fish dieing

[p&jsmom]

ok question everyone my tank is almost 4 months old and ive had 3 fish to die ive spoken to several pet stores and theyve all told me they dont think i have enough algae in the tank it is extremly clear and i dont really see any anywhere i think my clean up crew are really doing there job... but what i want to know is if you all think thats why there dieing also.... i had a yellow tang which has died a clownfish and a blenny.... anyone have any suggestions to whats wrong?? and if you have to have alot of the algae how do i get it to grow more?? i was told by one of the lfs to buy algae like the kind people grow in refugiums and add it in there and see if it helps have any of yall done that?? of is it even a good idea?? any ideas or answers i would greatly appreciate........

 

[jbreneman]

We need more info like tank size, readings how long did u have the fish for. :happyfish

 

[sufunk]

They definitely didnt die for lack of algae. What are your water parameters? We need to know that to help. You need to buy a test kit to at least test for ph, nitrites, nitrates, ammonia. Do you have a hydrometer or any way to tell the salinity? whats the temp also. The waters probably the problem, definitely not algae

 

[sinner's girl]

need more info!
tank size? amt of lr? last water change?
all your levels: am, nitrites, nitrates, ph, alk, ca, sg, temp. can't help without knowing your levels.
Yellow tangs NEED algea, what are you feeding him and your other fish? Yellows should be fed seaweed and such. They will lose color and yes, die without it. Seaweed Selects, Green Marine Algea will work great.
Clown doesn't need algea, not sure about the bleeny...
But all fish need a proper diet and good quality water.
How long did you have the fish before they died? How were they acclimated to your tank?
what else is in your tank?
Edit, looks like three of us replied at same time, so post your results and we'll try to help.
Btw, algea can grow if you have lots of light in your tank, but if you have inverts that eat algea, then they may eat it all before the tang gets a chance.

 

[p&jsmom]

thanks for writing back everyone,,, the readings on the water nitrate ammonia nitrite etc.. is perfect everything is o what its suppose to be.. i had the tank set up for 6 weeks before i added any fish the first ones i purchased was the tang and the clownfish they both died maybe about a week ago give or take... i bought the blenny about 2 weeks after them and it died a couple of days ago.. i have one blenny now and 2 clownfish that was purcased about a month ago.. the rest is snails crabs that sorta thing... i dont understand whats going on cause all the water readings are perfect.. and its crystal clear i had no problems to start with,,,, the food i feed them is the seaweed and the tang food is the green pellets cant think of the name and i also feed them the flakes and also the sooplankton i try to give them different supplements all the time so they dont get bored with having to eat the same thing..... my tank is a 55 gallon long i have about 65 lb of live rock.....all readings on everything is perfect water temp is 78..... the ones i have left are fine for now it seems not sure what happened to the others.....

 

[saltfan]

WOW, everything looks good here. Filtration? Do you have enough water flow? Don't thinkt thats it though. How long did you have them before they died? First 3 days are the watch days. You temp could come up some, 80, how about your salinity readings? Should read SG Readings 1.023-1.024. Thats about the only thing left I can think of, unless you saw white spots on the fish.

 

[lion_crazz]

Well, can you list your water paramters. What is your nitrates, pH, kH, and specific gravity?
How long did you have the fish before they died?

 

[p&jsmom]

nitrate is 0 nitrite is 0 ammonia is 0 and ph is 7.2... sealinity is 1.023... oh and i forgot i have an umbrella polp and some recordia polps.... i have a protein skimmer 2 power heads one on each end of the tank a emperor 400 filter wiht bio wheel and everything and i have a hot mag with charcoal filter on it also but i was told to turn it off for a while by lfs..... i also have 3 bubble wands in there to supple enough oxygen.....

 

[p&jsmom]

i got the fish after six weeks when the tank was first set up so i guess they probable survived about a month and half maybe little longer not exactly for sure

 

[lion_crazz]

Wow, your pH is extremely low. That is what did your fish in.
Also, get rid of the bubble wands and just rely on the powerheads.
Why did your LFS tell you to turn off the HOT magmum?

 

[fishguy83]

pH seems waaayy low --- should be around 8.2

 

[nimo1969]

your PH IS WHAT 7.2 IT SHOULD BE 8.2-8.4

 

[p&jsmom]

sorry my fault hit the wrong key it is 8.2 and he said to turn the hot mag off cause the water was staying to clean and there wasnt enough bacteria in the water to supplement everything...

 

[sinner's girl]

was the tank cycled before you put the fish in? Have you ever used copper in the tank?
How did you acclimate the fish?
Also, you should wait 4-6 before adding new fish, esp with a new tank. (but I'm not sure that's your problem).
imo, I would have the lfs test your water, to verify that your test results are correct...other than that, I'm clueless.

 

[ejensen]

The first thing I would do is not buy the fish that are already on death row. Lots of fish store love to sale you fish that are going to die or lead you to fail because they know you'll just buy more. I would check them out and if they don't look in good health don't buy them. I usually ask how long they had them. It's harder to get the fish you want but this way you'll know they aren't too stressed anymore.

 

[turningtim]

First algea has nothing to do with it. second the water colum holds little to no bacterica, it needs a place to stick (rock,sand,glass etc). Like sinner girl how did you acclaimate the fish but I would think they wouldn't have lasted as long as they did. Could have had an ammonia spike by adding to fast but again would they have lasted that long? If there were a problem with the water I would think the inverts would have been the first to go. As stated bring your SG up 1.025.
Any cleasers used near the tank? Something on your hands that got in there? Did the fish look and behave healthy and then went belly up?
Very strange.......
Tim

 

[sinner's girl]

did all fish come from the same place? were the fish eatting? is there one fish that is stressing out the others. I had a killer clown, killed most fish I put in the tank.
What inverts do you have? I don't see it....