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Civicman86

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Jun 30, 2005
Messages
514
Location
Louisville, KY
Just found out my skunk (thought it was a molt but he is no where to be found) and firefish are both dead. I have no idea why. They both were in the tank for 1+ week, both did fine seemed fine. I did a water change yesterday. All levels are perfect, SG is right were it was before the water change. Clown is still doing just fine. Once he goes im done for a while. Thanks for all the help people, I just have run out of fun. :-\
 
Where have you been getting your live stock? I know the Louisville area and just wonder. Some LFS have better livestock survival rates than others.
 
i felt the same way about two months ago. I lost a yellow tang in qt for unknown reasons and a flame angel for unknown reasons as well. I have since added another yellow tang and he's going on 2 months now. But after the flame angel died, i got really depressed about this hobby. I decided i'd just step back for a while and let things sit before trying to go any further. I still have one more fish to add from the fish list i originally came up with and the tank is 6 months old. So it's been a real waiting game and a trial and error fest. But hopefully i'll add the last fish soon (coral beaty instead of another attempt at a flame angel) and i'll have reached my goal for this setup.

Don't get too discouraged. You have to learn to roll with the punches and make adjustments. Everyone has things like this happen. Even the most experienced reef keepers lose fish. Maybe just letting things sit as they are now and just maintaining what you currently have for a few months will help. Then when you get the time and iche to try some new things, you'll have a fresh outlook and more experience.
 
I really hope so. I have kept trying to push through the hard times and I keep having not good luck. I have tried livestock from a few places. Im begining to wonder if its something Im doing. All my parameters are where they should be. (PH was a little high at 8.4, but from what I read 8.4 is not deadly). I just dont understand.

Ellisz I have been getting my livestock from East End Aquatics over in Lyndon. Where have you gotten your fish, maybe I can try from there. I have a feeling there is something else going on though.

Im going to just let the tank sit with the clown for a couple months. I have been wanting to build a motor for my car and I can do that while I wait and let the tank mature some more.
 
In the mean time tell us a little about your QT and acclimation procedures. Maybe there's something in there that we can spot. 1 week is pretty ideal time frame for losing a fish due to stress/acclimation/poor quality/not eating.

Hopefully that clown does well for you and taking a break will give you back the heart to continue. Good luck. Sorry for your losses. Losing a fish is tough.
 
The fish at East End are top notch, IMO. They will hold them for awhile to make sure they do well after they get them if you want. They seem to have some fish for awhile. I got my Yellow watchman from them. Jason and Matthew are great.

I had no luch with Yellow tangs when I first started the tank. I bought a good size one from Aquatica that was there about a month. He is still doing well.

If you are into corals, let me know. I might be able to help you a bit. I love fish but corals are seem to all I buy any more :)
 
ellisz said:
The fish at East End are top notch, IMO. They will hold them for awhile to make sure they do well after they get them if you want. They seem to have some fish for awhile. I got my Yellow watchman from them. Jason and Matthew are great.

I had no luch with Yellow tangs when I first started the tank. I bought a good size one from Aquatica that was there about a month. He is still doing well.

If you are into corals, let me know. I might be able to help you a bit. I love fish but corals are seem to all I buy any more :)

Yeah they wont even sell people fish unless they have been at the store for 3-4 days just to make sure they are ok. Jason has really helped me alot in answering my questions and helping me find the right fish to keep in the tank (if they would only stay now :p).

I was accimating the fish for 2-3 hours but someone said that was to long of a time. So i kicked it down to about 1.5 hours at about half a cup water put in the bag every 15-20 mins (I dont just dump the water in but slowely drain it in). I might go out and buy some air tubing and do the drip technique and see if that has any influence on the survival rate. Snails are reproducing everywhere, pods are sufficient, corals are doing great, i just dont get what is going on.

Fish place told me the skunk would be the hardest to keep since they are picky about water conditions. I was happy to have them live through the first night and I figured after a week he was ok. They all ate everytime I fed including the skunk and never showed signs of stress (breathing hard). Both the skunk and firefish dies right next to each other.

ellisz I am very much into corals, in fact it is the only thing that hasnt died on me yet lol. I dont have many and my lighting isnt the best but I can keep some softies. Let me know what you got and I might be interested in some frags in a couple weeks when I make sure the tank is settled and not going to kill anything else.

Anyways thanks again guys, im stressed out major with school right now and this kinda just bummed me out more.

BTW here are the parameters I tested last night after I found them dead:

Ammonia=0
Nitrate=0
Nitrite=0
PH=8.4
SG=1.022
 
I think the length of time "required" to acclimate your fish depends entirely on the differences between your water parameters and that which is in the bag. For instance, the LFS I have closest to me, keeps their tanks at 1.019 , my tank levels are 1.025. It takes me roughly 4-5 hours drip acclimating them. My shipments from liveaquaria take around 2-3 hours. Unless you check the water in the bag for differences in salinity and ph, you really cannot just say "one hour is enough, 3 hours is too much etc..."
 
Well I have started keeping my tank SG at the same level as the fish place that i get them from. Their PH is usualy around 8.2 i beleive. I would have to look through my records. I do see what your saying though and makes perfect sense. Somoene told me a small fish in the the bag for 2-3 hours will stress him and cuase to much harm to him. Now that I think of it, id rather him be stressed then be put in a different enviroment and become stressed anyways and die :-\ Either way this fish didnt show any signs of being stressed so I dont know whats going on.

One good thing is I have trained my clown to eat out of my hand lol. Helps keep the excess flakes floating around, down.
 
ellisz I am very much into corals, in fact it is the only thing that hasnt died on me yet lol. I dont have many and my lighting isnt the best but I can keep some softies. Let me know what you got and I might be interested in some frags in a couple weeks when I make sure the tank is settled and not going to kill anything else.

I have a lot of softies - leathers and zoos. I have light blue candy cane as well. I have some other lps and sps too.

montipora cap - orange
monitpora digitata - purple
staghorn acro - green
hammer
frogspawn

and a few other things.

let me know.
 
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