burn1dkf02
Aquarium Advice Newbie
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2015
- Messages
- 1
Hey all, I'm a newb to this whole hobby and I've come here as a resource to be able to seek knowledge and advice in times of need. I'm from central New York (upstate) and have a 37 gallon saltwater tank. I first introduced water into the tank on October 21, 2014 and added two Iced Mocha clowns on November 28th. I have a CUC of about 25, including mixed snails and crabs. Just a couple of days ago, my daughter and I added two firefish to the tank that seemed lively and this morning I wake up, and one is dying and one is missing. As I scrambled looking for the other and testing the water to see what could be wrong, I watched the one firefish die, it was very sad. I cannot find the other firefish. When I got home last night, the lights had already cycled off, I had fed the fish in the morning and this morning, there was no sign of the one firefish. Is it possible it died the day before and the CUC completely devoured it? I even moved rock looking for it and nothing... My PH has always seemed to run low around 8.1 yet I was told that should be fine at the LFS if the tank is naturally keeping the PH at that level. I'm now getting a bit of an ammonia spike when testing today, though I'm not sure if that is in relation to the addition (or death) of the new fish. Nitrites are at 0 and nitrates are around 20-30 ppm. I did just recently add a 5 lb. piece of live rock as my tank was a little short, I believe. Any suggestions on how to not kill more fish? I had added the two firefish at the same time, was that a mistake? Do I need to work to bring the PH level up? Should I add more clean up crew? I'm open to any and all insights. Thank you all so much, I look forward to being part of this site.