New tank

[king8808]

So I have a 20 gallon saltwater tank with two starter damsels and my ammonia keeps spiking and not sure why any ideas the damsels are small babies right now oh and I also got a t8 "18 coralife light bulb for a anemone I have herd the bulb is good and isn't good and my tank stays at 78 degrees all the time but I wonder if my tank is ready but not sure

 

[king8808]

Oh and I plan to get the anemone in the future not this very second

 

[bribo12]

That light is nowhere near enough for a nem. Think at least 4 bulb t5 ho, with metal halides or strong 3 watt diode leds. On the ammonia is your tank cycled? How long has it been setup? How did you cycle it?

 

[king8808]

I do a cycle 1/3 of the water with fresh saltwater and the tank is only 2 weeks old and as far as the bulb I'm not sure where to get another at since the t5 is to small of a bulb for the tank

 

[ezy33]

Oh and I plan to get the anemone in the future not this very second

Check out a tube anemone as it does not require high lighting.

 

[king8808]

My goal for the anemone is for my clown fish here is a pick of my tank before I changed the bulb

 

[bribo12]

You would need a separate fixture. A t5 fixture. Clowns do not readily host nems ime. Also, your tank is not cycled. I'd take your fish back, get some live rock, and cycle the tank properly. I know there's a sticky on here about cycling a sw tank. Read that.

 

[Macscale]

I do a cycle 1/3 of the water with fresh saltwater and the tank is only 2 weeks old and as far as the bulb I'm not sure where to get another at since the t5 is to small of a bulb for the tank

That is changing the water, not cycling the tank. Go online and read about the nitrogen cycle. You must add an ammonia source (e.g. Cocktail Shrimp, Pure Ammonia).

Here's a basic rundown of the cycle.
Ammonia ---> Nitrite ---> Nitrate
Beneficial Bacteria breaks down fish poop and uneaten fish food. That is ammonia, then the BB turns the ammonia into Nitrite, and the Nitrite into Nitrate. This process will first happen an take anywhere from 2-6 weeks. Once all the elements go to zero, except nitrate, then you add another ammonia source. If that goes down without 24hours, then your tank is cycled.

 

[Macscale]

My goal for the anemone is for my clown fish here is a pick of my tank before I changed the bulb View attachment 230061

Why do you have fake plants in a salt tank?

 

[king8808]

I have live rock in there now this pic was taken just after I got the two damsel I had three but my folks liked the black one so I gave em to them but I have cycled the tank without fish two weeks before I got fish and then I have had the fish in the tank for two weeks so in total with and without fish I have has the tank running for four weeks now

 

[bribo12]

If it was fully cycled you shouldn't have any ammonia. You will need to do water changes to get ammonia to 0 so the fish aren't suffering.

 

[king8808]

I have the fake plants for now for my daughter she wanted to help with her tank as the tank gets older I will take them out and have them replaced with live plants and yes the cycling and water change r different but I refer them as the same not sure why I do that I should have specified I'm sorry but yes I have cycled the tank I use some stuff also I got from the fish guy that puts live bacteria in the tank also the good bacteria

 

[Macscale]

The tank wasn't cycled correctly. To avoid harm to the fish, return them and cycle the tank properly.

 

[king8808]

Maybe it's the blonde in me i dont know lol on why I mix them up lol

 

[king8808]

We'll as far as taking the fish back I shouldn't have to do that I have a older tank I can put them in that's been running for a few yrs but I never had problems when I got that tank up and running its a 55 gal

 

[king8808]

I cycled it the same way and never had trouble with it i dont know though

 

[Macscale]

How did you cycle?

 

[king8808]

The same I did before I used that bio what ever that stuff is called and it spiked all my levels at once then I got the two damsels to finish the cycle which worked my levels have been stable till recently

 

[bribo12]

I don't think your cycle ever finished. You added 3 fish as well which is a heavy bioload for such a young tank. You will need to do water changes as needed to get ammonia back down to 0 until the cycle completes

 

[king8808]

I moved the damsels to my older tank for now and I put my other damsel in my quarantine tank because I can't put bother together in my other tank or they will pick on my tang and clown fish but I moved the damsels for now so I can re cycle the tank and see if I misses something when I allowed my daughter to help it's her first tank but just not sure what went wrong