29g BioCube is coming Alive!

[Lessa99]

Hey Friends, Ill try and get some pics up in the next few days, but everything is up and running! I have cycled and am ready to role!

I added 5 Astrea Snails

2 Emerald crabs

1 Ocesllaris Clown.

My question is this, what is normal behavior for the clown? He seems to be fighting the power heads (too much flow) ( I only have the stock pump and another small power head) and hanging near the surface. This is making me nervous! I would have gotten 2 but my local petco had this little guy in a tank all alone, and the rest of the clowns had ICK bad! I didn't want to introduce ICK if I didn't have to. (Should I get another clown soon? or can I wait for the weekend?) As always, all help is appreciated!

 

[Convict2161]

What size power head? I have a upgraded pump the Maxijet 1200 and a Vortech MP10 on my bio cube and my fish are fine. 2 clowns, 2 cardinals, fire fish, orange spotted goby, six line, 3 peppermint, blood shrimp, harlequin shrimp and a variety of snails and hermits. Also 1 brittle star.

I have no issue with my clowns or flow.

Maybe it's trying to get the power head to host it? Is it swimming into it? Might be doing it on purpose. Sometimes mine swim into the flow and then back out.

I can't see the stock flow being too much.

 

[Lessa99]

No he isn't going into the powerhead, but just seems to be swimming furiously. He is always either in the top left corner near the surface, or the bottom right corner swimming into the glass...

Should I get another clown right away? Would this possibly help with its stress?

What is a good timer setting for the blue lights? Currently set 10000k white lights are from 10 to 7:30pm, and blue are on from 8:30pm until 8:30 am.... I don't use the midnight bulbs because 2 are burned out and the one that works looks like it is on its way out.... I will be replacing these as soon as funds allow!

Thanks Friends,

Lesssa

 

[Convict2161]

No he isn't going into the powerhead, but just seems to be swimming furiously. He is always either in the top left corner near the surface, or the bottom right corner swimming into the glass...

Should I get another clown right away? Would this possibly help with its stress?

What is a good timer setting for the blue lights? Currently set 10000k white lights are from 10 to 7:30pm, and blue are on from 8:30pm until 8:30 am.... I don't use the midnight bulbs because 2 are burned out and the one that works looks like it is on its way out.... I will be replacing these as soon as funds allow!

Thanks Friends,

Lesssa

You don't need another clown, a lot of my friends have just one. The daylights can stay on for 9-12 hours but IMO you should run the blues with the whites at some point. Say the blues come on first at 8am then the whites come on at 9am. Then whites off at say 7pm, leaving the blues on until say 8-9pm then moonlights until the cycle repeats. I believe you should have a total darkness state in your tank. For example, my lights go off at 8pm leaving just moonlights on until 3am then total darkness until my light schedule repeats at 7am.

Hope that makes sense.

EDIT:

Aren't the moonlights LED's? What bio cube so you have?

 

[Lessa99]

Hey Convict, Ill try and adjust my timers, because I thought total darkness for a few hours would be a good thing as well.

I believe the moonlights are LED'S, they are just the stock that comes with the Oceanic 29 Gallon Bio Cube. 2 of them are burnt out it appears, and the third looks like it is on its way out as well, so those will get replaced once I can afford it!

Would it be bad to add another clown in a week or so? I really want another clown, just have to find time to get to an actual fish store as Petco has a ton of beautiful fish but they nearly all have ICK!

 

[Convict2161]

No it wouldn't be bad. If you want another clown by all means go get one! Try and get the same kind and same size.

 

[Lessa99]

Gotcha! how soon is too soon to add some coral? Thanks for being so helpful Convict! You have always been the best at helping us newbies out!

 

[Convict2161]

Gotcha! how soon is too soon to add some coral? Thanks for being so helpful Convict! You have always been the best at helping us newbies out!

Well thank you for the kind words. If the tank is cycled then have at it!! Have a plan though. Know what you want and what can be next to each other so you don't have a chemical war in your tank. Now where your gonna place them.

I suggest looking at corals see what catches your eye, then envision where it will go in the tank, make a plan it will save you headaches in the future.

 

[Beengirl]

Hey Friends, Ill try and get some pics up in the next few days, but everything is up and running! I have cycled and am ready to role!

I added 5 Astrea Snails

2 Emerald crabs

1 Ocesllaris Clown.

My question is this, what is normal behavior for the clown? He seems to be fighting the power heads (too much flow) ( I only have the stock pump and another small power head) and hanging near the surface. This is making me nervous! I would have gotten 2 but my local petco had this little guy in a tank all alone, and the rest of the clowns had ICK bad! I didn't want to introduce ICK if I didn't have to. (Should I get another clown soon? or can I wait for the weekend?) As always, all help is appreciated!

How many gph is your PH? Could try adjusting the angle of the PH too to see if it helps the clown swim around more. I have most of mine facing up to make ripple on surface and improve aeration of water. That way I have plenty of current, but fish don't struggle.

 

[Lessa99]

Im kind of freaking out here!
My levels tonight were

Ammonia low, nearly 0

NitrIte very purple, never seen it this high before!

NitrAte about 5, it had a hint of orange.

my clown is swimming near the surface and Im worried he won't make it through the night! I have to wait until tomorrow to buy more saltwater, so Im not sure what I can do about it tonight! Man this sucks!

Any idea what my nitrItes are so high?

 

[Beengirl]

Im kind of freaking out here!
My levels tonight were

Ammonia low, nearly 0

NitrIte very purple, never seen it this high before!

NitrAte about 5, it had a hint of orange.

my clown is swimming near the surface and Im worried he won't make it through the night! I have to wait until tomorrow to buy more saltwater, so Im not sure what I can do about it tonight! Man this sucks!

Any idea what my nitrItes are so high?

I'm thinking the tank wasn't fully cycled, or had a very light cycle. Clowns are kinda messy fish, probably causing another cycle. If your nitrites are that high, you need to do a big water change, like NOW. the problem is that nitrites outcompete oxygen, so your fish isn't getting enough oxygen, that's why he's at the top. He's kinda suffocating. Drop in an airstone hooked up to a pump, that'll get some more oxygen in there for tonight. What's your salinity at? When nitrite is high, a higher salinity is supposed to help counteract the effects of the nitrite. So dissolve some salt and raise the salinity some. Hope your fish makes it through the night!!

 

[Horvy19]

My clowns did the same a u describe when I first got them and I thought I was moving too much water but after two or three days they were all over the place and not as busy if that makes sense and my cardinal has no problem at all. I got the biocube 14 and the little ph that they make for the 14 and the 29. This is an awesome site and everyone here is great with the help! I'm new to this but have learned so much from these guys and gals!

 

[Convict2161]

Im kind of freaking out here!
My levels tonight were

Ammonia low, nearly 0

NitrIte very purple, never seen it this high before!

NitrAte about 5, it had a hint of orange.

my clown is swimming near the surface and Im worried he won't make it through the night! I have to wait until tomorrow to buy more saltwater, so Im not sure what I can do about it tonight! Man this sucks!

Any idea what my nitrItes are so high?

Appears to me that the tank isn't done cycling. Don't panic, do plenty of water changes! You can get through this with fish in hand. Just do water changes and more water changes and keep testing!!

Also you need to oxygenate the tank more. If you don't have an air stone you can drop the water level a little so the outtake is hitting the surface more creating agitation.

You should look into a air stone as a back up incase things happen in the future. I have 4 battery operated air pumps ready of needed.


Don't hit the panic button yet!!

 

[Lessa99]

Alright, I will be picking up water for change as soon as the store opens tomorrow. I had about 5 gallons on hand to change, but it made little to no difference in the trItes and trAtes so how big of a change should I do? 10-15 gallons?

 

[Convict2161]

Alright, I will be picking up water for change as soon as the store opens tomorrow. I had about 5 gallons on hand to change, but it made little to no difference in the trItes and trAtes so how big of a change should I do? 10-15 gallons?

Just keep doing 5-10 gallon water changes until levels drop. Then just keep testing. Your probably have to do back to back water changes on this one. Just get a few 5 gallon buckets an go back to back.

By that I don't really mean change 5 gallons and literally do another right after. Your gonna wanna wait a little bit and test the water. Then of course do your changes accordingly. You can do it.

You'd be surprised how many people do fish in cycles with saltwater tanks. It's not unheard of.

Just be on top of it and you'll pull through and so will your fish!!

First thing in the morning start those water changes!! Hopefully they will be ok until then. I'm pulling for ya!!

 

[Lessa99]

Thanks for the advice I really hope this pans out, I already feel so defeated, but after the little 5 gallon change the levels don't seem so different, but the clown seems to be swimming much more normally right now, even exploring a part of the tank he has yet to check out and he still ate like a champ earlier...

 

[Convict2161]

Thanks for the advice I really hope this pans out, I already feel so defeated, but after the little 5 gallon change the levels don't seem so different, but the clown seems to be swimming much more normally right now, even exploring a part of the tank he has yet to check out and he still ate like a champ earlier...

All good signs!! Keep the faith!! Water changes tomorrow and keep us posted!! You can do it!!

 

[Lessa99]

Ill definitely keep you updated! Store opens at 11, so Ill be knocking down their doors!

 

[Convict2161]

Ill definitely keep you updated! Store opens at 11, so Ill be knocking down their doors!

Haha! You sound like me now! Good for you!

 

[Lessa99]

I should mention that I have been using the API Freshwater Test kit, but from looking at the saltwater kit, the cards look nearly identical, so I figured I could get by using it. My clown looks to be doing pretty good thus far this morning, so I hope he can keep it up until I can do some bigger water changes.

Convict, I know you are not running a skimmer, but I wonder if I should until things get more settled? Which compartment should I put the skimmer in? Chamber 1 is too short to even fit my skimmer, Chamber 2 doesn't keep a constant water level, and 3 has the return pump, so no room for it....Any suggestions?

Also when I just do a top off, I should just be using RO/DI water correct, not saltwater?

Thanks Friend!