My 24 gallon horrible tank

[csababubbles]

I have a 24 gallon Aquapod aquarium and almost everything has died in it since I started it over a year and a half ago. Every coral dead. Every mushroom dead. Every shrimp (sexy shrimp, peppermint, etc) dead. Almost every fish dead.

Only things that has survived from the beginning:
1) Three snails
2) Hector Goby
3) Spike Fin Goby
4) Cheato

I don't get it. Can you guys please help me turn this tank around from being a death machine?

It has about 2" of sand. Two 12 lb pieces of live rock. A Koralia 1 pump (400 gph). A maxijet 900 as the return pump. I used to have a Sapphire Skimmer but it never really took out significant skimmate to be useful so I took it out a few months ago. I guess it helped aerate the water but the surface overflow did that too. I did 30% water change every 2 weeks, sometimes once a week. There was a short algae outbreak in the beginning but that subsided nicely after a month and there has never been nuisance algae, most likely due to the cheato in the display portion sucking it all up. There has been several outbreaks of nuisance anemones but the peppermints ate them all, but when they died after a few months they reappeared.

I just don't get it. There have never been more then 3 fish at once in the tank so the bioload has always been small. The hector and spike fin gobies were the first two fish in there, but every new fish I put in has died within a few days or weeks. Same thing with corals, all die within a few weeks. Please help me figure out what I can do.

 

[gotfish]

This is way too complicated of an issue to get a good response on. How are the fish dying, what are the parameters when they do die? How are the coral dying, parameters? The questions can continue, but in reality, I doubt you're going to get an answer.

 

[ashton]

Have you had your water tested to make sure your parameters are ok? Because if the new fish are dying within a few days im wondering if its maybe water quality?

 

[Bored4ever86]

I have a 24 gallon Aquapod aquarium and almost everything has died in it since I started it over a year and a half ago. Every coral dead. Every mushroom dead. Every shrimp (sexy shrimp, peppermint, etc) dead. Almost every fish dead.

Only things that has survived from the beginning:
1) Three snails
2) Hector Goby
3) Spike Fin Goby
4) Cheato

I don't get it. Can you guys please help me turn this tank around from being a death machine?

It has about 2" of sand. Two 12 lb pieces of live rock. A Koralia 1 pump (400 gph). A maxijet 900 as the return pump. I used to have a Sapphire Skimmer but it never really took out significant skimmate to be useful so I took it out a few months ago. I guess it helped aerate the water but the surface overflow did that too. I did 30% water change every 2 weeks, sometimes once a week. There was a short algae outbreak in the beginning but that subsided nicely after a month and there has never been nuisance algae, most likely due to the cheato in the display portion sucking it all up. There has been several outbreaks of nuisance anemones but the peppermints ate them all, but when they died after a few months they reappeared.

I just don't get it. There have never been more then 3 fish at once in the tank so the bioload has always been small. The hector and spike fin gobies were the first two fish in there, but every new fish I put in has died within a few days or weeks. Same thing with corals, all die within a few weeks. Please help me figure out what I can do.

Sorry to be blunt but the people here need more information to tell you your problem(s). Tank parameters would be a start as well as lighting and other equipment used.

and the big question.... are you using tap water for those water changes?

 

[tri_pod_rod]

everyone here is absolutley right give us your parameters and youll get help

 

[csababubbles]

All water is RODI, same water I use for my other tanks that have no problems. Salinity is very steady at 53 uS (1.025 sg)

All new fish are QT'ed for about a month and very healthy before I put them in.

The fish after a few days or weeks just start hiding for a few days and then finally just disappear (most likely devoured by the shrimp (now dead of course) or snails.

The lighting is the included 2-32W square pin Dual Daylight 10000°K/6700°K Daylight bulbs

Ammonia, nitrite both zero
Nitrate usually zero, sometimes wanders up to 5-10 but very rarely

I don't test for calcium, mg, or alk since I replace 30% of water every week or two and I usually only have one piece of coral at any time in the tank.

The shrimp just disappear after a while.

The corals slowly die away. They start out great. After a few week they start not opening or dying back. Eventually disappear.

Circulation 400 gph koralia, maxijet 900 return, sapphire skimmer now removed.

Only thing I can think of is I don't use carbon.

Its not like I dont know how to take care of corals and fish. I have many other tanks that are all very successful with fish and corals, but they are all much larger (45 gallons up to 220).

I just stink at nanos!

 

[csababubbles]

double post

 

[Mopar Reefer]

Do you have a heater? Maybe it could be leaking into your tank? Stray Voltage? Was copper ever used in the tank?

 

[gotfish]

What kind of coral are you trying? As far as the fish, you say they hide and are never seen again. You got a crab that may be killing them?

 

[csababubbles]

no crab or any other hitchhickers. I have a small hector goby and a tiny spike fin goby both alive almost year and a half.

corals ranged from leathers, torch corals, mushrooms, zoas, gsp, hardy lps, ricordias, etc. I also tried tons of cuttings of different sps I take from my large reef tank. nothing survives long.


As for a heater, I used to have a small 50 watt heater to stabilize the temp at 80F but I got scared it might leak or overheat it one day so I removed it a few months ago and the temp has never veered more then 2 degrees in either direction from 80F.

I bought the tank new and have never put in any sort of medication, including copper. Three snails have survived for the whole time the tank has been setup.

I'm pretty sure its a water quality issue so maybe the hector and spike fin have gotten used to the water? I'm stumped.

 

[Darthv247]

were you feeding these corals and fish ?

 

[csababubbles]

yes, i feed 3 tiny meals a day composed of tiny mysis, algae flakes, cyclopeeze, reef plankton, and my homemade fish food. i've never seen anything ever get left over.

 

[gotfish]

What sort of water quality issue could it be if you test it? I don't know, if you've had 2 fish in it that are fine, but lose others once they go in the tank, it doesn't make sense. I can see why the sps wouldn't live long. The lighting isn't sufficient for them, but as far as the other deaths, you got me.

 

[csababubbles]

I dunno, but I know there are many things that you CAN'T test for that are important parts of water quality.

I have kept many extremely difficult fish and corals alive for years in my other tanks so there is something wrong with this setup. Do you guys see anything different in this nano set-up different then your set-ups in terms of equipment and maintenance?

 

[luisse25]

wow im clueless..the corals you have mentioned are very easy to care for...if you do regular waterchange then water quality shouldnt be an issue...and for carbon i have a nano and i dont use any carbon at all..i also have a 24gal aquapod and i dont have chaeto,carbon nor protein skimmer or any other equipment mods except for the lighting and with your lighting sps wont survive..i even just do 3gal water change every week...

your nitrate is better than mine..
i do have more live rocks though..
what fish did you put in there that died..

and the corals how are they dying?????especially GSP mushroom zoanthids,these are very hardy..how do they die????melt?brown jelly disease???torch??how???

hope we can help you...
i know how it feels when livestock are dying on you and you cant figure out how or why...

 

[returnofsid]

Get a meter to see if you're getting any stray voltage into the tank. Stray voltage won't necessarily kill everything in your tank, but might be killing fish that are already stressed from being introduced into the new environment. Stray voltage may also explain the corals all dying.

If this is the same water that is in all of your other tanks, and all your other tanks are doing well, I don't think it's a water quality issue. I also don't think it's a hitchhiker issue, since you're losing fish AND corals. One or the other, I'd think hitchhiker, but that's not the case.

I also don't think it's a trace metal issue, as those would kill the corals and inverts, but probably not the fish.

You mention that your temperature doesn't stray more than 2 degrees of 80. If it's straying up to 82, that's a lil' warm, though I don't think it's warm enough to cause the problems you're experiencing. Have you tried a different thermometer to make sure that the one you're using is accurate?

 

[csababubbles]

the corals either stop opening after a few weeks or slowly shrivel up and die. All typed of macroalgae (shaving brush, etc.) die within a few weeks (except cheato).

the fish die in different way. mandarin died within 2 days. pearly jawfish died within a month. clown goby died within a month. I don't remember the other fish right now but its the same time frame. sexy shrimp died one by one over the course of two-three months. peppermint died one by one over the course of 4 months.

I will check the stray voltage today with my meter. I will also double check the temp with some other thermometers.

As for the water quality, yes its the same source water but the interaction within the tank is what I think is different. You guys think not enough live rock? Maybe the sand-bed is screwy? Its only two inches and it was brand new when I put it in the tank so I don't see how.

 

[gotfish]

82 degrees is nothing to worry about unless you go from 80 to 82 degrees in a matter of minutes. Ocean temps have been read at 85 degrees.

Like I said, if you're testing your water and everything checks out ok, I can't see it being a water quality issue. If it's taking a month for a fish to die, I'd have to say it probably starved to death. What were you feeding the clown goby? A 24g can't support a mandarin for very long although dying in 2 days unless you had it in qt for a month seems weird. If you had it in qt for that long, it probably did starve if you couldn't get it to eat.

 

[csababubbles]

I had the mandarin in a completely bare (except pvc tubes and a plastic cave) QT for a few months and trained it to eat frozen foods. It was eating very well and was quite thick when it died. I mean it literally died within days of being put in the display. That makes me think its a water quality issue but I dont see how to fix it.

I figure I can do the 30% water changes more often, put the skimmer back and begin using carbon but I don't see how my current regime doesnt work when it works for so many people's nanos.

 

[chadmace]

Since you do not have a skimmer on that tank to remove nutrients and aerate the water, do you have an air pump running on the tank? I'm not too familiar with nanos, but oxygen levels in the water is something you typically wouldn't test for. Then again you would notice something is up when the fish are all at the surface for air. (Hey, its a shot in the dark.)