Nano-Crash!!!!!

[jeromieg]

OK... I am new to using the 24g Nano-cube, as in 72 hours new.

 

I am going through a nasty divorce and was having major trouble with the 65g AGA tank that I had set up at my wofes house before I moved. I could not maintain it and on Friday I was able to get a 24g Nanocube from a LFS in town. They said that I should be ok to take some substrate, liverock and corals from the existing tank. Things were still healthy in the large tank, but I knew they were starting to get distressed just by the way the LPS's looked when I showed up there on Friday.

 

I moved water, substrate, rock and many corals to the nano-cube for the weekend so that on Monday I could tkae most of it to the LFS for trade in since I have more than I can responsibly keep in the tank. I left for National Guard drill for the weekend and came back to dead fish, snails, and very very sick corals. Bristle worms and ministars are everywhere and now I do not know where to start!!!!!

 

Can I remove the dead items, and do a water change and hope the rock and some of the LPS's make it?

 

I did not have time to read up on the problems of nanotanks, but I also did not have time to leave everything at my wifes house to die due to neglect either. I guess I was damned if I did and damned if I didn't. So please keep the flame posts about being irresponsible to a minimum. I was under a huge time crunch to make a move to save what stuff I could and ended up making it worse in the process.

 

Jeromie

[geekreef_05]

You can probably save the rock.

Seems that at this point, its at least worth a try.

 

sorry for the bad situation,

best of luck

[dhinton]

I'm so sorry you are having problems with your Nano-cube.

I'm very new to reef keeping myself and having a few problems as well.

 

I've only had my aquarium set up for a few weeks and was told that I could start putting in a few soft corals and fish. Due to using live sand and live rock we thought my tank had cycled before I began adding livestock. First I added a peppermint shrimp and two hermit crabs. Next I added a few tiny mushrooms about 1/4 inch in diameter and some zooanthids. Finally I added two small clown fish followed one week later by a small royal gramma.

 

The first thing I lost was a peppermint shrimp. Next I lost a clown fish that I have now determined got sucked up in the power head - that may have been the fate of the peppermint shrimp as well. I fixed that problem on Friday but this morning I noticed my 2 inch star fish added Friday was dead and a small ricordia coral is missing. Other than the live rock and sand, the only things I have in my aquarium are 1 red legged crab, 2 blue legged crabs, 1 clown fish, 1 royal gramma, a few tiny mushrooms, a few very small xenia and some zooanthids.

 

My water is turning a little yellow so I know that I need some charcoal. I don't think I will add anything else to my aquarium for some time other than more crabs and snails.

 

Hopefully someone reading this post can give both of us advise as what to do to save our current tank population.

 

Deborah

[barbadeau]

Deborah, stop putting stuff into your aquarium, let the tank catch up with the bioload, its starting to sound like you had wayyyy to much stuff added wayyyy to quickly, i've got my 24gallon nano cube, its been a month, and the tank has finally cycled, the ONLY thing i'm going to add over the next few weeks is a couple hermit crabs and maybe some snails, thats it

[snehls]

Deborah

 

Outside of your tank not being fully cycled there are a couple things you can do.

 

First and foremost test don't put anything more in the tank and then test all your water parameters and report back. If your tank is not cycled, well then there isn't too much you can do. I would say that either way, a small 15% water change is in order either way. Particularly if you are having Ammonia problems. This, despite the fact that you may or may not be cycled. But seeing as that you already have livestock and coral in there, it is probably worth the risk to get some bad water out of there.

 

Just shows LFS people are usually brain damaged, and not in a cool way like Rainman.

 

Good luck

[jeromieg]

Back to the problem I am having. I have pulled out all of the acro's that I had planned on trading in today since they all were deteriorating quickly. I still have al bunch of LPS's (hammer, frogspawn, leathers, capnella, zoo's) that are all attached to live rock that I would like to keep in the tank after the crash. Taking them to the LFS would constitute a trade in and I would never see them again and I am pretty proud of their growth and colors and what not, so I would like to keep them.

 

By doing 40% water change today and then another one tomorrow, do you think I can get rid of most of the ammonia that I am sure I have in there from all of the die off over the weekend? I have not done any testing. I am supposed to be working, but I am trying to attend to this in the quickest manner possible.

 

My plan: get 25 gallons of water from the LFS that is already at the right levels. Fill a rubbermaid tub with that with heater and pump for circulation. Run that over night while I empty all of the water in the nano-cube. Then introduce the water from the tub into the cube and place the rock and LPS's back into it and start doing small (10%) water changes for the next few days.

 

Is this a good idea? I am so not used to nanotanks and not having a protien skimmer, calcium reactor, refugium and so on.

 

Thanks in advance for the help!!!!!

[vyger]

Jeromie, something may have died in your tank while you were not there and you had an ammonia spike due to this which has a snowballing effect on everything. I have taken water , live rock and corals from a larger tank and went to a smaller tank, went from a 20 gal to a 6 gallon without mishap. If the rock stays in water during the transfer there should be very little die-off and thus maybe a mini cycle but the tank should handle that. So don't crucify the LFS because I know it is possible to do but every situation is different such as yours and you did the best you could under the circumstances. I would test for ammonia and As you said remove the dead things and do a small water change( maybe 2 gal) so to lessen the impact of ammonia if it is present.

 

I didn't get this post in quick enough it seems LOL...

[bikinibottom]

jermomieg:

 

How long was your 65G set up? You said that the tank was healthy, but you also said the LPS looked stressed.

 

How much of the live rock and sand did you move to the 24G?

[vyger]

I would test for ammonia before doing any large scale water changes...just a thought....

[bikinibottom]

Also, what are your water parameters: ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, alk, salinity, temp? Did you use water from your existing tank or did you mix a fresh batch?

[jeromieg]

Thanks folks..

 

My 65g was set up for 2 years and was in good shape. I had a good friend that spent much personal time for a year while I was in Iraq taking care fo the tank for me. The reason some of the LPS's were looking distressed is because I had moved out of the house about 2 weeks ago and even though I had been trying to maintain the tank as best as possible through very infrequent visits, I was not able to take care of it the way it needed. The CA reactor stopped working and I was not aware, the RO water that I had set to be pumped into the sump through a top off system had run out and my wife put tap water right into the tank in the order of about 5 gallons she said. I think the water parameters were starting toi get way out of whack and the corals were starting to feel it. Because of the lack of water in the sump, the return punp shut off because there was not enough water to pump back up to the tank and therefore the circulation stopped. This lead to no heater, no skimmer, no CA reactor, no flow other than the other little power heads I had in the tank.

 

I would have made fresh water for the nano tank I set up Friday night, but I did not have time make any and I had to be on the road Saturday morning at 0400 for Guard drill. I figured at least there would be heat and circulation which might help. I am sure that the move helped with the stress level and made things react in a very bad way. Right now I need to go and get some water because the water in the tank has become very cloudy throughout the course of the morning and the stench is getting pretty bad.

 

I feel like this has been a very irresponsible act, but at this point, I am not sure what else I could have done differently. I still think a massive water change may help. Any ideas?

 

Jeromie

[bikinibottom]

I dont' think that "massive" changes of any kind are good. How much LR and sand do you have in the tank? In a 24G you want somewhere between 24-48 lbs., depending on the density of the rock. I would start doing a series of smaller water changes (maybe 10%-15% per day), otherwise you might stress the corals further with all the changes. Make sure to bring the change water up to the same temp as in the tank, and make sure there isn't a huge difference in SG.

[bikinibottom]

A second thought: any chance you can get your LFS to "babysit" your animals for you until you can get your tank straightened out?

[dhinton]

Jeromie - sorry to jump in on your problem. This is the first time I have ever posted on a chat room. I should have started my own link and will as soon as I learn how. Hope you are successful in saving your aquarium. Again my apoligies for jumping in on your question - please chalk this up to inexperience. Thanks to those who did respond though.

Deborah