[weav1]

I have had this tank for a little over a 1 1/2 years, and recently the fish have died, we have changed out the water and placed damsels in the tank to start it over & they die within a week of placing them in the tank. The starfish & anemone continue to thrive but the tank is being taken over by brown stuff???? pH & salt level within normal for tank levels according to hydrometer & pH sticks. Can you help me figure out what to do to get my tank back up & going?

[ACE]

What is your nitrate, nitrite and phosphate levels???

[weav1]

I was afraid someone would ask that. I was telling my son who actually started all this and from what I had read so far on the forums had mentioned alot about the nitrates etc, so I need to get a test kit. Can I get that at most supply outlets?

[jvharding]

Knowing water quality is important! Also what is lighting time on the tank, and type of lights being used? Running your lighting less hours may help reduce. Water movement may need to be increased as well. Try adding a powerhead or two. I hope this helps.

[ACE]

Yes usually you can!!!
Nitrate and nitrite are important in telling when you have to much wast in the tank!!!
When you take care of that you will Be able to put fish in!!!
Phosphate contributes to the growth of algae take care of that and you will reduce algae!!!
How long do you have your light on in one day???
That can contribute in algae growth!!!

[weav1]

Thanks for everyones ideas and help. We run the light during the week about 5 hrs, on the weekends maybe 10 since we are home. I had tried leaving light off in tank, but didn.t seem to make much difference. Originally we had a lion fish, tang, puffer, starfish, aneome and crab in tank thrn at Christmas my son gave me another starfish--serpent looking thing likes to hide in rocks, small coral, and a dead coral rock. It was after this that all the problems started. We had changes out some of the water and changed filters but the problem would quickly come back. Then suddenly the lion started acting different, not eating , when i really became concerned he was very lethargic and eyes looked glassey, and then also same thing happened to the tang. I don't know what ick is --do you think that may haave been the problem too? What is a power head--I am learning so help me.

[ACE]

Hi power heads are a means of moving water hears a link!!!
Aquarium powerheads

[weav1]

Thanks for the web site.

[jvharding]

Are you using a skimmer? Skimmers remove waste from your water before it becomes nitrates or Phosphates from the nitrogen cycle. It looks like from your picture that you are using some kind of canister filter these can collect nitrates like a factory it has been said. Did you have any luck getting a test kit yet? here is a couple links for affordable power heads:

Champion Lighting & Supply :: Pumps :: Maxijet MaxiJet
Champion Lighting & Supply :: Pumps :: Taam - Rio Taam RIO

These are good saltwater pumps there are others but I have used these and found them reliable. I really like the RIO for the price and output!

[crazygator]

brown stuff?? sounds like slime and that is a direct link to phosphates. usually the kind that goes with overfeeding, or poor skimming. some tests can't detect all phosphates so if algae is present you can be sure that phosphates are there.
what has me worried is that fish are not usually affected by phosphates unless it's grossly elevated. corals are way more affected. you might look into a good skimmer also. you have quite enough in there to generate a good amount of waste. with the fish dying i'm wondering if you didn't have an amonia spike due to the new things added, and unless you have a good live rock and sand base amonia won't just go away without extensive water changes

[goinpronhl9]

Wow I'd like to know where you buy your fish from If you have had the tank for more then a year and a half without knowing what Ick is. Ick is basically a little parasite that infests your fish they can look like lil white dots on urfishes scales or make the whole fishes color seem dull or grayish. They usually infect the areas around a fishes eyes and gills first. Ick is ALL OVER LFS. It may have come in with the starfish, some people say that inverts are carriers of the stuff even if they dont show signs or illness. A few ways of avoiding it are NEVER put the LFS water directly into your tank. I generally use a quarantine tank and let the fish live in isolation for at least a few weeks and make ure he isnt showing signs of infection b4 I put him in my big tank with all my good buddies. Alos having a healthy enviorment ie. goo water quality (no nitrates or ammoonia or nitrite) and having as l;ittle stress on the fish as possible( compatible fish living together and not overcorwding a tank) well help fish naturally fight off the parasites if they do get in the system. Ive unfortunately learned this lesson too many times and its hard still to fight an outbreak if you get it. Theres special meds out there that are reef safe, but theres no guarantees when ick is involved. Hope that wasnt too depressing! haha.

[weav1]

Ok, I have finally gotten a test kit, and would you believe the nitrates, nitrites, ph, alkalinitity were all good. I appreciated the description of ick, that doesn't really sound like what my lion fish showed, he just kinda looked paler than normal and his activity level was down and then his eyes looked glassy. I really wonder if when we put the new stuff in at Christmas soemthing did not come along because we had no problem prior, occass some algae but with light limit it would improve. One of you mention something about the filters, we added a second filter that goes closer to the floor of the tank when we changed out the water after the fish died, these filters have cartridges with charcoal in them. I'm interested in the skimmer is it something I should have along with what is currently there? Now that I know the water is ok I will have my son stop at the store and bring home some cleaner crew. The other thing is we have been using tap water as do not have a RO system. The closest fish place is 90 miles and it doesn't have alot.

[willo]

I was told if you have too much sand in the bottom of your tank that you have to clean / vaccum your sand because gasses build up in there and everything will die all at once.

[willo]

Also, was told an Osmossis ( spelling ) system takes out all the bad stuff from the water and prevents alge grouth before it starts, if will allow the good alge . This system runs around $160 in Ohio if that helps?

[pogodzib]

A good place to start would be by doing a 25%+ water change to help get whatever is killing your fish out of the tank. Fresh saltwater should be made up at least a day in advance of placing it in your tank since it contains ammonia until it has time for the gasses to leave the water. You should also make sure that you have a powerhead or two pointing at the surface to cause the surface to ripple to aid in adding oxygen into the water.

To aid in preventing algae/diatoms and improve your fish and corals health you should be using RO/DI water. Check out The Filter Guys or www.buckeyefieldsupply.com for a couple good places to purchase RO/DI units. They are also really good people to talk to if you have any questions.

Depending on how deep your sand bed is and if you have a fine grained sand or a course sand or crushed coral will depend upon if you should clean/stir the sand bed or not. A shallow, course sand or gravel (less than 2"-3") should be cleaned to prevent detrius buildup. Deep sand beds (DSB)(4"-6"+) have an anaerobic area that if disturbed will release poisenous gasses into the tank water so it is not recommended that you disturb deeper sand beds at all.

[weav1]

Thanks for the info. I have good news, after adding a significant cleaning crew it has cleaned up the tank well and we have added three new fishes with things going well. The water has been testing well and we have been changing out a percentage of the water on a regular schedule and that could be helpful too. The guy at the fish store thought maybe we had gotten a parasite and with the tank being almost empty for over a month and water change and everything the problem receded???? Appreciate everyone help.

[jvharding]

Glad to hear that things are looking up! Great job, can you post some pictures?