Need HELP badly!!!!

[ekalb450]

So he is whats going on, My tank has been up and running for about 3.5 months, tank cycled completely(well to my knowledge). Took about two months before adding any livestock, purchased two clowns and a polyp frag.. Long story short i added more fish and coral slowly over the next month and a half.. Now one of my clown fish died last night and the other one is laying on the sand bed, grasping for air and barely moving! I seen no sign of ick or brooks I believe thats what its called. This happened within ten hours while i was at work.
My Tank
-29 gallon
-About 55lbs of live rock
-About 40lobs of sand
-Two maxi jet 900 powerheads
- One clown fish Hanging on by a thread
- three firefish
- Royal gramma
- Scooter bleeny
-Two polp frags, acan frag, candy cane coral.
- Feather duster
LIGHTING
- 4 24 watt actinic t5 bulbs and i believe a 150 watt metal halide

Water changes every week about 5 gallons, salinity in 1.023, temp says between 79 and 82.

Performed water change last night and tested water today and not so good!!
-Nitrite 0ppm
-Nitrate 10ppm
-Ammonia .25-.50ppm
-PH- 8.0-8.2
I use API saltwater test kit to check.

Every other thing in tank seems happy but the clown! the feather duster isnt coming out to often now and not for long! im nervous that im gonna lose everything! Any help would be thanked!!

[kriv4o]

You need to find the reason for the Ammonia. If the tank is cycled properly there should be no Ammonia in it. It's harmful for your pets and there is a great chance this is the reason for the strange behavior of your livestock.

[sleepydoc]

+1 Water changes to bring the ammonia down. You've added a fair amount of livestock to a pretty small system pretty quickly

[ekalb450]

I dont want him to die!!

[ekalb450]

Yea I thought so too, but the guy at the lfs told me i wasn't! i went two weeks in between adding, one time was the firefish and another coral and then three days ago the gramma and bleeny. My boss at work actually qt them for me since i have no tank yet! Coming soon btw. There will be no more fish or coral added for a while.. most of coral came from bosses tank. I'm not sure why the ammonia spiked. I've been testing weekly! Been normal for weeks! Thanks for the insight, i plan on doing another water change tomorrow, water is mixing now! Gonna try about 8 gallons this time?

[harleychic]

There are too many fish in there. I am suprised your firefish aren't fighting, usually they are aggressive amongst themselves. I would see if the LFS will take two of them back.

[ekalb450]

I was told one inch of fish per gallon??? The firefish are doing great, they all hid/sleep under same rock and are always swimming together! Also I have a bigger tank waiting to transfer once I get the hang of things and of course the budget!!

[Kyle918]

Originally Posted by ekalb450

I was told one inch of fish per gallon??? The firefish are doing great, they all hid/sleep under same rock and are always swimming together! Also I have a bigger tank waiting to transfer once I get the hang of things and of course the budget!!

One inch per gallon is a freshwater guideline and even then, that can be pushing it depending on the fish. My suggestion for fish size is going to liveaquaria.com and searching under marine livestock for the fish you are or want to house. There it will list the recommended tank size for that particular fish. Do not trust the LFS, they are 9 times out of 10 there to make a profit, not make sure you are actually doing things properly and patiently. Did your LFS test your water before selling you new fish? Had they, they would have seen traces of ammonia and warned against if they have any knowledge of good reef keeping practices. Ammonia should ALWAYS read zero (0) in an established tank as well as if you are going to add [slowly, like one fish a month or two slowly] any additional livestock provided your tank can hold more. This is especially true with a tank as small as yours.

Doing a large water change to rid the tank of ammonia quickly would be best but please make sure the water is properly aerated, brought up to temp and the ph has leveled unless in a tank that small you can shock your remaining fish who is already going through a stressful time with ammonia present.

[ImNotLion]

I would agree, your bioload may be to big.

[Cymonous]

You need to at least do a big water change to get that ammonia down. Your clown will die if that ammonia is not brought down.

[sponger0]

Yup...starting doing some water changes. And the one inch per gallon is crap.

Dont listen to your fish store.

These are the lessons you have just learned

[stingythingy45]

Too many fish.....too fast.
The bacteria had no chance to catch up to the bioload.
You need to do water changes and get that ammonia down.

[ekalb450]

Yea seems like the lfs just wanted me to buy 20 dollar fish, I did a ten gallon water change this morning.. Gonna check chemistry later and if not in good condition will do another change tomorrow! Thanks for all the help guys, Im still learning!

[ekalb450]

the clown looks a little happier btw now. Seems he has a little more spark... Hopefully he will be ok. I feel bad for killing the other one!

[stingythingy45]

A product called Amquel ammonia Plus from Kordons will help also.
Just have to keep the ammonia down till the bacteria catches up.
This is not all that uncommon when folks set up QT tanks.
There's also a dial that cost under $10 and sticks to the glass that will show when free ammonia shows.

[heathlindner25]

Prime!!! By seachem......fast!!

[Dmorty217]

Originally Posted by ekalb450

I was told one inch of fish per gallon??? The firefish are doing great, they all hid/sleep under same rock and are always swimming together! Also I have a bigger tank waiting to transfer once I get the hang of things and of course the budget!!

In saltwater the rule doesnt apply. 1" for every 8-10g or more depending on the fish. Achilles tangs reach 10-12" max in a home aquarium but the minimum recommended tank size is a 220g. You do need to get the ammonia under control. Once the tank cycles you should never have ammonia again unless you are doing something wrong. Find the source of the ammonia problem and change what you are doing

[Dapg8gt]

Go get some prime ASAP to neutralize that ammonia.. It will work wonders. It's always good to have on hand for emergencies as I believe it also does something for nitrate and nitrite. Good luck and slow down.

[coralsnaked]

Water change x 30 % will bring ammonia down by 30% then prime it and wait 24 hours. If not down to .1 then do another 30% change.

Your 29 gal would be good w/ three firefish init only. Or a pair of clowns and the bleeny. But 7 fish equals 2.5 29 gal tanks. =(:>((} Sorry!

[kismetsh]

As others have stated your tank was and continues to be overstocked. However I'm surprised no one has mentioned the scooter blenny. This fish is actually a dragonet and is (in my opinion) an inappropriate stocking choice for a brand new tank of this size. There are success stories but they are normally from a) seasoned hobbyists b) established tanks with refugiums

Good luck as you go forward!

[Spyderturbo007]

You really need to get some Prime in there to neutralize the ammonia which burns the gills of the fish. That will give you a buffer period to do your water changes and allow the bacteria time to catch up.

[greech]

Besides that ammonia, O2 depletion could be a problem. As other said it does look like too many fish, too fast (and possible too many fish period) but without a sump and skimmer, the O2 demand is likely high too. Can't tell from the pics if those PHs are agitating the water surface but doing so may help as well.

[kissman]

Originally Posted by ekalb450

I was told one inch of fish per gallon??? The firefish are doing great, they all hid/sleep under same rock and are always swimming together! Also I have a bigger tank waiting to transfer once I get the hang of things and of course the budget!!

Old rule of thumb was 1" per 5 gallons in saltwater, not so much true anymore but still close with the new technology of today. I would do some water changes to lower the ammonia and I would also get some bacteria and add it

[jamesbaur13]

I'd do a water change to get the ammonia down.

Before you go crazy with the water changes test your fresh SW mix for PH, alk, temp and salinity. If they are close to your tank parameters you can be aggressive with the water changes, if they are not then you need to add supplements to match your tanks parameters or you need to be less aggressive and spread the WC's out while monitoring your tanks parameters. You don't want a sudden shift in parameters. A fresh saltwater mix in large volume can be devastating if the incoming water does not match what you currently have.

I would run carbon.

I wouldn't do anything else until you find the source of your issues... If your bioload was too high I'd expect a higher reading than 10ppm of nitrate and I wouldn't expect a reading of 0 for nitrite.

The ammonia level suggests something recently died off, but what? I know the one clownfish died, was he removed immediately? That feather duster could be rotting... not saying that he is, but if the fish was removed quickly it could be the source of the ammonia.

Personally, I wouldn't use an ammonia detoxifier unless the situation is dire. Yours isn't terrific, but given your tank volume... if your fresh SW mix is close to your tanks parameters I wouldn't use the stuff. Reason being... they all instantly drop PH to make the ammonia less toxic. The sudden PH swing can have adverse affects... you can be trading one issue for another.

Did you test Alk?

We need more info to make an accurate assessment... right now it's just damage control and guesses.

[ekalb450]

Now that i have gotten my water under control i was looking at my fish and i hae ICK!!! Help!