African Fireback Angelfish Help

[detty1024]

Hey there,
First time posting here. I have a biocube that's been quite successful over the past few months. I have some live rock, crabs, snails, peppermint shrimp, a blenny, and clown in the tank right now. My sister just purchased an African fireback angelfish for my birthday. I was surprised, therefore, unprepared for the fish. I let it acclimate and figured it would be ok since everything else in the tank is fine. Needless to say, the fish didn't make it after 2 days. I'm still kind of new to this, but does anyone have experience with these fish? I use flakes which I was keeping an eye on if she ate. I was going to try freeze dried shrimp today if it didn't look like she'd eat the flakes but too late my nitrate levels appear to he a little high, could that be it? Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!

 

[osprey440]

Nitrates level can do it. What exactly are they? I know you didn't buy this fish on your own but whenever adding a new fish to a tank your want them to be 0. These fish also tend to be quite active on the algae hunt. Having a mature tank will help.

 

[geridoc]

The nitrates would have to be well above 100-200 to be toxic to fish, and your inverts would already be dead, so nitrates aren't your problem. When a fish dies so quickly after arrival it is never nutritional (although I don't think flakes are adequate for any of your fish). Look to aggression, possibly by the clown. A little aggression, compounded by the stress of shipping and arrival in a new tank is frequently sufficient to result in an early demise. Mark it up to a lesson learned, and set up a quarantine tank so the next fish gets a chance to recover before going into your display.

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by GeriDoc http:///t/396585/african-fireback-angelfish-help#post_3533914
The nitrates would have to be well above 100-200 to be toxic to fish, and your inverts would already be dead, so nitrates aren't your problem. When a fish dies so quickly after arrival it is never nutritional (although I don't think flakes are adequate for any of your fish). Look to aggression, possibly by the clown. A little aggression, compounded by the stress of shipping and arrival in a new tank is frequently sufficient to result in an early demise. Mark it up to a lesson learned, and set up a quarantine tank so the next fish gets a chance to recover before going into your display.

I agree with everything said above...

One other thing....YOU, and YOU alone, should decide what goes into your tank. If somebody wants to give you a "fish" gift...ask them to pay for the specimen YOU pick out.

You may as well let the family and fiends know this rule now...It's a very bad idea to have more then one person stocking the tank, within the same household, you can hash it out and make a decision together on what to add and why...but critters given as gifts...are like you said, a surprise that you were un-prepared for, which in SW critters, spells death and expense.

Some of the reasons why:

• 1. They don't know what is already in the tank, so they don't know what gets along with what.
• 2. What fish is added dictates what you can add later.
• 3. It might not be a fish you like, or want in the tank...personality, color, aggression...etc...etc
• 4. You haven't done your homework and may not know how to care for the gift critter.
  5. No quarantine set up, so you won't be ready for any "surprises"
  6. A baby fish may fit in the tank NOW, but how big is it going to get? The person buying the gift critter may not know.
  7. The gift critter may be purchased at the same time you got yourself a new critter...too much added too soon, and you have a possible ammonia spike that could kill everything in the tank.