Severe Fish Loss..HELP PLEASE

[lbsoopafly]

hey everybody, im new in here and i heard that there are very helpfull people in here in which hopefully i can be helped.. ok. i own a 55gal SW tank. it has 30-35 lbs of live rock with crushed coral substrate. The second week the tank was set up, i added Fritz Zyme #9 to cycle the tank. (live nitrifying bacteria) 3 days later i added 4 damsels. none died untill the 5th day, the bigger damsel attacked it. so.. i check everything, salinity ph, nitrite, nitrates, alkalinity, ammonia.. everthing seems fine. i go to the store and buy a Unicorn Tang, and a Orangelined Angelfish. they seem happy the first 2-3 days.. then i wake up and my Tang is dead. showed no signs of it being attacked or anything... so i flushed it.. and then 2 more days pass by and my butterfly develops a dark spot on its side. i come home grom school(yesterday), and its dead. now,. (today) one of my striped damsels dies, it has no marks, or no spots on it or anything. can anyone help??? i dont know what to do... and i checked everything, everything looks fine but my nitrate is at 40.. if im not mistaken., i heard that nitrate doesnt harm the tank as long as its under 80???

 

[wrightme43]

Ouch. Normally that is caused in a new tank, (no matter what the enzyme package says) by New tank syndrome. I.E. rapid spikes of ammonia. Just for future reference, let all saltwater tanks run for a least 3 weeks, preferabley 4-6 weeks before adding any fish. What has happened in my opinion is that the live rock (may of been sold as cured) was not cured fully. The biologic filter was unable to handle the delicate needs of your fish. Think of it this way. The ocean has been stable for millions of years. You live there. You are yanked out, stuck on a hot boat, day or two later your stuck in a holding tank on a island, then maybe a week later, stuck on a air plane to L.A. then ploped into a tank, then bought by a wholsaler, another tank, then shipped to a retailer, another tank, then bought by you and in another tank. They need a very stable enviroment to recover and live. Hope that helps. Steve

 

[NaH2O]

Welcome to Reef Frontiers!!!

I also feel the tank was stocked too quickly, which may have caused the spikes Steve is talking about. When adding fish, it is good practice to add a fish, then give the tank time to build the bacterial population to handle the fish waste/bioload. Once the bacterial population has grown, another fish can be added.....again....wait to let the bacterial population can grow to process the new bioload. It may also be that the stress of dealing with small spikes has made the fish more susceptible to disease. You might want to do some water changes with new water mixed and circulated for at least 24 hours, in order to help any fish that remain.

What livestock is left in the tank? Do you have a skimmer? Also, can you list out your parameters....give us the salinity reading and what you measure with (hydrometer or refractometer), pH, temp, etc. (I did see your nitrates were 40). Hopefully we can get you on the right track to an enjoyable tank.

 

[lbsoopafly]

hi again. thanks alot for the replys, im finding them very helpful. and yes, i also thought to myself that i added too much fish at a time.. whats left is a Clown fish, a striped damsel, a puffer, and a scooter blenny, they look like theyre happy, no signs of stress or sickness. i dont have a skimmer yet, the guy at the fish store told me i can buy one about 2 months after starting the tank. just not yet.. the salinity is 1.021 and its measured with a hydrometer (just took a reading 5 min ago) same nitrate level today (40) and the nitrites are in desireable level tested with a quick strip. temperature is about 77-78, i lowered it from 81 which it was yesterday. i am feeding them 2 of those little frozen cubes of shrimp a day. once in the morning and once at night... they eat it all but i dont know how much to feed them. my question is what kind of water should i use to do a water change. (i think there is reverse osmosis, or regular tap with dechlorinizer). and how do i prepare it and if i add aqua safe straight to the tank or to the water which is being added seperate..?and when can i buy new fish (cause my tank is looking lonely.) thanks again for all the help.

 

[NaH2O]

This tank will be a fish only with live rock? If you have any intentions of making a reef tank, then I recommend using RO/DI water and raising the salinity. A skimmer will help remove organics. Any new additions, I personally would wait a couple of months to let the tank stablilize a bit. What are your stocking plans? (what are you wanting to keep)

 

[lbsoopafly]

i want it a fish only with live rock since its my first saltwater tank and i know corals and anenomes are hard to maintain.. but my mom wants anenomes and corals "cause they look nice" but im not with that idea right now. im still starting and i got a lot to learn still. so im just keeping it fish with live rock for now. and plus, that pufferfish eats anything in the tank. it even bit my finger once =[

 

[Angelscrx]

I suggest a skimmer from day one to get excess nutrients out of the water. My tank cycled for 4 weeks with a skimmer skimmer before the first fish went in. I didn't add any chemicals to cycle it just a peice of food.

 

[Skipper J]

Just don't forget in this hobby "PATIENCE" is a virtue,"Knowledge is a Rule" . I learn this the hardway, same thing happen to me too a few months ago when I started my tank. Stay on this site you'll learn from the Masters!!!

Joey

 

[Carloskoi]

get that skimmer now. it will make a huge difference.

no more fish either. at least for several weeks. don't add more than one fish at a time.

get a hydrometer.

do regular water changes of 10% per week. you can buy water at the LFS if you don't want to buy a RODI unit and make your own.

Good luck.

keep reading and learning.

Carl

 

[Angelscrx]

get that skimmer now. it will make a huge difference.

no more fish either. at least for several weeks. don't add more than one fish at a time.

get a hydrometer.

do regular water changes of 10% per week. you can buy water at the LFS if you don't want to buy a RODI unit and make your own.

Good luck.

keep reading and learning.

Carl

Great advice!