HELP!!!! ANYONE......Im losing my mind over here! So far I've lost 10 fish or more.

scootywoot

scootywoot

New Member
okay here goes.
I have been losing fish over here left and right. When I first started in the 29gal everything was okay. The first 2 months I lost 4 damsels, a sally lightfoot, a clown, and a cleaner shrimp. I later moved up to a 55gal that has been running for about 2 months now. I used the same rock, water, and sand as before. I added more sand and water of course but not rock.
1st i lost 2 clowns to some parasite that was hanging from them. After the first died I QT'd the 2nd. He later died soon after. In the last week I have lost 2 damsels and a yellow tang.
I keep the temp between 76-82 and the store always says the water quality is perfectly fine. I just got a protein skimmer in yesterday and its running out of my DYI sump. I posted a video on youtube so you guys can see my setup. Please help.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxapOMV5sXI
Thanxx
 
S

saxman

Guest
76*F - 82F* is a pretty unstable temp if you ask me, so that may be a contributing factor. I can tell you that the temp bouncing around like that can definitely promote ****** infestations.
As for "the water's fine", that doesn't tell us anything...numbers are what troubleshooters are looking for. There may be subtle things in the relationship between the parameters that may hold a clue.
Finally, did you QT everything before adding them to the DT or was the clownfish an "Oh crap, I'd better QT it"?
Was there any cleaning, painting, extermination at your place recently?
Did all the fish come from the same place?
How much stock did you add at once?
Also, that tank looks awfully clean...did you cycle it?
As you can see, there are lots of unanswered questions, and without knowing the answers, anyone would only be guessing...
I'm not trying to be harsh, seriously, but you need to help us help you.
 
scootywoot

scootywoot

New Member
I appreciate the response. Normally the temp is at 80 degrees in there. Also, there haven't been any painting or exterminating. I dont have a test kit so I never know the exact numbers. The guy at the store seems to be on his game as far as knowing stuff. He checks the parameters and always says that everything looks good. All the fish that were lost were from a local *****. One of the clowns lost was a wild caught clown from saltwaterfish.com. The surviving fish were bought locally from a saltwater fish store. I was recently told that ***** often sell fish with parasites and an employee there just told me that their water quality wasnt very good. The last time I stocked the tank is when I added the tang and the one clownfish and a snowflake eel. I donated the eel to a local store. I didnt QT the clownfish until I noticed the parasite hanging from him.
Also I didnt QT the others either. I dont have another tank setup so I just used a 5 gallon jug that my saltwater comes in. I figured it was too small to put the others in there as well. Im afraid to add any other fish because maybe theres something in the water that Im unaware of.
I will be getting my own test kit soon so I can give you specific numbers. Thanxx again.
 
scootywoot

scootywoot

New Member
Also I did cycle the tank in the 29 gallon. When I went into the 55 gallon, I just added everything from one tank into the other with more water. I thought I didnt have to cycle it again. Also I got some rock from that same ***** and put it directly into my tank thinking it was okay since it was in another taNK. Not sure if that was a good idea.
 
teresaq

teresaq

Active Member
First, slow down. Fish should be added one at a time, waiting a week or two between. Research your fish. Tangs get lrg and often get ich when stressed. they really need a 6 ft tank. Damsels get mean.
did you get a picture of the parasite hanging off your fish?
***** is known for not taking care of thier fish and having sick fish. I would not buy from them unless you can QT them for several weeks. You can get a 10 gal kit at walmart for about 30 bucks. This will work. You dont need rock or sand for it, just the filter and something for the fish to hid in.
I would let your tank set for a while, ghost feed it a little to stablize it. Get some test kits and test your water yourself.
T
 
teresaq

teresaq

Active Member
OK, I just looked at your video. Are the fish in the video what you have right now??
2 pj cardinals and a couple of damsels????
Watch that rock, those huge ones sitting on the small ones don't look very stable. lol
now, what are those colored pot scrubbers?????? Did you make sure they didn't have any type of antibacterial additives that a lot of kitchen scrubbys have in them.????
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Sorry to the OP, but that was funny Joe!!!!!!

On a serious note, though very good info given......Get your own test kits, and don't rely ever on anyone else to verify your water quality.....Worse case scenario, buy 2 quality test kits, and double check them against each other, and then maybe seek the advise of the LFS and see what numbers they give you.....Next time you go take a small note pad and ask him specific numbers, not just "everything" looks good......To broad IMO......Beginner lessons, but your learning......
 
scootywoot

scootywoot

New Member
Thank you T. I am learning as I go and ALOT of stuff I am learning the hard way. Please take a look at this video and give me a little feedback. http://youtu.be/KxapOMV5sXI Also, in my defense (doesnt make it right) shipping is so high on these fish so I just figured I would do 3 at a time to save some cash. In the end I ended up losing it all anyways! But I will take your advice and let it set for a while. Forgive my ignorance but when you say "ghost feed" do you mean to feed it very little.
 
teresaq

teresaq

Active Member
Do you have any fish right now??? if you do feed them normal, if you dont,just throw a very little in the tank every few days to feed your good bacteria.
T
Oh, and what about those scrubbers. Those could be your problem
That last video dosent work
 
scootywoot

scootywoot

New Member
The goofy at the ***** saw pictures of my setup before and said that water couldnt circulate properly with the big rocks just sitting on the bottom like that. Thats the only reason I did that. As far as the PJs and the damsel....they are in the tank now. The lone survivors! There is also a sandsifting star and an arrow crab in there that have been around for 2 months now and some small hermits. I am taking the scrubbers out too. I had them in there because I saw somewhere on youtube where that is supposed to increase the area for useful bacteria to grow (like bioballs) but I also saw where people were bashing that concept as well. As far as I know there are no additives on them.
 
teresaq

teresaq

Active Member
Then I would just give it a few weeks - Test, and research. Look at tanks on here, look how they have thier rocks. usually base rocks are put in, then sand and then the top rocks stacked with caves. You want a good stable foundation.
Research fish that will get along in your tank size.
My first tank was a 55 gal. In it I had a pair of clowns, a royalgramma, a firefish, a couple clown gobys, and an engineer goby. Think small fish with color.
Find a good lfs. Get a qt tank.
Good Luck
T
 
xcali1985

xcali1985

Active Member
First off hate to tell you this, but that skimmer, if at all possible I would take back and get my money back or store credit. It's horrible. Research them, one of the local fish stores sell them here, ever since I witness them tell them that they are one of the best in the business, I haven't taken any advice they give me seriously...
With that skimmer it can/will overflow the cup and it will end up on your floor. It's horrible at needing an exact water level to work correctly. If water rises for any reason even 1/2 inch it may wet skim and fill the cup in seconds. I had one, 3 days later I ordered an ASM from SWF.com
 
teresaq

teresaq

Active Member
I just reviewed your video again, and is that one of those auto spray air fresheners sitting by the tank?? Get that away from your tank. Those things spray a fine mist and can poison your tank
 
cubnb79

cubnb79

Member
i have the same skimmer and at first it did overflow but i had it all in my sump so floor didnt get wet..since then its out of the sump hob of it but i've added a tube off the draining hole into a bucket to drain into...no problems since
 
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