I've lost 5 out of 6 chromis

[zenn]

No joke. They've been in qt for about 10 days now, and i've lost all but one. I'm running a 10g qt with a small power filter with GAC, a small heater and a maxijet 400 powerhead. Everytime i've checked for ammonia in the last 10 days, it's been 0. Also, the water was orignally from my main tank which is really healthy...i don't knwo why theyr'e dying. I acclimated the chromis until the PH and the SG were equal.

Anybody have any ideas? I'm really getting frustrated with my qt.

ps. these are the blue/green reef chromis. and i got them from an LFS.

[TCTFish]

Everytime i've checked for ammonia in the last 10 days, it's been 0

But when was the last time it was checked? Did you check nitrite and nitrate? did you get all six at the same time? Have you noticed any bumps or white spots, bruises, wounds, slimy slothy appearance? Any white or red poop before they died? How long have you had them? How big is the main tank they were expected to go in?

There is also the fact these chromises and most marine animals are wild caught. They are taken from a gazillion gallons of water and put into small see through boxes. Between being captured and making it into someone's personal tank, they are bagged and shipped a few times being acclimated and reacclimated over and over. It's very stressing. It's amazing the amount of stress these animals go through. Once put into a private tank, if they die and it's not the water quality or acclimation or parasites or disease, then it's pretty much because they've had it with the stress of captivity. Green chromises are hardy fish, but more sensitive than the more common damsels like the blues and dominos.

For the next try around, if everything still checks out OK...don't get so many at once, espceially for a 10 gallon QT. Try perhaps three instead of six.

A product called Stability will help protect fish from the stresses of a new water environment.

[zenn]

ok. after loosing 5 of them, i felt like i must be doing something wrong because other people don't seem to have problems with chromis like this. So you think it would be ok to add two more with the sole survivor in the 10g qt?

[TCTFish]

So you think it would be ok to add two more with the sole survivor in the 10g qt?

You should first do a full water change then test the water before you get them just in case they were carrying something.

[cmor1701d]

You can add some more to the lone survivor. A lot depends on how they were caught too. If they were cyanide caught, 1-2 weeks would be expected before they died in your tank.

Do you have PVC pieces or other hiding spots for the fish in QT. Are you checking the water parameters in the QT at least daily for pH, SG, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate?

Are you doing PWC's a couple of times/week in the QT.

Those things may help. Another source for fish may also help. I have one lfs whose fish I trust (never had one die other than carpet surfing). Another lfs I have not had a single fish (out of 4-5) survive.

[zenn]

Originally Posted by cmor1701d

You can add some more to the lone survivor. A lot depends on how they were caught too. If they were cyanide caught, 1-2 weeks would be expected before they died in your tank.

Do you have PVC pieces or other hiding spots for the fish in QT. Are you checking the water parameters in the QT at least daily for pH, SG, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate?

Are you doing PWC's a couple of times/week in the QT.

Those things may help. Another source for fish may also help. I have one lfs whose fish I trust (never had one die other than carpet surfing). Another lfs I have not had a single fish (out of 4-5) survive.

well yeah, i do PWC's at least 2 times a week for the qt, and i check ammonia constantly. I don't check nitrates as much because i check ammonia so much that i'm not worried about the nitrates building up especially with all the pwc's. I check sg and ph too, but again, with all the PWC's, i've yet to have a time where SG and PH were off. And yes, i have PVC piping for them to hid in.

I don't understand why 5 can die. The 6th one seems to be doing great. He swims around very happily as opposed to the others that would hide in wierd spots.

I have this suspicion that it's my power filter that's the problem. It's just a little whisper power filter with small GAC pads that i use in it. But i'm wondering if those are killing off the fish. I don't know why they would but it's the only thing i can think of right now. The tank is always at 79-80 degrees too.

It's really frustrating when you do everything right and yet your fish die off like the plague

[cmor1701d]

I doubt it has anything to do with your filter. As I said, cyanide poisoning could be at the root. I had 3 of 4 chromis die when I started. The lone survivor lasted a couple of years. A change of LFS cured my fish death problems.

The good lfs would let me place a hold on a fish for two weeks so I knew they were survivors to begin with. It also gave them a chance to recover from the transport to, and acclimation at the LFS before the transport and acclimation at home.

I tried another LFS (gift certificate from family) and their fish also died within a couple of weeks.