Im Tired Of My Fish Dieing: Help

[brendac]

Im really hoping that someone can stair me in the right direction with fish. I seen to go through clownfish like crazy...they may live a day or 2 then die on me. Im so tired of buying clowns just to see them die grrrrrrrr Anyways my aquarium is 125g with LS and about 160 pounds of cured LR. I have 12 turbo mexicans in there along with 2 sally lightfoots... a few hermits... 11 nassurius snails and a BTA. I use RO water. I have a coralife protein skimmer and 3 1200 maxi jet powerheads...one powerhead is at the top...one downwards towards the middle blowing on the LR and the other powerhead is on the opposite end downtowards in the middle blowing on the LR as well. All my readings seem to be ok...but not my saltinity that is 1.028 thats too high and Im working on getting it at 1.023 is that a good saltinity reading at 1.023?? What could be killing my clowns off?? Only thing I can really think of is the BTA?? Is that possible? Or could a saltinity thats 1.028 kill them? Im at a lost!!!

Oh on water changes I dont have my clowns long enough to have to even worry about it :help: I try to do everything right and all fails...I even bought a refrectometer and thats how I found out my saltinity reading was so high...with the hydrometer it always said 1.023
Temp 82
Ph 8.2
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 20
calcium 420
KH 9
saltinity 1.028 too high

 

[wingnut sr]

I don't know if this could have anything to do with it, but to me, the water temp seems a little high. I am still new at this too, but I have my water temp at 78* F.

 

[snowboard]

my water temp rises to 82 during the summer but it more important that the water temp doesnt change alot over a small amount of time( I have 2 false percs in that tank and they are doing great

) Do you ge the clowns from the same dealer? that might be the problem

 

[tx reef]

I know people that keep their salinity at 1.028.
I keep mine at 1.026. What are your other readings. Be specific.

 

[ryan]

Your salinity is definatly high. Get it down to the 1.023-1.025. The temp should be fine just try not to go any higher than that. How are you acclimating your fish?

 

[brendac]

I have my clowns all shipped overnight from marinedepotlice,com and enclosed are directions for that. First off I turn the aquarium lights off then float them in the aquarium for 25 to 30 minutes...next I open the bag and roll it down about 1 inch add 1/4 cup of my aquarium water every 7 minutes until the bag is full...once the bag is full I empty half of the water out... and continue once again add 1/4 cup of water every 7 minutes until that bag is full again...then I net the clown and put in aquarium.

 

[ryan]

That should be good. I have always used the acclimation process located on saltwaterfish.com under the acclimation tab and it seems to work good. Maybe try to get your salinity down and try acclimating that way.

 

[drewsta]

your salinity is fine, if the temp is around 82 try to keep it around that mark 24hours a day. What kind of filtration, how long has it been established? If we knew these things we could probably help a little more :thinking:

 

[tx reef]

We really need your exact readings.
Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Ph, Alk., etc.....

 

[brendac]

Hi...I posted my readings. Now today I checked the water and the nitrates are back to 0 This tank has been set up and running for about 21/2 to 3 months now.

 

[dogstar]

1, Do the clowns ever act/look like they are OK at first or for a while
2, Is there any damage to the dead ones, like some thing grabs/bites them
3, Have any go in the anemone at all,
4, are you sure its a BTA
5, Did you check the salinity of the shipping water, some are shipped in very low SG and a longer acclimation would be needed
6, Are they shipped with heat pacs in the box
7, what kind of clowns are they

 

[brendac]

Yes as I got each Clown it would host the BTA... Im sure its a BTA. At first for about a day or so the fish is fine...Then all of a sudden starts swimming upside down and just losses its balance and runs into things. Then before you know it the fish is on the bottom dieing. No marks on the fish. White Striped Maroon...Golden Stripe Maroon. The place that I order them from always has packs included. Could it be the BTA?? Or like you said the stores sometimes have very low salt readings and maybe I need to do it longer?? I never checked their saltinity level. Can you help me keep my next Maroon alive?? :help:

 

[dogstar]

The main reasons for acclimating is to not shock the fish.......should always know the differances of the water and adjust the time to how far the differances are....going from a lower to a higher salinity should be done very slowly...days in some cases....

 

[brendac]

Thanks DogStar... I bet it is the salt level.See until recently I used a hydrometer and that always said 1.023...When it really was 1.028 cause I bought the Refractometer and was so suprised to see such a high reading. I doubt that the shipping places have it that high. I will check the saltinity of the bag on my next clown.

 

[dogstar]

I understand.....hopefully that will be the case and a slower acclimation will do the trick......never know for sure if thats why they have been dieing and lets hope that its not that the supplier is selling you sick fish....good luck

 

[xdave]

Ah the old specific gravity versus salinity thing. With your tank so hot it was a bigger issue than usual. Since you've got part A under control, part B should be let the temp work its way down to around 78.
I'm used to talking fish, not typin fish. Whats a BTA? Something tip anemone right? Is there a translation dictionary on this site somewhere.

 

[uberlink]

Originally Posted by xDave
Whats a BTA?
Bubble tip anemone
And, FYI,
LFS= live fish store
FO = fish only
FOWLR = fish only with live rock
LTA = long tipped anemone
RO/DI = reverse osmosis/deionized
Those are the big ones on here...

 

[pascuch]

Maybe Your Ph Is To High

 

[dmc888]

I would get a stronger powerhead for more oxygen.
Maybe a seio 1500gph for the surface movement.
I have noticed a big difference in acclimating for 3hrs instead of one or two.
The fish seem much less stressed.
I acclimated my new angel for three and a half.
I would go for Aquacultured clownfish because they are hardier.

 

[teresaq]

add a clip on fan to help lower temps.