Failures

[gotteeguy]

Why is it that every time I put in a new clownfish or cocoa damsel(w/c), they die within a week? I test the water almost every day. Without the fish, the water is ok. No ammonia or nitrites, 20 mg/L of nitrates. Then when I add the fish, they do fine for a couple days. Then one morning I see ALL the fish dead in the tank. This has happened probably on 5 occasions. That happened this morning. All the damsels were dead, but surprisingly, all the slippery dick wrasse were alive. I have only enough time to measure ammonia, and it was .50 mg/L, and ammonia is usually at 0 mg/L. I am using a pH dosing thing to higher the pH, which is usually at 7.8-8.0 but the pH won't higher. And its been a couple weeks.
Could the slippery dick wrasse's mucus coat have something to do with highering the ammonia?

Filtration is a 110 gph topwater filter, 40 gph stingray underwater filter, and a 530 gph powerhead (which used to be on a skimmer that doesn't work). 1 inch of sand. 40? pounds of LR. I think a coral frag is in there too. 30 gallon tank. 3 small slippery dick wrasse and 2 cocoa damsels (that died). 3 hermit crabs and 1 ghost shrimp. lighting is a strip light with a UVB 5.0 tube. I read that corals need UVB?
Any help?

 

[scott133]

whats the temp of the tank and the salt level??

what salt are you using and are you using r.o water

any corals in your set up

regards scott

 

[jtnova13]

We need to know:

SG (use a refractometer or hydrometer)
ammonia (dead fish will cause extra ammonia to be produced)
nitrite
nitrate
pH (seems ok for fish)

Are you acclimating your fish? if not, they could be shocked to death by either rapid SG, temperature, pH change.

To acclimate, either use the drip or cup method. Search google for a link.

 

[Morri]

Have all the fish came from the same LFS?

 

[gotteeguy]

Yes, I'm pretty sure I have a coral or two. Two small 1/2 pound frags. I asked for live rock and the lady gave me some, and asked me if I wanted some coral frags with it.

Temperature in the tank is 82 degrees farenheit.
The salinity is normally 1.022-1.024 (29-33 ppt).
The brand of salt is coralife.

RO water? I use dechlorinated tap water.... can't you boil tap water to make RO water?


I made another water test.
Nitrates are at 20 mg/L (normally 20 mg/L)
Ammonia is at .25 mg/L (normally 0 mg/L)
Nitrite is at .25 mg/L (normally 0 mg/L)
pH is at 8.0 (normally 7.8)

The tank is 2 1/2 months old so it is already cycled. 2 weeks ago I added a 5 lb piece of live rock directly into the tank. Could it be that the new piece of LR is in the middle of cycling and that's why the water tests are not normal?

I have used the acclimation method by adding 1/2 cup every 5 min. They could have been shocked to death even though they've been in there for a few days because I remember I forgot to do the acclimation for a few damsels?
The damselfish are w/c.

 

[milkton]

Why is it that every time I put in a new clownfish or cocoa damsel(w/c), they die within a week? I test the water almost every day. Without the fish, the water is ok. No ammonia or nitrites, 20 mg/L of nitrates. Then when I add the fish, they do fine for a couple days. Then one morning I see ALL the fish dead in the tank. This has happened probably on 5 occasions. That happened this morning. All the damsels were dead, but surprisingly, all the slippery dick wrasse were alive. I have only enough time to measure ammonia, and it was .50 mg/L, and ammonia is usually at 0 mg/L. I am using a pH dosing thing to higher the pH, which is usually at 7.8-8.0 but the pH won't higher. And its been a couple weeks.
Could the slippery dick wrasse's mucus coat have something to do with highering the ammonia?

Filtration is a 110 gph topwater filter, 40 gph stingray underwater filter, and a 530 gph powerhead (which used to be on a skimmer that doesn't work). 1 inch of sand. 40? pounds of LR. I think a coral frag is in there too. 30 gallon tank. 3 small slippery dick wrasse and 2 cocoa damsels (that died). 3 hermit crabs and 1 ghost shrimp. lighting is a strip light with a UVB 5.0 tube. I read that corals need UVB?
Any help?

shouldnt it be cause of your pH? cause fish live in pH of 8.2-8.4 max right? also, if ur water param fluctuates too much it can kill your fish.
the rotting corpses of your damsels prob causing the ammonia?

 

[jtnova13]

Alot of hardier fish can live in a variety of conditions as far as SG and pH are concerned. 7.8-8.0 should not affect your fish given proper acclimation time. Corals prefer 8.2-8.4.

Quick or frequent fluctuations in pH could kill a fish though. Also, you should be testing 0 for at least nitrite and ammonia. Was the 5 lbs of rock cured already? if not, it could be cycling. Your temp is a little high too, any way to get that down to at least 80?

 

[MBOU]

Your tank is probably barely cycled and in adding liverock, it will affect your nitrites, especially if the liverock hasnt properly been matured first!!

How big is your tank?
How many fish and what fish have you got?
How soon after set up did you add first fish and liverock?
How many fish/bits of liverock are you adding in one go?

 

[gotteeguy]

Your tank is probably barely cycled and in adding liverock, it will affect your nitrites, especially if the liverock hasnt properly been matured first!!

How big is your tank?
How many fish and what fish have you got?
How soon after set up did you add first fish and liverock?
How many fish/bits of liverock are you adding in one go?

30 gallons.
I set up the tank for a month and a half, then started adding fish.
On average, I add in about 2 fish at a time.
The most LR I've ever added in at one time is 5 lbs.

Took another test today-
Nitrates- 0.20 mg/L
Nitrites- 0.10 mg/L
Ammonia- 0.25 mg/L
pH- 8.2

The 3 wrasse are still alive, but they are always under the sand. I haven't seen the wrasse out at all in the week I've had them. I drop in some food each day, but I'm not sure if the wrasse are eating it or if the crabs get to it first. What's the best food to feed? I've been trying pelleted food for saltwater fish but are pieces of raw shrimp better?

 

[seffieuk]

Oh gawd, your tank is not cycled yet - to keep those fish alive do large water changes a couple of times a week.

Stop adding buffer

stop adding live rock - this just creates yet another cycle

If you have another tank, i would remove the fish to that and wait for your cycle to finish

We learn by our mistakes - remember, patience is a virtue on the salty side

Seffie x

 

[gotteeguy]

What does the marine buffer do that's bad?

I'm not adding any more live rock. I guess I forgot about curing it first.

Tests are pretty much the same as last time.

 

[jtnova13]

if you are using pH up that stuff is useless, IME. Also, you should never add that stuff directly to a tank. It has to be added through top ups or water changes.

I have used bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) before with good success, but only on small tanks.

Your live rock/substrate should buffer the pH for you, if not, maybe your alkalinity is low?

 

[gotteeguy]

if you are using pH up that stuff is useless, IME. Also, you should never add that stuff directly to a tank. It has to be added through top ups or water changes.

I have used bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) before with good success, but only on small tanks.

Your live rock/substrate should buffer the pH for you, if not, maybe your alkalinity is low?

The pH has gone up and stayed at 8.2.
Is the "Reef complete calcium raiser" by seachem also useless?

 

[eschaton]

There are a couple of options here.

1. It's possible the tap water is the problem. Tap water often has nitrites in it, and in rare cases can have ammonia and nitrite. It's possible that something sensitive to nitrates, like say a sponge, sea cucumber, or nubibranch, kicked the bucket after slow poisoning, and fouled the water. Test your water out of the tap. If it has nitrites, you might be better off getting an RO/DI kit, esp if you want to keep coral.

2. It's more likely that, as other people said, the uncured bit of live rock is the issue. That said, I'm surprised that even after two weeks it's causing issues that great. I never had ammonia spikes for longer than a week when I cycled my tanks, but then again I always bought cured rock and got it back home within an hour.

Oh, and your salinity should be higher. More like 1.025-1.026. It being low won't hurt the fish at all, but any corals or inverts on your rocks might have an issue with it. Given marine salt has trace elements in it, just the higher salinity should help the water stay more alkaline.

 

[gotteeguy]

Ok.

The only reason I had the salinity so low is that the fish from the tank came/come from an inlet that has high fluctuations of salinity. The salinity there is usually about 1.020 or less.

The nitrites in my tap water are 0 mg/L.
The ammonia in the tap water is 0 mg/L
The pH in the tap water is 7.4. All seems normal?