Newb with setup problems, help please

[wubaguba]

Hello all, happy new year.

I'm a bleeding newb, hoping to get some advice for my new setup. I setup a 75G marine tank 2 days ago with only crushed coral. Today, I added about 50lbs of "cured" live rock from the local aquarium shop and 4 damsels (2 blue and 2 yellow tail) to get the cycle going. They looked great at the store (eating, etc.) but got very stressed from the time i put them in my tank...wouldn't eat, not moving around, etc. Tonight, things are getting worse, one blue and one yellow tail has died ...and the other 2 look to be having resperatory problems. I followed instructions to the tee regarding setup and adding the fish. I bought a test kit and all levels look fine...not much ammonia or nitrite yet. Also took a sample to the fish shop and they agreed that water levels looked fine.

Could someone please tell me what could have gone wrong. I have read some posts about live rock disasters. That is the only thing that I have come across as the potential culprit. If you all agree that the rock is likely the problem, please pass along what steps i should follow to remedy.

Thanks very much in advance! -Bill

 

[panmanmatt]

Did you acclimate the fish or just drop them in? Of course all your levels read zero, cause your tank hasn't even started to cycle yet. Your tank will need at LEAST 2 weeks or more to cycle even with "cured" LR. You really don't need to add any fish to cycle your tank, the die off from the LR will start your cycle just fine. Check your water parameters at least once a week, and you'll see them change and will be able to tell when the tank has cycled.

 

[wubaguba]

Thanks. Yes, I did acclimate the fish...15 min in the bag and another 15 with some water from my tank, then netted them in. When I referred to levels, I was referring to pH, hardness, chlorine, alkaline, salinity. I thought there may be some ammonia building from the live rock today but test says ammonia is almost undetectable. My pH looks to be a bit high 8.7-8.8 with the test I just did...going to add some buffer to see if that helps.

Any other thoughts? Thanks again. -Bill

 

[hdtran]

pH of 8.7 or 8.8? That's not a bit high, that's way high.

The normal range is 8.0 to 8.4; most folks try to aim for 8.3.

That said, I hope that the 'cured' LR was also 'cycled'. It's very stressful to use fish to nitrogen-cycle a tank. If you don't have a good book (like John Tullock's or Bob Fenner's), that should be your first purchase. In the meantime, read the newbie guides (sticky at the top).

Rerun your pH test, and do a water change (or do the pH test on freshly made saltwater. That should read within the normal range). Chlorine test? Not familiar with that...

 

[panmanmatt]

The tests you really want to be concerned with are ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates as they are the three "parts" of the cycle.

I agree that your Ph is way high, i keep my tank at 8.2.

 

[panmanmatt]

Also IMO a 15 minute acclimation is not long enough, you should acclimate for at least 30 minutes for fish and 45 min-1 hour for inverts. Look in the Library here and i believe you will find an acclimation guide.

 

[PeeJ]

ehhh...id recomend longer than that for inverts. just slow drip for several hours. whats the rush? longer the better

 

[wubaguba]

Hey, thanks guys. I'm going to work on my acclimation skills after the tank is cycled. Think I'll stick with just the live rock until nitrites are gone. Thanks again.

 

[Jiggaboowhat]

welcome wubaguba,

Suggestion: Adding some more live rock to your tank. If you have a 75 gal tank, 50# of live rock isn't that much. I have been in this hobby for a decent amount of time, and also work at a fish store and would suggest no less than 1.5# of live rock / gallon, so you're looking at atleast 115# of live rock when you're all said and done. the more the better!!! There's nothing better than live rock as a biological filter. Another question...how much crushed coral do you have in your gank? (inches) the deeper sand bed the less chance you're have of having nitrate trouble later down the road.

GOOD LUCK!!!
:lol:

 

[ChrisRD]

I have been in this hobby for a decent amount of time, and also work at a fish store and would suggest no less than 1.5# of live rock / gallon, so you're looking at atleast 115# of live rock when you're all said and done.

IMO the old 1.5# or 2#/gallon recommendations for live rock aren't very good guidelines. It really depends on what sort of rock you're talking about and how dense it is.

IME with some of the very porous Pacific rocks you can have less than a pound per gallon and still have adequate biological filtration (in combination with a decent skimmer). With a live sand bed you could get away with even less as the sand can provide a lot of biological filtration as well.