Dead Fishies

[ReefJunkie]

I wake up today and my anthias is dead in my 56g, I pull him out and leave for a bit and now my Royal Gamma is dead also, I got my water smaple taken and my nitrites are a bit high so I change out 10g of salt water. Do you guys think I will have an more die, they were eating fine today also. Please help I am starting to worry.

[dydot]

Sorry for the lost. How old is your tank? is the tank cycled already?

[nemo79]

Doing water changes won't alter your ammonia or nitrites that works for phosphates and nitrates. How long has the tank been running, how many fish do you have? you should update your signature so we can better help you. Have the fish been displaying anything wrong with them?

Ammonia and nitrite spikes is part of the "cycle" if your tank is new and you added too many fish at once you can spike the ammonia or nitrites. Give us some more info on your tank so we can give you the info you need.

[bouraganes]

That is usually the sign of a new tank or adding alot of livestock at once- have you made any changes in your tank recently?

[coral reefer]

What tests did they or you perform on your water? Did you check salinity, pH and alkalinity as well as Ammonia, nitrites and nitrates? Many times the problem is deeper than just the (BIG 3)ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. Sorry to hear about your fish>that sucks but now you just have to try to remedy the problem.
Are you using a skimmer? Carbon?

[ReefJunkie]

I’m confused on something right now…… can someone please explain to me what are nitrites and nitrates? When I had my water sample taken on Tuesday it came back at a slightly elevated level of ammonia and the nitrites. I went ahead and change out 10g of saltwater with new saltwater. My PH and alkalinity were fine.


I usually use a sponge, carbon, and a bag of the ceramic cubes in my over the back setup, right now my carbon is out due to the use of Kick-Ich.