our first fish died! and thoughts?

[steve r]

we try to add our first fish yesteryday. that tank has been cycled for two weeks and has had hermits and snails living for the last week without any issues. the water tested zeros across the board on friday.

we bought a bi color blenny and a sandsifting star yesterday. we acclimated the blenny by adding a little water every 10 minutes to his open floating bag after about 15-20 minutes closed to get the temp right. after the bag after 3 additions of water we would dump half the water out
( not in the tank ) and do it again. we did this three times.

when we released him at about 3:00pm he swam right on top of a rock and sat there for a couple of minutes. he then proceded to explore our tank and find a few choice holes to stick his head out of. he would even ocassionally feed on the algae we have growing. he seemed to be doing really good. we left thelights off and didnt bother him. i went to bed at 1:00 am. when i woke up at 7:00 he was dead on the bottom. he had a couple of chew marks but i think that was post mortem from a few hermits. although i did not see them near the fish when i found it.

the total acclimation was about an hour and a half. the star fish we acclimated even slower and he is doing fine this morning. any thoughts on what went wrong? do some fish just not make it? we are very sad that we took this little guy from his home at the LFS where he has been doing great for three weeks and brought him home to do "less than well" in our tank. sorry for the long post. any help would be appreciated

steve r

 

[Salttanker]

I don't think 2 weeks was enough time. Most cycles take between 4 - 6 weeks to gain stability. It's possible that the tank is going through the ammonia stage cycle process. Do you have a good test kit? Test your levels and see how they look. During this period, your inverts may not make it as well. Post your water parameters on here so we can help you determine what the cause is. Sorry to hear about your loss.

Mike

 

[austinsdad]

Two weeks does seem kinda short for a good cycle IMHO.

 

[austinsdad]

Did the ammonia and nitrite ever peak? How long ago?

 

[steve r]

the tank has already been cycled and stable for two weeks. i went through level changes in the first week and a half. my ammonina and nitirite did elevate during that time. my cycle was very light. for the last two weeks my levels have been
0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and 0 nitrates. this was also my reading on friday. my test kit is the red sea marine lab. my inverts have been doing what i think is well. they are active and feed alot. they have really started to put a dent in the algae we have growing. i guess i should just wait longer. i will test the water when i get home and give a report as to todays levels. does our acclimation procedure sound like it was okay?

thanks
steve r

 

[Salttanker]

How is your PH? Are you using tap, or RO water? I'm not sure the cycle is complete. There is a lot of up and down spike activity that happens during this time. I would wait it our another few weeks just to be on the safe side.
What kind of acclimation did you use? thanks

Mike

 

[steve r]

our PH is 8.2 our SG is 1.023. we have only used RO water. the acclimation steps are described in my first post. i will wait at least another couple of weeks to be sure. i thought that two weeks of stable levels after ammonia and nitrite spikes would be okay. i was wrong i guess. is there any chance something might have killed the blenny? i have not seen it but i have single popping noises coming from the rock. i dont know if it is a mantis or pistol. would a mantis kill a small fish? i am not doubting the thoughts about the tank cycling, just exploring all possibilites

steve r

 

[Salttanker]

I think it is the cycle process which hasn't completed yet. I always use the 4-6 week rule of thumb. If you are cycling the tank with LR, then it is most likely experiencing die-off at the same time.
Your Blenny may be under a rock somewhere.
In my experience, for a fish to die within 24 hours has been either a sick fish, or something wrong with the water parameters. What temp do you keep your water at?
I would definitely wait it out for another 2-3 weeks. Success in this hobby is having lots of patience.

Mike

 

[steve r]

our temp is a very stable 79-80 degrees. i removed the blenny this morining so iknow he is not under a rock

i dont think he was sick. he has been healthy and eating at the LFS for three weeks. must be something in the water parameters. maybe a spike between my test on friday and the time we put him in on sat. i will test when i get home.

thanks for all the info
steve r

 

[malkore]

ok, during the 2 week cycle, what did the ammonia peak at? what did nitrite peak at?
and what are your current nitrAte levels?
a cycled tank should have some detectable nitrate.

It is possible to cycle in two weeks if you got cured live rock, and have enough. Reading your sig, you have enough LR for at least the blenny, IF the tank was 100% cycled.

 

[steve r]

i will look at my log book and see what the peaks were and report back with todays readings as well later today

steve r

 

[steve r]

two weeks ago my levels peaked at
ammonia .5
nitrite.2
nitrate 2.5
since this my levels have all gone to zero

yesterday when i checked after the blenny died my ammonia had gone to .25. maybe my tank did cycle but did not have enough time to build a mature colony of bacteria to handle the new bio load. i feel really bad breaking the cardinal rule of not waiting, i guess i have learned but unfortunatly at the cost of a fish's life

my small cleaning crew, and hitchhiker crabs and several star fish seem to be doing okay. i guess time will tell

steve r