HELP!!!!

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mrslexy

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Feb 10, 2014
Messages
13
Location
San Antonio, Texas
HELLO TO ALL, I CURRENTLY HAVE A 55 GALLON TANK THAT HAS THE FOLLOWING IN IT:
5 DAMSELS
4 HERMITS
3 PEP SHRIMPS
2 EMERALD CRABS
1 LAWNMOWER BLENNY
1 PORCUPINE PUFFER

WE CYCLED OUR TANK WITH 55LBS OF CURED LIVE ROCK, 40 LBS LIVE SAND, AND WE RUN A FLUVAL 406 W/ A BAK PAK PROTEIN SKIMMER (REEF VERSION). WE WERE TOLD BY THE GUYS AT THE LOCAL FISH STORE THAT 3 WEEKS WOULD BE FINE BC WE HAD OUR CURED LIVE ROCK.

OUR READINGS HAVE BEEN GOOD, NO AMMONIA OR NITRITES, JUST A SLIGHT NITRATE PROBLEM. DID A WATER CHANGE LAST WEEK, AND SATURDAY WE CLEANED OUT OUR FILTER. NOW OUR READINGS ARE ALL OVER THE PLACE!!! HELP!!!!

HR PH: 8.0
AMMONIA: .25
NITRITE: .25
NIRTATE: .40
SALINITY: 1.025

PLEASE HELP!!!!!
:bawl:
 
How do you know the rock was cycled/cured? At this point i would add something like Prime or Amquel to de-toxify the ammonia and wait it out.
 
When I did my water change last week I added prime. Would it be too soon to add more and do I add the same amount??? The rock was labeled cured live rock. It has purple coraline algae on it. I mean I won't say I know 100%. 45 of it is live and 10 is base rock. Sorry I miss typed that earlier.
 
Just because stores call it "cured" doesn't mean you aren't going to have a cycle. If you ever watch, stores get in uncured rock and toss it right in the bin labeled "cured". This rock is shipped from indo in containers for days with just some damp newspaper on them. Coralline algae is not an indication of anything other than it's rock with coralline algae on it.

From now on, I would clean out any filters weekly.
 
Thank you! We are brand new to the saltwater world. We got the rock of craigslist. The rock had been in a tank for 5 years with a very experienced person. That why i say labeled bc it was off the ad. But like i said we dont know 100% but we pulled the rock out ourselves. It had plenty of good life on it, snails, starfish, ect. I know what you mean though. Thanks so much for your help! I dont want to loose anyone. Especially since our puffer is new. We will be upgrading when he gets a little bigger, i know 55 gallon is not ideal for a puffer at all.
 
Make sure you upgrade before it gets big enough to look like it needs more room. A lot of people wait too long and their fish have issues because of it.

Welcome to the world of salt.
 
Then did you transport the rock submerged in water? You may have had some die off if the rock was out in the air for an extended period.
How about the sand? Where did you get that? From the same tank? If so, this may be the whole problem.
 
The rock was completely submerged the whole way, and the sand was new live sand in the bag. That also had water in it.
 
Then I'm not sure where the ammonia came from. I have heard of people getting spikes when they add the bag live sand, but I have a hard time believing it would be substantial, since you really don't see anything in that sand that could rot.
 
I think it's my water. It's tap conditioned with prime. If I started the tank with prime, would I be able to do a water tank with rodi water? What kind of water change should I do without upsetting the fish?
 
Test your water for ammonia. Then you can rule it out. A water change done properly can't hurt your inhabitants, no matter how large it is.
 
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