Help Please

[Aquagirl]

yesterday I stocked my newly cycled tank with two clown fish and a finger leather coral as suggested by my LFS for a great beginning. My coral opened up when I got home and looked great, today though it completely closed.

Lights are on a timer for night and day

I checked my parameters
pH has spiked to 8.8
Nitrites are 0
Ammonia is high .50
Nitrate is 0

With the Calcium test it turned blue at 23 drops , so 460 ppm


Anyone have any advice on getting my coral to open back up?

 

[Nick James]

Pics or specs of your tank would be great to allow people to help

How much rock do you have, placement of the coral, how did you acclimate it, did you dip it, how long did you cycle your tank for, how do you know it was cycled

Just a few questions, and welcome to TheFragTank!

 

[thehvacman]

The tank wasn't done cycling if the ammonia is still registering on tests. Do 10% water changes to stay on top of ammonia, and allow time for proper bacteria to grow. Coral won't open with ammonia in water. Hopefully the leather can hold on, they are usually pretty tough, but it hasn't even gotten settled yet. Good luck

 

[SamB]

I have to agree with other forum members that ammonia is not helping your situation
That is VERY high ammonia and the clowns are also in jeopardy in my opinion
As said, your tank is not fully cycled
Your ammonia reading needs to be zero
Patience is always the key to successful salt water aquarium keeping
To be on the safe side, I would take your livestock back to the LFS and ask them to hold it until your ammonia is gone
If not the LFS, perhaps you can have a local reefer hold it for you
Good luck

 

[AdInfinitum]

+1 ammonia and no nitrates means the cycle isn't close to done.

 

[Aquagirl]

I had the water tested by my LFS before i put anything in. My live rock has been the only thing in There.

The coral has opened back up a little bit

 

[heath]

did the lfs tell you that the tank was ok to add stuff...

 

[Aquagirl]

Yes. That's the only reason I would ever put something in my tank. I went to them weekly to have my water checked. And I was given the OK, so I purchased two clown fish and a coral on his advice

 

[SamB]

I hate to sound lile a broken record (you kids are too young to know that expression ) but Ammonia needs to be zero and ideally nitrates should close to zero also

Ammonia is produced by dead material that is undergoing the decay process. Could be dead material on your live rock, decaying food, dead fish, etc etc. Based on the age of your tank, I assume that the "die off" is from dead life forms on your live rock. This is normal and part of the nitrogen cycle but until you have sufficient live bacteria to "eat" the ammonia and change it into less toxic "nitrites" and then further break it down to even less toxic "nitrates" you should not add any living creature. Livestock cannot sustain and grow with any amount of ammonia present

Finally I should say that the nitrogen cycle process can take anywhere from weeks to months (generally 4 weeks minimum) to complete so don't beat yourself up if you aren't there in a specific time !

 

[Shooter000]

On a side note that is a Kenya tree

 

[Luke.]

Imo looking at the pic it looks better then my Kenya tree I had before when I started .. Just like everyone said here hold off , even if you have to print out pics to tape to the glass lol jk.. But wait it out your fish should be ok my clowns have made it to hell and back more then once lol..
Just don't add stuff to it untill things and controlled for at least a month this hobby is tough but the best think you can do is find that works and keep it as consistant as possible , Rome wasn't bult over night , good luck and keep us posted !

 

[TORX]

Why does it look so clean? I would normally expect to see some different algae type on the sandbed and rock.

Sent from my SM-G925W8 using Tapatalk

 

[Shooter000]

How long was the tank cycled for?also was all that rock in there at the same time of cycling or has some been added since, as the one looks very aged and the others look like fresh dry rock?

 

[heath]

How long was the tank cycled for?also was all that rock in there at the same time of cycling or has some been added since, as the one looks very aged and the others look like fresh dry rock?

Good point, maybe a mini cycle..?????

 

[AdInfinitum]

When you did your fishless cycle what did you use to feed the tank to make it cycle? Fish food, raw shrimp, liquid ammonia, or???

 

[scubasteve]

Some good advice above

 

[heath]

I feel bad that a fish store then that the tank was ready to go...