Starting to Loose Hope

Hi all
I am a new marine tank owner, based in Saudi Arabia where there are only 2 shops that deal in stock and related tank products, so not everything is available and not everyone knows what they are talking about. I am also new so please bear with me if I dont know all the names and terminology if asked.

Here is my story and maybe you can help:

I have a biocube29 , the shop started the cycle one week before they brought it to me when I paid them the deposit, let's call that week 1.

Week 2: They brought in the tank, water, gravel, and 4 pieces of live rock

Week 3: They brought in 1 brain coral, one plate coral, one leather coral, and two rocks.. one which started having algae growing out of (one is light green with tips looking like a small ball) and one that looks like a sunflower (circular middle and tentacles going around the circle) they have a protective cover that they retract into when they feel danger or during lights out.
The second rock has a small starfish and 2 tiny crabs hitch hiking, they look harmless really so I dont know if they are the cause. One is purple color and the other is redish brown, they are always either hiding under rocks or just picking up food and minding their business...

During this week I started noticing some red color algae that looks like left over chewing gum growing on the live rock, specialist said its normal

Week 4: The shop decided that the tank is ready and got me SIX fish ! I knew later its a disaster to shock the system so early with so many fish ! They got 2 small orange anthias, 2 half moon damsels, and 2 green blue Chromis.
They did tests and water change before they put the fish in, Ammonia was completely fine and so was salinity. They game me pellet type food to feed them (USA made, not the chinese kind)

Next day, I noticed one of the orange anthias disappeared and was no where to be found.. later on I found the chromis acting weird, going up with its mouth to the surface and looking weird ... hours later it was dead on its side on the floor ... I removed it immediately .. few hours later the half moon started looking weird as well and was dead moments later ..

The leather coral started to look a bit unhealthy and not as vibrant and opening up as it was before the fish.. I called the guy immediately and he came and took out the remaining fish and the leather coral to take them back to the shop.

During this same week, I noticed a weird looking thing that looks like a worm inside the live rock. Its white and has a few rings, its barely a few millimeters in thickness. I sent a pic to the staff at the shop and they said it looks harmless.

Week 5: The team came back and measured the ammonia which was a bit high, they did a water change and they brought in a new member staff who is a British Marine biologist who is here to teach them and get them more professional. He seemed to know allot and we had a long talk, and he agreed that 6 fish was too much on a 4 week old tank ! He said we will leave the tank to cycle again and bring in 2 fish and a leather coral next week

Temperature was always around 26 - 28 degrees Celsius (its difficult keeping water cool in Saudi Arabia!)

Week 6: they brought in 2 orange anthias again, plus a new leather coral. Tested salinity and ammonia and everything was ok. the leather coral responded to light and bloomed up with the small tentacles spread out, fish looked happy and well. We kept them in the bag in the tank for 20 minutes before tilting the bag and letting them swim out on their own. I also put a lower level of light cause the british guy (Lewis) said they might get tensed with the high light in a new tank.

Tried to feed them the pellet food but they were not happy with it. I read online that anthias prefer smaller sized food and preferably shrimp or sea based. One of the anthias started looking weird , staying on its stomach on the floor, breathing but not swimming. The other one looked fine. Suddenly that evening, the sick fish shot up to the surface, shivered, and sunk to the ground, dead ... its color wasnt a deep orange as it was but a whitish orange (no not spots).. it was removed immediately .. I thought maybe it died from hunger cause it wouldnt accept the pellets.

next morning I drove to their shop and bought flake food which the guy there says is what they feed their anthias. I crushed it up and fed it to the lonely anthias, and it seemed to like it. Lewis also told me to try small shrimp, which i cut up really really small and steamed it a bit to make sure its really soft and not hard.. the anthias wasnt very impressed ..

next day it started a half and half routine, half day staying on the floor like its sister and half swimming around.. it even got the idea that when I open up the lid that its feeding time and swims out to eat the flakes.. I thought everything will be ok now for the little thing .. I also did an ammonia test and was zero..

Another thing I started to notice is that the leather coral was not looking good, its not as vibrant and its not opening to its full capacity or letting out its tentacles like before .. this morning the poor anthias died and was on the floor, same color change that only happens after it dies .. I removed it immediately ..

It is really beyond me what is going on, do I need to wait for another 2 weeks and not add anything except after 8 weeks pass on the new system? Even Lewis is surprised that why the corals and the crabs are surviving and looking fine while the fish keep dying !

Thank you for reading my story, and I really hope someone can help and I hope I can answer your questions with the little knowledge I have...



Biocube system: The Biocube Resource Guide - Page 7 - All-In-One Tanks - Nano-Reef.com Forums

here are a few pics of my empty tank :

https://www.dropbox.com/s/orbphuepbf35cz5/20131005_162944.jpg?m

https://www.dropbox.com/s/9fn9geup9ocp0qj/20131005_162950.jpg?m

https://www.dropbox.com/s/u37um5pkkq94xnf/20131005_162956.jpg?m

https://www.dropbox.com/s/jb6ltv1kfx9g0oq/20131005_163009.jpg?m

https://www.dropbox.com/s/h7bsv5lh8mt4td3/20131005_163033.jpg?m

Cheers...

 

Hi Nileguy, and welcome to 3reef.

For starters something that sticks out for me is the choice of Anthias for a 29 gallon tank, this fish should be feed multiple times daily. You compromise water quality in trying to meet the nutritional needs of this fish. Basically Anthias are not the best choice for that size tank.

Sounds like you know that the stocking was rushed, the biological filter of the tank had not grown enough to efficiently keep up with the waste, bi-products and feedings of so many fish, this is referred to as new tank syndrome. A biocube can reasonably only handle 4 smaller sized fish.

You seem to be getting the basics down, why not take over total care of the tank. Trust me you could really not do a worse job at this point then the service you're using. Just because someone has a advanced degree in marine biology does not mean they know how to manage marine aquariums, Lewis I am sure is a good resource though. Get your own test kits, do your own maintenance.

Over all the tank looks much better than you describe it in your text. Give the tank time to evolve. Do not add anymore fish for awhile, and do not add so many fish.

Again the tank looks good, just put the brakes on fish wise and take over all the maintenance and testing of the tank. The corals will come around as the tank ages.

 

Welcome Nileguy!! It actually sounds like you are doing pretty well except for a few mistakes. I believe that Anthias are a poor choice for first fish and may not be well suited for a biocube long term.They need a lot of swimming room and frequent small feedings.It sounds like your tank is ready or will soon be ready for a first fish but before adding any be sure that you have no ammonia or nitrites in your system.The people who have been helping with your tank setup should be able to show you how to test your water if you don't already know.It would then be good to add one hardy fish such as a damsel or clownfish.If you use fresh shrimp or fish as food do not cook it at all,finely chop it and always feed raw.Feed lightly at first as your system is still quite new and you need to build up your biosystem.It was good that you posted here,this site has a lot of knowledgable members that can offer good advise so feel free to post any more questions that you might have.Good luck with the new tank,Dave

 

Thank you for the encouragement I am glad that the tank looks healthy.. What about that red muck? Do I need to worry about it?

Some members on other forums suggested I get rid of the bio balls in the BioCube and substitute it with another system ... others suggested adding more live rock ... what do you think?

Also should I be worried about that thin worm like thing in the live rock? Today also I noticed something weird, I was out and I came back home and when I approached the tank, some "thing" thats not small sensed or saw me and swam quickly into one of the big live rocks ! I barely saw it, but it did look snake or worm like .. hope its not something bad for the tank ..

 

Thank you SailorGuy I guess I found about the poor anthias being not suitable a bit too late I really hate seeing live things die cause of mistakes and poor knowledge ..

What do u think of the Biocube? some other forum members say bio spheres are not so good and to take them out and replace them with another system .. what do u think?

 

Your welcome Nileguy,most of us have made similar mistakes when starting out,sorry for the loss of your fish but that is now behind you and you learned from it.I have never used bioballs but it does make sense that they can trap detritus and cause a rise in nitrates.It would be good to have more live rock and remove the bioballs but this doesn't have to be done right away.You could add some rock,live or dry,and give it some time to become well populated with bacteria before removing the bioballs.It also may be good to remove them a little at a time as they house bacteria which is beneficial.The main thing is to be patient,make only small changes at a time and keep testing your water so you know what is happening.Here is some karma for your research efforts,hope this helps,Dave

 

Most common hitch-hikers are harmless, with exception of Aiptasia, Majano, and some algae. The worm thing is most likely a Bristle worm, usually consider beneficial, a nice member of the clean up crew.

Here are two links to the common the hitch-hikers you will find.

LionfishLair.com - Hitchhiker Guide to your Aquarium
Live Rock Hitch Hikers

 

Thanks, yeah Lewis from the shop told me that once a week when I clean the filter I should give the bio balls a spin with my hand to loosen out any trapped detritus.. a member on another forum suggested I take them all out and replace them with this: Coralife Biocube 29 Media Basket

 

I have never owned a biocube but the media basket does seem like a good alternative to using the bioballs.It could be used to house carbon or whatever might want to use.Just remember that the bioballs are now part of your biological filtration and if you remove them you are removing part of that system.If you do remove them it we would be good to add to the biological system by increasing the amount of live rock that you have.Carbon and other similar media may house a small amount of beneficial bacteria but are considered chemical filtration and not part of the biofiltration which is what you need to establish in a new setup.

 

The track record of that LFS speaks for itself. I would never...let me say that again, never trust the LFS for total care. they are just trying to up their sales. I would stop the stocking for a while till you know it's cycled and stable. Then slowly add fish. In a tank that size, you can only get away with very little change at a time.