fish keep dying, I've had enough

[carrie1429]

for some reason I can't seem to keep any fish alive except for one little clownfish and a blue damsel. Anything else I get never makes it out of the quarantine tank. About 2 days ago I bought a 60$ pair of banner fish that I put in the QT. My water parameters are fine:
Ph: 8.2
ammonia:0
nitrates:0
nitrites:0
They were fine for a day then I noticed that one had ich so I started slowing lowering the salinity for hypo, then one just died and the other isn't looking to good. Just laying on his side. what am I doing wrong?

 

[buzz]

How are you checking the salinity for hypo? Swing arm? Or Refractometer? For hypo, it has to be exact. Also, how long did it take you to lower the salinity? Maybe you did it too quick?
What kind of water are you using? Any other tank details? Temp? Filtration?

 

[carrie1429]

I use the swing arm, i know I should get a refractometer instead because the swing arms aren't very acurate. I didn't get a chance to even get the salinity very low before one of them died. I just did a small water change with distilled freshwater and lowered the salinity from 1.024 to about 1.020.
The temperature is 82, and I use a bio wheel filter.

 

[buzz]

I do know that you have to lower salinity VERY slowly in performing hypo. I also wouldn't try it without a refractometer.
But that may not be the problem here. If you keep losing fish, let me ask. Where are you getting them from? The same LFS? Perhaps the problem lies there and the fish are unhealthy to begin with. Can you try a different store?
Are you acclimating the fish slowly to the QT tank as well?

 

[carrie1429]

I get the fish from the LFS that I work at. They all seemed very healthy in the tank, but when I got them home they had ich so I guess when they got stressed probably from bringing them home it made the ich visible? The other LFS that is near me doesn't have very healthy fish, whenever I look at the fish they always seem sick or the tank enviornment is very dirty.
When I accumulated the fish into the tank I did it very slowy by adding very little amount of water to the bag then waiting a few minutes, added more water, and so on. After I put them in the tank they seemed fine, I got them to eat great (fed garlic soaked food) and they were swimming around a lot then the next day they seemed very sluggish.

 

[beaslbob]

carrie:
what were your parameters when the fish got sick? I am thinking ph shock with the new fish.

 

[buzz]

Top of the post...pH 8.2. Although the pH from the LFS may have been off. But if you acclimated slowly, they should have been OK there.
Any other circulation in the tank besides the filter? Is it a closed tank or open? Wondering about gas exchange. Maybe there is an O2 problem.

 

[carrie1429]

the tank is just a bare 20 gal tank with a lid (and a light) . Most of the top is covered up except where the filter is. I don't have any other circulation but the filter seems to make a pretty good current. The fish that is left is now laying near the bottom on his side.

 

[col]

Carrie
Do all your fish die in the QT?
If so, I had exactly the same problem - everything dying in the QT.
Eventually I got fed up, emptied it, changed filter, cycled it again from scratch and for some reason it has been fine since.
My fish never had ich, but would lay gasping before they died.
How many times you tried hypo?

 

[carrie1429]

yeah thats what my fish is doing, like he's gasping. And yes I have lost just about everything I put in the QT. I'm beginning to think that it would be better off to add fish into the main tank instead. The only fish that I didn't lose in the Qt was my bi-color angel. Then after I added him to the main tank he died after 2 months, I never found out why. This is the first time I've done hypo, but now I'm trying to figure out why he's gasping. Maybe I should start over with the Qt like you did?

 

[buzz]

The only reason I can think of for gasping is not enough O2 in the water. I would add a powerhead and create more surface agitation to introduce more O2 into the water column.

 

[carrie1429]

Ok, I'll try that. Thanks for your input everybody.

 

[birdy]

Just FYI my big lesson on hypo treatment was to lower it very slowly and to watch your pH level as you are lowering it, because when you switch the water out the distilled water will have a very low pH and it will lower the pH in the QT tank to deadly levels. I have had some sorry luck with my QT tank also, so you are not the only one.

 

[buzz]

That is a good thought too.

 

[dreeves]

I am thinking like Col is...scrap the current QT, thoroughly clean/sanitize everything...start new with it...
Then increase the circulation and so on.

 

[beaslbob]

carie:
Your QT how do you maintain a bioload when there are no fish to quaranteen?

 

[carrie1429]

When I don't have any fish in the QT I just do weekly 20% water changes. Is there anything else I should be doing?

 

[saltypatti]

Have lost several fish too. However, all of the fish that I lost are from the same lfs. As I told everyone in a previous post, The fish were 50%. I would see dead fish in the tank even at the end of the day and the alive fish would be eating the dead fish. That kind of caused me to figure things out but a little too late.
I have lost four clowns and a b/w heniochus.
The first clown died, I do not know why. Just found him.
Second one died with a red mark around the eye, swimming irradicly and then looked like it was suffocated by the horseshoe crab.
The last two look like they died of clownfish disease. As far as the clowns go, I am going to get aquacultured from now on.
The b/w heniochus got picked on and probably picked up something from stress after being picked on.
I think that I am going to work on getting better equipment to keep the water quality in better shape for them. I do not believe it was the water quality that killed them, but I want to give them optimal conditions.
My tank was too new too. I know that was part of the problem. Now I have a lot of LR and just inverts right now. The remaining fish are in hyposalinity for ick.
I hope that you do not blame yourself. We do the best we can. I am new to this hobby, so I did not really know enough to keep fish. You seem like you are knowledgeable and are getting fish from a good store. Have you tried ordering online????
I have had good luck with that.
Best of luck to you and keep trying.

 

[beaslbob]

Originally posted by Carrie1429
When I don't have any fish in the QT I just do weekly 20% water changes. Is there anything else I should be doing?
If other people have already responded to this sorry.
If you have an empty tank with no bioload then the bacterial has adjusted to that no or low bioload. Adding fish starts the cycle all over again. And in about two days nitrItes will spike stressing the fish. I had several instances of fish developing white spots, with rapid breathing and then dieing a few day later, under high nitrItes.
Redoing the QT (as suggested) may work because you are (have) simply reestablished the cycle.
I recommend you keep at least one fish (like a molly) in the QT at all times to keep a constant bioload. You could place that healthy fish in the display while the new fish are in qt. That way the bioload is (more) constant in the QT.
I am as certain as is possible this is exactly why you fish are dieing.

 

[carrie1429]

I didn't know that whenever you added a fish to the QT it made the nitrites spike. I think that might have been my problem. But its not just the QT. I've always had trouble keeping fish, even in my main tank. Like I said before the only fish that have stayed alive in the main tank are a blue damsel and a clownfish, I have had them in there for about 8 months. I have a 100 gal tank that has been up since last November with lots of live rock and sand but still everything else I add never lives more than 2 months. But I appreciate all your input and I will redo the QT and always have like a molly or something in it.
I haven't ordered fish online before (only inverts) but maybe I should? Are fish usually healthier if you buy them online?