New to SW

[damiengolden36]

Yesterday I moved my fish from a 20 nano to a 36 bow front. I kept 10g of their water, and mixed the rest. I woke up this morning and all my fish were dead, except my snowflake eel. I added 20 lbs of live rock, and used quick start properly. Now my tank has a yellow tint as well. I am new to saltwater, and we love the help. Thanks!!!

 

[Jschier]

Did you transfer your sand and live rock? I'm thinking you caused a cycle and it killed the fishes.

 

[damiengolden36]

I don't have any live sand, I bought the live rock yesterday. I cleaned my Fluval 406 from a previous 55 fw, added a power head. I lost a bamboo shark, powder tang, Spanish hogfish, and my panther grouper. I know tank to small, but I have the ability to grow tank sizes as they grew.

 

[damiengolden36]

Should I add more live rock or live sand?

 

[Jschier]

You've basically moved your fish to a tank that doesn't have enough beneficial bacteria to break down the the waste they produce. If you can, relocate your eel to a stable tank or even to a LFS and add live sand and live rock ( ensure you have enough) and let the tank cycle properly. After your parameters are good you can slowly start to add livestock.

 

[damiengolden36]

I just removed 5 gallons of the water in the tank with water from Petco. I have some old bio balls as well, should I throw them into the tank? Maybe that would help with the bacteria.

 

[Mebbid]

If they died overnight then its a water issue not a BB issue. Did you do anything to acclimate the fish to the new tank? What was the water source you used? Did you match the salinity? How long did you mix the salt before adding the fish?

 

[Jschier]

Good point.

 

[Bectan01]

These are very advanced fish for someone new to saltwater. A bamboo shark in a 20g?
Agree with the above. It does sound like a water issue, you say you used water from the 20 then mixed in some more - then did you add the fish straight away? When you up mix salt you need it to mix and sit, usually overnight in a container with a heater and a powerhead. Undissolved salt could be the culprit here.

 

[damiengolden36]

I know the tank size is small, but I can upgrade as the grow. I had them all for about three months, so I was doing well. Made a mistake trying to give them a larger tank. How is the best way to make water, normally I buy the ready mixed Petco for water changes.

 

[Mebbid]

I know the tank size is small, but I can upgrade as the grow. I had them all for about three months, so I was doing well. Made a mistake trying to give them a larger tank. How is the best way to make water, normally I buy the ready mixed Petco for water changes.

Honestly, buying bigger tanks as they grow is a very bad idea for a number of reasons. Cycling and curing fresh rock aside the logistics of doing this and the waste of money is mind boggling. I would HIGHLY suggest you buy a specific tank, cycle it, and then buy fish to fit the tank. It will save you tons and tons of problems down the line as shown by what happened in this particular circumstance. There isn't a single aquarist here that would recommend handling your tanks this way.

To make salt water mix the salt and ro/Di water together and mix it for 24 hours.

 

[damiengolden36]

Thanks guys