Saltwater fishses keep dying! Not sure why?

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Phuong

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Jun 2, 2012
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I started my first 55 gallon tank about two months ago. I let the tank cycle for about 3 weeks. Checked for the salinity and tested everything else and water quality was perfect. Added about 30 lbs of live rock. Did use tap water though to start this tank and added drops of prime. Slowly added fishes in- clowns and a damsel. They got ich and died because I wasn't sure at the time what it was, so didn't have time to cure them. So I did a water change, tested everything and results were fine so decided to add in 6 snails, 2 tangs, a puffer, and 2 more clowns. About a week later they all got ich again and I tried to treat them w medicine. Didnt work and they died within a couple of days. HELP!!! I don't know what to do next. Should I start this tank all over again!? Take everything out and use ro water only?? Need a stronger filter? Protein skimmer?

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No you need research. You didnt think about what fish you were adding when you dumped them in the tank, because you added 2 tangs to a 55 gallon. Tangs get ich very very easily because they have a thin slime coat. They get ich when they are stressed and fish are stressed when they are put in a tank that is too small, which is the case you have. A blue tang for example needs at least a 125 gallon tank, a yellow tank needs 100 gallons. I assume you had one of these tangs. Also, 2 puffers?!? What type? Some need very big tanks as well. Dont add any more fish until you do more research
 
It was just one puffer. The guy at the store said those two small tangs were ok. Any idea why they were so stressed? They were the ones that got ich first. Is it because the tanks too small?? Darn that salesman if that's the case!
 
Oh hello! You said it is the case because the tanks too small. But my damsel and clown before them even died =\
 
Ya i am telling you that the fish store you are buying from is not reliable. You have a point, why would the damsel an clown get ich? Its because they were exposed to it at the store. They were probably in a tank with a tang, or some other fish that had ich. That salesman is just that, he wants to sell you fish that dont belong there and make money.

Overall i would test your levels again, wait a few weeks, buy from a differant store, and possibly quarentine your fish in a smaller tank before putting them in the 55 gallon.

Ps, im not saying the 55 gallon tank is small or bad, its actually a great tank because it is 4' long which makes it a great tank for fish that like to swim alot. Im just saying its a bad tank for tangs. What type of tangs did you have??
 
I'm not even sure. Shame on me! I'm all new to this and thought I can handle it. Boy was I wrong! There was a yellow tang and a striped one. What's the process of quarantining (sp) like?
 
The tank needs to sit without fish for 8 weeks for the ick to die before you can add new fish. Qt IMO should be a 6 week hyposalinity treatment . After that there should be no chance of ick getting in your display . As nu nu as said you need to research fish and only keep the ones that are suitable for your tank size.
 
Ok i want you to go to liveaquaria.com and look under the tangs and puffers. See if you can ID the fish you got!
 
Hondatek- IMO whaaaat? Please explain :) this is all new to me! Gotta talk kid terms ;)
 
And do I change the water?? All of it? Some?
 
yes water changes are done about 10% percent once a week or more. IMO means in my opinion because some just observe fish in qt and I prefer to hypo from the start to eliminate ich
 
It is a way of treating marine ick. You lower the salinity to 1.009 and the ick cannot survive . You need a refractometer to do it. Google hyposalinity and do a bunch of reading on it
 
You have so many problems right now that I would start over. I believe the very first problem was you did not cycle the tank. Three weeks is not near enough to cycle a 55 gallon tank. Also you have a LFS that is not knowledgable. And to complicate things further you have ich in your tank. If it was me I would start all over.
 
I started my first 55 gallon tank about two months ago. I let the tank cycle for about 3 weeks. Checked for the salinity and tested everything else and water quality was perfect. Added about 30 lbs of live rock. Did use tap water though to start this tank and added drops of prime. Slowly added fishes in- clowns and a damsel. They got ich and died because I wasn't sure at the time what it was, so didn't have time to cure them. So I did a water change, tested everything and results were fine so decided to add in 6 snails, 2 tangs, a puffer, and 2 more clowns. About a week later they all got ich again and I tried to treat them w medicine. Didnt work and they died within a couple of days. HELP!!! I don't know what to do next. Should I start this tank all over again!? Take everything out and use ro water only?? Need a stronger filter? Protein skimmer?

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OK let's start from the beginning

you cycled for 3 weeks

are you sure your cycle was complete

after your cycle you added live rock

was it fully cured if not that"s your problem it started a new cycle

as for your tangs yes 55 gal is to small

like NU-NU said tangs are known to ick

another question is how are you acclimating your fish

I recommend a drip acclimation using a small pail and a small piece of air line empty your bag with fish into pail than do a drip by drip acclimation , should take about 2 hrs if done right when pail is full scoop your fish with a net and place in tank, never put any of the water from the pail or bag in your tank

another thing is not to add to many fish at once since your tanks bio load isn't at it's fullest yet

if you lost a second round of fish from ich

before adding anything in tank do 50% water changes back to back let system run a week or so do another 25% water change check water parameters to be sure there correct
and you should be good to go

ask your lfs how long he/she has been working with saltwater marine fish
don't just trust they know what there doing
always have the clerk check there water parameters salinity ect in front of you if there off they don't maintain there tanks well , always ask when did the fish come in if it was the same day have him put it on hold for you , fish don't need 2x the stress in on day , also see if it will eat before you buy it
 
A lot of great advice already here for you to follow. Nunu had it right on and liveaquaria is a great place to research the needs of specific fish and what species are compatible.

I strongly recommend finding a new fish store, in this case mom and pop stores are usually better than big box stores.

A quality fish store owner will not sell you a fish that will not work in your tank. Try to find fish store reviews on line and see which ones have knowledgeable staff and healthy fish.
 
54seaweed said:
if you lost a second round of fish from ich

before adding anything in tank do 50% water changes back to back let system run a week or so do another 25% water change check water parameters to be sure there correct
and you should be good to go
it
completely wrong . If it was ick and she thinks it was running the tank empty of fish for a week will do nothing . Ick can live with out a host for 8 weeks and the longest it has survived with out a host is over 90 days .
 
+1 Honda

if it was in fact ich then a 6-8 week period of a fishless tank is necessary. Ich will drop off fish and form in the sand making more ich that is just waiting for a fish host to infect. The month and a half of no fish will ensure that the ich dies out as it will have no host.

Sorry to hear about your troubles though, in this case starting from scratch may be the best bet. You can do everything right this time around and I bet you will be more sucessful. :-D
 
completely wrong . If it was ick and she thinks it was running the tank empty of fish for a week will do nothing . Ick can live with out a host for 8 weeks and the longest it has survived with out a host is over 90 days .

Sorry mistyped my thought but thanks for correcting me(y)
 
What do I do w the live rock and sand? Can I keep it?
 
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