2 deaths in 2 days... :(

[Stuquarium]

sadly, my threadfin butterfly fish and my smallest percula clown have died in the last 48 hours.

this is the part of fish keeping that sucks.

i think my butterfly died after stress, overnight it looked like he got himself stuck between 2 live rocks and couldn't move, thats where i found him.

this morning i turned the lights on and all 4 of my clowns were swiming around happily, and just before i go to work, after feeding them i find the smallest of my clowns dead on the bottom of the tank, a victim of feeding agression with other clowns? or something else,

i haven;t checked my water conditions yet, but i change 30% of the water on thwe weekend,

are my fish all destined for the same fate? am i to inexperianced to be keeping marine? should i find new homes for everything and go back to tropical...

whats left in my 55G
3 percula clowns
1 damsel blue
3 turbo snails.

what i've lost since keeping the tank
1 humbug damsel (stress related after tank move)
1 threadfin butterfly
1 percula clown

i'm not feeling very good about it at the moment, i dunno if i should stick it out and carry on, or start over and go back to trops...

sad day in the fishy smith house hold.

 

[Guest]

A butterfly is probably considered by most to be too big for that size tank. It's really anyone's guess until you run the parameters. If you don't have a bottle already, I'd suggest picking up a bottle of Amquel to lock up any ammonia that might be present after you run your tests. Good luck!

KG

 

[steve r]

4 clowns is most likely also too many for a tank that size. it could have easily been killed by the others. the butterfly is also too big for that size tank. there might be agression problems with damsel and clowns as well. you might want to reconsider your current live stock. a nice pair of clowns would work. ad more cleaners like snails, hermit crabs and cleaner shrimp are a nice addition. a dwarf angel is also often a good fish for a tank of that size. i have a bi color angel in my 75 that is very colorful and active. maybe a blenny, royal gramma or firefish. 4 fish total would be a nice bio load for your tank

just my thoughts

steve r

 

[TeenReefer]

A real overload. 2 clown, your damsel, and maybe one or two other small will work nicely. Water parameters would really help identify the source of the problem too.

 

[DragonForce]

A few loses is nothing to get to bummed out about. 4 clowns and a butterfly was more than likely the reason for your losses. I think you should take back which ever clown is in the middle of the sizes, take back the damsel, and look into purchasing a firefish+a gramma like steve said.

 

[quarryshark]

How long were they in there? Were they all eating? Did you qt them? How did you acclimate and how old is the system?

 

[Stuquarium]

the system is about 6 months old.

it was 3 months, then it got moved, water included.

i didn't think that it was to much of an over load, and the butterfly and clowns never bothered each other.

i havent tested the water since the weekend and everything was good then.

i think i wanted big and beautiful without the tank to back it up and knowledge to back it up.

 

[Macmommy]

I'm sorry to hear about your losses Stu, I know you must be feeling terrible. Don't give up just yet though! These guys have offered some great advice and if you take it I am sure you can work things out and end up with a wonderful tank!

 

[melosu58]

Hang in there and learn. I`m glad you feel bad because that shows you care. alot of people would not hane thought twice and went and got another one without finding out what the problem is. You`ll do just fine

 

[lando]

haven;t checked my water conditions yet, but i change 30% of the water on thwe weekend,

this should be the very first thing you do after a fish loss. Can you list your current parameters? Was the PWC before or after the fish died?

 

[Stuquarium]

more sad news.

this morning, 2 more clowns are gone, i have one left thats not looking well and the damsel,

nitrate and nitrite 5 ppm
ammonia 0

something has funked up my tank and i can;t figure out what, this bites!

i hope i can find homes for the damsel and clown before they die, i think i neeed to strip this tank down and start all over again, but not on marine, i want a good big system, with the alot, and i can't afford that now seeing 100$ + of fish leave me in a week

 

[lando]

nitrate and nitrite 5 ppm

This is not helping...water changes, water changes, water changes for now.

 

[Stuquarium]

i know..

i think it might have something to do with the salinity to.. i changed salts after my 1st WC and that could be effecting them.

this always happens when i'm about to go to work... grrr!

 

[steve r]

when changing to a different salt mix you need to do small water changes with the new salt mix. it is important to aclimate you live tank slowly to the new mix

steve r

 

[Stuquarium]

yeah i tried that.. only doing 10-20 litres at one time.

right now as it stands, i only have one clown left. water changes haven't helped.

i'm gutted

 

[BillyZ]

there's no info in your profile on your tank. Can you give us a basic run down?

Tank Size?
Age: (you said 6 months, but moved recently. how were things moved.)
All parameters: Temp, SG, pH and the three you gave above again.
Substrate and LR?

Any nitrites at all in a system can be deadly to the fish, it's toxic. It sounds like you've started a cycle after your move. Testing and small water changes are probalby going to be your best bet. Keep plenty of RO water and newly mixed SW on hand for the next couple of weeks.