Chromi danger!

[jeffreyliu838]

I just finished cycling my tank, and dropped my Chromi in a few days ago. The first day, it was doing fine. Swimming around, actually eating, ect. Now it just swims in place and kinda tilts itself sideways. Could it be food poisoning? I fed it some really old dried bloodworms and dried daphnia. Will it live? I don't think it's the water, because I did a 50 percent change and it still behaved the same. I chased it around with a net to see if it was favoring a certain depth, but it wasn't. It's preference is corners though. It won't eat right now. Thanks for the help.

[dileggi]

I'm sorry to hear about your problem with your Chromis, although I really don't know what it could be. Mine have never acted like that.

I'm not sure on the food poisining though. What are your water params? Did anything come in contact with your water? Is anything else behaving oddly besides that one fish?

[REEFKEEPA]

What kind of flow do you have in your tank?

[demonsp]

50% water change is to much. Also i have some long outdated chicken wings in my freezer i didnt know what to do with but ill send it to you as i think you will eat it.hehe

We need more info like tank size , all equipment and water readings?

[jeffreyliu838]

Ah, sorry.

I have a 20 gallon. A CPR bakpak is on there along with an additional Rio 600. 20 pounds of sand, and 20 pounds of live rock are also in there. I just dropped in a hermit crab, a fancy nassarius, and a turbo snail. I have one actinic t5 and a small LED lamp I use at night so if I can check up on the fish. The LED lamp is not very bright. My nitrates are somewhere between 2.5-5. It was Chinese New Years, and I burned alot of incense. Could the smoke have affected it? I changed water ike 2 days after the New Year, because I thought it could be it. Thaks.

[kau_cinta_ku]

what are the other parameters? ammonia, pH temp, sg, ect.

[jeffreyliu838]

I'm not sure about the ammonia and the PH since I can't find the tests (damnit), but the SG and temp are fine. It's in the mid 70's and not fluctuating very much over time. Could it be ammonia?

[demonsp]

Well you have no lighting as the antic alone isnt enough and the nightlight does nothing for the tank its more for a natural look.I think flow maybe fine.
You need to know your water readings before adding anything else.And a didnt see a skimmer. Did you mix and let the new water batch circulate before adding?

You could have just got an un healthy fish but without knowing water readings you can never really be sure.

[jeffreyliu838]

Oh, I do have a skimmer. That's what the CPR bak pak is.

Is the actinic not enough because of the spectrum, or because of wattage?

Thanks.

[demonsp]

Antics do add to total watts but you want to start the day with 1 hour of antics then turn on main light and at night turn off main lihgts leaving antics on for an hour.Simulates sunrise and sun down giving the stock the full day experiance.Main lighting lore important and antics help with the stock color also.

[jeffreyliu838]

So do you think the reason is the lack of lighting? I have a friend that's coming back next week that's selling me his power compacts. Do you think the Chromi can wait that long?

[REEFKEEPA]

The lights are not messing with your fish.
It's probably Ammonia or dissolved oxygen levels...

[demonsp]

I dought the lights are the problem.More imprtant for coral. You really need to know your water readings and should have known before you add anything.This isnt a hobby you can guess or just hope for the best.You need to go step by step and have total control of and without knowing your water readings all you will ever do is guess.

[jeffreyliu838]

Hmm. Where do you guys think the ammonia came from? I did a 50% change, and the fish is still in this condition. Could ammonia be doing this to my fish? How do you get rid of it?

Thanks.

[demonsp]

Dont every change more then 33% at one time and weekly. I dont see ammonia level listed but if you have ammonia and this was your only fish then it means your still cycling.A 50% water change could cause a minicycle raising ammonia.

[REEFKEEPA]

LIVE ROCK !!!
At least 20Lbs NOW.

[jeffreyliu838]

I'm certain that the cycle is over. I checked all my parameters, and everything was 0 (except for pH, of course).

How come over 1/3rd is bad?

And I do have 20 pounds of live rock. Along with 20 pounds of live sand.

[REEFKEEPA]

If your LR was actually LR and totally cured you should have been OK.
Sorry.

[jeffreyliu838]

Yeah, I let it cure for like 1 month and a half. I added like 5 pounds recently though. Like a week before my Chromi was added. Could that be it? Wouldn't the water change have gotten rid of all the ammonia though? Even then, the LFS is only like 10 minutes away, and they fully cure the rocks. I don't think much could've died in that time.

[REEFKEEPA]

Maybe leave it alone and see what happens tomorrow??????

[demonsp]

You remove to much benificial bacteria the the system needs to replace. If you have no fish then the only place the ammonia will come from is the rock. Take a piece out and smell it.If it smells like ammonia then its not cured yet.

[newreef8584]

If all you did for a cycle is put in the rock and the water and wait, then the tank wasn't ready. You have to add some sort of decaying matter to give you an initial spike in the amonia. It is this amonia that will feed the beneficial bacteria that will begin to colonize the rock and then give you the bio-filtration required. You said you tested the water and there was no amonia. Was there ever a test that said you had some. It has to spike first then come down.

How is the breathing on the fish. Rapid breathing can be a sign of water toxins.

As for water changes, 20% is normally a good number but 50% is not out of the question. I have used a 50-50-50 method in the past over the span of a week in a emergency. 50% change wait 48 hours, 50% change wait another 48 hours then a third 50%. This was after my wife decided to shampoo the carpets and use a aerosol stain remover right beside my open top tank with the skimmer running and no filter on its intake. The corals reacted within minutes to the chemicals.