Big Problem!!!

[John Kh]

Hello,

My story starts here; I left the house 4 days ago and the tank was totally fine. The fish were good, the water was clear... The big shock was when I got back there yesterday's night. The automatic feeder fell into the tank, I do not know which day and stayed there till yesterday. Everything was a total mess, the tank was pale, the fish were pale, the Skimmer Waste Cup was full of waste... My favorite Midnight Angel and 2 Green Chromis were gone I tried to clean the whole mess as much as I could; I removed the feeder from the water and cleaned it, I cleaned the Skimmer Waste Cup, I installed a Bacteria Icon (BioDigest)... In a matter of a couple of houres everything seemed better. Yet when I woke up, the Skimmer Waste Cup was full again and drawning in water. I cleaned it again and within 10Mn it was almost full again. Does that means the Tank water is fully damaged?! The fish semmed brigther and more relaxed in the morning... But I still do not know what to do!!! Please someone help!! Is there anything I should do or can do to prevent some further damage!!! Especially that I need to install some new fish in a couple of days!!!

[OneDummHikk]

I wouldn't put fish in that tank "in a couple of days" until you figure out what all happened, get it all straightened out, and make sure the issue from the feeder is solved first.

How many and how much water changes have you done?
The skimmer is "going crazy" doing its job since there is a super-load of nutrients in the tank. The cup being full is a sign that its doing its job and getting a lot of crap out of the water.

Water changes, keep the skimmer clean, test the water parameters. You should see elevated levels of ammonia (possibly) through nitrate. Keep an eye on them and get them back down to acceptable levels before adding ANY more fish to the tank.

[John Kh]

Well the tank was like 10% missing water or a bit more since the skimmer was working like crazy. I added some more water with AquaSafe. As I mentioned PH was 8.2. The tank is new and like 3 weeks old. When I tested Nitrate and Nitrite last week, the level was really really small. I mean I could barelly see a color using the test kit product. I will again tonight anyway and see. Hopefully things will turn good after all.

[OneDummHikk]

TetraAqua AquaSafe? That tells me you are using Tap Water and a conditioner. Thats mistake #1. Second mistake is having fish in a 3 week old tank. And you say you need to add more this week? That would be a HUGE mistake.

Find a source for RO/DI water or Distilled water. Then do a large water change. Are there any fish left in the tank at all? If not, change as much water as possible. Then let the tank cycle - completely. It is going to be at least 2 months to get it straightened back out and ready for more fish.

Keep the skimmer cleaned out. Keep the tank topped off with RO/DI or Distilled water (but not conditioned tap water).

Watch the levels for a few days, do water changes weekly (25% or so) and in about 2 months you will be ready for more fish.

Patience is going to be the key to getting your tank straightened out.

[John Kh]

Yes, It is Tetra Aqua Safe and I am using tap water, then mixing it with the the Aqua Safe and Marine Tetra Salt. They said this is how to do it at the local store. And this was the fastest thingy to do. Why is it not really safe nor good? What is RO/DI!!

And the problem is that I ordered the fish already!!! And expected to arrive in the next couple of days!! Already paid and ordered!! :S

[OneDummHikk]

RO/DI is Reverse Osmosis/De-Ionization and is a way of filtering water. Its 99.99% "pure" water. You can get the same quality of water by buying distilled water from the grocery store.

As for the fish, find someone that can keep them for you for a few weeks, or, you roll the dice and hope the torture of a cycling tank doesn't stress/kill the new fish.

At your "local store", is that a chain store or a Local Fish Store (LFS)? Either way, its time to find a new store if that is the type of advice they give out.

[John Kh]

If I could find a good store, I wouldn't have ordered the fish online!! It is a simple store where the employees have no enough experience anyway. But I am managing; reading some books, asking online, searching... And always finding contradictions; everywhere. I thought everything was fine untill yesterday!! Let's hope for the best anyway.

[John Kh]

And I forgot to add that I still have many fish:
1 Green Chromis,
2 Lawn Mover Blenny,
1 Chocolate Chip StarFish,
1 Banded Boxer Shrimp,
1 Yellow tale damsel,
1 Black Damsel with a white spot on the head,
1 Black, white tale damsel,
1 Bleu damsel with a black spot on the face,
1 Sailfin Tang,
4 Percula Clowns,
1 Tomato Clown,
4 or 5 Gobbies,

That's what I can remember for now. They looked bright this morning.

[Fat Tony]

uhhh.. what size tank is that again... i hope by your list that it is a couple hundred gallons...

[John Kh]

75Gallon or so. But they are really small fish, you barely see them especially that I have loads of live rocks. The only fish I can see always is the Sailfin Tang. Others always try to hide or swim in the back or the around the corner!!

[chatterboxbaby82]

i could be wrong but from what i read it isnt a good idea to mix clownfish like the perc and tomato. and that is alot of fish for a new system.

my advice is before u get anymore fish *after what u just ordered* let the tank cycle do your water changes. either buy a ro/di unit or go to *forinstance* walmart and fill some jugs with dI water tap water will cause so many problems i learned that hte hard way and always research your fish before u buy as in will it get along with what u have already and tank size. good luck but def. let ur tank have more time to run before buyinganything else.

[John Kh]

No more buying for me. I simply ordered a couple of Fish, medium sized, that's all. You know hot impatience we get when we have the first aquarium. And everything seemed fine at the begining. Unfortunatly, i faced that problem yesterday. Anyway I will be more cautious next time.

I saw last time a gallon of water from Tetra!!! They said it is sea water, I can simply open the gallon and add it to my tank!! Good idea? Or bad?

[chatterboxbaby82]

they do make premixed saltwater, or the natural seawater something like that just make sure u always read the lables u dont want any phospates, nitrates and the like. im sure someone with exp can help u a bit more with that stuff i have never used it personally.

good luck

[Loverotties]

OMG please listen to Randy !He said it allWay to early to have any fish ,let alone what you have is to much and you want to buy more?STOP!

[Mr.Peanut]

Originally Posted by John Kh

And I forgot to add that I still have many fish:
1 Green Chromis,
2 Lawn Mover Blenny,
1 Chocolate Chip StarFish,
1 Banded Boxer Shrimp,
1 Yellow tale damsel,
1 Black Damsel with a white spot on the head,
1 Black, white tale damsel,
1 Bleu damsel with a black spot on the face,
1 Sailfin Tang,
4 Percula Clowns,
1 Tomato Clown,
4 or 5 Gobbies,

That's what I can remember for now. They looked bright this morning.

Wow!!! How many more did you order?