i need help now

Ruth · #1 12-21-2006, 11:25 PM

Those #'s don't look too bad to me although you are showing some nitrite so that is not great as it means that something is not quite right. IMO Red Sea are not the most accurate tests and if at all possible it might be worth your while to either try and borrow some Salifert or Elos test kits (or if you have a friend with those test kits take a samle of water over and re-test it) or if there is a saltwater fish store in Drayton Valley take a sample in there and have them test it.
I have no experience with greenx but I do know that it is a phosphate remover. The only thing I would run in your canister filter for the next while (say a couple of weeks) is carbon and change it out often (say every 3-4 days) Also make sure that you have a quality carbon to run. I know that you can buy some very good quality carbon from Prairie Reef Supplies for a very reasonable price.

draco · #2 12-21-2006, 11:29 PM

thank you guys so much for your support. so you think that i am safe to re-add my fish? i took a turkey baster and squirted the live rock and a buch of worms have come off should i re-siphon my tank or leave them? i have already drained like 20% today.

Ruth · #3 12-21-2006, 11:40 PM

If you have a bunch of dead worms in there you want to get them out - they will only pollute the tank as they decompose. I know that we have said not to do any more water changes but if you have dead stuff in there then you are going to have to.
Another thing you might want to consider at this point is to remove your sandbed and go bare bottom - at least for a while. If you have dead bristleworms visible on your rock you can be sure that there are probably a lot more dead in your sand bed.
You want your tank stabilized before you add you fish back in. Maybe just run your canister filter on the bucket you have your fish in and throw a few pieces of live rock in there for filtration.
If it were my tank I would remove all inverts and corals to a bucket - mix up a fresh bucket of water - remove the rock and swish it around real good in this bucket of fresh water then siphon out the sand bed and probably most of the water. Then put most of the live rock back in and top off with more freshly mixed up water - test for a couple of days to make sure you don't get a cycle - then as long as your tests indicate it is OK add you livestock and corals back in.

andresont · #4 12-22-2006, 03:17 AM

I would like to introduce a theory. (Could be wrong , but hey, you never know)
Could worms try to spawn? i had this happen once in my 108 Gal., and one worm started waiving its tail spraying white goo (sperm).
After that they all have gone like creasy doing the same. Water was like a milk, however cleared up fast, if that happened to your tank at night you might have missed the show but end up with a lot of toxic material in the tank so everything started to suffocate slowly. In small tank this could get to a point of no return very quickly. What do you think? I agree about doing small water changes more often rather then big one, this shocks everything even when al live stock is doing OK.

Reefhawk1 · #5 12-22-2006, 07:12 AM

I have a couple of questions.

How do you mix your salt?

How much water flow do you have in the aquarium?

Can you post some pictures?

mark · #6 12-22-2006, 02:39 PM

Do you normally age your SW for a bit before adding to tank?

Though when I first started did with no ill effects, have read if just adding salt to water, mixing then adding immediately to tank can irritate fish.

danny zubot · #7 12-22-2006, 02:54 PM

Quote:

If you have dead bristleworms visible on your rock you can be sure that there are probably a lot more dead in your sand bed.

I second that. I had that happen with a bunch of these little sand sifting snails (can't remember ther name of them) and while my tank didn't crash, I did have a cyano bloom.