New additions...HELP!

[Telford]

I added a copperbanded butterfly, sailfin tang and six line wrasse to my tank yesterday. When i woke up this morning and the lights came on, basically all the fish in the tank were breathing rapidly and very lethargic. Also, my pulsing xenia is limp and very dead looking.

I checked ammonia and it's at about 0.25 ppm and nitrates are at about 10 ppm. Are these levels significantly too high? Are all the fish just still ****ed off about the new additions?

Current stock is 2 small clowns, 1 yellow tang, 1 blue regal tang, foxface, yellow head goby, 2 scooter blennies, the new sailfin, copperband butterfly and six line wrasse. As well a very light stock of a few soft corals.

No, i didn't add any of the bag water to my system.

Any help/feedback appreciated!

[Borderjumper]

Thats a bunch of fish! Thats 3 tangs, a foxface, and a copperband along with the smaller fish.

Is your tank well established? Your ammonia and nitrate arent very good. First thing you need to do is a water change and then think about how all those tangs are gonna fit in your tank once they grow. edit to add.. your profile says you have a cylinder tank? Never had one but the small surface area may not be allowing enough oxygen into the water?

[Telford]

It honestly doesn't look overcrowded at all. I don't like the overcrowded look and from a lot of the tanks i've seen, mine looks pretty sparse. The tangs are all >2inches.

I am due for a water change as i've been a little lazy as of late, probably been 6 weeks since the last 20% change.

The surface is smaller on a cylinder but i have pretty good flow and surface agitation (Koralia 4 pointed up at the surface from about 18 inches down). Does this help?

[Keri]

The PH helps but I'd still put a couple more PH in that tank, get a few cross-currents going - you're probably getting a lot of dead space in your LR if you've just got the one.

[Telford]

The PH helps but I'd still put a couple more PH in that tank, get a few cross-currents going - you're probably getting a lot of dead space in your LR if you've just got the one.

You're probably right...i could probably use another one on the other side of the tank, but i don't think that's what's causing my 'issue'

[Keri]

The limp xenia makes me think it's a water-quality (or O2) issue rather than soley a fish thing. I'd start with the 20% WC, add some more movement and re-asses in the AM. Are the fish showing any other signs of illness? (white spots/red patches etc)

Also check your temp! Sometimes the heaters fry. Have you put your hand in your tank at all? (I'm not suggesting you do if there is any live current lol, but if you have allready...)


please don't electrocute yourself lol

[Telford]

Nope, temp is good and heater's fine. I'm assuming/hoping it's just stress of new tank mates and poor water quality. I'll do a good 20%er tomorrow and see how everything responds...

Any other suggestions and comments still appreciated...

[Reefhawk1]

You should consider quarantine before adding several fish to an aquarium at once. The added stress and possible parasite introduction could cause serious problems for your tank.

Your water quality could use some help as well as well as more water movement with surface agitation as the others have said could help.

[Myka]

I agree with the waterchange suggestion. If something's lookng awry in my tank the first thing I do is test the parameters, then do a water change.

The Sailfin Tang was a very poor purchase choice for that size tank. As much as I absolutely LOVE Sailfin Tangs, they grow HUGE quite quickly, and need very large tanks.

[Aquattro]

NH3 should be 0. A good sized water change is in order right away.

[BMW Rider]

The fact that you have any amonia showing up indicates that you have added too much too fast. Either that, or you jumped the gun and stocked before the cycle was complete. I assume that since you had some stock in the tank that was doing ok prior to this, that the tank has been running for at least a little while.

You should never have detectable levels of either amonia or nitriite. Nitrates are more tolerable, but not desireable if too high. Your nitrate level would not be excessive on its own, but since you have amonia reading, it is pretty certain that you also have nitrite levels as well. Add in the nitrate, and you have your answer on why things don't look good.

I would suggest that you need to temper your enthusiasm for rapidly stocking your tank and add one fish at a time, allowing at least a month between to allow the bacteria cycle to catch up to the added bio load. For now you need to do water changes; do them large and often until things stabilize.

[Telford]

I understand adding more than 1 fish at a time is not adviseable. However living in the okanagan there is really poor selection and you pay 3 times what you pay for a fish on the coast. I figured 3 relatively small fish would be ok and i'm still confident they will be. The tank has been running for almost 6 months so i think i've been pretty patient adding livestock.

I did a 25% water change this morning and everything appears much happier. I'll test parameters again once everything has had a good chance to circulate.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

[michika]

How does your flow work in your tank? Do you have a tank journal? You may want to move your koralia power head closer to the surface, or add a second power head in to oxygenate the water more.

Keep up with your water changes, and maybe look into some sponges, like a nitrate sponge, as something to keep on hand for emergencies.

How about some photos of your cylinder tank? I'm really curious as to what it looks like?

[Telford]

How does your flow work in your tank? Do you have a tank journal? You may want to move your koralia power head closer to the surface, or add a second power head in to oxygenate the water more.

Keep up with your water changes, and maybe look into some sponges, like a nitrate sponge, as something to keep on hand for emergencies.

How about some photos of your cylinder tank? I'm really curious as to what it looks like?

Sorry, no tank journal. I regret not starting one but i didn't 'do' canreef when i started. I knew completely nothing about fish tanks when i started. The amount of time i've spent reading and researching i probably could have been a lawyer by now and i still know very little. If i had a $1 for every liter of water i've spilled on the floor i'd be as rich as a lawyer as well.

I like the idea of another power head, gonna order one.

Here are a few pics...

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg303/TelfordHenry/IMG_0132.jpg
http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg303/TelfordHenry/IMG_0131.jpg
http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg303/TelfordHenry/IMG_0128.jpg
http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg303/TelfordHenry/IMG_0133.jpg