HELP

[alvernia97]

I have a 20 gallon salt water fish. My goal is to maintain 3-4 fish my water is normal all my fish keep dying i went through over 12 currently i have onky one clown fish that is showing signs of distrest i have every chemical book please legt me know how to keep a sucessfull tank of only 20 gallon it would be much apprecitated

 

[reef lover]

First of all what kind of filtration are you.using and what the flow.in.your tank

 

[alvernia97]

I appreciate your response ans your assistance there all dead now so I am running a salt water tank 20 gallon with no fish...my filiter is an Aquefena 50 hand over filter with carbon foam and what looks like litte corks screws......

I am not ready to add any fish i was thinking to perhaps let the tank run for a month empty?

 

[reef lover]

Im not a pro like a lot ppl here but I could tell you what I know . When I first started my reef tank after so many years in.just saltwater fish only I run the tank with live rock amd.let.it.cycle for 6-8 weeks before I put anytjing.in.it . Now I have it for a year and.so far so.good .what kind water you using ? Ro or.tap ?

 

[reef lover]

Its not a perfext tank amd.im still.working.on it

 

[Beengirl]

Sounds like your tank maybe wasn't fully cycled? Letting it run for a month before adding any more fish is a good idea, but you'll need to add a source of ammonia to make sure you have a good strong cycle that is capable of handling a fish and its waste. Toss in a piece of raw shrimp or fish and let it rot. It'll smell bad, but it actually is good for you tank and building up the BB. what's your specific gravity at? Have you tested your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate?

 

[alvernia97]

once again I appeciate all the help....First is how do i know when my tank is cycled according to my local fish store my tank has already cycled as they tested me water to be satisfactory

Is there an indicator that shows when cycling is complete

Is a 20 gallon tank simply to small for salt-water fish I would hate to go back to fresh water fish....I really cant afford to upgrade at this time I alrady spent a lot on trying to make salt water work

My goal is to maintain 2-4 small fish in the tank that brings me to another question how many fiah for 20 Gallon and what type for a 20 gallon

 

[Reeffanman]

The only indicator is if you have an ammonia source in the tank and your ammonia and nitrates are reading zero. This tells u that there is enough bb to handle a few fish. No ammonia source = no cycle, don't even try to add anything to an uncycled tank. It will be almost a for sure doomsday for whatever u put in

 

[alvernia97]

Thanks for the Advice I do have some follow-up questions. What does it mean to have an Ammonia source? you said that no Ammounia source no cycling...also can I have a reading of zero and still have an Ammonia source?.

Also in regards to bio-load I would assume that means adding to many fish at once.....my question is what is too many fish for a 20 gallon, should I add one per month?

 

[Beengirl]

When the cycle is complete, there will be zero ammonia and nitrites, and some nitrates (probably will be high). There has to be a good source of ammonia, though, to start the cycle. That source can be a piece of rotting raw shrimp or fish or it can be liquid ammonia, whatever you choose. There are several stickies on this site explaining the nitrogen cycle if you're not familiar with it.
For a 20g, you could have 3-4 small fish. Check out the nano section of SW on liveaquaria. com.

 

[alvernia97]

ok so should I actually add phemonia? and if I do get it to what level?

 

[Beengirl]

You want ammonia to reach at least 4 ppm for a good strong cycle, higher than that is okay, it'll just take longer to come down. It takes very little liquid ammonia to get to 4. The only liquid ammonia you can use though is the kind that doesn't bubble when you shake the bottle. If there's bubbles when you shake, don't use it.

 

[alvernia97]

my fish incred fish story all help is much appreciated

I bought a fish tank for my two kiddies on X-mas 2009 we set it up on Xmas eve with two gold-fish the lasted a month after a water change died...many gold fish later this pattern continued some fish lasted weeks others only days

I then switched to freshwater tropical did well for over a month couldnt keep more then 3 fish at one time the tank was often dirty to a point where it was beyond cloud

I finally decided on Saltwater fish same patter ok at first then death despite every chemical in the book good water permaruers etc.....I knew NOTHING about cycling until recently...I am going to try this one more time...I heard to cycle you must first have an Amonia level ./?..i just started this process by adding falke food there are no fish in the tank i was told that the food will decay and cause ammonia to build in this true? Also can all this troible be solved by finally cycyling the tank and advice/ feedback is apprecaited

by accident i started with perfume bubblie Anemoia which i just learned should ot be used will that cause any harm i only added about 4-5 teaspoons

THANK U
Mark

 

[reef lover]

Maybe its also your water flow in.the tank and your filtration . Im still.not sure the one you.using

 

[Beengirl]

I'm not sure what "perfume ammonia" is, but you should only use the ammonia that doesn't bubble when bottle is shaken. The other kind has surfactants in it, which you don't want in A tank. I'm not sure if it will harm the tank, I did read on this forum that someone used the ammonia from Walmart (which has surfactants) and they said it worked fine. I don't know about the long term effects it may have had, though, on the tank.