My Third Fish Keeps Dying???

[Khij159753]

Well you can paint the back like mine is. 4 weeks old is your cycle over? Your fish could be dying because its not cycled and doesn't have enough filtration. Also what kind of lighting do you have? I'm surprised your anemone is still alive....

 

[Elykreefs97]

I heard of a method to get fish like maroons to not pick on new fish. To turn the lights off and add the fish then wait another 12 hours and turn the actinics on the then wait and turn the lights o n back to there normal cycle witch will give the fish a chance to get used to the tank and also find his spot. But then if I buy the fish and the maroon still picks on it it will be a waste of money bc of no returns!!!!

 

[Khij159753]

That helps the fish find a hiding spot but won't effect weather it gets picked on or not.

 

[Elykreefs97]

I have zoomed t5 high output and that is a condy I picked up it was bleached when I got it and hese recovering he looks like that bc I just moved my rock and put everything back in the tank yea my cycle I think is done maybe that's the prob. But allt the stuff from my 10 gal that was running for 6 months went into this tank so. But my filtration is 1 30 gallon hob filter and 1 20 gallon hob filter my 10 gallon sump is in progress now.

 

[Elykreefs97]

I can take pic of it when I get to my dads tomarrow and post it it will probly look better

 

[Khij159753]

Okay. Idk I'd wait a while before adding anything. Test your water?

 

[Elykreefs97]

Yea I was just thinking I'll wait another month. In the mean time get some more rock. And yes I do test my nitrites nitrates and amonia have been almost zero the past 4 weeks I'll give you the test results tomarrow when I'm at my dads I have them written down. My ph is 8.2-8.4 calcium 360-420 ppm

 

[Elykreefs97]

What about a six line wrasse for later thinking

 

[Khij159753]

That might work with a maroon. It's a better option than a goby

 

[Elykreefs97]

Ok but I won't have much money for a while so like right now I'll buy maybe 10-20 dollars worth of live rock every once in a while. Then later a six line then a goby then whatever comes along I guess. I'll post stuff tomarrow.

 

[TheTodd]

I think any kind of Angel is a bad idea in a tank that small. Pygmy Angels need 50+ and Dwarfs need 70+. Sorry, but IMO, putting a fish like an Angel in a small tank is begging for problems, especially with clowns. It's not the typical Tang argument (need lots of swimming space), its more of a territorial thing.

If you are concerned about keeping an additional fish alive, I would keep within the general rules or be ready for more problems.

I wish I had a LFS that did returns for saltwater. I've been doing aquariums since I was a kid. Probably frequented over 20 LFSs over the last 30+ years and never found one that took returns on saltwater.

 

[Elykreefs97]

I'm trying to stick to the general rules if people keep telling me no angels I understand but the minimum size for a coral beauty angel is 30+ gallons. And I may also be upgrading to my 90 gal next year.

 

[Sniperhank]

I wouldn't go as extreme as todd in reference to angels, but 30 might be pushing it for the coral beauty if you already have 2 clowns in there. In my 55 reef I have a coral beauty and a clown pair. It took several months for them to establish the terriroties. The clowns harrassed the coral beauty to the point where I thought they would kill him if he didn't figure it out and had wounds pretty often. Things turned out for the better in my case, but it isn't always the case and why Todd is bringing up the possible issue as you are mixing angels and damsels...both are territorial buggers.

I'm several pages behind on this thread, but did the issue of why your third fish keeps dying ever get identified? Nitrates? Possible bullying from your clown pair?

 

[Elykreefs97]

No the only fish in my tank now is a maroon clown.

 

[Sniperhank]

Any aggression seen? Maroons are mean guys.

 

[TheTodd]

Some sources will qoute 30g and others will quote 70g for Dwarf angels. I tend to lean more towards "bigger is better" if there is anything even remotely territorial or aggressive in the tank and I honestly feel that less than 45g is a bad idea. Maybe a Pygmy (Cherub or Flamenack) in a 30, but again, the territoriality is a consideration.

A lot of Angels also do better in established tanks, as they like to graze. i have added them too early and they've died within two months, but the ones I've added later have always done well.

That clown is what you'll have to work around. The Damsel is not going to help things either. That's two fairly nasty fish, especially in tight quarters.

 

[TheTodd]

Yea I was just thinking I'll wait another month. In the mean time get some more rock. And yes I do test my nitrites nitrates and amonia have been almost zero the past 4 weeks...

Also...regarding why other fish aren't making it...you say the tank is only four weeks old. Are you 100% sure the tank is cycled? How did you cycle and did you see the ammonia spike , high nitrates, etc. that go with that process? You mention that things have been almost zero for four weeks, which just doesn't sound right to me. The Dsmsel and Clown are tough and can sometimes survive the cycle process, but those others might not fare so well if your parameters are out of whack. If they were added while the tank was still cycling, that is probably what's going on.

 

[Elykreefs97]

The tank is really about 7 months old bc the 10 gallon tank I had up befor the 29 gal what's 6 months. It may not be cycled but I'll wait. I'm also going to get rid of the yellow tail. Does this stock list sous like it will work.

Maroon clown
Six line wrasse
Tiger or yellow watchmen goby
Then maybe and angel maybe. But otherwise a dottyback or lawn mower blenny. And yes my maroon was mean to the orchard dotty back I had bc that was in my 10 gal. And he was mean to my nox angel I had bc he was protecting his anemone

 

[Elykreefs97]

Here's some pics

 

[Breakthecycle2]

What's with all the green algae? I'm just curious.