Fish keep dieing

[Matthew187]

I have a 30 gallon tank that has been set up for 5 weeks. The tank has fully cycled and all my levels are perfect. The fish I bought today was swimming around and looked fine then I looked hours later and the fish mouth was moving very fast. Then I looked and it was lying at the bottom still alive. I also bought hermit crabs that were very active in the bag now they do
not come out of the shell. They are still alive. The temp. Of the water is mid 70s. Could the water be to cold and the themometer is in a warm spot? When I put my hand at the bottom it seems very cold. Please help

 

[redneckgearhead]

what are your water parameters? amonia,nitrite, nitrate, ph, phosphate levels? that seems a little cold to me but dont think that would kill em. how did you acclimate your fish/invertebrates? what fish did you have? gonna need more info

 

[Matthew187]

The fish i got is a Damsel. There are also red leg hermit crabs and a certh snail. Im not sure the levels I use the strips. I also took it to a pet store and they said the levels are perfect. I put the bags the fish were in in the water for 20min.

 

[redneckgearhead]

ok yea the strips arent that accurate from what i hear. You should try and get a chemical test kit or just have your LFS test the water. And if i had to guess (and it is a guess) its the acclimation technique you are using. You should do a search on drip acclimation. It is just a piece of small clear hose that you can tie in a loose knot. put the fish/inverte in a container and start a siphon,from you DT with the hose tighten or loosen the knot to control flow you just want a drip every second or so and do that for at couple hours. this will acclimate your fish to the chemical make up of your water and not just the temp as the floating bag technique does. I then net the fish and put them in the Tank and pour the water out. Im sure some one else will add anything i have missed. good luck also do you have a QT?

 

[Matthew187]

Thanks for you help. No I do not have a qt.

 

[Matthew187]

Is there any way to save this fish? Or is he dobe for?

 

[redneckgearhead]

Im not sure. I would say its a wait and see thing now. Keep a close eye on him he might develop ICK from the stress (if he doesnt have it already) watch for wight specs on him. then its a Hyposality treatment for the whole tank. If you notice the specks do a search on ICK treatment. They recommend hyposalinity treatment on here and not use the treatments available at your LFS. I dont really have experience with it never had it (Knock on wood) but from what ive read this the route to go.

 

[Matthew187]

Alright i will keep an eye on him. Thank you

 

[cmor1701d]

After temperature acclimationg by floating the bag did you just relase the fish into the aquarium? You really need to also acclimate the fish to the pH and SG of the tank, either through a drip acclimation, or by adding about a 1/4 cup of tank water to the bag every 5 minutes for a ½ hour or longer.

Damsels are pretty hardy fish. They are also quite agressive.

The fish you have probably cannot be saved at this point.

Get some test kits for pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate to start with. Lots of folks here like the API kits, BUT get yourself a small syringe at the drug store to accurately measure 5 ml of water. The silk screened line on the test vials is generally not accurate.

 

[melosu58]

I agree get some good test kits. Not trying to be argumentitive but your water parameters cant be perfect after 5 weeks. It takes at least 6 months to a yr for your tank to become stable and have "perfect water parameters". That`s about how long it takes for your beneficial nitrifying bacteria to be at the levels it needs to be. I put quotations around perfect water conditions because I wonder if anyone ever reaches perfect with their water parameters.

 

[Matthew187]

I purchased another fish again today and after 6 hours it died. I used the drip method to acclimate it. i also turned off all lights to lower stress. Any ideas what might be the problem?

 

[redneckgearhead]

ok if you dont have a chemical test kit. take a sample to your LFS get us some numbers. Amonia, nitrites, nitrates, phosphates, ph and such. Have you mentioned to your LFS that you lost this fish?

 

[cmor1701d]

The lfs you bought the fish from?
How long was the fish at the lfs?
Did you see it eat at the lfs?
Any guarantee from the lfs?

Get some test kits and do your own tests before you kill another fish.
Test for pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate at a minimum.
Post those numbers (actual numbers) along with the tank temp.

 

[Matthew187]

I already took it to the LFS and they said that the levels were good and would not kill my fish. I told them about the fish dieing and they really have much to say about it.

 

[Matthew187]

No to all them but I have bought fish from differnt lfs and had differnt lfs test the water.

 

[Matthew187]

The water temp is 78. And I have test strips

 

[cmor1701d]

Dump the test strips.
Get liquid test kits (API, Read Sea, Salifert) and learn to do your own tests. You should be testing weekly at a minimum.

So obvioulsy something is wrong.
It's either the fish you are getting (I trust very few lfs to get livestock from)
Or, the way you are handling a/o acclimating the fish
Or, something with your tank.

Was this a brand new tank?
Was it ever cleaned with chlorine?
Is ammonia ever used in or around the tank as a cleaning product?
Tell us everything about the tank, where it came from and how long you've had it.
Have you tried mail-order from liveaquaria, bluezooaquatics or others with 15 day live guarantees?

 

[Matthew187]

The tank was a freshwater set-up that I made into a saltwater. It has been saltwater for about 5 weeks. It was fresh then I emptied the water and cleaned it with just water. All of the fish have come from lfs and seem fine there. I left them in the bag with a drip for two hours. The swim around and look fine for a while then ill check again and they are at the bottom of the tank gasping for oxegen.

 

[cmor1701d]

ammonia poisoning. or pH shock or something from the fw tank. Was it ever treated for a fw fish disease before? FW Ich? Anything.

How did you cycle this tank for th5 5 weeks since you converted it?

Your best bet at this point may be a total tear down, cleaning with chlorine followed by many tap water rinses followed by leaving the tank outside in the sun for week followed by more tap water rinses. Then fill it with RODI water, heat it and add salt.

 

[Matthew187]

No it was not treated for any disease. I used live rock to cycle the tank. I also used biozyme to make it cycle.