Having trouble with a new tank

M

Memphis Brad

New Member
I have a new 55 gallon reef tank that is about two months old now. Everything did great for the first seven weeks. Ammonia, pH, nitrates, and salinity are all normal. I have a sufficient cleanup crew to start including eight red leg crabs, six turbo snails, and two peppermint shrimp. Started off week four by cycling with two oscelaris clowns. Weeks six added a damsel and a flame hawk. Added a flame tip tang and a coral beauty at week seven. Shortly there after starting having issues. I did not noticed any cysts on any of the fish. Each one of them started swimming erratically and passed away soon after. Tried Metroplex for the last four days to no avail. Can anyone give me some ideas on what could've happened and what should be done to correct it?
 
jay0705

jay0705

Well-Known Member
A 55 is too small for any tang. That said you added fish way to close together. My guess is you had a spike because of the bio load increase too fast
 
M

Memphis Brad

New Member
jay0705 said:
A 55 is too small for any tang. That said you added fish way to close together. My guess is you had a spike because of the bio load increase too fast
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Thank you. I was thinking the same. Now that most of the fish are dead, how long should I wait to start reintroducing fish back in? Is there anything else I should do before to get the bio-system right again?
 
jay0705

jay0705

Well-Known Member
Ammonia spike is the most common and most lethal. I would wait a few weeks then test water. If all is ok slowly add fish. 1-2 a month. A qt is reccomended aswell
 
lmforbis

lmforbis

Well-Known Member
i Would remove any fish that are still alive and put them in a QT just for observation and let the tank sit for a few weeks. If the fish don’t show any signs of disease after 4 weeks of QT observation you should be ok to add them back. If they show signs of disease then they will need treatment.
Then as Jay said add fish slowly.
 
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