My tank is in bad shape

[3fins]

ok guys. Im kinda shy about this and a bit embarrisd. Now im sure for some of u reefers out there that ur first time reefing was not the best
not the right equipment
jummping the gun and putting the stuff in the tank
all that

well ive done it all..ive tryid to fix my tank but ..nothings is working.
first of all. i have a clarkii clown. hes hasnt died yet(strong lill fish)
and i have hair algea on my tank and i put the algea gone tablits in my tank and well...in little letters it says not for use with crustaions..<sp So i had that in my tank. Ive done my water changes and all. but im not sure of that stuff is soaked in the rock or sand. I bought the chemi pure and purigen to add as a "helper" if u will. I got rid of the bio balls and put rock rubble in there with a fluval phosphate remover. Also i have a upgraded to the maxi jet 1200. and also i dont have a protien skimmer . u no its not cheap and i only as of now have 117.00 in$ so what do u reacomend for a whole tank make over.

So i thougt i may try to buy some corals and c if every thing was great. ( i know ur saying that im and idoit witch..i can agree with)
so couple of days went by and my starfish my mushrooms, zoos all died, but yet my clown still has not dead lol. Now im ordering a whole new test kit cus my other one is used out.
Ill use the test strips for now and go test it when i come back from the store. (ps cant go to the fish store her were il live ..its in the middle of no where)

so if anyone can help me, and tell me were to start, that would be great.
and thankyou for taking ur time and reading this and helping me.

3 fins

[Tyler.L]

do alot of water changes....at least 1-2 a week help everythign out to get rid of the H.A (hair algea) if you're using tap water thats whats causing the algea. the next best thing is to use culligan or the 18L water bottles, which i am using.

don't add anything else will just make things worse..

[t5Nitro]

Don't use test strips. Get a better test kit, preferably salifert. Test the water levels and post the water parameters here. Not much people can tell you with the information given.

Are you using tap water or RO/DI water? If you are using tap water, be sure to use a tap water conditioner in it.

What is the salinity, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and pH?

[3fins]

Thankyou for posting quickly. The saltnity is 1.0025
the ammonia nitrite nitrate and ph i havent tested yet.
im using distilled water but at the begining,
(i didnt no) i did use tap water and did water changes with distilled.So now im guessing i have almost all distilled water in the tank now.

[3fins]

i have to use the strips now because i have to order the testkits online. and ill let u know what the test stips say.

[Kengaroo131]

did you cycle the tank? if you didnt there the problem right there, everything can be dieing from ammonia high nitrates or any kind of spikes in the tank. how long has the tank been running?

[SugarFox03]

You should probably do a 100% water change (or pretty darn close to it) and get a copper test. There could have been traces of copper in your tap water, which has leached into your sand & live rock, in turn leaching back into the water, killing off the inverts. Also, what are you using to test salinity, and did you mean to say that its at 1.025, or did you really mean 1.0025?

We need more info from you to be able to help!

[3fins]

kengaroo, yes i did cycle my tank, or i thought i did. but the tank has been running since Christmas. and sugarfoxi it is 1.025 srry about that , i was in a rush. and to test my salinity i uses a hydromiter. I have a dwarf tank i put togther for my mom and that tank turned out great , and im just bummed i cant get a bigger better tank to turn just as great.

tomorro im going to get the cheap test strips so i can just c what whats going on. Untill the master kit gets here thats what im ganna have to use.
and i think the whole 100%water change is a good idea, but wont i have to start the whole cycle over agian?
just a thought.
thank you guys soo mutch for helping me with this and being realy nice. I though yall were ganna laugh( just say u didnt lol)
3fins

[SugarFox03]

You need to get a copper test, please don't skimp on that. If there's copper in your system, no amount of water changes will help. Most inverts cannot handle copper at any levels.

[NanoReefWanabe]

what are your lighting cycle set at?

and what kind of lights are you using...this could also be contributing to your HA problem...

i think you would be better off with 25-30% water changes a few days appart rather then a large 100% change...

also if you can pull the LR out and scrub the crap off of it...and then rinse it off it will help..

[3fins]

ok thanx ill try to get the rock out and scrub them off,
well im off to the store to get the test stuff and ill c i can get a copper test while i am there.
thanx sugar and nanoreefwannabe< i wanna be a nano reefer to lol

[3fins]

go the the thread at the first page

[3fins]

o darn...

[chkit]

i am assuming u are getting your salt water from your lfs. do they test your water for u? you need to test for ph, alkalinity, nitrite, nitrate, amnonia and make sure they are in safe ranges. it's very discouraging when you start losing your livestock. i've been through it all. with time u will gain experience and will do fine. don't give up.

[3fins]

Thanx for the boost. Im glad im not the only one lol. but i get the salt from drfostersmith.com.
i live out in the middle of no ware basicly so i order everything i need on the computer.

[parkavenuereef]

The Algae Gone is not reef safe and will kill all your live rock and your coral. not sure of what is in the product, but with a reef it has to cycle, and algae is part of the process and it has cycle completely before it will go away. With that being said, the tablets you used probably damaged the biological load in the tank, basically causing you to start from square one. If the tablets have any copper in them or metal properties, then you will need to get new Live rock and sand in the tank, completely drain it and re-fill. water changes will not remove copper, its obsorbing and will not dillute. Good luck man, I have been there and done that many years ago, lesson learned with doing that.

[55semireef]

Do you have a skimmer? Adding a skimmer would make a big difference. Added flow helps too.

[Jimbo327]

Just do water changes and run carbon. And oh, no more chemicals into your tank please. Unless it's carbon or phosphate remover.

[chkit]

i suggest you buy a ro/di unit. i got one off ebay and i'm happy with it. then order salt from drsfostersmith.com and mix your own water. it'll pay for itself in the long run. also get a skimmer like some people have suggested. aqua c or tunze are recommended from what i've read.

[55semireef]

I like my Octopus 150 skimmer but you don't need a skimmer that big for this size tank...