My Fish Keep Dying, Plz Help.

[CircleOfLinks]

Hey Guys,

I'll try and explain everything in detail for you.

Tank size is approx 320Litres including mini reef.

Around November i made the switch from tropical to saltwater.

I put approx of 4-5 kilos of live rocks then about 2 weeks and i put fish in the tank.

1 Nemo (clown fish)
2 dominion danzels
2 blue danzels
1 other fish (cant remember the name, but it was the most expensive at $60)

Everything was fine for about 3-4 weeks then that all started to drop one by one over 4 days.

just before that happened a few of the aquarium stores i went to said my tank was still cycling and its towards the end.

However just before they died i noticed 'white spots' and the dominion danzels started to go a 'gray color'

I went back to the aquarium and he said i have 'ick' so he gave me 'triple sulfa' i used it according to the instructions.

I waited 2 weeks and bought 2 dominion danzels, they both died about 4-5 days later.

I left the tank with no fish and cycling for another 2.5 months with no fish (because i was told if there is any diseases they will die without any finish after 4-6 weeks). I done a 20% water change. I took some water to the local aquarium shop and he said my tank has finished cycling and that everything is perfect.

So I bought another 2 dominion danzels and about another 4-5 kilos of live rock, same thing happened, fish died about 3-4 days later.

I do have a heater and its set on 25 degrees, I also have a wave maker.

no corals or anemone's either just live rock.

Please if some one can help i would really appreciate it its driving me nuts and costing me heaps.

thanks heaps in advance

Regards

Danny

 

[DaveM]

I am hopeing the 25 degrees is a mistake. Your tank should be at least 72 degrees faranheit.

 

[DaveM]

Are you acclimating the fish?

 

[CircleOfLinks]

Sorry its actully 25 degrees Celsius, which is about 77 degrees faranheit.

Also yes, I normally leave the fish floating in the bag for atleast an hour. I then open it tip some of my water in then after a few more minutes I let them
all out.

 

[austinsdad]

I'm not sure your tank ever cycled. Read our articles section and do some googling on sycling a SW tank. Your fish either died from ammonia poisoning or the stress of living in an ammonia laden tank and got ick or whatever else.

BTW, you've got damsel, not danzels.

The best thing you can do is do some serious reading on setting up a tank, understanding that, and get a liquid test kit to stop relying on the lfs. After your reading, you'll likely understand just what happened and stop throwing away money. Cycled or unclycled, those 6 fish inside of two weeks was way too many to add to a new tank.

Also, do not ever add any of the water from the lfs to your tank after acclimation.

Bottom line. You gotta understand more about SW fish keeping and NEVER rely on an lfs to steer you right.

Best of luck to you.

 

[kurtyboh]

also when acclimating your sw fish most people suggest to roll the top back so it creates an air lip and add 1/4 cup every 4-6 min until the bag is full, scoop out half of the water and 1/2 cup every 4-6 min until full again. Scoop the fish out with a net and then dump the water (just not in the tank).

 

[joy13]

What is your salt at? I keep mine at 1.025 the stores that I get my fish at keeps theres at 1.020 to 1.022 that is a big enough difference that I drip acclimate the fish. Damsels are one the hardest fish but the meanest fish. I have one by itself in a 24 gallon reef tank by himself because he is such a big bully. Slow down when doing saltwater it is more of a delicate balance than fresh water.

 

[David S]

I also would start again,also adding more rock with fish could also start a cycle,read up about a fishless cycle and how to acclimate fish.If you can get all the live rock now while you start cycling

 

[Tio70]

check your amonia levels it sounds like you add fish too quick and more if the live rock was not cured when you bought it

 

[Puggle88]

How close is your tank to a winow? U should also be carefull on that too.

 

[Tio70]

12 pounds of rock 84 Gallons is too little you need at least 1 pound of rock per gallonw and more if you do not have any other filtration system or skimmer

 

[PrettyFishies]

Get more LR - 1.5 times the gallons in the tank or about 120lbs

You must drip acclimate the fish over the course of 1.5 to 2 hours. Floating and mixing doesn't work for SW

Make sure your tank has cycled. Your tank likely was still cycling when you added the fish.

Make sure your temp is stable.

Do you have a sump? Refugium?

Consider quarantining all fish. Quarantine tanks are cheap and easy to setup.

 

[CircleOfLinks]

Hey guys,

thanks so much for you information. I just came back from the LFS again and asked to have my water test (a different LFS than i normally go to) he checked everything and said that the water is 'perfect'. My salt is at 1.021 and everything has good. He also said that the tank has deffantly finished cycling and that i am ready to add fish. He said that my KH was a little low but nothing that would harm fish. He also said that my filtration is similar to some of the 'demo' tanks his got on display and he showed them to me. His also puzzled why the fish keep duying as apparently the 'damsels' are strong fish. Anyways what i might do is add about another 20kgs of rock. let it run for about 2 weeks then try my luck with damsels but this time ill keep adding water from my tank every 5-6min into the bag for about an hour and then scoop up the fish with the net and place them into the tank.

Also what is a quarantine tank? whats involved in setting up on of those?

thanks again

 

[PrettyFishies]

Drip acclimation http://www.liveaquaria.com/general/general.cfm?general_pagesid=19

Quarantine Tank
http://www.google.com/m/url?client=...QQFjAF&usg=AFQjCNEfBUPceK_NSLZvOZQSNVS-E8xJKQ

 

[CircleOfLinks]

ok cool thanks for that... i gues ive got alot of work ahead of me.

thanks again for your help and i do appreciate it everything.

Regards

Danny

 

[Dylan5359]

Acclimating has nothing to do with it. If they weren't properly acclimated they would of died sooner. He says he had them for 3-4 weeks. Did you cycle? Nitrite, ammonia, nitrate, salinity levels?

-Dylan

 

[CircleOfLinks]

Hey Dylan,

when I first made the switch I waiting about 2 weeks before i put fish in the becuase i was told it would help speed up the process.

Thay all lasted about 3-4 weeks before they all died. However in saying this a few LFS said that it was still cycling. I added fish after that and they too died, that is when i left my tank without any fish for about 2.5 months and just added some last week. they too died about 3 days later. But i didnt acclimate them how everyone is saying here. i let the bad float for a while then tipped some of my water then emptied the whole bag into the tank. not sure maybe thats why?

I went to another LFS today and they told me the water is perfect and ready to add fish but i might wait a few weeks. ill be adding more live rocks then ill add fish about 2 weeks after that. hopefully if i acclmiate them how everyones saying it all goes well. I will try again with damsels first.

thanks again

 

[Dylan5359]

Simply leaving the tank alone for two months won't do anything, you have to keep your eyes nitrates,nitrites, ammonia, etc. I assume you were watch all the levels too and forgot to mention you did? When you added the fish was ammonia and nitrites at 0? And the nitrates at 10 ppm if not lower? Adding more live rock will add some ammonia to the so waiting like two weeks is a good idea. But before those fish touch the water make sure those levels are right! You may have acclimated the fish in a FW way and not really a proper way, but they should of died a lot sooner if you did it all wrong. I believe it's from cycling. You will often hear people say fish in an un cycled tank won't last long. But they will live for a good 2-3 weeks. And your fish died what 3 weeks after? You did cure all of your live rock too right?

-Dylan

 

[CircleOfLinks]

yes sorry correct. I kept testing the water every 2 weeks.

Well not sure how the water was becuase my LFS kept doing the tests. They did tell me last time i done the test about 2 weeks ago that the tank is not cycling anymore and that it was good to go.

Today a different store said the water is perfect.

Also what is 'cure all the rocks'? I just purchases the rocks and put them straight into the tank.

 

[Dylan5359]

Wow. No test the water every other DAY when cycling. Buy a liquid test kit and do it yourself. LFS owners and stores can never be so reliable. Curing the rocks is the process of eliminating any hitch hikers that could harm your fish. Such as hydroids. It is very important to do this.! http://www.liveaquaria.com/general/general.cfm?general_pagesid=31. This is an ok article on curing rocks. If you did not cure your rocks that also could of killed your fish.

-Dylan