help I need advice.

[fishjunkie123]

So im new and i am having some trouble

 

[Uncle Dirty]

I'm thinking you need to provide a little more info on what you need help with.......

 

[PockX]

And just to maybe help..is it saltwater, freshwater? About fish or tanks? Plants? Haha..give us more to work with and we'll do what we can to help you.

 

[fishjunkie123]

Lol...65 gallon saltwater and i let cycle with 20 hermit crabs and livesand and liverock for about 4 weeks. I put the nutrafin start cycle in it and test strips were showing pretty good, i think the nitrates were around 40 if i read it right...the color was just barely pink...then i put a couple damsels in (3) for a couple weeks. Everything still tested pretty good. So i went and got clowns and scooters and angelfish and they all slowly died off( ive had this SW tank since october 2012. My shrimp are doing om so far and now im back to damsels!???? Im trying to figjre out why the expensive fish always die, because i really want to turn it into a predator tank. Help.

 

[TheTodd]

I'm thinking two things...(1) the tank did not cycle properly. Beneficial bacteria need ammonia to feed on and in not sure a few crabs put enough off to do the job. (2) you added too many fish, too soon and overloaded your bioload. I go with a fish, maybe two, per month just to allow my BB to adjust to the increased bioload.

What are your parameters now? Have you done a water change to bring your nitrates down? I suggest getting a good test kit. Strips are notoriously bad for accurate readings. If you have any Ammonia or Nitrites, your tank is not cycled.

 

[fishjunkie123]

No ammonia or nitrites, i didnt put all those fish in at once there was a couple weeks between adding them and i do atleast 30-40% water change/month

 

[TheTodd]

How long are they lasting when you add them and how are you acclimating them? What is happening before they die? Any signs of disease or odd behavior?

Damsels are tough fish and can survive bad water conditions. I'd get a good test kit just to double check that everything is okay. You mentioned that shrimp are okay? They are usually not okay with bad water conditions, so things are probably okay there, just a good idea to have that good kit.

 

[fishjunkie123]

Damsels and shrimp r okay...the clowns died off one by one and they were eating but looked grayish/cloudy for a while and eventually died after a couple months...the angel fish seemed ok at first but wasnt really eating and died after a couple weeks...the scooters were great at first but got slower and slower then eventually died...i acclimate by putting bag in tank for 15 min then adding a little tank water little bit at a time till bag is full then dump half out and do that process over and over for about 2 hours time then net it oht and put in the tank...but tbat was before i had a quarantine tk like i do now but havent bought any new fish get, need to find out whats wrong first

 

[Bectan01]

+1 to the above. Get a proper test kit. It does sound like a not quite cycled tank. But it could be individual fish problems. How many scooters did you buy? They are members of the dragonet family and can be tricky to get to eat. I also have one and was advised that if I had 2 they may fight to the death. In any case 2 is too many for a 60g tank, they would have been competing for food. What kind of angelfish was it? Some species are also difficult eaters. And how many clowns? They are usually hardy species too so not sure about this one... Tell us a but more about set up - how much live rock? Filtration? What are you feeding?

 

[fishjunkie123]

2 scooters,coral beauty angelfish, 3 clowns, about 40 pounds of live rock, penguin bio filter for 75 gallon tank and 30 gallon canister filter I feed frozen brine shrimp and micro shrimp pellets every other day...

 

[fishjunkie123]

also my sand bed is about 2 inches thick

 

[fishjunkie123]

What's can i stock my 65 gallon with, i want like a predator style tank

 

[fishjunkie123]

I want fish that are entertaining and have a good personality

 

[marsh]

I lost a scooter and got an eyelash/lawnmower blenny instead and he is sweet as pie. He eats diatoms and today he stole bloodworms intended for my Serpent star! The serpent star is entertaining and kinda crazy! Shy the first month, but I think when he got hungry for bloodworms after I lost my first scooter blenny and started feeding my 4 Chromis only flakes...

The fantastic four became the holy triumbrant, became the terrible two.... He murders chromis for dinner in the dark!

I'm surprised how impressed I am. It's like I own Baxter, Ron Burgundy's dog who ate a whole wheel of cheese; I'm not even mad!

I call chromis my "dumb blondes" at the party, all look the same so who cares if they come and go so mean lol

 

[marsh]

Btw I don't condone murder, only serpent related assaults

 

[fishjunkie123]

So i got an API master test kit and my water is great, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrates, around 20ppm nitrites but my ph is a little low at 8, should i bring it up to 8.2? Still don't know why some of my fish died...

 

[Bectan01]

There shouldn't be any nitrites present so that would be a concern. Ph is fine at 8 as long as its stable...

 

[fishjunkie123]

Yea i meant nitrites 0 and nitrates 20ppm i got them confused

 

[uh.oh...]

did you feed all of your fish enough?

 

[fishjunkie123]

Yes... Shrimp pellets and frozen brine shrimp every other day