Dying salt water fish

[Jason11]

I am terrible at this
I had two hippo tangs
And angel fish
And a blue manderine
I had added a live rock and live sand n two fish petland gave me to cycle my tank after a week I started adding fish I took my water samples n they said it was good for fish so I bought those so I added my hippo angel fish and blue manderine they seemed fine breathing heavily checked all my levels and they were all fine came back next morning n all of them died except one hippo I had the temp at 82 and a hang on filter can anyone help me

 

[Jason11]

I have also took water back and they said the water was healthy everything was so I bought two clown fish too see if I have luck

 

[bribo12]

I'm not sure where to start here. Tank size? How long it has been set up? How many lbs of live rock?


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[Jason11]

It has been set up for about a week and it has 20 pounds of live sand and 20 pounds of live rock and one anemone a couple clown fish and a yellow tang and a few other I bought today

 

[Sniperhank]

Well, at least you were set up to fail after they got the tank cycled...
If this is a 20 gallon tank, then the lbs per gallon rule of thumb for sand and rock is right where it needs to be.
The sad part is that they let you go home with fish that need much larger tanks than a standard 20 gallon. A yellow tang needs a 6ft long tank, like a 125 gallon, to thrive as they are one of the several open water swimmers that we find in this hobby.
The same is most likely true about the angel fish and the close quarters either led to aggression from the two large fish or adding them both at once into such a small tank overwhelmed the bacteria base you built up when you cycled and they died of ammonia poisoning...either is likely.
As for the mandarin...awful rate of survival in the home aquarium. I've tried and it is an expensive venture. These guys eat pods...for the most part only pods. One in my 55 ate thousands of them every month. A 20 that isn't established doesn't have a shot at feeding one. If the ammonia poisoning didn't get it, the starvation would have.
Then there is the anemone. A photosynthetic creature that needs intense lighting to survive. I highly doubt you were supplied with such lighting so I would suggest returning it before it bleaches out and dies, creating a nasty water problem in your tank. Don't worry, the clowns don't need it to survive.
In better news, two clowns is great for a 20 gallon. I think every tank needs a clown pair.

In reflection, the key in this hobby is to go slow. Adding so many fish to the tank without researching them is causing you to go down a path of continued issues and failure. Very frustrating for anyone who wants to pick up this hobby! I suggest checking out liveaquaria.com. They have GREAT recommendations in terms of what fish need to live healthy lives in our closed systems. If it doesn't fit your setup, then I would return it quickly for either cash or store credit until they get something that will match your system.

 

[Jason11]

They do not do refunds period so I am stuck with em for the anemone I have the sunlight as well as led lights idk of that's enough I stacked it up on top of a live rock n seems to be doing good as of now the tang as well I will try to get a bigger tank asap what can I do for now any ideas?

 

[ImACoolguy]

Craigslist. Find it all a new owner and finish cycling Fishless IMO...

Otherwise you have a lot of stress and water changes ahead of you.


Caleb

 

[Jason11]

The water change will be due to what exactly ?

 

[ImACoolguy]

The water change will be due to what exactly ?

Constantly rising ammonia levels because the tank is not cycled to handle all those fish.

Without water changes they will probably succumb to ammonia poisoning.


Caleb

 

[Jason11]

Can I cycle them with fish and what exactly does cycling doing

 

[Reefing Madness]

The Cycle of Life: The Nitrogen Cycle in Aquariums

Cycling a Saltwater Aquarium

Reef Aquarium Care: Live Rock Acclimation and Curing Guide

 

[Jason11]

How exactly do I cycle the tank with the fish in there do I remove them or ?

 

[ImACoolguy]

How exactly do I cycle the tank with the fish in there do I remove them or ?

Your fish act as the ammonia source (and a lot of it with all those fish).

You likely will need to be doing daily water changes to keep levels low and safe.

 

[54seaweed]

I had two hippo tangs
And angel fish
And a blue manderine

assuming this is a 20g tank tangs have no business in a tank that small , as for the mandarin they require a well established tank of at least a year, same goes for the angel

It has been set up for about a week and it has 20 pounds of live sand and 20 pounds of live rock and one anemone a couple clown fish and a yellow tang and a few other I bought today

assuming I read this correct you added 20lbs LR 20lbs LS cycled a week ,
first 1 week is not enough time for a cycle , the choice of stock you added is a bad choice tangs need at least 75g or larger

here is a link to fish in cycling just so you are aware you will constantly need to be testing water and doing water changes as needed,
Fish-in Cycling: Step over into the dark side - Aquarium Advice

you need to explain to them they sold you things way to soon , and things that wouldn't work in that tank
best rule of thumb is if it's not a true reef store they have no clue what they are talking about , I would suggest finding a better store to deal with anemone's also need a well established tank ,
just a fyi your tank was overstocked as soon as you added a tang and a angle you need to research nano fish for a tank that size ,
stocking should be done slowly Rome wasn't built in a day
rushing only does one thing costs lots of money and a lot of deaths

 

[Jason11]

All I have left now are clown fish pair anemone 3 damsels and the tang is that still too much ? I will be getting a 180 gallon in a few months

 

[Reefing Madness]

Articles | DrTim's Aquatics

 

[Adamski]

That's defo too much. Tangs get real big, there is no tang on earth that will fit in a 20 gallon tank comfortably. How much research did you do before purchasing these fish and tank? My advice would be find somebody local to have the fish and cycle your tank. Has anyone explained what cycling is to you?


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[Marty.h]

I would get the anenomie out as your parameters will be like a pendulum swinging all over the place and the anenomie is not going to like that one bit if that decides to melt you going to have a right mess to clear up.

Remove the tang as your tank is not big enough.

Damsels are nasty little buggers and in my opinion not suited to a community tank due to agression.


I would remove all fish and the anenomie and take them back to what ever shop you got them from as they should of never sold you them and they should know better 1 week in they sell you all them fish and an anenomie that's a joke.


Then change your LFS as they are shocking and clearly clueless !!!