Saltwater & Reef

dwint · 12-01-2011, 06:22 AM

first i had a emerald crab die,bought a flammin angel it died two weeks later then my coral shrimp died a few days after.my lawnmower blenny is lyeing on the sand and no fish are eating.i bought two cardinals yesterday and now i no i must have a problem.temp,salinity is good.tested water at pet store yesterday they said my nitrates were high.i did a water change and tested they said it was good.i had my clowns over a year and they are not eating,i no something is wrong please help.let me add when i bought the flammin angel it had like a scale missing on the side near its gill.never thought anything of it because it was acting normal and eating.did i buy a diseased fish.also yesterday i found something weird on the bottom of my tank ,it looked like a small jelly fish about 3/4" in diameter

ccCapt · 12-01-2011, 07:13 AM

What are your water parameters? Can you provide real numbers?
How often do you do water changes?
What size tank and how long has it been running?

dwint · 12-01-2011, 07:34 AM

every two weeks i do a 10 percent don't no parimeters the store tested it with a strip test.tank has been running two months.had the tank running for a year with what i'm doing now and never had a problem.i only have for small fish in a 75 gal now there is six i bought two cardinals yesterday

ccCapt · 12-01-2011, 07:43 AM

Quote:

don't no parimeters the store tested it with a strip test

Do you at least test your salinity yourself? You MUST get your own test kits.

Quote:

tank has been running two months.had the tank running for a year

???

dwint · 12-01-2011, 08:04 AM

yes i always check the salinity myself.i will get a test kit

**melosu58** · 12-01-2011, 09:37 AM

Did you cycle the tank?

dwint · 12-01-2011, 10:07 AM

the fish were in there while cycling

joy13 · 12-01-2011, 10:27 AM

Cycling with fish is always a bad bad idea. You need to stop buying fish even if the LFS says you can, most are out to make money. What better way than to keep selling fish to someone just starting out. Get your test a liquid kit and start testing for things like ammonia and nitrites. Your ammonia should be 0 before putting in any fish. Saltwater is a hobby where only bad things happen fast.

You need to start with less delicate fish. An angel isn't a very hardy fish and especially the flame angel, when I was researching them I found there was a high unknown death rate the first 3 months. Some cardinals like the pajama cardinals are considered hardy bangaii unless they are tank bred have a high mortality rate as well.

all4wheels2 · 12-01-2011, 10:31 AM

I'm confused....the tank has been running for 2 months or 1 year?

dwint · 12-01-2011, 10:40 AM

it was running close to a year and my sea apple poisoned most of them eccept the clowns.i put the clowns ina differant tank for a month.i cleaned the tank and decorations but have the same bio wheels.i bought new sand and let it run for a day.the pet store here is not the best and it's the only one for probably 50 miles.my lawnmower blenny is on the bottom now,i dought he will make it.this morning he was at the top gasping for air.my clowns are acting strange,wiggling but not cratching.my fire fish looks fine.the bangais i bought yesterday look fine but arent eating yet

all4wheels2 · 12-01-2011, 10:46 AM

I'm sorry to hear that.

It sounds like your tank has not cycled properly since restarting it, and adding all the fish just increased the toxic levels. The test strips that your LFS is using are really worthless, IMO. You need the liquid test kits. I'm guessing you might have high ammonia, nitrites, or low pH. You're gonna have to do some serious water changes lol. Also, just my practice, but whenever I add new fish to a tank, I also add some Stability. It's basically bacteria in a bottle. I have good luck with it and have not heard anything negative about it. You could try it, but definitely need to do water changes. Best of luck for your fish

dwint · 12-01-2011, 01:14 PM

it probably didnt help moving the decorations around stirring up the sand.i have been feeding them shrimp lately and found some on the bottom,i heard that spikes the nitrates.i just set up a 10 gal and put cupramine in there to try to save them.i'm confused about taking out the carbon filter when quarentine.arent the nitrates going to get high without a filter?if there not eating thats even worse especially after two weeks.did everyone read i did a water change yesterday or can it go up in a day

dwint · 12-01-2011, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dwint

it probably didnt help moving the decorations around stirring up the sand.i have been feeding them shrimp lately and found some on the bottom,i heard that spikes the nitrates.i just set up a 10 gal and put cupramine in there to try to save them.i'm confused about taking out the carbon filter when quarentine.arent the nitrates going to get high without a filter?if there not eating thats even worse especially after two weeks.did everyone read i did a water change yesterday or can it go up in a day

if it is a water problem when or if they get better will they eat

all4wheels2 · 12-01-2011, 01:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dwint

if it is a water problem when or if they get better will they eat

Absolutely they will!

All levels can go up in less than a 24 hour period. Honestly, fish are pretty forgiving of nitrates - unless they are ridiculously high. It's the nitrites, ammonia and pH that will rapidly kill them. Not sure I would treat them with anything until you know exactly what is wrong - you might stress them out more. Be careful, unless that 10g QT was already cycled, you could be running into the same problem

Did you ID the jellyfish looking intruder - that could also be a problem???

dwint · 12-01-2011, 01:40 PM

i dont no what that was or how it got there.i did noticemy water smells like fish and it never did.i'm getting a test kit in a few hours.

steez · 12-01-2011, 01:55 PM

Make sure not to get test strips, get a liquid test.

dwint · 12-01-2011, 02:14 PM

i just called them and explained my problem.he said i just checked it yesterday.that was his reply when i asked for the liquid kit.these people just want to make a buck.they probably want my fish to dye so i buy more,that's sad on there part

dwint · 12-01-2011, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dwint

i just called them and explained my problem.he said i just checked it yesterday.that was his reply when i asked for the liquid kit.these people just want to make a buck.they probably want my fish to dye so i buy more,that's sad on there part

going to get the kit now i will tell you the results