Totally frustrated!

[the grim reefer]

I am very diligent in looking after my tank...I just started it 3 months ago and things have been up and down to say the least...I test my water faithfully every week and am doing 10% PWC 1x a week. I just tested my water and my NH4 is .25 and I am just sick about it..I am so worried that my fish or corals are going to die...only thing I have done was added my clowns last weekend. I am ready to call it quits because this is turning out to not be any fun..I am constantly worried about what is happening and worry about the fish and the 2 corals I have. I dont know what has caused this. I just did a PWC 2 days ago too..
Any suggestions and does a SW tank ever stablize or is it always this stressful?

Grumpy Grim

 

[Ziggy953]

After looking at your info I would say that you need more LR! You have more fish in your tank then I do. I have a72g tank that has been up for over a year now and I only have 5 fish in it. Do you have a sump? Are you planning on adding one if not? What about a fuge? You need more LR to keep up with that size bio-load. 66lbs in a 56g tank IMO is not enough LR. I have somewhere around 200#s between the main tank and my sumps. I would go ahead and do a PWC again now to help reduce the ammonia.

And the tank should be stable before you add a lot of critters to it.

 

[Hara]

I looked at your tankinfo page, and if it is correct, then the bioload is the issue. I am counting 8 fish in a 55 gallon tank with very minimal filtration. It just cant keep up.

If that is no longer correct, please update it and let me know and then we can see what we can come up with.

 

[Ziggy953]

We must have hit submit at the same time Hara!

 

[Hara]

Yep! Good post Ziggy!

 

[TheChad]

After looking at your info I would say that you need more LR! You have more fish in your tank then I do. I have a72g tank that has been up for over a year now and I only have 5 fish in it. Do you have a sump? Are you planning on adding one if not? What about a fuge? You need more LR to keep up with that size bio-load. 66lbs in a 56g tank IMO is not enough LR. I have somewhere around 200#s between the main tank and my sumps. I would go ahead and do a PWC again now to help reduce the ammonia.

And the tank should be stable before you add a lot of critters to it.

I agree. I only have 4 fish in my 55g, and I have ~85lbs of LR in my tank, along with 80lbs of LS, a Canister filter rated for 125g tank, and a sump rated for a 125g tank.

Do you have a skimmer? (I haven't looked at your info), If not you will want to think about one, ESPECIALLY if you are going to maintain that kind of bioload.

As Ziggy said, You shouldn't have began adding anything untill your system was stable, Once it is stable and you begin to add, you should only add 1-2 items at a time and let the system catch up for a few weeks. If you have alot of diatom algae that is 1 sign your system isn't keeping up.

-TheChad

 

[the grim reefer]

I updated my info as it was wrong...I dont have the anthias fish. Just a clown...well I guess that is the problem...too many fish. Just for the record my water was completely stable until now. I dont have diatom algae bloom either. My LR is full of purple coraline..thats it. I have a skimmer its a coral life super skimmer rated for 125 g...I thought I was doing everything right but I guess not and have screwed up with the fish I have...I never in a million years thought a fishtank would get the best of me..I had my FW for years and thought I could tackle this. I feel totally defeated, frustrated and a total idiot. I was hoping someone would have told me something that I was doing right instead of everything that I have done wrong and offered some encouragement.

I dont have a sump as where my tank is its not possible.

Anyways..thanks for the suggestions...

Grim

 

[Ziggy953]

Don't be discouraged!!!! WE all make mistakes everyone of us even the guys that have been doing this for years!!! The key to this hobby is to take it slow and do a lot of research...when I say a lot of research I mean it never stops...there is always something that can be imporved, changed or removed to make your system better! You are on the right path, you just need to slow down a bit. You can over come the problems with a little hard work and consistancy. I would increase the # of PWCs done and do them closer together right now. Also you need to get more LR in the tank....bottom line you don't have enough bacteria to keep up with the fish you have in the tank. You will make it through this don't worry...that is why those of us that have already made the mistakes jump in to help out!!!!


Where is your tank? Do you have it on a stand with space under it? Can you get me a pic of your setup...you don't need as much space as you might think for a sump and fuge....

 

[Hara]

Your tank was stable because it took time for the bioload to get totally overwhelmed. You made a typical newbie mistake, overstocking and stocking too fast. It is nothing to beat yourself over the head about. Just fix it. It is not our job to tell you everything is rosey when it isnt. I am not sure why you are feeling like an idiot. Just change the situation. There is a HUGE difference between freshwater and saltwater. Saltwater is much less forgiving. No one ever believes us when we tell them that.

The answer now is to get more liverock and do more water changes...and update your tank information.

 

[Hara]

Dang Ziggy, we did it again....

 

[Ziggy953]

Great minds think alike I guess!!!!

 

[the grim reefer]

Ziggy I wont be able to post a picture of the set up...I think I have figured out what happened.

And Hara... I do not think its your job to make me think things are rosey..I know they are not otherwise I would not have asked for help... I was just hoping to get some reassurance that things were going to be okay as I was totaly stressed about it. I guess I am just very concerned for my fishes well being.. Your right I am new at this and I am well aware that SW is much less forgiving.

I have done another water change now.

 

[MT79]

Saltwater is much less forgiving. No one ever believes us when we tell them that.

Learning the easy way is no fun! j/k
Grim reefer I think we've all been there one way or another. The people who are successful are the ones willing to accept their mistakes, correct them, and listen to the advice of those who've "been there, done that". The learning never stops w/ reefs, there is always something new. I think you are on your way, hang in there.

 

[Ziggy953]

I second what Mike said!!!! Hang in there and keep coming back here with questions!!!

 

[the grim reefer]

Thank you Ziggy and MT79.

I am thinking that because I have only been able to run my skimmer for a couple hours a day for the last week this has had a huge impact as it used to run 24/7. I put some PraziPro in my tank because one of my anthias had a fluke on him and its reef safe...I had to only run it when I was able to supervise it because the prazipro made my skimmer go nuts and filled my collection cup in 1/2 hr. So I am hoping that this could maybe be a contributing factor. I am now starting today able to run it on alot drier skim without the cup filling up so quickly. We will see if this helps..I did a water change tonight and the skimmer will be running 24/7 will test the water again tomorrow.

 

[Ziggy953]

That is a good possiblity.....but what Hara and I said about adding more LR still holds true. Your filtration just can't keep up with your bio load. Heck since you have the tank going you could easily get some dry base rock and it will become LR and help your filtration!

 

[the grim reefer]

I have always planned on getting some more LR but my LFS does not get it in all that often and I am not wanting to order online. I have no idea where the LR will go because my tank is pretty full..the rock I have in there is super porous so big pieces that weighed next to nothing. He is getting more in next month hopefully. So will work at getting this ammonia down so that there is no fatalities.

 

[rubikcube]

It's the skimmer. The whole idea behind a protein skimmer is that it removes the dissolved organics before they become NH4, NO2, or NO3. If you turn the skimmer off, they become NH4 in the tank. The bacteria in the tank haven't caught up to the ammonia spike yet.

 

[Devilishturtles]

Grim, don't give up. We do all make mistakes. I've killed quite a few things and made so many errors it's unbeliveable! Everyone does it. Like everyone else said, you just have to learn from them and move on.

That said... I'd definitley leave your skimmer on 24/7. That should help.

 

[the grim reefer]

Thank you all...this is exactly why I love this forum..you are all so helpful..I feel alot better now that the skimmer is running..I thought of this after..my tank has not had any fluctuations and I know its new but this totally baffled me. So when I started to think of "what changed" that was the only thing I could think of. My skimmer takes alot of crap out of the water so I guess now that its not been running all that crap is in my water..

I still plan on getting more LR for sure when my LFS gets it in but I had to bandage the problem for now until that happens...

Once again....thank you all.

Grinning Grim