Is it me??!! String of fish loss

cufishfan

cufishfan

Member
I don't know what's going on! I'm either the unluckiest person ever, or I'm not fit to look at live creatures..
Early Jan- set up a 55 gallon with an oscellaris clown and yellowtail damsel I got off CL.
Mid Jan- added 4 green chromis. About a week in, one got sucked into a powerhead and died (had an undergravel filter with uncovered powerheads- my fault)
Late Jan/Beginning Feb- added more CUC, things looking good.
2/27- cross brace across top of tank broke, glass started bowing. Upgraded to a 75 RR.
3/7 - added a Banggai Cardinal
3/8- noticed some small aggression between yellowtail damsel and Banggai
3/9- Banggai is missing (never found). Looked EVERYWHERE (in, around, outside the tank).
3/11- one of 3 remaining chromis is missing (never found)
Decide that the yellowtail is to blame, so I take him back to the LFS.
3/14- bought sm oscellaris clown and royal gramma.
3/15- Royal gramma died
3/22- bought a Royal Gramma
3/23- larger Oscellaris clown not eating (start adding Garlic, mixing marine pellets, brine and mysis shrimp)
3/28- bought 2 Banggai Cardinals. Large oscellaris clown is lying on tank bottom, breathing very hard. Take him to LFS, they say it could be gill parasites (no signs of Ich or Brooklynella). Set up hospital tank, transfer clown, 1hr later clown died.
3/30- green chromis (1 of 2) is missing, presumed dead.
Throughout, I've tested every 3 days (good params- SG constant at 1.025, temp 78-80, ammo, nitrite, nitrate all 0, pH 8.2) and had my water tested by 2 LFS who confirmed my test results.
What am I doing wrong??!
Is it possible that I'm just unlucky? Or is there something I can fix?
I feel like I shouldn't keep fish if they keep dying.
 
cufishfan

cufishfan

Member
Update:
Chromis that went missing was found (dead) but no obvious sign of death- not eaten, bitten, no skin issues, no unusual behavior before the death (unlike clown who stopped eating). Everyone else in the tank continues to look fine and everyone just ate well.
I'm even more confused now. Why are all my fish dying??
 
truefishman

truefishman

Member
first off do you have a QT that is probably the biggest problem.that happened to me a long time ago with my 150g i felt so unlucky i could not keep a fish at that time i did not have a QT then when i got a QT.i was successful. i am so happy all of my fish are healthy as can be.it is not being unlucky its all about the QT
.sorry for your losses though i know what it feels like.
 
cufishfan

cufishfan

Member
Originally Posted by jayking232003
http:///forum/post/3003963
Tell use about your setup! Pumps, substrate, etc!
So it's a 75 g Oceanic, drilled with one built in overflow that runs to a wet/dry system with bio balls and LR rubble and returned with a Rio 1200 through flexible tubing. I'm having glass cut for a 20L to turn into a sump with skimmer and refugium compartments (tank should come back this week, then I'll glue baffles in, let it cure and hopefully have it set up by end of the weekend/early next week).
About 45 lbs of CC with about 50 lbs of sand. 2 Koralia #2s for flow. Use Coralife Salt, API test kits. PC lighting (new 50/50 bulbs are in the mail) but hope to upgrade to a 4 or 6 bulb t5 fixture in the next 6-8 months. 300 W and 150 W heaters (in case one fails) located in wet/dry. Glass tops.
Inverts: 2 peppermint shrimp, 1 emerald crab, 4 turbo snails, about 10 nassarius snails, a few brittle stars I got as hitchhikers
Corals: 2 small mushrooms and a xenia frag, small clove polyp cluster as hitchhikers.
Did I leave anything out? It's a fairly new setup- first tank started in early Jan, brace broke so I transfered everything to the 75 (with no incidents I can trace to the move) on 2/28.
 
bill109

bill109

Active Member
post your perameters if those arent the ones after the transfer.
how often do you do water changes?
forgot to add. some divers catch fish by adding a chemical to the reefs in the ocean temporarily paralyzing the fish so the divers have to just scoop up the fish. no actual looking for the fish.
the chemicals may be in the fish. IMO i would ask the lfs how long the fish you are buying has been in store and make sure it is eating.
maybe find out where the fish are coming from?
double check me here, but im pretty sure i have read this somewhere.
 
bs21

bs21

Member
hmm i would like to see a current parameter also. Very interesting having so many losses. What about any invert/coral losses? i would think inverts would als be dieing off if it was a water quality problem.
 
cufishfan

cufishfan

Member
Originally Posted by Firestorm
http:///forum/post/3003997
transfer of the sand could have caused an ammonia spike, or so I've read...testing for that?
Yes, I mentioned that I've been testing for ammonia, and it's always been 0. Plus, my tank move was end of February.
Originally Posted by bill109
http:///forum/post/3003999
post your perameters if those arent the ones after the transfer.
how often do you do water changes? ... IMO i would ask the lfs how long the fish you are buying has been in store and make sure it is eating.
My current parameters are the ones I posted earlier (temp 78-80, SG 1.025, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate- 0, Ca 475 ppm, pH 8.2)
As for how they were caught, I guess that could be an issue- but I've gotten fish from different stores, some of which have been at the store for at least 3 weeks, and I always ask them to feed the fish before I buy them.
Originally Posted by bs21
http:///forum/post/3004041
hmm i would like to see a current parameter also. Very interesting having so many losses. What about any invert/coral losses? i would think inverts would als be dieing off if it was a water quality problem.
Current params are what I've mentioned above- and verified by a LFS on Saturday. I haven't lost a single invert or coral (one mushroom isn't doing as well, but I think that's because it was in a spot with too much flow. I moved it and it's opening up fully again). I'm with you- I don't think it's so much of water quality issue because a- my water quality has been consistent and checked by 2 stores and b- when a fish dies, all the others ones look fine and I haven't lost a single invert (who I hear are more sensitive to water changes).
Thanks everyone for your help.. I'd love to get to the bottom of this- I want to add more fish, but I wont until I have some kind of idea what's going on.
 
salt210

salt210

Active Member
the method you are referring to is cyanide. as far as I know this has become an illegal method, but still done in some places just not as widely used
 
salt210

salt210

Active Member
I didnt see the mention of a skimmer. using a skimmer is not only useful in the cleaning of the water,but it also oxygenates it. do you have something breaking the water at the surface and how much?
 
cufishfan

cufishfan

Member
Originally Posted by salt210
http:///forum/post/3004233
I didnt see the mention of a skimmer. using a skimmer is not only useful in the cleaning of the water,but it also oxygenates it. do you have something breaking the water at the surface and how much?
I do have a skimmer, however it's not set up yet. I'm in the process of building a sump (which hopefully will be done this week, just waiting on the call from the glass shop). I also have a powerhead pointed at the surface for agitation (Koralia #2) and my overflow box seems to do a lot to oxygenate the water by letting it fall about 10-12".
I know the skimmer should help improve the quality of the water, but it seems like that's not really a huge issue because the corals and invertebrates are doing so well. I feel like it has something to do with unusual aggression (I think at least 2 losses were caused by my yellowtail damsel), bad specimens from LFS and/or some crazy disease that I can't see that kills only select fish with no symptoms
 
mr. limpid

mr. limpid

Active Member
Here is my two cents. You have a fairly new sytem and you are adding alot of stuff, you need to slow down. Give your bacteria a chance to reproduce b4 adding more fish. This hobby is all about patience. You did the right thing setting up a QT, please QT all your new arrivals even inverts, ick eggs can attach themselves to anything. I hypo all my new fish and QT anf invert for 6 weeks, you don't want to battle ick, trust me its hard get rid of. Take it slow and enjoy. Good luck

PS hook up that protein skimmer it will help your DT alot.
 
jayking232003

jayking232003

Member
U need to get that protein skimmer going too! Run some carbon in your filter if u can. Those two additions made a huge difference in my tank!
Not sure if u said this, but whats your temp at?
 
cufishfan

cufishfan

Member
Originally Posted by jayking232003
http:///forum/post/3004408
U need to get that protein skimmer going too! Run some carbon in your filter if u can. Those two additions made a huge difference in my tank!
Not sure if u said this, but whats your temp at?
I'll definitely get the protein skimmer set up as soon as I can glue the baffles into my sump. I started using a small bag of carbon in the wet/dry and plan to change it every month.
Temp is between 78 and 80 degrees (78 in the morning, before lights go on, and 80 after they've been on all day).
It sounds like the improvements I'm planning (protein skimmer and refugium in new sump) should help me out a lot, so I'm glad I was already moving in that direction.
As for the fish, some of it was me being new and unexperienced, but maybe some of it has been bad luck? I want to be sure I'm not doing something fundamentally wrong.
 
ivycharlaine

ivycharlaine

Member
Originally Posted by CUfishfan
http:///forum/post/3003877
I don't know what's going on! I'm either the unluckiest person ever, or I'm not fit to look at live creatures..
Early Jan- set up a 55 gallon with an oscellaris clown and yellowtail damsel I got off CL.
Mid Jan- added 4 green chromis. About a week in, one got sucked into a powerhead and died (had an undergravel filter with uncovered powerheads- my fault)
Late Jan/Beginning Feb- added more CUC, things looking good.
2/27- cross brace across top of tank broke, glass started bowing. Upgraded to a 75 RR.
3/7 - added a Banggai Cardinal
3/8- noticed some small aggression between yellowtail damsel and Banggai
3/9- Banggai is missing (never found). Looked EVERYWHERE (in, around, outside the tank).
3/11- one of 3 remaining chromis is missing (never found)
Decide that the yellowtail is to blame, so I take him back to the LFS.
3/14- bought sm oscellaris clown and royal gramma.
3/15- Royal gramma died
3/22- bought a Royal Gramma
3/23- larger Oscellaris clown not eating (start adding Garlic, mixing marine pellets, brine and mysis shrimp)
3/28- bought 2 Banggai Cardinals. Large oscellaris clown is lying on tank bottom, breathing very hard. Take him to LFS, they say it could be gill parasites (no signs of Ich or Brooklynella). Set up hospital tank, transfer clown, 1hr later clown died.
3/30- green chromis (1 of 2) is missing, presumed dead.
Throughout, I've tested every 3 days (good params- SG constant at 1.025, temp 78-80, ammo, nitrite, nitrate all 0, pH 8.2) and had my water tested by 2 LFS who confirmed my test results.
What am I doing wrong??!
Is it possible that I'm just unlucky? Or is there something I can fix?
I feel like I shouldn't keep fish if they keep dying.

I feel your pain, I seem to be having similar problems
 
bigal0221

bigal0221

Member
It may help to add another Koralia #3 or maybe #4 to help with the surface agitation and flow. I don't know if this has anything to do with your problem but the #2's don't put out a lot - I have 1 of them in my 20g QT and I think I am going to add another.
 
fenrir

fenrir

Member
How have your other inhabitants been? IE coral, Clean up Crew. Even though your a clemson fan I will try to help you out.
 
cufishfan

cufishfan

Member
Originally Posted by Fenrir
http:///forum/post/3005545
Even though your a clemson fan I will try to help you out.

Oh... I'll talk... slower... and use.... small... words... since you... are... a USC....fan

Haha. My corals and CUC are doing great- haven't lost a single member of the CUC (I've actually added to it pretty steadily) and my corals look good (even better since I replace my old PC bulbs with new 50/50 bulbs)
Everyone has been eating well, swimming well and playing well with others. I'm really not sure what it could be..
I'm thinking I'd like to add 2 small green chromis (around same size as the one I have) in a week or two, assuming things go well until them. If I remember right, chromis should be kept in odd numbers (and I'm down to one and he seems a little frantic swimming around the tank now). I had hoped to add a flame angel and maybe a goby, but those plans are definitely on hold until things get a little more settled.
I'm calling the glass shop tomorrow to find out when I can pick up my tank and glass pieces, so hopefully I'll be able to glue the baffles in Friday night and at least get through a water test by Sunday (I want to get my skimmer and refugium set up as soon as possible).
Thanks for everyone's help, I *really* appreciate it.
And if anyone has that brilliant, middle of the night, eureka moment about what's happening in my tank, PLEASE let me know
 
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