HELP!!! Nitrates off the chart tang is light color,wrasse just sitting

MikeP · 01-10-2002, 08:46 PM

OK, Fish only tank, 55 gal with UV and trickle
Powerheads...
The tank has been doing great. Its been running for about 5 years(1 year since move). I just switched food to blood worms(they like) this past Saturday and my wrasse has been hiding in a shell since Tuesday and the Yellow tang has lost it's color. My Nitrate level is off the chart 140ppm
I truthfully have not kept up with the tests but the tank has been doing great. Am I in the middle of a cycle and should I start doing loads of water changes and put the Protein Skimmer back on(sharing with my Reef tank)??? Or add chemicals which I hate to do. PS the Nitrate test is a few years old 1998(tablet type).
Thanks

hesaias · 01-10-2002, 08:58 PM

What kind of water movement do you have in the tank, how much? Are your fish eating when you feed? Is the tank grounded with a probe? If you can get a in date test kit and test for pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate, and do a W/C it wont hurt things. Id stop using the blood worms you just got, sometimes food can go bad.
Are there any other tank mates and how are they acting.
HTH

Spanky · 01-10-2002, 09:08 PM

Mike,

It definitely could be your test kit, but honestly, it doesn't look that way. Are they frozen blood worms, if so they can produce a lot of waste if they are not rinsed first.
Are these the only fish in this tank?

hesaias is right on the money, a water change won't hurt anything. Add that skimmer too. Don't feed again until you figure out what's going on, even if it takes a few days.

Anytime you change things (chemicals, foods, frequency) it's a good idea to start testing again to see where it goes.

Good luck
Jerel

Doug1 · 01-10-2002, 09:11 PM

Mike, mix up some new salt water and start doing a series of 10% changes daily. get a new test kit as suggested, these things have limited shelf life

Avoid the cheap kits, SSalifert is really good, LaMotte is too and Fast test is better than the cheapies out there.
What kind of tang do you have, how big is it and what do you feed it. Bloodworms aren't natural diet for marine fish, and tangs require a high ratio of marine veggies in there diet, preferably fortified with Selcon. At the very least they need a lot of plain nori, the Ocean Nutrition Red variety is good. Their diet considerations and the ease that they stress in small tanks makes them a
less than optimal choice

Hey Hesaias, good to see you here

BTW since tangs ideally consume a lot of veggie matter they tend to produce a lot of waste, everytime mine attacks the nori, he seems to poop
I would recommend a good skimmer on the tank to handle the waste, somethen along the lines of a Remora Pro, Turbofloater, or similar, the little skimmers aint going to cut it

MikeP · 01-10-2002, 09:14 PM

Thanks for the quick reply.
I have 3 fish in the tank Grouper, eating well eats shrimp same diet as always. A yellow tang, eats the bloodworms, did not eat much today. And a wrasse has not eaten since Tuesday. All other tests are fine. Getting new tests tomorrow and a new UV bulb. Not grounded and has a good strong powerhead. I just changed some DeNitrate that is in a Bag and there were these semi clear shrimp type things on it?? Don't know if they are good or bad(it sits in the wet dry filter) Never noticed them. Did 5 gallon water change today and will do a 10 gallon tomorrow. I will change the food to Brine for tomorrows feeding.

hesaias · 01-10-2002, 09:22 PM

Mike
How old is your powerhead? Sometimes those things can leak current into the tank. If Im not mistaken, tangs are real sensitive to stray voltage, as all fish are, I think tangs are more so. A grounding probe will help this. How much flow in GPH do you have? is your surface agitation good, i.e. lots of ripples? Your O2 could be low if not, which the skimmer will help too. the shrimp things are 'pods, they are good guys, and your fish will eat em if you get them on the main tank, or your reef.

Doug
You guys got a nice place here, ya'll have grown since I last dropped in.
I just love that logo

MikeP · 01-10-2002, 09:33 PM

Thanks for all the quick replies. I have a yellow tang about 5 " long and a wrasse 6 inches long and a spotted grouper 7 " lazy ole guy but he eats well.
Yes it is frozen, I never though of washing it, I am switching to Brine tomorrow morning(frozen) and will put the skimmer on until I get another.
The powerhead is about 1.5 yrs old very good current, I used it originally a little over a year ago for a Fish pond(6x6x4)before my dog ripped up the liner. I wil check out probes.
Thanks

dark horge · 01-11-2002, 01:07 AM

On Doug's behalf, thaks for the compliments, Scott

And for the good points raised regarding Mike's prob.

horge, dark

hesaias · 01-11-2002, 08:04 PM

Hey mike, hows the tank doing?

Hiya Horge, er, um, Dark Horge I mean....

Doug1 · 01-11-2002, 09:47 PM

Wow, it's going to be hard keeping nitrates down with a fish load that large. A really efficient skimmer and water changes?

MikeP · 01-12-2002, 06:20 PM

The tang got it's color back and is eating great,
the wrasse came out of his shell and swam around a little. I have been doing water changes every day until today, I will do another tomorrow(5 gallon)
I put more denitrate in a filter bag and it seems ok. Just worried about the wrasse. He isn't breathing heavy just sitting there.
I am using brine shrimp now. Going to chuck the blood worms.
Thanks.
Thanks for everyones help with my 29 in the past most the green algae is gone just a bit of red but I can handle that. I will post picture when I get my new camera.