What is WRONG w/ me/mytank/myfish......????

[crage34]

ok look at my sig. for my tank setup...my tank has been cycled for almost 3 months....i have tried 3 different clown fish now...all dieing within a week...i have no clue what i am doing wrong...my parameters have been perfect since the tank cycled....ammonia0, trites0, trates less than 10, ph 8.4, cal 450, sg 1.023...i figured the first fish was just bad luck or something...then i worried after the second fish....then the third i got a tomato clown because the lfs said they seemed to be hardier...why cant i keep a fish???? btw...i have had the cleaner shrimp since the day my tank cycled along with the hermits and snails...then i got the feather duster about 2 months ago..all of which seem to be doing great!... the shrimp sheds almost 2 times a month...which i asume means he is growing fast...he eats like a pig!...any advice would be great because this is very fustrating and im dieing to get some fish in this tank

 

[indy]

Best guess is aclimation problems.

 

[austinsdad]

How'd they eat during that week?

 

[seaham358]

How do you acclimate your fish??? If a fish dies within the first week, It's been my experience that it was do to improper acclimation. IMO a drip line is the best way to acclimate fish. Just poring water into the bag every 15 min is not a good way to do this...

 

[Atari]

Try a different LFS. The shrimp is way more sensitive than any of those fish so I doubt it's anything you're doing wrong.

 

[malkore]

I'd say acclimation problems too. IF you can't do a drip, you'd have to add a couple tablespoons of your tank water to the LFS bag every 10 mins or so, for an hour or two.

 

[austinsdad]

I'm still wondering how they were eating. Did they eat at first, then stop, or did they never. As Atari said, could be the LFS and that they were sick when you brought'm home.

 

[Hold Anchovies]

I agree with Atari, if possible, try another LFS. If not, see if they will hold your fish for a couple of weeks. Are these clowns tank bred or wild?

 

[seaham358]

I'm still waiting to see what their acclimation process is. Why blame the LFS so quick??

 

[Atari]

Because anyone that can successfully acclimate a shrimp can certainly do the same for a fish.. plus acclimation issues tend to show up in hours not days.

 

[seaham358]

Ever heard of dumb luck..... I have learned the hard way and getting bad advice from a LFS has something to do with it.
In the beginning I killed a few fish because of improper acclimation, most lived 3-5 days. The LFS says just drip the fish for an hour...... Never saying check your salinity against mine. His being 1.18-.20 and mine .25 dripping 1 hour dose not make for a proper acclimation. I have never lost a fish within hours of acclimation... Unless maybe you just drop them in... This has been my experience.
Still waiting to hear from crage34....

 

[crage34]

First fish: acclimated it with the drip method as i did with my shrimp/snails/crabs/dusters for atleast 1.5 hours but i did notice that the temp in my bucket got pretty low, which i think is the reasone this one died (false tank bred) and it never ate died in 2 days
Second: another false for a different store, since i blamed the acclimation for the death of the first fish i used the bag and tablespoon method for about and hour...i was very careful with this fish i picked it because it was very lively at the lfs and ate alot...it ate in my tank from the very begining andthis fish was doing great! but then died with no signs in about 4 days btw i feed all this fish formula one
Third: this time i decide on a tomato because the lfs said they seemed 2 be hardier..i used the same acclimation method with this one...the ate after the second day just fine and roamed the tank like he loved this new home he never hid or anything thing then like the other died in about 4 days with no signs or clues


i have no clue what is up with my tank...after the second fish died i had the lfs test my water to see if my tests where accurate and they said that the water was right on the money and gave me the tomate for free...and the shrimp and the others in the tank are doing awsome...the shrimp eats like a horse food out of my hand and goes crazy when i feed the tank....he molts about 2 timse a month which i assume means he is growing like a horse too

any advice is greatly appriciated and sorry it took me so long to reply

 

[seaham358]

Did you check the salinity of the LFS water compared to yours...???
This all sounds like acclimation to me. If the LFS has his water a lot lower then yours the 1-1.5 hours of acclimation time is not enough.. For fresh water this is fine not salt...
I have a LFS that keeps his water at 1.014-.018 and my reef is at .025... It takes a min of 3 hours of dripping to get the water in the bowl/bag to be the same as my tank. I have lost fish in the beginning and they ate and lived for days just like yours.... Once I started checking the salinity I have not lost a fish.(knock on wood)
Good luck... Give my directions a shot, I bet it works.... I check salinity several time in the bowl during this process and when it hits your target salinity I let it drip for an additional 30-60 min before I add the fish to the tank... you willneed to dump some water out during this process...

 

[crage34]

no i never checked thier salinity. i guess i will have to give it a try. in my small 30gal...2-3 hours will be like a water change lol...i just dont see how i lost 3 fish in a row

 

[seaham358]

If there is a big difference in the salinity then it is a shock to the fish, I have heard the term burning of the gills used with a large increase in salt...
I drip slow, a drop a second around there....and I use maybe tops 3 gallons of water... I have the bowl on a towel and a towel on top to keep the heat.
Good luck......

 

[crage34]

the only thing is that my house says at about 70 degrees and my tank is around 79...by the time my fish has drip acclimated for about 2or3 hours the temperature is goin to have dropped tremendously

 

[blorkiemom]

If you can get one of those hang-on specimen tanks (like the kind they use at the LFS when they bag a fish) you can hang it inside the tank--the water will stay warm that way.

 

[Atari]

Leave the fish in the bag when you're dripping.. that way you can re-float the bag in the tank every 15 mins to keep the temp up.

 

[lziarek]

I drove to a non local fish store to get some ocellaris clowns... long story short i ended up in a 3 hour traffic jam with two clowns in a small bag... when i got home i just netted the poor things out and placed them into my tank. bag sg 1.020 aquarium sg 1.025 the fish are fine and healthy, the change in salinity didnt seem to affect them much. Personally I think evironmental stress causes more deaths than a super fast change. I have yet to lose a fish due to a fast acclimation.

 

[seaham358]

Your lucky, Change in ph, salinity, temp will all cause stress to the fish, and I would not recommend just dumping a fish into the tank to anyone.