nano cube

steph090887 · 04-13-2006, 01:27 PM

Hey guys! Im new to this fourm. I have a 6 gal JBJ Nano Cube. It has some mushrooms, 2 waving hands, 4 snails, 2 blue legged hermit crabs, and a clown. I had a sebae anom but he was getting too big too fast so i had to sell him to a fellow reef keeper. My problem now is since i took him out of the tank, my levels have been off. I did another water change yesterday to try to bring some of the levels down but i don't understand why they are going up! any ideas? I havent had a problem with levels in the past...

Loverotties · 04-13-2006, 01:39 PM

Welcome to TRT!What levels are going up?Nitrates and Phosphate?They would go up because it wasabsorbing them.What are all your water parimeters?All levels will change quicker in a small tank.

Casey · 04-13-2006, 01:46 PM

Welcome to TRT!
What are your water test results?

steph090887 · 04-13-2006, 07:47 PM

well before it was Ammonia:.5, Nitrite: .05, and Nitrate: 10. I haven't tested nitrite and nitrate yet today but i did test Ammonia and it was at a lower .25 but still not good. I will try to test and post everything else asap. my tank is always in the 79 to 80 range. everyone seems to be doing fine though...my mushrooms are all open along with my waving hands..the crabs are good and so is the clown...

Casey · 04-13-2006, 07:50 PM

A cycled tank should have zero ammonia and Nitrites unless something is way wrong,How long has it been up?

steph090887 · 04-13-2006, 09:01 PM

Everything was cycled. It has been up for over 6 months. My friend allie works at a SW store in the area and sets up tanks, so she is the one who helped me cycle it so that is not the problem. I added little by little and for a long time the levels were 0. As i said i took out the sebae and now everthing is up. All i can think of is if i sturred things up when i got him out.

Casey · 04-13-2006, 09:08 PM

Yea I think you messed it up or something died in there,water changes can help.

Petunia · 04-13-2006, 10:11 PM

Two water changes a week have really helped me lower my nitrates. Good luck and keep us posted.

WELCOME!! Glad to have you aboard!

Got any pics of your tank? We love pics here.

steph090887 · 04-17-2006, 01:47 PM

Sorry i haven't posted but ive been really busy. I looked around in the tank and i still count everybody so no one died. But now my ammonia is getting worse. I just checked it and my test kit says it is at 1.0! I don't get it...i just did a water change yesterday so it shouldn't be this high. Maybe my filtration just sucks...it is whatever came with the JBJ nano cube....i haven't changed anything. Any suggestions if i should change something? I have also cut back feeding my clown to everyother day since the levels got off. He always acts STARVING! i just have a baby dropper which i suck up a couple peices of brine shrimp and he like attacks the end of the dropper for food! i feel really bad...

steph090887 · 04-17-2006, 01:51 PM

Oh yeah now i am also getting green and brown algae all over my live rock and sand. What the heck...

dobejazz · 04-17-2006, 02:39 PM

When you are doing water changes are you rinsing the sponges in the back compartment?

garvondavis14 · 04-17-2006, 03:14 PM

is brine shrimp all you feed the clown?

Ocnreef · 04-17-2006, 03:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dobejazz

When you are doing water changes are you rinsing the sponges in the back compartment?

Are you doing this on every water Change? How big of a WC are you doing and how often?

kurbs · 04-17-2006, 06:13 PM

If you are having ammonia problems its because of some sort of die off. Water changes and a few drops of prime should get that under control. Have you added any live rock to the tank recently?

Because the nano is so small, the slighest things can cause your levels to go hay-wire. You'd be surprised the imapct a scented candle, cleaning products, dirty hands in the tank, excess food that is not being consumed, and so on, that can tweak the tank.

The algae problems you are speaking of are usually signs of a tank cycling. however, you indicated it has been up for 6 months, so that doesn't make sense. The only other thing I can think of that would cause a bloom is one of two things. 1) Over feeding 2) Are you using tap water to do water changes?

-Nick

steph090887 · 04-17-2006, 08:37 PM

I try to make sure i wash the sponge out every day or other day. There is extra build up stuck back there and i have tried to suck it out with a syphon and usually get most of it. Im doing probably anywhere from 10% to 50% WC depending on how off the levels are. Im sure i was overfeeding when i had the other fish in there. I did have a Damsel and a Sebae but they are both sold now. Now i just suck up a very small amount in a dropper and shoot the brine shrimp out one by one untill he is done eating to help bring down the levels. Im not sure what to do about the algae...i dont want to take the rocks out and scrub them or anything, i think that will just make my problems worse. Even my poor snails have algae on them

.And yes that is the only thing i feed my clown...he is so **** picky. Ive tried different kinds of pelleted food to see if he will eat it now that my sebae is gone there is no need for frozen food. What should i be feeding him?