Any problems w/ this many fish in a 150g

[kb]

I have a 150g f/0 tank and recently I got ick and some secondary bacteria. I want to try to figure out why this happened-any ideas would be greatly appreciated! I had a yellow,naso,hippo tang,parrotfish,lunare wrasse,royal gramma,4 clownfish, and 2 damsels. I then got a 1.5inch clown trigger and then a hippo tang the next day. Everything seemed fine and then the next week I got a flame angel and an emperor angel and from there on everything went wrong. I waited to long to treat for ick because I didn't want to put copper in my tank-I won't do that again. The little clown trigger died first, then 3 days later the emperor angel died and yesterday which was about 1.5 weeks later my flame angel died. Can anyone give me an idea of why all this happened? Did I add fish too fast or overcrowd. My levels were fine,I also have a protein skimmer and a UV sterilizer.

 

[sshorem]

WHOA baby.... First lets get some history. How old is the tank? What are the numbers ? Did you add the first group of fish all at once ? How long was the interval in between adding fishes ? Do you have inverts? Do you have a QT ?
If you put that first group of fish in all at once that is a MAJOR problem. I am not all that experienced but I know that you need to add fish at a slow rate. (3 - 4 week intervals in between, depending on species).

 

[veskas]

Both mistakes.....too many fish, too fast. We've all been there & it gets real expensive (I lost $400 in fish in a month). Also the pain of seeing the fish die because of my stupidity!!! ONE fish every 3-4 weeks, then quarantine tank for new fish for 2 weeks. Plan on starting over. And for a 150gal, about 5-6 fish (6" specimens) is max. Rule of thumb for FO is 5" per gallon.
Good luck.

 

[kb]

I started with the yellow tang and the clownfish and the gramma-everything was fine. Later I added the Naso-all good. The I got a Lunare wrasse-no problems. Next I got a parrotfish-still good. There was a minimum of a week in between getting new fish if not 2 weeks. I got a regal tang and the next day the little 1.5" clown trigger-everything was fine. Than the next week I got the flame angel and the emperor angel-after that is when things started to go wrong. The trigger,emperor and flame were my last 3 fish and the only 3 that died! the tank was started in January so, It's about 4 months old and my tests(ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,ph)have been fine. I don't have a quarantine tank,I have two hermit crabs and I buy my fish from a REALLY reputable fish store.
[This message has been edited by kb (edited 04-26-2000).]

 

[sshorem]

That really is way too much way too fast. 3-4 weeks means 3-4 weeks, not 1-2 weeks. Marine fish stress very easily and it really has nothing to do with the LFS. All those fish can be perfectly health at the LFS but throw them all together in one tank and the stress out, BIG TIME. THink about you get tossed into a small room, that is over crowded with complete strangers, and some of them like to pick on you. NOT FUN. You need to proceed VERY SLOWLY and not put as many fish as you have in the tank. I have a 44 gal tank with 5 fish in it, 2 fire gobies, 1 mandarin, and 2 pecular clowns, and even that is pushing it.
Mike

 

[kris]

Yes I think that is too many fish. I don't put too much faith in the old inch per gallon rule. I do however wait a long time between additions, both to monitor water quality changes and to let them all adjust thoroughly. Meaning they all get along well, everyone has a hiding spot. etc., etc.
then I decide what else if anything I am going to add. With this large a tank you will absolutely need a qt. If your going to keep hundreds of dollars worth of fish, you don't want one little fish killing everything you've worked so hard on. And next time you even suspect something like ick remove that fish immediately, EVEN if you're not sure. Good luck I hope you save at least some of your fish.