Re-doing My Tank

[littleme1969]

Hi..
No its not the same as a normal water change as the water will have evaportaed and not the salt so should just be topped off with fresh RO water to bring the s.g. back down to normal limits. Have you tested for Nitrates and s.g. Ammonia PH etc. I would Just to see wher you are before you go spending any money.
The coral sounds like a classic stress thing to the sudden change in water conditions and I would say will be fine once its settled again.
Clown from what I know of these guys 2 is fine its 3 thats a problem, but i'll leave that question to someone who has more experience
I would do your tests, give your tank about a week to make sure its totally settled again and all is well. Then maybe buy a new fish and LR first... then maybe get another coral and your crabs the week after. Dont forget the live rock even though it should be fine, it may still cause a bit of a nitrate spike so adding too much at that point wont be good at all.
I would keep a close eye on your tests for a week while the rock settles in too as die off can sometimes cause problems in such a small tank. It will more than likely be OK, but best to be on your gaurd with mixed salt water to hand for water changes etc

 

[fishheaded]

Thanks littleme, I wish I had looked up what you posted before I left today. Today I went to the fish store and bought about 5 pounds of live rock. I basically ended up starting all over. I broke my original LR in to smaller pieces. I also lost one of my xenias today while in the process of rearranging my tank... I had to take my fish, snails, and crabs out and put them in a small 2 gallon. I also saw a hammerhead coral at my LFS, and guess what...I couldnt resist so i bought it As of right now my sand is settling so I wont add the live stock till tomorrow. I totally messed up today, it was a nightmare redoing this whole thing. Mannn...
P.S. the live rock that i bought today was cured, (according to the lfs worker). I am going to run some test just incase, because the rock smelt pretty yucky.

 

[littleme1969]

We all make mistakes and learn along the way Ive been reading up on nanos for the past year and done some serious research the last few months before I started . Its learning off other on here and on a few other reef forums that has got me this far. I dont always do things by the book either, I did water changes during my cycle which you shouldnt do really but with so many hitchikers and such variety I wanted them to survive. All turned out great, everything survived and is now doing great and the cycle still only took 1 week Ive been keeping and breeding fish for 5 years now, and even though salt is very different, the one thing still remains true for both hobbies.. Water Quality is everything. You look after their envitoment , feed them well and with appropriate food and they will do just great
I hope it all works out and all critters settle quickly, just keep and eye on your tests daily and do lots of water changes if you need to. Ive seen people bring back tanks after a major move across the country, high nitrates and ammonia spikes due to rock die off etc. And still with lots of water changes and keeping on top of it they have managed to save all fish and most corals. Your tank should be just fine

 

[fishheaded]

Yeah littleme, we all make mistakes, and yesterday i learned the hard way. Thanks for your help, its appreciated. I also was reading your thread, did you add any corals yet?
Well the sand settled, and I found out that I scratched up my tank (acrylic) pretty bad yesterday while fixing the rock work. And well I tested my water. Seems like I basically started all over, because I guess the rocks weren't cured. The params as followed:
ph 7.8
nitrite 0.25
nitrate 50-60
ammonia 0.75
sg 1.024
yikes!
And my xenia is attached to one of the main LR so its suffering right now, I also detached one by hitting it with another rock. But my hammer, clown, snails, & crabs are in a 2 gallon right now until my params are swell.
Should I wait until my cycle is over or should i start doing water changes right?
Also my xenia hosted my clown, will the clown be stressed now that the xenia isnt there anymore?

 

[littleme1969]

Scary stats.. with nitrates that high I would be running round the room like a chicken in panic mode
If the LR has not cured at all and has yet to cycle it could take weeks I got my rock through the post so it was 24hrs out of the water and I never had nitrates above 10 and ammonia 0.5. To be honest I dont know what to suggest for the best, as 4 weeks in a small tank for your other critters could prove disasterous for them. First off all ask the place where you bought it if it was totally cured and if so for how long etc. give them a good old grilling. Was it in water when you picked it out?
Your fish and critters will defo be stressed at this point, but I guess there is nothing you can do about it as putting them back in is not an option.
Find out what your Rock is.. cured or uncured then at least you know if its going to be a week or 4 - 6 weeks before you can ust the tank again. I wouldnt change any water until you know whats happening. Test every day and if things settle quickly then hopefully the nitrate issue is just to do with disturbing everything and a bit of die off on the new LR.
Maybe someone else with more experience can jump in here .
Shame about the tank scratching too, rock and acrylic just dont mix sadly
I hope its just a blip and all returns to nomal withing a week. Fingers crossed

As for Corals.. I'm doing slow and steady wins the race..lol I just got my first fish today and cleaner shrimp , and I have a small low light softie commin on tuesday of next week. As I dont live near a Reef shop of anykind everything has to come through the post so lots of research is need to getthe best stockist so I get stuff that going to survive the journey. Its a bit slow and long winded but well get there in the end.

keep us informed how it goes..
Maybe try e.mailing some of the resident guys such as SkiFletch I'm sure hell be able to give you better advise than I can.

 

[fishheaded]

Thanks littleme, I can't wait to see pics of your corals and I did message Ski (thanks man), and he said to check my ammonia and see if it was better, and if it was then do a 100% water change, if it got worst have to wait it out. So i just tested my ammonia and it seems it is still the same, so i'll probably just wait till tomorrow and do the water change then put everything back in the tank. Hopefully I can get through this without any more livestock dying (xenia), but my clown and hammer seem to be doing well in the 2g.
I'll sure keep you posted. Thanks for the help!

 

[SkiFletch]

Heh, no problem, glad I could help . When doing the large waterchange, have it mixed and ready (matched temp and sg) and try to do it as quickly as possible. Might want to consider having a second batch of water ready or nearly ready to do another waterchange in case chemistry goes out of whack again.

 

[fishheaded]

Okay, well my ammonia went down a little bit.. so i might do the water change in a couple of hours. My nearest lfs is like 20 minutes away and I don't have any water. But I have a wal-mart where i can get distilled water and i have salt here i can mix. Would it be okay if i were to used distilled water?

 

[mcdanielnc89]

what size is that tank? and whats in it? i want a SW tank sooo bad but it costs soo much...

 

[fishheaded]

what size is that tank? and whats in it? i want a SW tank sooo bad but it costs soo much...

10g, true perc clown, snails, crabs, and hammer coral..yeah it cost a pretty penny.

Well I did a 100% water change about an hour ago, and I tested the water right now and it reads as follows:
ph 8.2
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 2.0
sg 1.025

Can I add my livestock back or will the nitrate and ammonia go outta wack again?

 

[fishheaded]

Hey everyone finally got everything under control. Yesterday I did my 100% water change and this morning I checked the params and they read:
ph 8.1
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 5
sg 1.025

So i put everything back into my tank, and they seem really happy to be back in there. But my clownfish no longer has his xenia to host , he doesn't seem stressed, but i feel sad for the little guy. So ill probably get him another buddy this week. Here is a couple pics:
Camera sucks, sorry for the horrible quality...
Hammer:

FTS:

 

[fishheaded]

Hey all, do hammers eat? If so what do I feed em?
Also i was looking at those sun corals...how difficult is it to keep one?
Thanx guys.

 

[littleme1969]

Tanks looking settled Nice Viaduct theme you have going there
Not sure about Hammer , but I know these need lots of light, but sun corals have to be fed. There are lots of different foods available, tru asking in the coral section for better advise or do a google search. I would stick to easy stuff until your tank has had a good few weeks to settle again, no point causing yourself more problems than you need to . Once burnt twice shy and all that

 

[SkiFletch]

Sun corals need to be fed via a turkey baster with brine/mysys/etc. Hammer corals can eat although because they seem to be highly photosynthetic they rarely do.