Hello....my stay could be short

[Nano Nick]

Hi all, just discovered this site. Thought I would register and get some much needed advice.

Bit about myself. Live in Blackpool, England. Support Man City footy club. Also into Casual clothing (Stone Island etc).....and trainers. Sad I know !
Got 5 year old girl who has lost all concept of being sad at death (cos I keep killing fish). She doesn't get attached to them any more because of my track record

I am about to give up this marine fish malarky as a result, so as I say.....my stay could be short.......lets hope not.

Anyway I'll save questions etc for the right sections in the forum.

Glad I found you, looks a great site.
Cheers Nick

 

[ShadoeFox]

Okay, I'd bet your problem could be cycling. There are articles attatched to this site, just search for that (Or wait for someone to post the article behind me. I am no good with linking things).

Some questions.
What size is your tank?
What type of fish are you wanting to keep?
Salt or Fresh (From the marine I assume salt)?
How long has the tank been set up?
Do you have any testing supplies for water chemistry/salinity?

 

[Nano Nick]

I will try and keep it brief. Its not a cycling prob I have its keeping the ph up.
Its a 65l (15 US gal) tank. Been up and running for 6 months now. Well cycled.
Started with a couple of clownfish (doesn't everybody ) n a dancing shrimp. Then fell in love with a flame hawkfish which wiped out the clownfish and the shrimp in 24 hours. Bad advice from lfs. returnd the hawkfish.
Was going along quite nicely for a couple of months. Had a firefish, clown, Banggai cardinal and a lemonpeel angel (all babys btw, I know the tanks is too small really but was going to upgrade v soon). Then one week (within 3 days) they all died. Took and sample of my water to the lfs and they said the ph ws 7.4 (but the API test kit I had been using was telling me 8.0). Sacked that off and now use JBL test kit.....10x better imo. Anyway up to that point I had never even heard of minerals, I had just been mixing TM salt. The lfs said that was the problem and sold me some Tropic Marin re-mineral to bring the ph up and I've had nothing but problems since.
Last few weeks I've been bunging load of minerals in and the ph comes up to approx 8.2 but within 2 days its about 7.8. Bought a clown fish last week and it died 7 days later. Been to another lfs today who said Tropic Marin mineral are a nightmare. They stopped uing them and don't even sell them. He said just use salt and a bit of buffer if required. I have now bought some Seachem Marine Buffer (suppose to buffer to 8.3) and am going to do a near full water change tomorrow (to get rid of the TM minerals as best I can and go back to just TM salt with a bit of this new buffer if the ph is low).
Just wondered if the majority of you guys use minerals or not????? or is salt mix enough?????? or are TM minerals and Seachem Marine Buffer one and the same thing?
I'm prety sure its the minerals which are killing my fish. Going back to basics (ie salt mix only). What do you think?
Gonna post this in the Fish only & FOWLR section as well as I don't want to type the same thing twice

 

[bruinsbro1997]

to AA!

 

[Nano Nick]

Cheers mate, I must be a doer

 

[davePM]

Ph isn't the killer. Fish usually adapt to ph. The killer is a ph that is not stable. Does any of your testing ever show any ammonia or nitrites? What's the nitrate level? How often do you do water changes? Are you using RO water? What's the SG/salinity level?

 

[Nano Nick]

Never any ammonia or nitrites (mind you I have no faith in this API test kit). Use RO water. Do a 12 litre water change every weekend. Salinity has been a problem as I have used a hydrometer in the past which was definately inaccurate but I now have a refractometer which I have been using for just over a week and its been at 1.022 (which I think is in the middle of the range?).

 

[Nano Nick]

I should add ph has been all over the place with these **** minerals I keep throwing in to get the ph up. Its like a catch 22.

 

[redsea]

Welcome to AA!

 

[Nano Nick]

Thanks