loosing fish not inverts or crabs

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
R

Rollerman

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Feb 28, 2010
Messages
7
helllo, first off im new to the sw tank...mine has been up for about a month, 29 gallons, flourescnet light, 30-60 gallon filter sytem (by aqua tech), ph at 8.0, salinaty at 1.022 , nitrate at 20 ppm, nitrite at 0 ppm (will not even read up to 0 on dip tester) , no chlrorine (well water) Kh is at 300 + ppm. water temp is at 80 F

in the tank i have two enenomes (doing just fine), 2 red leg hermit crabs also doing fine, one 2lbs piece of live rock that has not started to produce anything as of yet, 2 snails both are doing fine.

my problem is that 3 weeks ago i lost my puffers, thinking that i was ick, i treated tank and did about 30% water change, parameters are good, so i have started to reintroduce fish to the tank, first was a bowtie damsil, he lasted overnight a died the next afternoon with no visible signs of any thing wrong, second i just got a blue damsil with yellow tail and a green chromis last night, this morning the blue damsil is all but dead, and the chromis is struggling, (once again all parameters of water seem to be good)

help im a noob ty
Roller:(
 
Does not sound to me like your parameters are in check, honestly. I didn't see testing for ammonia in that list. Have you been testing for this?

I would also seriously suggest you get rid of those anemones. You don't have nearly enough light to support them, and they need a completely matured tank. A tank older than a year. And judging by what your saying, your tank doesn't seem stable at all. Those nems are probably slowly dying at this point, and will eventually die and nuke your whole tank.

Also, how did you treat the tank when you thought you had an ich outbreak? Did you use copper medications? Or hyposalinity? Do you do weekly water changes as well?

To be able to help you, we need some solid readings on your water parameters. Test them again and post the results here. The fish you put in there continue to die, and die slowly, so clearly there is something wrong, and it is not the fish you purchase. I would stop buying anything right now, and see if you can bring back the anemones until you can figure out exactly what the problem is with your tank.

I would also advise getting the liquid test kits, and not the dip test strips. Those are not very accurate, at all.

Ammonia
Nitrites
Nitrates
Phosphates
Calcium

^^You need to test for all of those, but mainly just Ammonia, Nitrate, and Nitrates for us to at least figure what's going on.
 
ty for your quick repsonse.

the parameters that i previously posted were about ten minutes b4 post i do not have a liquid test kit at this time but will look into getting one...the only reading on the dip test that concerned me was the the Kh was above 300 ppm(off my chart) but according to chart it was good to be on the high side (not sure)

on the treatement for ick i did the hypo salinity treatment for 48 hours
 
 
Definitely read those links, and just to let you know, your nems will become stressed under hypo treatment, and they will eventually move around the tank until they find a comfortable spot. Since your treating the entire tank, they won't be able to find themselves a comfortable spot, and will die.
 
Ok lost my chromis b4 I could get a test kit for amonia....new question is....now that I have no fish in the tank, could i just let it mature without treating for ick or velvet (whatever I had) will the ick or velvet eventually die off without a host to attach too?
 
To break the cycle of the ich parasite, you need the tank to be host free for 7-8 weeks. I would also look in to getting rid of those nems as stated before, now that the tank is pretty much void of life. It would be in your best interest to do so. The only things that could still survive in that tank with the ich parasite, assuming you have no traces of ammonia or nitrites and a low level of nitrates, are your inverts - minus the anemones which will eventually die since you do not have the proper lighting to support them and your tank parameters are out-of-whack.

Get the correct test kits to be able to accurately test your water parameters. After the cycle of the ich parasite is broken, then you can slowly start adding livestock back to your tank on a controlled level. Get a better lighting system to support an anemone if you still plan to keep one. However, you MUST wait until your tank is mature to re-introduce anemones back to your tank, unless you want a situation such as the one your in to occur again. The mature age for a tank with nems is no less than a year old, with stable water parameters.
 
ty for quick response zero

the lighting that im using is a 200 watt flourescent single bulb (not made for tank hood but i have adapted it, would that suffice when the tank matures for anenomies

also i have a live rock do I need to get rid of it or leave it in

also my local store gave me something (STABILITY) by seachem.. told me that it would help mature a tank faster?
 
Let's take a giant step backwards here...

If your tank has been up for a month, and your puffers died 3 weeks ago, I think it's safe to assume that you never cycled the tank?

You need to cycle the tank to build up a population of beneficial bacteria that will convert the poisonous ammonia that is produced by the fish breathing, pooping, etc into nitrites, and then the nitrites into nitrates. The only way to skip a cycle is to used pre-cure live rock which has all the bacteria on it to start with. But with only 2 lbs of rock, that wouldn't be enough to take care of any ammonia.

Here are a couple articles on cycling:

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/articles/articles/3/1/Cycle-your-salt-tank/Page1.html
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/articles/articles/6/1/Ammonia-conversion-to-nitrate/Page1.html

If you have no fish in the tank, I'd take the anemones out of the tank and back to where you bought them for credit. And then I'd start over after thoroughly cleaning out the tank. I normally don't suggest starting over, but if you're only a month into this and already having to deal with a tank that has ich in it, I really think it would be easier to start over... and cycle the tank before adding anything. (And also wait 6-9 months before adding any anemones!)
 
Nice Kurt. Rollerman - I agree with Kurt, I don't think your tank has cycled but I also think you need more LR than just 2lbs! Also I 100% recommend buying a good liquid test kit for:
Ammonia
Nitrite
Nitrate
They will help enormously.
 
Kurt is definitely right. Considering you've only just begun and you're having a serious problem such as ich, i would strongly advise in starting over from scratch. It would be in your best interest to do so. Also, on the seachem product.. return it and tell your LFS person that he is a crook. There is no chemical that will help your tank "mature" faster. It's not possible. The only way for your tank to mature, is with age, and on its own.
 
Please return the anemones. They will die in your tank. You have been getting some good advice. Let me be pass on the BEST advice I ever received here when I was fist starting my sw tank.
"NOTHING GOOD EVER HAPPENS FAST IN A SW TANK"

Slow Down. Read the artilcles that Mike (melosu68) linked for you. Read the article on fishless cycling. Then properly cycle your tank.
 
thanks guys will do......:D hopefully be back in a few months with some good news
 
If you take your time, and research these things before buying, there's no doubt in my mind that you will begin to see fantastic results. All it takes is a little patients, some great information, a little help(AA), and you will be on your way to having a great saltwater aquarium.

Good luck and don't forget to check back with us! :)
 
Rollerman said:
thanks guys will do......:D hopefully be back in a few months with some good news
Click to expand...

Don't go away... stay - read - ask questions!

I lurked on this site for 3 months, reading everything I could, before I even bought a single piece of equipment. While there may be a lot of conflicting info here - since everyone has different opinions - if you read enough posts you'll start to see a pattern of advice and also a pattern of mistakes that make it easier to understand what YOU want to do with your tank.
 
Since you are trying a reef tank, you need something to control any possible parrasites that you can crop up from fish. I wouldn't break down the tank and start over because what you might have been seeing is stress ick. That does not mean your tank has problems, but the fish were in shock because the tank did not cycle.

Get yourself a UV light that should kill most anything that can pop up. Since you are trying a reef tank, you need can't treat with normal medication. Your trank is trying to cycle and doing water changes won't help. It needs to establish a base before you can start adding fish again.

I have been doing this for almost 30 years and I am old school. Get yourself some damsels and let them ride. If they die, they die. Leave them in there and watch the ammonia level. When it goes down to zero, add some hardy fish that you want...... one at a time.

Also, find yourself a new pet store. Anyone that sells puffers to a person whose tank is less than a month old is not helping you.
 
A UV light won't kill ick in the tank. It only treats water that passes thru it. I wouldn't recommend a UV light as a cure all for things that "pop up" in a tank.

I know old school approaches to a lot of things I do work best for me, but I will listen to the new school and decide when their way is better...which leads me to the discussion about cycling a tank with another ammonia source other than killing or seriously stressing live fish. Raw shrimp works just fine to cycle a tank and does not harm the critters.

Also, gotta wait for the ammonia AND nitrite to get to zero to add fish.

Rollerman - stay in touch sooner rather than later. :)
 
"Stress ick." Ich is ich, regardless of how it presented itself, correct?

Agree that the fish *may* have been able to fight off the ich if the tank had been cycled, but that doesn't mean the ich still wouldn't be there. And now it IS there... waiting for the next fish. Since the anemones are doomed in this tank since it hasn't cycled, that's why I suggested taking them out and starting over. With nothing alive in the tank, and no bacteria to kill off in the first place, there's no reason NOT to break down the tank and rid yourself of the ich the easy way. Then, cycle the tank and add fish - AFTER an appropriate quarantine period. Best way to keep parasites out of the display it to not let them in to start with.

Only thing you need to cycle a tank is an ammonia source. The bacteria don't care if the ammonia is from live fish waste, or something dead and rotting - so why subject something alive to the cesspool of a cycling tank if you don't have to? Will damsels work? Sure. Will a raw shrimp work? Sure. Even Fenner has changed his tune when it comes to cycling with live fish.
 
wow this site rocks

thks for all the replies......just an update my amonia was thru the roof, made adjustments and all is going well, forgot to mention about my tank setup, but i have 3 inches on live sand/crushed coral, will that help it cycler faster? if not oh well i'll just keep watching and maybe soon be looking at some fish.

once again ty to all that helped, I'll be sure to hang around and read, read, read, read, read somemore.

Roller:D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

N
Fish are dying and I don't know why
Replies
6
Views
1K
Peartree
P
D
Advice on levels
Replies
4
Views
345
Andy Sager
Andy Sager
B
High Nitrites
Replies
5
Views
707
Andy Sager
Andy Sager
B
changing substrate
Replies
8
Views
241
Andy Sager
Andy Sager
S
Am I doing something wrong?
Replies
5
Views
511
Andy Sager
Andy Sager

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom