Still struggling to balance...

[krislena]

I have a 12 gallon tank about 8 months old.
3 Damsels: 1 dominate, flourishing &2 that hide in corners &seem pale.
1 large peppermint shrimp
1 bubble tip anemone.
2 pieces of live rock: 1 that came with the purple algae and one that has developed green algae.
My anemone has been there about 2 months and still moves around.
Ammonia level is .5
Harndess is 300
Alkalinity is 300
PH is 7
NO2 is 0
NO3 is 80
any suggestions? I'm thinking of taking the 2 smaller damsels back or the large one. The 2 smaller ones can't be happy with the bully in there.

[jer77]

Um you may have a serious problem if your pH is really 7. Its supposed to be like 7.8-8.5. I suspect a bad test kit.

[taillonjohn]

damsels are mean. If you leave the big on in the tank, it will terrorise any other fish you put in. If you take back the big one and keep the 2 small one's, they will terrorise any other fish you put in. I would take back all 3. my opinion only

[krislena]

It is SOOO hard to tell bc the color on the stick changes SOO much. when I took the PH earlier and came back it was at 9 but when I wait 30 seconds like it says its only at 7.

[fuzzyt]

Might want to invest in a different type of test kit. They can be expensive up front, but worth it when you need to know what happening in the tank.

May need to work on getting the nitrates down. If they really are at 80, it could explain your anemone moving around a lot.

Best of luck! :)

[arts007]

They may be pale due to the stress of the dominate damsel bulling them, I dont think thats going to change anytime soon.
I wouldnt trust the test strips, they are not very accurate as you can tell. If you can, get a Salifert test kit, if not maybe pick up an API pH test kit, they are sold at most LFS's.

[arts007]

yeah missed the nitrate, get that down and you should not have any ammonia either, that can very well stress anemones.