fish dont live very long

[fish master]

ive had salt water tanks for about 6 or 7 years. i dont know if im doing something wrong or what,but rarely do any of the fish live any longer than a year,except damsels and clown fish. i was wondering if it has any thing to do with the ways they catch the fish.i know some use chemicals to catch them.i wonder if that does something to the fish.maybe it doesnt effect them at first,but it has a long term effect on them.ive made mistakes in the past but learned from them. but ive had fish die for no apparent reason. ive got a hawaian blue puffer dieing right now for no reason. the water is perfect,the temp is good, good water flow,mix the foods,other fish are not picking on him.

 

[nina&noah]

I don't know anything about puffers, so I can't help you there.
However, maybe if you tell us a little more about your set up, we can help shed some light on the situation.
How many gallons?
What other fish have you lost?
What do you have now?
How often do you do water changes?

 

[prime311]

Its possible they shorten the lifespan by catching the fish with chemicals. Do you always get you're fish from the same place?

 

[fish master]

ive have 2 - 90 gallon tanks both are set up the same way.each has 2 canister filters,one for biological,one for filtering,both for water flow. 3 wave makers in each tank.i do a 25 percent water change about every 3 weeks.ive had lottttttts of fish die. clown trigger,dogface puffer,2 different types of wrasses,picasso trigger,foxface,different angels,several tangs. several others. of course these fish were not in there all at the same time.they are fish only tanks no live rock,but have live sand,crushed coral,never had any more than 6 fish in any tank at one time,try to keep the more aggressive fish together.

 

[fish master]

ive have 2 lfs that i buy from here,and i have bought from from swf one time.

 

[prime311]

You arent by chance using any cleaning products or air freshener on or near the tank that might be seeping into the water? You could also check for small amounts of stray voltage. What are you nitrates at? Do you clean the canister filters regularly(every 2 weeks)? With no live rock its very possible the fish are dying from stress caused by high nitrates.

 

[fish master]

i clean one of the filters when i do water changes,then next water change i clean the other one. nitrates are 10 -20 ppm no cleaning proucts around tank, no voltage in tank,check that pretty often.

 

[prime311]

You have 10-20 Nitrates in a tank with no live rock and canister filters that get cleaned once every month and a half. That is so incredibly unlikely. Are there other types of filtration on the tank?

 

[fish master]

no there is 2 pre filters before the canister filters but that is it.when i first started tanks years ago,i had high nitrates,but not now.the only thing that has changed is i use to use ro water from the grocery store for water changes, now i use tap water from home. it got to be to much trouble to pack water back and forth. and before i used just crushed coral and now i have added live sand. i use 2 different type of filter media in one canister and carbon in the other

 

[jbird0420]

I'd say the tap water! I don't trust anything they put into my local water. 165-280ppm in and 0 ppm out....ROdi all the way!

 

[prime311]

What tests are you using for Nitrates? I'm still having a hard time believing those levels. The tap water could also be an issue.

 

[apollobeachfl]

+ that. It may be a little expensive at first to buy an RODI unit but it pays for itslf in the long run. You can also buy water from an LFS near you. Just go to Home Depot or Lowe's and get 4 or 5 - 5 gallon buckets. It's well worth the trouble for a saltwater tank............. Make sure you wash the buckets out with table salt prior to using them. Don't use regular soap.

 

[kjr_trig]

Nitrates rarely kill "hardy" fish nor does properly treated tap water

Don't believe me, fine...Read Bob Fenner's book

I had a FO tank for over 5 years...no live rock, overstocked, wet/dry, mediocre skimmer, tap water, not enough flow, you name it....I doubt my nitrates were ever under 100, don't know though, I never tested them unless I had a sick fish, and I pretty much never did, in fact I went 3+ years without a death.....Gotta be something else...
Prime may have been on the right track with foreign contamanent getting in the tank.....If you are losing fish like a Clown Trigger or a Huma, there is something severely wrong, these fish are all but bulletproof.
That said, I am assuming you are treating your tap water with Prime or Amquel.

 

[fish master]

i have 2 different liquid test kits,one is saltwater liquid test kit. it is the one i use all the time,then i have a hagen liquid kit.dont use it,never could get it to read right on any of the tests. you got me thinking about the nitrates so i went to take a test. it is higher,its about 80 ppm, but it is about time for a water change

 

[fish master]

the tanks are in the our finished basement. it doesnt get dusty or dirty down there very often.we dont spray anything around the tanks,plus the tanks have glass covers on them,so it would be hard something to get in the tanks

 

[fish master]

i think ive made a post about this before,but will still like someother opinions about this. i have 2 spray bars that come off the filters that sprays water into the tank that makes air bubbles.i thought that makes the oxygen,but people say the water movement makes oxygen,so that means i could put the spraybars under the water and still would be ok,because i dont like the bubbles. but i question the glass tops,they are sealed pretty good. i wondering if that might be not letting oxygen get to the water

 

[nina&noah]

What about temperature fluctuations? If the tanks are in your basement, could it being getting too cold down there? Are you running a heater?

 

[fish master]

yes i have a heater in each tank. i have a digital thermometer that reads 78.2doesnt change much from that. the other tank is 78.7

 

[nina&noah]

Ok, you said you don't have any live rock, but do you have anywhere for the fish to hide if they are stressed?
Do the fish show any signs of distress or disease before they die, or are they swimming around fine one day and dead the next? What is the average life span for these fish? Do they make it a month, a few months, or about a year?
I'm assuming the fish were dieing before you made the switch from RO to tap.

 

[fish master]

i have fake rock and coral and a few aquirium decorations that the smaller fish hide in. dont really have anything for bigger fish. yes fish were dying before change to tap water. it ranges when they die some maybe 2 months some maybe 8 months. right now the hawaian blue puffer is dieing, 5days ago he was fine,then he started spinning in circles constantly, his color is good,he was eating good untill yesterday, he still has eye movement,but just keeps spinning.hes now at the top of water spinning slowly. he doesnt have much longer. most of the fish that have die look great, then usually stop eating then within 4 or five days are dead. no sign of anything wrong with them