all my fishes died!!!!!!!

[scottayy]

Originally Posted by Gti_Leo

the only difference is saltwater fish are a little mor sensitive then freshwater. from what i've read freashwater fish can live with nitrates of 80ppm while saltwater can only cope with abotu 40ppm

I've read articles that state to keep it under 80ppm, and even some that said under 100ppm. I know that I've had about 100ppm a while back after a large amount of cyano dieoff. The fish seemed fine during that, even though I got it down within a week. 40 is bad, but I don't think it's a dangerous level.

[Nu-Nu the eel]

Haha ohh thanks! How did u have a huge die off?

[vshawn]

If nitrates arethat high I would be doing weekly water change of 10-20% until 0ppm if you going reef get in habit of doing 5% wc's per week once nitrates are 0 ppm. If your a newbie u should also check ammonia nitrite nitrate phosphate ph weekly and stir a bed is asking for trouble as previously said best way to keep food off sand bed if feed lighter, get more clean up crew, ensure proper flow/current to keep detritus and food from building up. You want it to get pulled up and skimmed out. Do u use a skimmer?

[bunbury22]

What if I locate 1 powerhead almost at the bottom of the tank kind of flowing upwards? Would that kind of elevate the levels again or would that help?

[vshawn]

What size is your tank and how many gph are your power heads. I have power heads on side near back top pointing toasted front of glass one each side I also have a third On a timer that is on back wall which comes on mornings and evenings to add extra my tank is 90 g 48x24 I have 2 koralia 4 and 1 koralia 3 and 700 gph return total of 3500-4250 gph I have sps and flow is crucial You should have a powerhead on each side of tank pointing at each other or at the glass I find get best results have them 2-4 inch below water line gets good surface break also. Position varies depending on your rock work as well
Let know about your tank and try a position watch it leave it for a few hours
look at your sand bed usually can see a very small movement in sand

[Gti_Leo]

Originally Posted by scottayy

I've read articles that state to keep it under 80ppm, and even some that said under 100ppm. I know that I've had about 100ppm a while back after a large amount of cyano dieoff. The fish seemed fine during that, even though I got it down within a week. 40 is bad, but I don't think it's a dangerous level.

i'm sure there are some hardy fish that can withstand that high, but remember the long term effects that these conditions have on a fish's reseratory system. i would not want mine in such an environment.

the highest my clowns have ever had to deal with is 20ppm nitrates, not nitrite or ammonia, and phosphates have never really shown their ugly face. now my little nano 26er with a marineland emporer 280 has not signs of any type of polutant and life all over, and i've fed every day since i first got my clowns

[bunbury22]

Originally Posted by vshawn

What size is your tank and how many gph are your power heads. I have power heads on side near back top pointing toasted front of glass one each side I also have a third On a timer that is on back wall which comes on mornings and evenings to add extra my tank is 90 g 48x24 I have 2 koralia 4 and 1 koralia 3 and 700 gph return total of 3500-4250 gph I have sps and flow is crucial You should have a powerhead on each side of tank pointing at each other or at the glass I find get best results have them 2-4 inch below water line gets good surface break also. Position varies depending on your rock work as well
Let know about your tank and try a position watch it leave it for a few hours
look at your sand bed usually can see a very small movement in sand

I have a 55g tank and 2 700gph powerheads

[Gti_Leo]

for a basic FOWLR system aim for a 10x the total system volume for flow. so at minimum you should have 550gph in a 55g FOWLR. two 700gph should be fine unless your rock work is all over the place and you are gettign some dead spots, which you can find if you just add some purple up and watch the movement of the white clouding through the water

[bunbury22]

Originally Posted by Gti_Leo

for a basic FOWLR system aim for a 10x the total system volume for flow. so at minimum you should have 550gph in a 55g FOWLR. two 700gph should be fine unless your rock work is all over the place and you are gettign some dead spots, which you can find if you just add some purple up and watch the movement of the white clouding through the water

Most of my rock work is on the rear left corner

[vshawn]

Originally Posted by bunbury22

Most of my rock work is on the rear left corner

I would say try to place powerhead on sides of glass 3inch from water line and 3 inch from back wall both pointing toasted toward the front glass play with height from water line if need be. You will also benefit from more live rock recommended is 1-2 lbs per gallon. What are your ammonia nitrite nitrate now curios if your having another cycle cuz if you add more live you may anyway

[bunbury22]

Originally Posted by vshawn

I would say try to place powerhead on sides of glass 3inch from water line and 3 inch from back wall both pointing toasted toward the front glass play with height from water line if need be. You will also benefit from more live rock recommended is 1-2 lbs per gallon. What are your ammonia nitrite nitrate now curios if your having another cycle cuz if you add more live you may anyway

I checked them yesterday and they were super low I don't remember the exact amounts. Yes I have only like 35 lbs of lr but I need more.

[bunbury22]

Phosphates .05 ppm and nitrates 0 ppm, ammonia I don't have them

[vshawn]

Originally Posted by bunbury22

Phosphates .05 ppm and nitrates 0 ppm, ammonia I don't have them

Cool, now based on the amount of LR you have and the amount of fish you listed previous the bio-load was probably to high and stirring sand bed probably took it over the top.

Do you have HOB or sump filtration?
Do you have a skimmer?

[huma-huma]

You can skim the sanded, just don't physically stir it up.

[SAAVE853]

Originally Posted by huma-huma

You can skim the sanded, just don't physically stir it up.

Couldn't have said it better myself

[bunbury22]

Does that happen even if I took only like 5% of the sand out of the tank with the siphon it was kind of just skimming?

[SAAVE853]

It's not about how much you took out, if it was b/c of your sand then it's b/c you stirred up too much and your live rock couldn't handle the load of trash to process.

[bunbury22]

Oh ok I did not know that. I really don't want to go tru that again I felt like a loser lol. Would it be better if I have my live rock in the middle of the tank to try to avoid dead spots?

[Scotty09]

Buy more live rock that's ur next goal I'd say u got hardly any

[bunbury22]

I have 20 lbs of live rock in another tank and I'm just going to get rid of the eel and transfer those rocks over to this 55g tank. I also want to to get a canopy before I start my addition of fishes