Hi,
I am pretty new to saltwater tanking.. I have a 29 gallon biocube.. It has been up and running for 5 monthes now.. I have noticed in the last couple of days a green film on top of the water.. And today my royal gramma and anemone died... I checked my chemicals and my nitrates are way high.. and of course all pet stores are closed right now.. is there anything I can do to save the rest of my fish.. I will go ask help from my fish store in the morning but until then I am affraid I will lose more fish... any help I would appreciate..
You can also get alhold of me at my email.. destinysix@gmail.com
Thanks
Destiny6 ( Vicki)
do a pretty large water change if you have saltwater handy. that will bring down the nitrates quite a bit in a small tank. i would do about 50% if the new water is the same temp and salinity as the tank water.
how often do you do water changes normally ?? what are the other parameters ?? type of anemone did you have ?? did you remove the dead one (they release toxins when they die) ??
BTW ... MOST LFSs are the LAST place that you want to go for advise. i would suggest asking HERE before ANY LFS.
__________________ Bobby
"I FORMERLY glued animals to rocks" NO TANK RIGHT NOW, but you never know when I might throw one together !! I have everything I need but the time!!
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firstly, yeah, agree with bobby, dillution is always the solution, in future if you notice any change in animal behaviour, scoop out a cup for comparitive testing & do a water change straight away!
Whats changed in the last week as aposed to the last month ?
thanks Bobby,
I feel really dumb and way overwelmed right now with my tank sick .. makes me feel like I should have researched this whole saltwater tank thing more before I started it up... Not sure what you mean with the parameters of the tank.. i have live rock, 4 green chromis, 1 yellowtail damsel, 1 longnose hawkfish, 2 clown fish. The Anemone I lost today was a pink tip Haitian. One of my clown fish was very close to him and I am sure he is in morning.. poor thing.. I don't have the salt to do the water change.... Any idea why I would have this green film on top the water.. it was not there till a few days ago.. and I havent added anything new to the tank in a month.. when I got the anemone... I have never done a water change on this tank.. I didn't know I needed to do one on a regular basis... See I am way to under knowledged to have this tank... and really wishing I had a backup tank right now...
Thanks for your help
Vicki
nothing new to the tank.. and everything has been going great with it.. my water is a little cloudy right now... maybe from the green film at the top of the tank...
parameters are nitrates, phosphates, calcium, alkalinity, nitrites, etc. do you have any test kits ?? i would highly recommend getting at least the first four listed.
how much (lbs) LR do you have ?? we recommend 1-2lbs per gallon of water. do you have an RO/DI unit or do you buy your water ??
what kind of flow do you have in the tank ?? i like the Koralia powerheads. they even make a nano version.
you stocking list seems a little high to me for a 29. i would not recommend more than 3 or 4 fish for a small tank like that.
you really need to stay on top of a nano tank. with the small water volume it is very easy for things like nitrates to get away from you. water changes will really help you to keep these parameters in check too. i would suggest about 5-7 gallons every couple of weeks. the green film is likely from the surface of the water not being skimmed in one way or another. do you have a nano skimmer in the tank ??
lastly, i would HIGHLY recommend listening to the talkingreef podcasts (they are all free). there is a ton of info in them, and i would start from number 1 and work your way forward through them.
I have test strips.. that check nitrate, which is between the 80 to 160 (unsafe). Nitrite which is at.5 (caution).Alkalinity at 300 (ideal)saltwater 7.8 (acceptable).
Also I found salt.. I new I must have put it somewhere.. I did the 50 % water change> hopefully I didn't do more harm then good.. Since I didnt know there was a special water I was supose to use.. I used my filtered water. Partially heated, and kept an eye on the temp of the water and salt level as I was refilling...
I have maybe 15 to 18 lbs of rock.. Looks like alot in a small tank.
I have only the equipment that came with my biocube, I will get more if needed.. just never new I needed more then what I had...
As far as the pod cast go I will listen to them.. cause I really need to learn more... Can I download them and put them into my itunes for my ipod?
What is a nano skimmer? and where is a good place to buy one?
Thanks for all your help I really appreciate it
Vicki
all of the podcasts are available on iTunes. you can also subscribe to it there and get them when they become available.
a nano skimmer is a protein skimmer that is made for a nano aquarium. they make them so that they fit into the back compartment of the all in one tanks ... i have heard many good reviews about the Tunze nano skimmer ...
Tunze Nano DOC Protein Skimmer 9002 (Saltwater Aquarium Supplies > Protein Skimmers > In-Sump > Venturi > Up to 100 Gallons )
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.............now where's my taco's & oversized sombrao hat gone? 
thank you ... thank you very much