would like an opinion on my mystery ??

[housebuster]

saltwater fish only tank 72 gallon, on end of cycle 6th week. temp 77 and amonia and nitrites are at o level. why are all fish dying except the cleaner shrimp ? just did a 40gal water change and added a tomato clown and two blue damsels ,one and a half days later two damsels dead and clown hovering near the top of tnk. cleaner doing ok i used too much prime additive maybe before the 40 gal change ? also i used nitro max to help cycle the tank faster. i think i used too much of that also but not sure why fishes are not making it when all my water tested are good ?what do you think????

 

[Henry405]

pH? are you acclimating the fishes?

 

[Hinds04]

I believe fish go higher in the tank for oxygen, what kind of flow do you have? You have to create some good agitation at the surface for oxygen exchange. You should have 2-3 good powerheads in that size.

 

[Dan_Forbz]

i know with my saltwater tank, it took over 3 months for the water parameters and nitrogen cycle to actually happen, maybe your tank isnt ready?

also wat is your SG? particular fish dont like certain salt levels, i tend to sit on 1.026 and my clowns and corals are fine,

have your actually gone through a cycle?

 

[housebuster]

i have a wetdry filter with overflow box, just put in a power flow for more circulation. when i first started the tank i had 6 damsels two clowns and aniger trigger first three weeks everybody happy , water test starts to get good everybody not happy im baffled

 

[Hinds04]

That is WAY to much to start with. You should start with 1-2 fish after the cycle.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

I'm a little confused on the timeline here...

How exactly did you cycle your tank? If you started an uncycled tank with all those fish, then yeah... they're going to die due to ammonia poisoning.

 

[Henry405]

he says its the 6th week

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Thanks. I read that. I also read "... when I first started the tank i had 6 damsels two clowns and aniger trigger first three weeks everybody happy..."

So... to me... sounds like the tank was started with 9 fish in it before cycling. And if that's the case, then yeah... fish are going to die.

But I might be reading that wrong.

Which is why I asked.

 

[Henry405]

ah, I see. My bad, The same threads also in getting started section so I'm getting mixed up

 

[Dan_Forbz]

i reckon do a slight water change, keeping all fish buying to a minimum for now, and add something to re spike the ammonia ( i used fish food) and restart the cycle, and if you must have something in there, try something small like a snail and that can help in continuing the cycle and help aid in beginning the load. also you might want to try getting some API stress zyme, it basically contains the bacteria that grows in the tank to remove ammonia, and nitrites.

also do you have a protein skimmer? they add a head of dissolved oxygen to the water and also aid in removing proteins which lead to the water going bad.

what was the SG of your tank when you placed in your fish? and what Ph?