What is wrong with Emerald Crab

[Oldsalt01]

17 hours ago, diddies said:

I just wanted to say thank you on suggesting another test kit. For some reason my nitrate were high and wasn't testing that on the paper strips. They are non-existent on those. It is hard to believe that Petco and my local LFS is using those and getting accurate numbers. Should I do anything with my nitrate being high? I did a 5 gallon water change and it dropped it a bit. I am going to do that for the next few days to see if I can get it under control and maybe not feeding my fish for a couple of days. Or would you suggest anything else?

My results as of now are as following:

pH: 8.2 

KH: 8

NO3: 10

NO2: .05 

Ammonia: .2

So my NO3 is out of control and my NO2 and Ammonia are a little high.

You are most welcome. Test strips are notorious for being terribly inaccurate. I stopped using them years ago with my freshwater. Your nitrates are not too bad, but from the look of the ammonia you're not quite done with your cycle. My advice is leave everything alone and let it settle down. Don't worry about water changes for a week. Just let it simmer. Keep an eye on the CUC because of the ammonia, but don't stay up nights worrying. It's not really that high and obviously on it's way down. Nitrites and Nitrates are way less toxic than ammonia and your Nitrates aren't that high anyway. I've had mine up over 40ppm and my CUC was fine. Of course, so was my Green Hair Algae, lol!!! You should be starting to see some forms of algae, usually brown and you still haven't gone through your diatom phase, but you will. That's why we call it the "ugly phase", cuz it sure is. Hang in there, have patience, and don't add anything to the tank in the form of livestock for at least another 2 weeks. I would also recommend feeding the fish every other day, so you aren't adding too many nutrients. You might take this time to consider a QT setup. As I've said before a QT can save you money and frustration in the long run. It's much easier to treat a sick fish (and I always consider a new fish sick, eating or not) away from your DT and allows a new individual time to chill from the stress of transport and not having to compete with others for food. Rule of thumb is a MINIMUM of 4 weeks in a QT, but I usually go 6-7 to be sure that any potential diseases have run their multi-phase course. I also have my QT in a different room as there is some evidence certain diseases can infect other tanks via air-born transmission. Just more stuff to consider. Taking your time now will pay off big time later on. Sit back and enjoy the ride. It's a fabulous obsession.

[Oldsalt01]

One more thing: top off your tank with either RO/DI water or bottled DISTILLED. I use a Sharpie to mark the water level on my glass and try to keep my  tank level there just to keep my salinity consistent. Your evap levels will vary with type of tank top (glass, screen, or hood), room temp and humidity. My topless 14g Biocube uses about 3 oz per day in the winter and about 4 oz per day in summer with the AC on. You might want to consider an ATO (automatic top off) for the sump at some point. It cuts down on the work and is much more consistent at adding small amount of freshwater as needed. 

[jambon]

Skimming over all this stuff... I don't think any product will really speed up a successful tank. Enjoy the progression you will see algae start to grow and other things. Nice small pieces of live rock from an established tank have loads of critters on them. Some kits are esential but there is a lot of gimmicks out there IMO.

   Your tank looks a little sterile but that's normal unless you had established live rock.

[diddies]

My rock is starting to have a brownish yellowish growth on it. I appreciate all the info. Just get really nervous about what is going on with all of them. Also when I add water to it, and I use RODI water, should I still mix it up with some salt or just pour it in there. It would seem like when water evaporates that the salt stays in there, but if I add more salt it would be worse. I bought a refractometer to test it but after getting it I realized I needed calibration solution so waiting on that in the mail. I was using the plastic hydrometer that the Petco guy sold me. 

[FISHnChix]

11 minutes ago, diddies said:

My rock is starting to have a brownish yellowish growth on it. I appreciate all the info. Just get really nervous about what is going on with all of them. Also when I add water to it, and I use RODI water, should I still mix it up with some salt or just pour it in there. It would seem like when water evaporates that the salt stays in there, but if I add more salt it would be worse. I bought a refractometer to test it but after getting it I realized I needed calibration solution so waiting on that in the mail. I was using the plastic hydrometer that the Petco guy sold me. 

You are correct water evaps and salt stays behind. Top off with fresh water.. rodi is best.  Refactometer is the way to go but keep the hydrometer just in case you want to double check your refactometer..

[diddies]

I am unsure what it going on with my tank. Everything is low or non existent now besides my nitrates. My ammonia is 0 nitrites at 0. pH is perfect. salinity is a 1.025. Unsure what is going on but I had a shrimp die on me.

[Oldsalt01]

11 hours ago, diddies said:

I am unsure what it going on with my tank. Everything is low or non existent now besides my nitrates. My ammonia is 0 nitrites at 0. pH is perfect. salinity is a 1.025. Unsure what is going on but I had a shrimp die on me.

This is the point when a lot of new tank owners start to get frustrated and question whether it was a good idea in the first place. What are your nitrates reading right now? The last I saw it was at 10. That's not really high and if you're feeding the livestock about where I would expect it to be. Remember, your tank is really young. It won't be considered a "stable" system for some months yet. As for the shrimp, things die, sometimes there's just no explaining it. I wouldn't anticipate a "high" nitrate reading to have snuffed it. My livestock have done just fine with nitrates as high as 40! I think you can depend on the Red Sea kit to give you consistent readings on your chemistry so that's not an issue. The original advice from myself and others here still goes: slow down, sit back, don't add anything new to the tank right now, and let the tank evolve. I know it can be frustrating, and I think if you took a sample, most reefers would tell you they've been where you are. Out of curiosity, what is your tank temp running at and does it fluctuate, and if so, by how much?

[LX20000]

Hey... you look young, and therefore might have a young kid... be careful with a tank that size to make sure the tank can't be pulled over.. if it is on a stand... had a friend's 4 year old pull over a 29 gallon tank on a stand somehow.....

[diddies]

14 hours ago, Oldsalt01 said:

This is the point when a lot of new tank owners start to get frustrated and question whether it was a good idea in the first place. What are your nitrates reading right now? The last I saw it was at 10. That's not really high and if you're feeding the livestock about where I would expect it to be. Remember, your tank is really young. It won't be considered a "stable" system for some months yet. As for the shrimp, things die, sometimes there's just no explaining it. I wouldn't anticipate a "high" nitrate reading to have snuffed it. My livestock have done just fine with nitrates as high as 40! I think you can depend on the Red Sea kit to give you consistent readings on your chemistry so that's not an issue. The original advice from myself and others here still goes: slow down, sit back, don't add anything new to the tank right now, and let the tank evolve. I know it can be frustrating, and I think if you took a sample, most reefers would tell you they've been where you are. Out of curiosity, what is your tank temp running at and does it fluctuate, and if so, by how much?

Well I had two shrimp die. Ammonia is at 0, nitrite is at 0.pH is at an 8.2. Nitrates are on the 20 scale on the Red sea kit. salinity was at a 1.025. This was all tested the day after he died.

[diddies]

13 hours ago, LX20000 said:

Hey... you look young, and therefore might have a young kid... be careful with a tank that size to make sure the tank can't be pulled over.. if it is on a stand... had a friend's 4 year old pull over a 29 gallon tank on a stand somehow.....

I have a 4 year old and a 3 year old. Super young. But it is up high enough where they can't pull on it. The bottom of the tank is about their eye level. They also know not to touch it unless mom or dad says so. It would take a lot of force to move it as it is on a custom furniture piece that weighs a few hundred pounds.

[diddies]

14 hours ago, Oldsalt01 said:

This is the point when a lot of new tank owners start to get frustrated and question whether it was a good idea in the first place. What are your nitrates reading right now? The last I saw it was at 10. That's not really high and if you're feeding the livestock about where I would expect it to be. Remember, your tank is really young. It won't be considered a "stable" system for some months yet. As for the shrimp, things die, sometimes there's just no explaining it. I wouldn't anticipate a "high" nitrate reading to have snuffed it. My livestock have done just fine with nitrates as high as 40! I think you can depend on the Red Sea kit to give you consistent readings on your chemistry so that's not an issue. The original advice from myself and others here still goes: slow down, sit back, don't add anything new to the tank right now, and let the tank evolve. I know it can be frustrating, and I think if you took a sample, most reefers would tell you they've been where you are. Out of curiosity, what is your tank temp running at and does it fluctuate, and if so, by how much?

I am not questioning whether it was a good idea or not. I want to do this and want to gain as much knowledge as possible. But it is frustrating to have the shrimp die just as quickly as the crab did. I went to my local LFS and he informed me to not put any fish in there but add 2 shrimp and a few more hermit crabs after I informed him of what was going on and what my readings were. The first shrimp died by the next day and the other died the day after. I am unsure what is going on. 

[FollyFish]

On 11/30/2017 at 12:22 AM, diddies said:

I am not questioning whether it was a good idea or not. I want to do this and want to gain as much knowledge as possible. But it is frustrating to have the shrimp die just as quickly as the crab did. I went to my local LFS and he informed me to not put any fish in there but add 2 shrimp and a few more hermit crabs after I informed him of what was going on and what my readings were. The first shrimp died by the next day and the other died the day after. I am unsure what is going on. 

Shrimps can be very delicate (some even more so then others), they need a longer drip time and do better with a stable tank as they can be sensitive to changes in the water. They are also sensitive to metals like copper, something that is often used to treat sick fish. You might want to see if anything that you use in the tank has copper as an ingredient. You might also want to wait 6 months before adding shrimps to the tank, this will make sure that the tank is mature and the parameters are stable and that you have a good routine in place.

 

Also just a thought, what kind of shrimps were they? Are you sure that they were dead and it wasn't a molt? Shrimps can molt when they are stressed, have a change in water conditions, have too much iodine in the water or they just got bigger. Sometime the molts can be mistaken for dead shrimps.

 

The others are right, what works for one may not work for all. While I have no problems with inverts and corals (they tend to flourish in my tank), fish on the other hand seem to be the bane of my tank and my sorrow.

[jambon]

Is there a chance of pollutants getting into your tank? Cleaning products sprayed near the tank, lotion on hands etc. 

   Good air circulation is also necessary and water movement to allow oxygen to enter the water and other nasty gases to escape.