Need Help Bad

eaontario · 06/21/2006, 11:17 PM

OK FIRST OFF JUST WANT TO SAY I HAVE A 10G TANK WITH 15LBS OF LIVE ROCK AND 15 POUND OF LIVE SAND. I HAVE THE CLEANER CREW ABOUT 7 HERMIT CRABS TO SMALL SNAILS AND 1 TURBO SNAIL. I HAVE A YELLOW TAIL DAMSEL AND A BABY YELLOW TANG THATS BEEN IN THERE FOR ABOUT 1 MONTH WITH
NO PROBLEM. ANYWAYS MY QUESTION IS MY TANKS NITRITES AND AMMONIA WERE WHERE THEY NEEDE TO BE WHICH WAS 0 NOW HERES WHERE I THINK I SCREWED UP I WENT AHEAD AND GOT SOME DIFFRENT LIVE SAND AND PUT IT IN MY TANK AFTER IT WAS DONE CYCLING NOW MY NITRITES ARE A LITTLE ABOVE 0 AND SO IS MY AMMONIA. NITRATES ARE AT 20 WAS THIS THE REASON FOR MY NEW READINGS OR WAS IT BECAUSE I DIDNT REMOVE A DEAD HERMIT CRAB. PLEASE HELP GUYS I AM NEW TO THIS. THANKS

pfish · 06/21/2006, 11:20 PM

It could be a combination of both. Do a 20% water change and cut back on your feedings. Monitor for a week and see if your water quality comes back to normal.

Sk8r · 06/21/2006, 11:28 PM

Remember too that those snails and hermits are in there to work for a living: don't get carried away with giving them free food. THat belongs to the fish. Feed them only as much as they can eat within five minutes. The ocean is much more stingy than most owners about what fish get to eat...and it has a lot more water.

delor · 06/22/2006, 11:05 AM

Did you say you have a yellow tang in a 10 gallon tank?..

Biggie · 06/22/2006, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by spe934
Did you say you have a yellow tang in a 10 gallon tank?..

I caught that too. Hey friend Im not the tang police but-ta thats a bit much there. Baby or not thats a tiny tank for him. Its like sticking a Great Dane puppy in a Toyota Corolla. To answer your question yea you probably took some beneficial bacteria out when you swapped sand and then the dead hermit was putting off the ammonia spike which the bacteria you removed would have normally took care of. or you stirred up the detritus and toxins out of the existing sand and that set off the chain reaction and maybe the cause of why the hermit died in the first place either way you should just do a few small water changes until its back in line then test it after a few days and see if it climbs back. You may have a heavy bio-load for that small of a tank hard to tell until you get it back to where it should be and monitor it for changes. Dead animals in the tank will definetly raise your Ammonia Nitrates.

Shooter7 · 06/22/2006, 11:14 AM

I can see the flashing lights now....

delor · 06/22/2006, 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Biggie
I caught that too. Hey friend Im not the tang police but-ta thats a bit much there. Baby or not thats a tiny tank for him. Its like sticking a Great Dane puppy in a Toyota Corolla. To answer your question yea you probably took some beneficial bacteria out when you swapped sand and then the dead hermit was putting off the ammonia spike which the bacteria you removed would have normally took care of. or you stirred up the detritus and toxins out of the existing sand and that set off the chain reaction and maybe the cause of why the hermit died in the first place either way you should just do a few small water changes until its back in line then test it after a few days and see if it climbs back. You may have a heavy bio-load for that small of a tank hard to tell until you get it back to where it should be and monitor it for changes. Dead animals in the tank will definetly raise your Ammonia Nitrates.

I'm no tang police either, but IMO that bioload is too much for a 10 gallon tank.

Serioussnaps · 06/22/2006, 04:21 PM

Hey,

Do a 4 Gallon water change, wait 3-5 days, then do another 3 or 4 gallon water change. In the meantime, run some carbon and or polyfilter. Don't add any more sand or lr and expect snails and hermits to die, you might wanna just pull them. If they die you will find urself on a circular nutrient path in such a small tank. Also, there is no way you should be keeping a tang of any sort in a 10 G tank. You will always have problems with water quality in such a small tank with a tang in there. Also, this may be delicate for you right now, but you might want to lower the tanks temp about 2 or 3 degrees but NO MORE. This will raise oxygen levels to help your livestock breath(nitrite and ammonia keep oxygen from attaching to blood cells.......) Also, if you want to mitigate the nitrite problem, get a small bottle of prime and use double dosage that the package says.

littlemannin · 06/22/2006, 04:41 PM

I would also add... not to be a jerk. but a 10 gallon tank isn't exactly a good size for beginner. Bad things happen fast in a tank that size. Maybe think of a 55 gallon.

Amy83820 · 06/22/2006, 06:06 PM

Ok. I'll be the jerk that says it. Do a 30-40% water change and then take the tang back to the fish store. He won't make it. A ten gallon tank is a tough tank to start out with without doing a lot of research.

WaterKeeper · 06/22/2006, 06:39 PM

YOU HAVE TOO MUCH IN YOUR TANK AND THE DEATH OF THAT CRAB IS ONLY A FORETELLING OF THINGS TO COME!!!

TRY TO USE SOME SENSE AND POPULATION CONTROL WHEN RUNNING A NANO TANK.

itz frank · 06/22/2006, 07:34 PM

anyone else's caps stuck?

06/21/2006, 11:17 PM	#1
eaontario Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 6	Need Help Bad OK FIRST OFF JUST WANT TO SAY I HAVE A 10G TANK WITH 15LBS OF LIVE ROCK AND 15 POUND OF LIVE SAND. I HAVE THE CLEANER CREW ABOUT 7 HERMIT CRABS TO SMALL SNAILS AND 1 TURBO SNAIL. I HAVE A YELLOW TAIL DAMSEL AND A BABY YELLOW TANG THATS BEEN IN THERE FOR ABOUT 1 MONTH WITH NO PROBLEM. ANYWAYS MY QUESTION IS MY TANKS NITRITES AND AMMONIA WERE WHERE THEY NEEDE TO BE WHICH WAS 0 NOW HERES WHERE I THINK I SCREWED UP I WENT AHEAD AND GOT SOME DIFFRENT LIVE SAND AND PUT IT IN MY TANK AFTER IT WAS DONE CYCLING NOW MY NITRITES ARE A LITTLE ABOVE 0 AND SO IS MY AMMONIA. NITRATES ARE AT 20 WAS THIS THE REASON FOR MY NEW READINGS OR WAS IT BECAUSE I DIDNT REMOVE A DEAD HERMIT CRAB. PLEASE HELP GUYS I AM NEW TO THIS. THANKS

06/21/2006, 11:28 PM	#3
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	Remember too that those snails and hermits are in there to work for a living: don't get carried away with giving them free food. THat belongs to the fish. Feed them only as much as they can eat within five minutes. The ocean is much more stingy than most owners about what fish get to eat...and it has a lot more water. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

06/22/2006, 11:05 AM	#4
delor Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Evansville, IN Posts: 1,124	Did you say you have a yellow tang in a 10 gallon tank?.. __________________ Surviving is different than thriving! Current Tank Info: Current: 90 gal RR reef tank, LED. Old:55gal RR, 440W VHO, 80# LR, LS, 20gal sump, SCWD. 5 gallon nano, 75 gal FOWLR

06/22/2006, 11:14 AM	#6
Shooter7 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Tolono, IL Posts: 6,754	I can see the flashing lights now.... __________________ Dave Current Tank Info: 10 years salty - standard 29g reef - moved from 120 gal reef, 2x250w Reeflux 10k's on ARO electronics and VHO super actinics on Icecap ballast, 2xTunze 6060, MSX 200 skimmer, GEO 612 Ca reactor, mag 12 return

06/22/2006, 06:06 PM	#10
Amy83820 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Wentzville, MO Posts: 626	Ok. I'll be the jerk that says it. Do a 30-40% water change and then take the tang back to the fish store. He won't make it. A ten gallon tank is a tough tank to start out with without doing a lot of research. __________________ I'm consistently torn between wanting to know more about your life and just waiting to see it on "Cops." Current Tank Info: 90 gallons o' salty goodness

06/21/2006, 11:20 PM	#2
pfish Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Seattle Posts: 289	It could be a combination of both. Do a 20% water change and cut back on your feedings. Monitor for a week and see if your water quality comes back to normal.

06/22/2006, 04:21 PM	#8
Serioussnaps Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: North Carolina Posts: 3,703	Hey, Do a 4 Gallon water change, wait 3-5 days, then do another 3 or 4 gallon water change. In the meantime, run some carbon and or polyfilter. Don't add any more sand or lr and expect snails and hermits to die, you might wanna just pull them. If they die you will find urself on a circular nutrient path in such a small tank. Also, there is no way you should be keeping a tang of any sort in a 10 G tank. You will always have problems with water quality in such a small tank with a tang in there. Also, this may be delicate for you right now, but you might want to lower the tanks temp about 2 or 3 degrees but NO MORE. This will raise oxygen levels to help your livestock breath(nitrite and ammonia keep oxygen from attaching to blood cells.......) Also, if you want to mitigate the nitrite problem, get a small bottle of prime and use double dosage that the package says.

06/22/2006, 04:41 PM	#9
littlemannin Premium Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Maine Posts: 276	I would also add... not to be a jerk. but a 10 gallon tank isn't exactly a good size for beginner. Bad things happen fast in a tank that size. Maybe think of a 55 gallon.

06/22/2006, 06:39 PM	#11
WaterKeeper Bogus Information Expert Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: SW Ohio Posts: 16,147	YOU HAVE TOO MUCH IN YOUR TANK AND THE DEATH OF THAT CRAB IS ONLY A FORETELLING OF THINGS TO COME!!! TRY TO USE SOME SENSE AND POPULATION CONTROL WHEN RUNNING A NANO TANK. __________________ "Leading the information hungry reefer down the road to starvation" Tom Current Tank Info: 130 Now out of service and a 29

06/22/2006, 07:34 PM	#12
itz frank Gives Bad Advice. Join Date: May 2006 Location: Ft Lauderdale, FL Posts: 2,168	anyone else's caps stuck?