is well established.

I have recently had problems and it has suddenyl just gone really bad! I have invested quite some money into this tank and I am not ready to just **** it away ( I dont have much to begin with and Kinda got dragged into this expensive hobby unknowingly). Ok now that you have the intro now for the problems.

1. I have still not been able to bring down my Nitrate Levels. They have been through the roof. I have done constant water changes ( not with RO water) and nothing has changed. I just realized that Tap Water w/ Primer does not eliminate Nitrates. SO hopeuflly now by using RO water my tanks Nitrates will slowly dissipate. My Ph levels are at 8.2, Amonia is at 0, NItrates at 0, and my Calcium is high at 500. I also have a bag that i put in my filter that takes away nitrates.

2. I have put a Sabae in my tank and that has never done really well. It looked good for about 3 days, and the last 3 weeks it has gone to ****, finally really looking defalted and awful when I woke up this morning. I have recently just gave him to a friend to see if he can rejuvenate.

3. I have added a six line wrasse 2 days ago, and he Now has the ICH. It spread from him to my tang and Valentino Puffer. Woke up this morning to a dead tang behind a rock. Was this caused by the ich or was it that the nitrates slowly killed him and the anemone. When I get home today I am going to treat my tank w/ Kick Ich that I have just purchased.

4. I do have a lot of coral in my tank. Capnella, green hairy mushrooms, regular mushrooms, colt coral, leather toadstool and some polyps.

So worse case scenario if I lose my fish I will still have my Coral Correct? I am unsure of what to do and I would really like to get my tank back to normal with no problems. Any suggestions and feedback is greatly appreciated. Thank you

REgards,

Brian

[whiirly]

I wouldnt add any thing to my tank just do water changes every other day 15/25% with ro water.As for your fish,the tang should of never been in a tank that size.I think the six line needs more room to so expect problems there as well.
What kind of light do you have on this tank?
That could be your problem with the Sabae most need intense lighting like MH

[Steffish]

Way too many fish. A ten gallon tank is a nano. Take out the fish and begin by cycling the tank. In my opinion, you need to start over. The fish are stressed and with the waste they produce in a small environment - the Nitrates will never go down.
You might be able to get away with leaving the corals in there for right now, but empty the fish and read up. Plan what you want for the tank

....stepping aside for others with more experience to have imput.

[bmallia82]

Yea, I really hate to do that. So I assume the fish get stressed out do to the environment they are in? I have a Power Compaq 50/50

[MarksReef]

Originally posted by bmallia82
Yea, I really hate to do that. So I assume the fish get stressed out do to the environment they are in? I have a Power Compaq 50/50

I would imagine you not wanting to get rid of your fish but just think of the stress the tang is under. Recommended for 90-120 gallon tank size.

[Joshthenosh]

Hi mate sorry to hear things are going bad, but nitrate sounds simple enough to bring down one USE RO water, u must rember the most important thing in your tank is the WATER, also with a tank that small parameters change so fast u will have to do at least a 10% water change a week maybe a 25%

also the most fish you should have in there is 1 no more

also the tang police are gonner be upset with you for that for having a tang in a tank that small its akien to u being made to live in a 2 meters square room

[bmallia82]

The tank was about 1.5" big

[Steffish]

was????

[bmallia82]

Originally posted by Steffish
was????

Yes he recently died, if you read above.

[Rendos]

Catch the fish...take to a local fish store.
Catch the anemone...take it to the store.
You will most likely lose them anyway. Better to take them back for store credit (if they do that) than to have them die in your tank and further polute it.
Do water changes as mentioned in an earlier post. Your nitrates should start declining. Once the tank has stabilized then add an appropriate sized fish for your tank (goby, clown, etc.).

Also, what is your specific gravity?

[Gobie]

WRONG fish selection for a ten gallon and too many too soon. Too soon to add an anemone and lighting is poor.

You need to do a little research. Anyone can buy a tank and kill fish, corals and anemones.
If you want to keep them alive you have to crack open a few books.
Good luck and welcome to the hobby.

[BethanyM]

You say you cant get your nitrates under control, and then say you tested nitrates at 0?
I am agreeing with others on taking back your fish. You are definately not ready. Tangs do not belong in 10 gallon tanks. I would not even quarantine in a 10. The LFS sells dime size tangs that would be OK in a 10g quarantine, but then you shouldnt ever buy your fish so young either. I wouldnt medicate your display if you really love your coral. I do not believe kick ich details the active or inactive ingredients.
I say take your fish to the store or to a fellow reefer who knows alot more than you. There will be no need to treat for ich if the fish are gone. Once you are ready and educated the display should be ich-free. Maintain weekly water changes. Do not purchase anything else but books. I suggest you read up on the animals you want to keep.

[techreef]

Brian,

If it wasn't ich that killed your tang, it could have been your high nitrate levels, or simply the stress the tang was under being crammed into a 10 Gallon tank with (at least) two other fish, a dying anemone and a bunch of corals.

Your post unfortunately is a flashing target for any RC member who is having a bad day to flame the beejeesus out of you. It's a mantra in SW that nothing good happens quickly, and most people that rush into the reefing hobby without reading and learning for several months before taking action tend to kill stuff and waste money. I'd ask that you consider not adding any future additions to your tank until you correct your water param's.

1) A 10 gallon tank is not a beginners tank. The small volume of water is very susceptible to changes and can one thing dying or getting sick can easily nuke your entire reef. It sounds like you have a very heavily-populated 10 gallon tank. A high bioload like what you have severely taxes all the organisms contained within. Perhaps you can relocate several more corals and a fish to your friend's tank while you correct your water situation? We can help you more if you provide us with more info on your setup, such as do you have a sump? Skimmer? Are you using bio-balls? (a source of nitrates) Using RO/DI water can only improve things too.

2) Ask lots of questions here on RC BEFORE you act or purchase. That's why we're here. And you'll get a nice rounded answer from several different points of view.

Good luck. Post back with more info on your 10 Gallon setup.

[NbMaxx13]

Seriously .... not to be rude ... Those fish absolutely do not belong in that tank .... I would have issues w/ you puttin any fish in a 10 for your first tank w/ out researching them exstensively .... read a lot ...i mean a lot of forums here .... for starters "new to the hobby" thouroughly .... "nano tanks" ....

There is a good list of fish to be used somewhat as a frame of reference if you dont have a good book available

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/s...fm?pCatId=2124

Do what they said and take the fish back to the store .... I know you probably dont want to, but it's the right thing ... There were a million and a half fish I wanted to put in my first tank ... I couldnt though ... I researched compatability and needs and ended up stocking the tank the best way possible .... "anything will live IN anything , as long as it lives" .... I really hope your tank comes around and you really have fun w/ this hobby ....But for now start over and you'll end up having better results and happier fish ....

[Joshthenosh]

yeah, take the advice but forget the acid!

people dont mean to be mean they just love fish.

its a paradox that many poeple me inculded think a small tank is ideal for beginers where it is totaly opposite.

I know your proabably reading this and saying i aint taking my fish n coral back to a LFS, no way, well tbh if you dont u might as well flush them down the toilet.

read alot ask questions, get that tank under control which u will do by following above advice then put the livestock back in

[NbMaxx13]

Hey ...honestly ... I wasn't trying to be rude ... just like he said love fish and hate to hear any of them doing badly .... I love nano tanks , half of my tanks are 10 gal and under and those are my favs .... they take a little more care and alot more research ... I hope everything works out for you ..........

[techreef]

NbMaxx13,

Don't worry. It's tough as a first time poster on RC to receive an avalanche of "OMG! What are you DOING??" responses when all you wanted was a quick solution to your problem. We were all just trying to soften the blow to Bmallia82 by repeating "We don't mean to be jerks, but... OMG! What are you DOING???"

[mike89t]

I pretty much agree with the advice given above.

However we need more info on your setup:

1. Do you have Live Rock? How many pounds?

2. How much water flow?

3. Filtration type (skimmer, bio-wheel, etc.).

4. Water parameters (temperature, PH, salinity, ammonia, nitrites/trates, etc.) (the more the better).

5. Feeding (schedule and type)

6. Do you have a sand bed?

7. List all of your tank inhabitants

[bmallia82]

Originally posted by mike89t
I pretty much agree with the advice given above.

However we need more info on your setup:

1. Do you have Live Rock? How many pounds?

2. How much water flow?

3. Filtration type (skimmer, bio-wheel, etc.).

4. Water parameters (temperature, PH, salinity, ammonia, nitrites/trates, etc.) (the more the better).

5. Feeding (schedule and type)

6. Do you have a sand bed?

7. List all of your tank inhabitants

1. I have about 50lbs of LIve Rock

2. My water flow should be ok, I have a RIO 800

3. I have a bio-wheel and a Protein Skimmer

4. Temperature - 77 degrees, PH - 8.2, Salinity .022, ammonia - 0
Nitrites - 0, Nitrates ( above the charts), Calcium - 500

5. Feeding schedule - every other day. Either Mysis shrimp, spectrum food, and some sea veggies. For the Corals I have some frozen nutrients.

6 I have a sand bed

7. I have coral in my tank, a cleaner shrimp, 5 turbo snails, 3 hermit crabs, black sabae clownfish, valentino puffer, six line wrasse, colt coral ( frag) star polyps ( frag), capnella ( nice size) polyps, green hairy mushrooms, red mushrooms, purple mushrooms and leather toadstool.

Guys I appreciate the advice, I am still learning. SOme people read and others learn the heard way. I will learn the hard way. I have some friends that know what they are doing and live nearby. I never just do anything. I will take pictures this weekend to post.

[mike89t]

It sounds like you have a good setup. However the bioload for your size tank is where the problem lies. The system just couldn't keep up with the waste produced by all the fish you had in there.

As other have stated the Tang was way to big for a ten gallon. With a ten gallon I would only keep one small fish in there. Maybe a small goby or something like that.

I think your corals will be OK once you get your fish bioload down.

Also you probably want to bump your Salinity up to 1.025-1.026

[techreef]

I think part of the problem also is that when I read your list of critters, particularly the species of fish that you have (including the departed tang) it sounded like a solid cube of fish flesh. But I'd guess that you have pretty small specimens of each fish. I think the people here at RC are pretty good at considering fish in their fully-grown sizes though, so we read "4 fish in a 10 gallon" and scratch our heads on how you even pushed them all in there at the same time.

I like liveaquaria's website alot. you can search by species name or general type of fish, and liveaquaria gives you a nice synopsis of each species, INCLUDING adult size for each fish, which is key when you're planning out what you want to house in your tank. Frankly it just sucks to see a large fish treading water in a small tank instead of being able to swim around and show you all the character that SW fish exhibit when in a comfortable environment.

anyway, check them out. (www.liveaquaria.com) and congrat's on taking these posts in a constructive manner and trying to fix your setup. you'll get there.

[smcnally]

Are you sure you have a 10 gallon tank? I don't see 50lbs of rock fitting in a 10 gal. I had 30lbs of TBS (which is heavy for its size) and it filled up a 20 gallon tank.

[hyperfocal]

Originally posted by smcnally
Are you sure you have a 10 gallon tank? I don't see 50lbs of rock fitting in a 10 gal. I had 30lbs of TBS (which is heavy for its size) and it filled up a 20 gallon tank.

Yeah, I was wondering about that too... plus a Seio 800 in a 10-gal tank makes me think of a Jacuzzi ;-)

[flyhigh123]

Originally posted by smcnally
Are you sure you have a 10 gallon tank? I don't see 50lbs of rock fitting in a 10 gal. I had 30lbs of TBS (which is heavy for its size) and it filled up a 20 gallon tank.

thats what i thought when i read it... 50 pounds for 10 gallons? will it even fit?

[Rendos]

hyperfocal - SEIO is a circulation pump (actually 820). He said Rio 800 which is a tiny little pump that puts out 200??GPH. They are used a lot on CPR BacPac skimmers, etc.

I also do not see how 50 pounds of LR fits in a 10 gallon tank, but that would not be the problem with fish dying, etc. I still vote for taking the fish and anemone, and start doing water changes to get those nitrates down. The live rock and corals in the tank will keep it cycled until the water quality is stable. If you have sufficient lighting, I would suspend feeding the corals food for a while also...that is more than likely just adding to the problem.

Good luck!