August Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 (edited) OK, so about a month and a half ago something happened to my tank... All my chems were in range and all looked well. woke up one morning and 3 clowns and 4 damsels were dead. Leaving only my cleaners and one clown. Left her in there alone for a month, all was well she NEVER even acted sick... so a few days before christmas my husband bought me a Strawberry psud. Chromis and a Lawnmower bleeny... well today all chems are still in normal ranges but I lost my chromis and my bleeny... what could be going on?? I breed fresh water fish, but feel kinda dumb when it comes to saltwater ailments. Please help?? That same clown looks fine still. any advice is appreciated Edited December 28, 2009 by August&Jake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
August Posted December 28, 2009 Author Share Posted December 28, 2009 forgot to mention all cleaners and urchin are doing fine... even my horseshoe crab Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 What all did you test for? I assume Ammonia, Nitrate, Nitrite. Did you test anything else? Did you quarantine your new arrivals? How did you acclimate them? I am nowhere near an expert on these forums, but the awesome people on ARC will most likely need more info. I know that some Chromis are hardy, but others of the same species often die in aquaria. I have two that are fine, but started with six. They died off one by one, for no apparent reason. The last two have survived an extended power outage, and a broken heater. So, for the Chromis, it may have been the individual that was purchased. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
August Posted December 28, 2009 Author Share Posted December 28, 2009 I tested Ammonia, Nitrate, Nitrite, Salinity, Ph, and Alkalinity. Everything was within safe ranges. I drip acclimate all my saltwater fish. All the clowns and 2 of the damsels that passed before were all over 6months old in my tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doktorstick Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 (edited) Post your readings. There may be a misconception between what you think is normal and what is normal. Include temperature. You may have bad test kit(s). Do you put your hands in the tank? Do you wash them before putting them in the tank? I know, basic questions, but to troubleshoot this it needs to be broken down and assumptions thrown out. Edited December 28, 2009 by doktorstick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 Is the clown that is left aggressive? What kind of clown is it? It is possible that it is killing the new additions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
August Posted December 28, 2009 Author Share Posted December 28, 2009 Nitrate- 10 Nitrite- 0 Alkalinity- 200 pH- 8.2 Ammonia- 0 Salinity- 1.023 Yes if I have to stick my hand in the tank I wash them first... I try to minimize that as much as possible. The clown that I have left doesnt seem to bother any other fish, she seems to hide when she is in the tank alone... she only comes out to eat and when she has other tank mates she seems to come out more, but has never been seen chasing any of the other fish or anything. When it was the 4 they all were a little group that followed eachother everywhere. She is a False Percula Clown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
August Posted December 28, 2009 Author Share Posted December 28, 2009 temp 76 degrees Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+runamukus Posted December 30, 2009 Share Posted December 30, 2009 Another question or two is what are the other tank inhabitants outside of fish? Do you have any corals that may contribute to polluting the tank chemically (something a test kit won't pick up)? What kind of filteration are you using? Do you have LR or a deep sand bed? You may be adding too many fish at once and are getting a spike which could kill already stressed fish. Oh and how big is the tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
August Posted December 30, 2009 Author Share Posted December 30, 2009 no corals, LR and Sand bed. its a 40gal tall, marineland bio wheel filtration. Filter rated up to 50gal, not sure of the Protein skimmer we bought the system from another reefer about a yr ago. I only added 2 fish the chromis and the Lawnmower. The only fish in there before that was a clown. I have about 14 various hermits, an emerald crab, and horseshoe crab, and spiney Urchin and a few snails. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+runamukus Posted December 31, 2009 Share Posted December 31, 2009 The only thing I can recommend is when you decide to get more fish, add only one and see how it does. If your water parameters are fine, (being 0 nitrates, nitrites and ammonia) and your Ph is a stable 8.2 But is your alk really 200? The alkalinity of a saltwater tank should be around 2.5 to 3.5 meq/l. I'm not sure what kind of test kit you have, could you let us know what you are using? Too, you should have zero nitrates. How often do you do a water change and how much? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
August Posted December 31, 2009 Author Share Posted December 31, 2009 I do about 25% or so when I do water changes. Right now I have the test strips. they have always done well for my freshwater and they are either salt or fresh water they have 2 different sets of readings for what is optimum and whats not. all tank mates are doing really well. according to the strip it says its in the ideal range on the Alk. Thanks for all the advice. I will just make sure that the next fish I add are small cheaper fish for now and see how that works out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
August Posted December 31, 2009 Author Share Posted December 31, 2009 and I do the changes once a month. I seem to have alot of water evap. so I tend to have to add water fairly regularly. I keep a close eye on my strips for all my fresh water babies too. I tend to do all my water changes at around the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+runamukus Posted December 31, 2009 Share Posted December 31, 2009 Well the water change is a big debate amongst different folks. Some think you should change at least 10% once a week. Some say they don't change it but once a month. I personally can see that if I don't do a water change once a week, my corals and fish are not happy. It seems like you have a FOWLR (Fish Only With Live Rock) and I never had one of those. I do know you want to keep the Nitrate to zero. When I see any Nitrate, I do a water change immediately. Another question is: What kind of test kit are you using? I know some SW test kits are not that good and can give false readings. I'd suggest taking a sample of your water to a LFS and ask them to test it for you to make sure your readings are in sync with theirs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
August Posted December 31, 2009 Author Share Posted December 31, 2009 I will do that... not sure what brand it is off the top of my head... thanks so much for all the help and insight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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