Y
Youngshin
Guest
I set up a new 29 gallon marine tank last month and added about 20 lbs of live rock and 30 lbs of crushed coral with 5 lbs of my fish store's live sand to get things started. I have a 30 gallon power filter and a mini protein skimmer that collects a couple of tablespoons of yellowish water daily, and last week did a 15% water change. I top off every other day or so with drinking water from my water filter and keep the temperature at 79 F. After cycling for about a week, I added a green chromis damsel, a bluefin damsel, and a 4-stripe damsel to speed cycling and test conditions before adding costlier fish. Everything went well for about two weeks, and then my bluefin damsel and 4-stripe damsel started to change color and look dull and "dirty." The next day the bluefin died. A week after, the 4-stripe stopped eating and hid behind the rocks for a few days before dying also. When I took him out of the tank, I noticed his gills looked surprisingly red inside. Now, my remaining green chromis is turning dull and swimming tilted at an angle and gulping faster than usual. What am I doing incorrectly? I fed a pinch off a brine shrimp cube and a small amount of pellets two times a week before they started to die. Hair algae and some brown algae started to form on the tank, and I let it grow, thinking it might be beneficial to the cycling. pH and ammonia/nitrate levels are fine, but the aK is high, but the instructions on the test kit are only concerned with low aK levels so I assumed it wasn't a big problem. I stick my arm in the tank to stir the coral once in a while but I make sure to rinse thoroughly with only water before. Can any of these reasons explain why my fish are dying?
The specific gravity is between 1.022 and 1.024. The reference book I was using said using a few damselfish to cycle was fine because they tend to be hardy. I have Biozyme, but stopped adding it because my fish thought it was food and it clouded my water, and I didn't think there could actually be live organisms in there, it being dried flakes. So should I just cycle longer without adding additional fish, and test often? I'm probably going to upgrade my protein skimmer or power filter. Any suggestions? Also, do I need a powerhead for circulation?
The specific gravity is between 1.022 and 1.024. The reference book I was using said using a few damselfish to cycle was fine because they tend to be hardy. I have Biozyme, but stopped adding it because my fish thought it was food and it clouded my water, and I didn't think there could actually be live organisms in there, it being dried flakes. So should I just cycle longer without adding additional fish, and test often? I'm probably going to upgrade my protein skimmer or power filter. Any suggestions? Also, do I need a powerhead for circulation?