All my Fish died, will someone tell me Im an idiot?

[armyof1jjk]

Hey everyone, I recently bought a 90gallon tank and have had everything set up(cycle) for about 2 wks. All my Ammonia an Nitrites are slowly going away so I put in a few damsels(3), clownfish(2), and a couple turbo snails. Last night I added some NUTRAFIN Waste Control and about 15-30 mins after I added some API Ammo Lock. A little bit later one of my Clownfish started going cold on me, it happens, so a little bit disgruntled I tried to revive him and with no luck discarded him. Then another fish went down, and another. Before I realized it all my fish had died in a period of 15 mins. Is it because of the mixed chemicals. My pet store is really good and they told me mixing chems can cause instant death but they dont sell the waste control so they've never noticed if it has negative side effects. Will that water eventualy clear, or now do I have to worry about those lingering chems? Does anyone else have any thoughts on what could have killed them so quickly before I have other fish floating upside down? Thanks everyone

 

[itom37]

Sounds like the chemicals obviously did it. Your tank probably needs longer than 2 weeks to cycle. If you added all those fish after two weeks you were probably dealing with an ammonia spike which was probably stressing the fish out. The chemicals did the trick. That's my guess anyway.
If the chemicals are "aquarium safe" I would imagine that a complete water change will do you just fine. Do that, then let the tank cycle again. This time feed the tank (a cocktail shrimp or something) and wait until everything goes to ZERO (not down... zero). Do a water change to get rid of those nitrates and then feed the tank again. If ammonia and nitrites stay at 0, you're ready to add one or two fish (not 5).
Those chemicals aren't necessary in well-cycled tanks. Patience is a big key to success in this hobby.

 

[armyof1jjk]

Yeh thats what I thought. Ill probably wait for about 2-3 wks before I put anything in. The guy at the pet store told me not to use any chems. He said bsically the same thing about the chems, and cycling. I have about 65lbs of tonga live rock so hopefully that will take care of it. Im just going to let it cycle for a little while longer, I also heard I should wait on a protein skimmer for a month or 2 is that true?

 

[spanko]

Get you skimmer when you can afford it. Use it when you get it. Don't add anything to your tank for another 2 -3 weeks. Just let the tank settle and learn to use your test kits. When ammonia and nitrites are zero for a week, then do a 20 percent water change and check your nitrate. should be at the most less than 10. Then you can start to add a clean up crew of snails. About two weeks later you can add something else. Don't know what your plans are fish only, reef? let us know and we can help to guide you.

 

[vision619]

I have never once put one chemical in my tank .. ever. I'm not sure if that's good or bad? My levels are always dead on. They did spike a bit once when I added 30lbs of live rock but only for about a week and even then not enough to bother my fish. I think the key is what my LFS told me when I bought this set-up. "Over Filter" I have a Remora Pro Skimmer & a Cascade 1200 filter on my 60 Gallon. Don't know if that helps with anything your thinking about doing but thought I would add my 2 cents
Very sorry about your little guys

 

[armyof1jjk]

Yeh I appreciate the help guys, my LFS actually recommended this site and Ive tried to get to know them pretty well, there really helpful, as far as stocking...
I orginally two porc. puffers, one snowflake eel and a lionfish, but Then I decided no. I will probably go with 1 porc puffer, 1 picasso trigger and some other clownfish(just the regular, not tomato etc), some other compatible fish. I dont plan on having soft corals for a while and when I do I know the puffer will nip at them occasionally. I wanted a pretty aggressive tank in the beginning but after having my brackish for a while I realize how many small fish a eel can eat and Im not really too enthusiatic about paying $20-100 for a fish for only the eel, or Lionfish to eat. Any combination ideas. BTW the Tonga Live rock looks realy awesome so far, it came in really good shape with alot of different colors, how long will it take to fully spring to life?

 

[snakeblitz33]

You're an idiot!

 

[dennis210]

Yep "Here's your sign". Your an idiot. Now joking aside let's fix the problem. Your system was "a couple of weeks old". Way to early to stock fish. Sorry but it is true. Perform a few 10 gal water changes. Cut your lights to 1/2 of a normal daily cycle, the each week add another hour to get up to 12 hours.
In the mean time let your tank cycle. When you go into a diatom bloom get a clean up crew (1/2) and in a few weeks more get the other half of it. Keep up with regular maintainance and then the first fish you add - make them utilitarian. Meaning a algae blenny or sand sifter. Something helping with the cycle. The cycle isn't just a nitrogen cycle but rather a whole system cycle. Nitrogen cycle with LR and LS should be done by day 28 - 35. Then you have algae cycle, chemical cycles etc. The whole thing takes about 100 days for the system to level out and get it's legs firmly under it. Good luck, don't rush, research, plan on getting a protien skimmer ( buy a cheap surface skimmer for your filter until you can aford a good one).

 

[alyssia]

Originally Posted by vision619
http:///forum/post/2504550
I have never once put one chemical in my tank .. ever. I'm not sure if that's good or bad? My levels are always dead on. They did spike a bit once when I added 30lbs of live rock but only for about a week and even then not enough to bother my fish. I think the key is what my LFS told me when I bought this set-up. "Over Filter" I have a Remora Pro Skimmer & a Cascade 1200 filter on my 60 Gallon. Don't know if that helps with anything your thinking about doing but thought I would add my 2 cents
Very sorry about your little guys
Never putting any chems in your tank is a GOOD thing.

 

[kwolfskill]

Originally Posted by alyssia
http:///forum/post/2505133
Never putting any chems in your tank is a GOOD thing.
Agreed. Never put anything in your tank that you can't or don't test for. If someone tells you that your salinity/nitrate/nitrite/ammonia/calcium/magnesium/etc. is too low/high. Don't just believe them and add more/less, test, test, test. And if your results seem weird (today my ammonia was off the scale and my salinity is 0, no, this is not something that happened to me) take a water sample to your LFS and have them test it.
To paraphase Nike, Just Test It.
And no you are not an idiot, because you are willing to learn!