YeetPopper Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 My fish were doing great until I came home today and turned on the lights. I noticed my pair of ocellaris clowns were acting strange. One was doing flips and the other was swimming low and slow by a rock and leaning on one side. I watched them for 30 minutes. I dropped some crushed up pellets in the tank, and they ate a little bit. the one that was flipping was stuck against the overflow, so I scooped him out and put him back in after he was moving around a little bit. Then, he fell next to the powerhead and got blown across the tank and went belly up. I took that one out and flushed him. The remaining one is swimming low and slow, and breathing rapidly. My nitrates are at about 10 ppm. ammonia at 0 and nitrites at 0. My corals are doing fine as well. What should I do? I did not quarantine the fish. Any advice is appreciated thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 Picture? Anything look physically wrong with them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madsalt Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 How long have they been in the tank? How is your flow and return back to the tank (thinking oxygen here)? Did anything change in the tank recently or did you do anything around it at all? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeetPopper Posted February 28, 2015 Author Share Posted February 28, 2015 How long have they been in the tank? How is your flow and return back to the tank (thinking oxygen here)? Did anything change in the tank recently or did you do anything around it at all? My other clown died this morning. They were in the tank for about 2 weeks and were doing fine up until yesterday. My flow is fine I guess, and the water returns from the sump. I haven't noticed that many air bubbles coming out. I did not do anything unusual, I noticed that they were acting funny when I was getting ready to feed them. I didn't see any white spots on them. I'm not going to add another fish without quarantining it. I am just wondering what killed them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 Sorry for your losses. That's odd indeed, with no physical signs of stress or disease. I wonder if temp fluctuations or salinity may be a culprit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin S. Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 Whats your temp? And where are you getting your top off water? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeetPopper Posted March 3, 2015 Author Share Posted March 3, 2015 Whats your temp? And where are you getting your top off water? I keep my temperature around 76 degrees. The top off comes from a clean 32 gallon garbage container of RO water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nvrEnuf Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 When you say RO water; can you be more specific? What RO unit are you using and when was the last time the carts where changed? I've seen this kind of event a few times, usually the culprit has been poor water quality of stocking too fast Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeetPopper Posted March 3, 2015 Author Share Posted March 3, 2015 When you say RO water; can you be more specific? What RO unit are you using and when was the last time the carts where changed? I've seen this kind of event a few times, usually the culprit has been poor water quality of stocking too fast I use a RO Buddie by Aquatic Life. I have used it about 5-6 times and have not changed any filters. I know my city uses chloramines. I've done 7 water changes that were about 7.25%. I do them weekly. I think I'm going to start doing 15% water changes weekly by next weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nvrEnuf Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 Anyone familiar with this unit?? It's a 3 stage with no output read. So, Yeetpopper a couple things here: 1. just because it hasn't been asked and that's how things get overlooked I have to ask a stupid question: Did you use RO water when you set the tank up? And, ever since? 2. I will do my best to not make this statement offensive; but be forewarrned I am usually not the best at that due to being so blunt! This RO unit is an example of a common mistake I see made over and over again. It's called being TOO cheap. That's the offensive part because I con't come up with another way of saying it. I understand being on a budget (I mean I REALLLLLLLLLLLLY understand REALLLLLLLLLLY well!) but one of the biggest curves in this hobby is learning where to be cheap and where not to. Water filtration and nutrition are the LAST two places to skrimp. Notice I didn't say salt here! This means your filtration (pre-tank and in tank) must be top notch. That doesn't mean expensive (and I know Tim is going to chime in and say he tops off with tap water and I beleive him) this means top notch. I have as much time invested in perfecting my turf scrubber as rock scape for sure! Material cost = <$2.50 and far better (IMO) than any skimmer rated for even 3 times my volume. But I have HOOOUUUURRRRSSS of research and tinkering invested to make sure it was top notch! This goes for nutrition as well! Do I have to feed garlic everyday? Not at all! Does it coast more? You bet! How do I know it's worth it? again....HHHHOOOOUUUURRRRSSS of research and even more hours of conversation at fish stores I've seen turn sick fish into healthy fish over and over again. How does this apply to your RO? Well, RO is water quality! so in my mind there is 4 stage at a minimum, 5 stage is better, then there is what would generally be considered "lab grade". I don't really care about 0 TDS; your TDS is going to go to hell the second you add salt. But I have a TDS meter to tell me when to change carts because water quality from the tap can vary from day to day therby gallon to gallon and there is no "in x gallons change filter". I change mine when TDS gets between 10 and 20. (roughly 10,000 gallons (i've left mine on overnight on accident a few times)). At just 3 stages there is a chance you aren't filtering as much out as you think. I learned this lesson using a under the sink unit from home depot. It worked well as far as the testing kits went (amonia, chloramines, etc) but at about the 6 month mark something just wasn't right. Fish were dying, corals stopped growwing, etc. Upgraded to 5 stage for unrelated reasons and within a few water changes things turned around. Went back to the old unit to confirm and low and behold! Now, hopefully someone comes along and tells us they have used this unit for years and it's done great. But, from what I can find it's pretty much the cheapest unit out there and you may have gotten what you payed for. So, my longwinded moral here is this: I'm only trying to help you through a hump everyone on a budget build learns eventually: when to spend the dough! Your issues could be completely unrelated to the RO as well. Looking back I have to admitt I've lost both fish and corals to nothing more or less than lack of experience...Alk swing, temp swing, salt swing...etc. So, don't just go get a bad *** RO unit and think problem solved and move on. Form a theroy and test it! I don't know of anyone in this hobby for long that isn't almost always testing at least one theroy in thier tank! ~good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeetPopper Posted March 4, 2015 Author Share Posted March 4, 2015 Anyone familiar with this unit?? It's a 3 stage with no output read. So, Yeetpopper a couple things here: 1. just because it hasn't been asked and that's how things get overlooked I have to ask a stupid question: Did you use RO water when you set the tank up? And, ever since? 2. I will do my best to not make this statement offensive; but be forewarrned I am usually not the best at that due to being so blunt! This RO unit is an example of a common mistake I see made over and over again. It's called being TOO cheap. That's the offensive part because I con't come up with another way of saying it. I understand being on a budget (I mean I REALLLLLLLLLLLLY understand REALLLLLLLLLLY well!) but one of the biggest curves in this hobby is learning where to be cheap and where not to. Water filtration and nutrition are the LAST two places to skrimp. Notice I didn't say salt here! This means your filtration (pre-tank and in tank) must be top notch. That doesn't mean expensive (and I know Tim is going to chime in and say he tops off with tap water and I beleive him) this means top notch. I have as much time invested in perfecting my turf scrubber as rock scape for sure! Material cost = <$2.50 and far better (IMO) than any skimmer rated for even 3 times my volume. But I have HOOOUUUURRRRSSS of research and tinkering invested to make sure it was top notch! This goes for nutrition as well! Do I have to feed garlic everyday? Not at all! Does it coast more? You bet! How do I know it's worth it? again....HHHHOOOOUUUURRRRSSS of research and even more hours of conversation at fish stores I've seen turn sick fish into healthy fish over and over again. How does this apply to your RO? Well, RO is water quality! so in my mind there is 4 stage at a minimum, 5 stage is better, then there is what would generally be considered "lab grade". I don't really care about 0 TDS; your TDS is going to go to hell the second you add salt. But I have a TDS meter to tell me when to change carts because water quality from the tap can vary from day to day therby gallon to gallon and there is no "in x gallons change filter". I change mine when TDS gets between 10 and 20. (roughly 10,000 gallons (i've left mine on overnight on accident a few times)). At just 3 stages there is a chance you aren't filtering as much out as you think. I learned this lesson using a under the sink unit from home depot. It worked well as far as the testing kits went (amonia, chloramines, etc) but at about the 6 month mark something just wasn't right. Fish were dying, corals stopped growwing, etc. Upgraded to 5 stage for unrelated reasons and within a few water changes things turned around. Went back to the old unit to confirm and low and behold! Now, hopefully someone comes along and tells us they have used this unit for years and it's done great. But, from what I can find it's pretty much the cheapest unit out there and you may have gotten what you payed for. So, my longwinded moral here is this: I'm only trying to help you through a hump everyone on a budget build learns eventually: when to spend the dough! Your issues could be completely unrelated to the RO as well. Looking back I have to admitt I've lost both fish and corals to nothing more or less than lack of experience...Alk swing, temp swing, salt swing...etc. So, don't just go get a bad *** RO unit and think problem solved and move on. Form a theroy and test it! I don't know of anyone in this hobby for long that isn't almost always testing at least one theroy in thier tank! ~good luck! Thanks for the advice. I understand, I don't care if you are blunt. I may invest in a better unit when it comes time to replace the membrane and sediment filters. I am thinking about the one from Melev's Reef. And I have been using RO from the start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nvrEnuf Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 or maybe just get a TDS meter to test it now and be on the safe side? Testing equipment and tools are always money well invested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeetPopper Posted March 4, 2015 Author Share Posted March 4, 2015 or maybe just get a TDS meter to test it now and be on the safe side? Testing equipment and tools are always money well invested. Yeah, but eventually I will want to upgrade to a RO/DI unit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin S. Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 I picked up this TDS meter a month ago and use it every time I get water. - http://www.ebay.com/itm/191398494881?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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