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Total noob in need of advice


WCO2 Neptune

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WCO2 Neptune

Been trying to get my tank going but see very little improvement. 1st tsf attempt ended in all corals dying. Only things to survive are 1 diamond goby and 3 clown fish. Started again with new frags but not seeing much from them. Been reading and am doing some upgrades to tank. Hoping to get things on track.  Orders on the way are better lighting system, skimmer, and wave maker, pending purchase is the in tank filter system. Got pre made salt water waiting for upgrades before doing a water change.  My live rocks seem to be turning orange and light brown.. hope that's a good sign..

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Any obvious signs of bacteria, parasite, anything else that could have taken your tank out? Acclimation issues? Could be anything... what tank do you have? Lights? Current filtration?

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WCO2 Neptune

Just the basic attached filter and lighting that came with unit. Hence why I ordered several upgrades... waiting for ups man 🙂

 

Finally got worried when my big snail cleaner died.. I did a water test but nothing out of the norm... 

 

 

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What type of tank is that? 

 

Looks like diatoms on the rocks, causes are excess nutrients, poor water source (such as tap), or new sand/new rock, sometimes even new equipment can cause it from excess silicates. 

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∆ what tank is that?

6 fish seems like a lot. I agree with the water source being a possible culprit of problems. You can mix your own salwwater with RODI from the lfs or from your own filter or buy distilled water. No tap water. Weekly water changes. 10-20% at least. Don't over feed. Post your actual parameter test results. "Within range" doesn't help people know how to help you. Need nitrate, ammonia, phosphate tests. Need more info to give better advice. 

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There are a lot of factors that come into corals mot doing well 

 

Water quality/stability and lighting.

 

What size of tank is it?

 

 

What is the water being used rodi or distilled?

 

If you purchase your water, particularly from a grocery store machine or lfs, have you ever tested it?

 

 

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WCO2 Neptune

The tank is a biocube 14 gal. Today I had some change to report from water test. Seems I have high level in one area of nitrate 3.  I've included a photo.

 

Any thoughts are welcomed..

 

I purchased premade salt water from petsmart just in case I was doing something wrong mixing things at home.  I was using red sea coral pro salt..  

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Yea, your nitrates are VERY high. No coral will be happy and do well in that tank right now. Best advice I can give is to start with water changes. Start with 5 gallons, than test. If your nitrates are still over 10, do another 5 gallon water change, then test. Repeat as many times as needed to get the nitrates down to at least 10, 5 is even better.

 

The next step would be to return at least 1 clown to the store you got it from, or give to a friend. 3 clowns will beat each other up in a tank that small. They may be ok right now, but as they mature they will begin killing each other. You might be alright with 2 IF they are a mated pair. A 14 gallon would be best with only 2 clowns and NO other fish, or 1 clown and the diamond goby. With the fish you have, it will be a constant battle to keep your nutrients in check.

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Sure looks like point 5 ammonia as well.....which could kill fish/coral if sustained for long periods.  Was this test done right after a water change?  Right before?  Soon after feeding time?

 

With the levels we are seeing, I would bet phosphates are elevated as well.

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What water are you using when you make saltwater? 

 

This is very important  because it may be the reason you are having problems.

 

Your nitrates are very high.

 

This could be due to your water source, over stocking, over feeding, something missing in maintenance, even filter media.

 

3 clowns and a diamond goby is over stocking the 14g.

 

2 clowns and a small goby is more suitable to your tank.

 

In order to help you best giving us more detailed info would be helpful.

 

1. What water are you using to make salt water?

 

2. How do you test salinity level and do you top up the tank with freshwater for evaporation to maintain the salinity?

 

3. Do you turkey baste your rocks or vacuum sand during waterchanges

 

4. What filter media are you using, how is it maintained, and do you siphon your back chambers?

 

 

With what we know I'd recommend

 

Returning 1 clown(3 will turn into 2 or 1) and the diamond goby(they reach 6")

 

Do a 50% waterchange yo reduce nitrates by 50%.

 

This will help get things better but once we have some more info, we can help to get the tank to where you can keep corals.

 

The lighting isn't the issue. Many hobbyists run the biocube with stock lighting(unless u have the old model)

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I agree to return one clown fish and diamond goby... They are not appropriate stock for this size of tank and certainly part of the problem. 

 

With nitrates that high I would just do a 100 percent water change and siphon the sand too. 

 

 

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WCO2 Neptune

Did about half water change.. didn't have enough salt water to do a full change... I will get a more water and do a complete water change...

 

Interesting thing happened... I notice this small baby snail looking thing in my tank.. clown fish going nuts trying to eat it but it slide down the back wall and under the rocks..  

 

Well I hope it was a baby snail... anyone know if it's not and something dangerous?? 

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That is a good start. Test your water again once everything settles, then if Nitrates are still high, do another as soon as you can. 

 

Your lighting should be fine for low light corals, but you may need to upgrade it at some point if you want any higher demand corals.

 

That snail thing is a stomatella snail. They are a very common hitchhiker and are beneficial and great cleaners. 

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Also, I would not recommend that water for top off or mixing saltwater. If you have to buy your water, get some distilled water from the grocery store, it only costs about $1/gal. Use the distilled for top off and get some salt to mix your own saltwater. You will also want a good refractometer for mixing your water.

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That looks much better, another water change wold not hurt, though I think you will find that the Nitrates will continue to raise pretty fast with your current bioload (as mentioned above). If you can do 2 or 3 water changes a week, you could probably keep your current fish, but water changes will start to get VERY expensive doing them 2-3 times a week.

 

Once the skimmer has a chance to break in and you get it dialed in, it will deffinitely help and shold start pulling some pretty nasty gunk. 

 

Keep us updated on the progress.

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Update from this morning water test.. not much different from last night.. things appear good.. thinking skimmer and water change did wonders... 

 

Any suggestion on getting coral to grow and be more active.. they appear closed alot..

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1 hour ago, WCO2 Neptune said:

Update from this morning water test.. not much different from last night.. things appear good.. thinking skimmer and water change did wonders... 

 

Any suggestion on getting coral to grow and be more active.. they appear closed alot..

20181010_102118.jpg

 

18 hours ago, Clown79 said:

What water are you using when you make saltwater? 

 

This is very important  because it may be the reason you are having problems.

 

Your nitrates are very high.

 

This could be due to your water source, over stocking, over feeding, something missing in maintenance, even filter media.

 

3 clowns and a diamond goby is over stocking the 14g.

 

2 clowns and a small goby is more suitable to your tank.

 

In order to help you best giving us more detailed info would be helpful.

 

1. What water are you using to make salt water?

 

2. How do you test salinity level and do you top up the tank with freshwater for evaporation to maintain the salinity?

 

3. Do you turkey baste your rocks or vacuum sand during waterchanges

 

4. What filter media are you using, how is it maintained, and do you siphon your back chambers?

 

 

With what we know I'd recommend

 

Returning 1 clown(3 will turn into 2 or 1) and the diamond goby(they reach 6")

 

Do a 50% waterchange yo reduce nitrates by 50%.

 

This will help get things better but once we have some more info, we can help to get the tank to where you can keep corals.

 

The lighting isn't the issue. Many hobbyists run the biocube with stock lighting(unless u have the old model)

The reason I posted this is because this all pertains to keeping corals.

 

 

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1 hour ago, JBM said:

You still appear to have ammonia in your tank. How old is your test kit? How often are you feeding?

Thank you!  I thought I was taking crazy pills over here.  I mentioned the ammonia earlier and everyone else seemed to breeze right by it.  I am still seeing point 5 ammonia on every test they have posted a photo of.  This is what I am most curious about.  Bad test?  Something dying in the tank?  After a 50% water change I would have expected the color to change on the ammonia.....but it didn't....

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30 minutes ago, paneubert said:

Thank you!  I thought I was taking crazy pills over here.  I mentioned the ammonia earlier and everyone else seemed to breeze right by it.  I am still seeing point 5 ammonia on every test they have posted a photo of.  This is what I am most curious about.  Bad test?  Something dying in the tank?  After a 50% water change I would have expected the color to change on the ammonia.....but it didn't....

Theres a lot of info we need to help that hasn't been addressed. 

 

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