help! Dead fish

[dicemanj]

I have a new 55 gal tank. I let the tank cycle for 6 weeks and then started adding fish. I added 2 clowns, 1 YT, and a coral beauty, 1 blue damsel. I added all the fish in about 10 days, one at a time, which I now think may have been too fast. The coral beauty was the last fish added, two days after he was added my YT got ich, and died, now all this fish have it and they are in a small HT. One of the clowns died this morning and the other two are not looking good. They also have a white film looking stuff on them. I have a few questions for better luck next time. My water paramaters are okay, nitrate is a little high 10-15, but that should not be a problem. The HT tank has no subtrate in it, just a filter and heater. On the bottom there looks like little pieces of ich, does the ich die off and lay on the bottom. In my display tank I have CC, so I do not think it is sand.
The next time I add fish how many fish should I add at a time, I am going to order through SWF.Com, so do I need to order only 1 or 2 at a time. Is there anything I should do to the display tank before adding new fish, besides a couple water changes. It the display tank now is a CB shrimp, LR, shrooms, and 1 haitain anenome. How long should I wait until starting with fish again.
Sorry for the long post, I just don't want to make the same mistakes twice. I have a fluval 404, a bio-wheel 330, and a couple power heads. Any and all sugestions are welcome.
Thanks

 

[cimpow137]

mm quarintine tanks are good things. and it seems you went quite fast on adding all those fish. i think you should slow down and invest in a QT cuz they can save your tank from getting completely crashed(fish wize) and they are a good thing to have ne ways

 

[cindyski]

Originally posted by cimpow137
mm quarintine tanks are good things. and it seems you went quite fast on adding all those fish. i think you should slow down and invest in a QT cuz they can save your tank from getting completely crashed(fish wize) and they are a good thing to have ne ways
he has got a qt tank.
i have been doing kinda one at time unless they are the same fish, like i added 3 yellowtail damsels when i cycled, after my cycle i added 2 clowns, then waited probably about a month and added 3 blue/green chromis, now a couple months later i just added a royal gramma. i dont know if i am going to slow, but i dont want to take any chances. when you get the urge for a fish, crab a coarl instead
as far as how long you should wait, i think i read 6 weeks, but i could be wrong there. :thinking:
good luck!

 

[cindyski]

ps i gave got all my fish (except the damsels) from swf. dont forget there is a 75$ minimum, but i fill in with coral & inverts

 

[cimpow137]

mmk didnt know he had a qt and it sorta sucks to have to buy a 75$ minimum but not really cuz u can fill it up with corals and rock and stuff to stead of all fish

 

[birdy]

Yes IMO you went way too fast and you added some fish that you should have waited a while for, The yellow tang and the coral beauty are more sensitive and should not be added to a tank until it is at least 6mo to a year old. As far as adding fish, wait a minimum of two weeks between each new addition ( a month is probably better) and you should QT each new addition for at least 2-3wks before you put them in your display, this is to be sure they do not have any parasites.
Good luck next time.

 

[dicemanj]

Thanks for the responces. I will definately wait longer for tang or coral beauty next time. I will start again with the 2 clowns. How long should I wait until I add fish again? What should I do to the tank in the meantime. Water changes?

 

[birdy]

I would wait a total of 6wks before I put any fish back in there (That is probably overkill, but if they are all out better safe than sorry), The ick lives in the water column for a while, so you want to be sure the live ones in the water are dead. Are you treating your fish in the QT with hyposalinity treatment? If so that takes at least a month anyway.
Just maintain your tank normally during this time, with topoffs and occasional water changes.

 

[cimpow137]

i agree with birdy