First post, a few random questions

[dnight]

Hey they whats up. So I've got a 55g aquarium thats been set up for about a year now. About 70lbs of LR, 60lbs or so of sand, 20g sump, skimmer, the whole sha-bang. Anywho, I recently added a few new fish to my tank. I didn't have much in there before (two clowns, lawnmower blenny, six line wrasse). About two weeks ago I got two banghaii cardinal fish. Both were eating great, and happily swimming. i waited about two weeks and just the other night added a very small (maybe 3 inches) Kole Tang. So here are my questions/concerns:

Both (just found my other one dead ) of my cardinals have died. Like I had said before, they were eating and swimming just fine. My parameters are perfect. ammonia is 0, NitrIte is 0, NitrAte is roughly 5-10. Makes no sense at all. All my other fish are doing great it seems. All eating normally, swimming around. They both died about 3 days apart.

My Kole tang is awesome. Very very shy, but awesome. I haven't seen him eat yet. Im feeding them every other day a mix of brine/mysis/flake. I got some good seaweed and a clip for the tang. I haven't seen him nip at it yet though, nor have I seen him actually eat the food I drop in the tank. When hes in a courageous mood and ventures out from behind the rocks, I see him nipping at my live rock, but thats about it. How often should I put a strip of seaweed on the clip? So far i think it's just getting soggy and falling into the tank and breaking apart. My CuC is having a field day with the bits and pieces.


Last thing (I think lol) is my six line wrasse. I got him about a month ago maybe a little longer and he's been MIA for about...3 weeks of that month lol. My friend told me they like to hide under the sand, but is 3 weeks a long time? My ammonia hasn't spiked at all, so I dont think he died unless my CuC took care of him before he started to rot.

 

[melosu58]

Yes three weeks for the sixline is pretty long. Look around on your floor as they are jumpers and might have leaped. As far as the kole tang they mostly eat off the LR and glass. Every once in a while mine will eat some flake. Something else you might try is some dried seaweed on a clip. Remember they are herbivores and need their greens. I dont know what to tell you about the cardinals. They could have been sick or maybe parasites or just picked on by other fish.

 

[ryshark]

Well first off, Welcome To AquariumAdvice!

It sounds like something is going on in your system. What is your PH, salinity and temp? I'd like to see if those are all in line.

Regarding the 6-line, I suppose it is possible that it is still hiding under the sand. I had a Yellow Coris Wrasse do the same thing. I thought he was dead, but he showed up again 2-3 weeks later.

As far as the Kole Tang, keep trying to find something he wants to eat. It may even be a different color of seaweed or frozen mysis instead of brine. You may also want to try Ocean Nutrition formula 2

 

[dnight]

Salinity: 1.22
pH: 8.0/8.2 (really close)

 

[dannyb]

Salts a little low, Try raising it slowly to about 1.025/26. That may help.
PH is fine.

I had a Kole Tang that did the same thing, Didnt eat anything i gave him besides nipping at LR and Glass, Sadly. He passed. I seriously tried everything to feed him, But he didnt want anything.
About the cardinals, Im not 100% sure. As said above, Could of been a parasite, Could of been a little spike in amm.

Hope you find the solution.

 

[mrg02d]

The fish may have been exposed to ammonia for an extended period of time before you got them. I read that fish often die later down the road when exposed to ammonia for any extended period of time even though they are put into a better environment later.

Matt

 

[ryshark]

The fish may have been exposed to ammonia for an extended period of time before you got them. I read that fish often die later down the road when exposed to ammonia for any extended period of time even though they are put into a better environment later.

Matt

This can also be true for the way fish are collected. Some collectors use cyanide, which usually kills the fish later.