water change and now looks like everything is Dying

[SaltyFlip]

Janynie Glad to hear that you and Mr.Softy somehow saved some of you stock and that Mr.Softy came to help. Great guy! I would've helped too but Suffolk is far from me. Anyway seems like you have it somewhat back up and running. Take it slow and don't rush....wouldn't want another repeat of what happened. That's what this hobby has taught me ever since I got in it. Patience patience patience....everything from making water to acclimating a frag or fish to temperatrue control to etc...good thing I still have a bucket full of patience :lol2:

 

[Jaynie1028]

Well this morning I work up to the tank again cloudy. So I changed another 7 gallons of water. Before I changed the water I checked to see what the levels were and the ammonia is at .5 Throughout the night my mushroom that was left in the tank did die, he disconnected from the rock and started to melt. So I threw him away. Other then that all levels are at 0. Ph is about 7.8 to 8.0. Trying to bring that up a little. I have to get to the store when I get out of work and buy some filters to help clear up the water again now.
Thanks again to Everyone.
At this point the fish are in the tank and they dont look bad. Im sure the ammonia is still bothering them but there is nothing else I can do but leave them in the setup.
I am looking for some liverock to add to the setup. If anyone has an extra piece or two please let me know. I need rock that has been in a setup for a while and is well cycled to help me start to cycle my tank again. All of my live rock that I had either has dead corals on it or has been taked out of this tank and removed to the other tank where I saved the some of the corals that were on them but not all

 

[georgelc86]

Minimum 5 gallons Jaynie.

 

[Jaynie1028]

would it be a good idea to do another one tonight? Or should I give the tank some time?

 

[georgelc86]

I dont think another change would hurt. As long as your matching your salinity and temp.

 

[Jaynie1028]

Well after fighting the ammonia in my 29 gallon bio cube for the past few days. Now my aquapod just spiked as well. As I stated before that I took all my corals out of my 29 gallon and put as much as I could into my 12 gallon. Ammonia was fine up til last night. Checked last night and it was great. Now today its .5 as well. I think I know where the problem was all along now. My Green sinularia was dying and didnt know it. So I took it out of the 29 and put it into the 12 and that turned the water bad real fast.

Well after this I have decided to leave the hobby. I will be selling whatever I have left before the rest die. As everyone says you cant get rid of ammonia and I dont want to kill the livestock that is left in the 12. Everything still looks really healthy and happy. Thanks everyone for your help.

 

[SaltyFlip]

Oh no :sad2: Tell me you're not serious about leaving the hobby?!...Well good luck with your stocks and wish you the best! You had one hell of a battle.

 

[nanchil]

take it easy. You can ask our members to hold ur life stocks. And let the tank cycle for a month or two. You will be good. Go slow. Good luck

 

[wimby]

Hey don't give up we all have had bad experiences. Clean it all out get new rock and start over.

 

[Will C]

Don't think of all the heartache, look to the satisfaction of getting it right. You are at mile 20 of a marathon, 6.2 more to go. ya can't quit after all that hard work. There are many more people pulling for you than tou realize.

 

[georgelc86]

NO No no, you just found your problem. You just hit the peak of the mountain all downhill from here.

 

[Mr. Softy]

NO No no, you just found your problem. You just hit the peak of the mountain all downhill from here.

Thats what i said the other night. Here is a little breakdown on her system. 1st No mechanical filtration, 2nd bioballs gacked up with crap in the back compartment, 3rd a pile of decaying cheato wedged in the bottom of the back compartment with no light on it. 4th a protein skimmer that seemed to overflow back into the system if not constantly monitored and was on top of the cheato. A real protein skimmer is a must but is impossible to fit on that kind of tank. She did very well for what she is working with but i think a crash was unavoidable. I'm not trying to bash Jaynie, I like her very much. Just want all to know what she is up against. I have fixed a few crashes for people in the past with large systems, but these little tanks conditions deteriorate so rapidly that its hard to stop it. At this point i think that she has to leave nothing but the rocks in the tank and let this thing run its coarse. Way to much die off to do a quick fix. I will try to give her a hand again tomorrow.

 

[Jaynie1028]

Thanks everyone for the help. At this point I dont know what to do with my live stock. I know the fish are suffering. Is there anyone that can hold them for me until I am able to maybe fix this problem? If so Please Let me know. I am willing to let them go before they die. I dont see this problem getting any better any time soon. All my corals do look great I must say though Fish all look good as well. I am located in middle island I could bring you anything that you would be willing to hold for me until this is better or if I decide to leave the hobby then I would ask you to either keep the fish or adopt them out for me. I really love the hobby and it is heart breaking what I am going through right now.
Thanks again Everyone

 

[QUESTIONMARC]

if you would like me to take care of the fish and corals i can.. i have a main tank. a frag tank and a quarentine.. i can also put them in my sump as well for the time being.. all tanks have light for coral care and all tanks can support fish life. if you get stuck.. feel free to let me know. 347.614.1814

i am not sure what you have.. but i am pretty sure that i can find a place for it till you decide. you can see my tank at http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/sale-trade/46943-fraggin-time.html . hope it all works out for the best. either way.

 

[georgelc86]

Jaynie, I have some room here if you want to drop the 12 off and I have a 12 QT running at the moment. I am in Brooklyn so I would like to be a last option since I am all the way out here and hopefully someone near you will help you out. LMK

 

[Jaynie1028]

Marc and george OMG, I had no clue I was going to get offers that fast to hold onto my stuff. Thanks so much guys. I will keep you guys in mind. Your just so far from me That would have been so great. Im located out east. Middle island so the bronx and brooklyn is a little to far for me. But who knows. Thanks again. I just cant believe how fast you guys responded to this. THANK YOU.

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Hold the phone for a sec. Jaynie what are all your parameters now?

Are you running carbon? Do you have a phosphate reactor?

If I were you I would take a bag of chemipure and put it in a phosphate reactor and run it for a few days and see if that helps correct your problem. I say Chemipure because it is carbon and it comes already in a bag. I use chemipure elite which also has phosban media in it. If you don't want to use chemipure you can buy carbon and use that. Make sure you rinse it well in RO before you put it circulating in your tank. Rinsing it will get rid of any loose particles and dust so that you don't cloud up your tank anymore.

Here is a link to some simple do it yourself reactors you can make extremely inexpensively. http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/diy-do-yourself/20523-diy-phosban-reactor.html

Don't give up this is just a small speedbump. Trust me.

 

[Musicians Reef Too]

Hold the phone for a sec. Jaynie what are all your parameters now?

Are you running carbon? Do you have a phosphate reactor?

Jaynie is running Kent Marine carbon, as well as Chemi-Pure. Her parameters are as follows: Nitrate is 0, Nitrite is 0, Ph is 8.0, Ammonia is varying between 0.5 and 1.0, Phosphates are unknown as this time (when tested, tested at 0), and Salinity is at 1.024. She is currently picking up Mr. Softy, who is going to bring over his water filtration system, premade water, and live rock to recycle the tank. He's going to swap Jaynie's live rock with his own for the time being, and take some of the fish to insure their survival. Jaynie also has a quarantine tank cycling right now for any other emergencies. Corals and fish in the 12 gallon Aquapod are currently flourishing, let's pray that doesn't change!

Thank you for everyone's help and feedback. Will update the posting as we progress...

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Ok so there is good progress. And throwing in the towel has been delayed for a little while at least. Don't give up yet.

Another question for you what test kits are you using?

 

[Josh]

Any idea what caused the ammonia spike?