my fish are dying...... HELP!!!

avbryce1

avbryce1

Member
i just started a 10 gal nano I let it cycle for a week w/ nothing in it then i added about 3 lbs of liverock and let it run for another week. Then about a week ago I bought a sm yellow tang and 4 damsels... for the first 3 or 4 days evrything was fine and all of the sudden my damsels started dying about 48 hours apartthen i woke up this morning and i had another dead damsel but the tang and my last damsel seemed to be doing fine. not three hours later the tang started acting very funny and i noticed he had a small dent just behind one of his pectoral fins and about 30 min later he died.
all my water tests look perfect I am sad and mind boggled
can someone help:help:
 
marvida

marvida

Member
Welcome to SWF.com!
OK, good news, bad news. The good news is that I'm not a member of the tang police, the bad news is that they will find you. Anyway to cut to the chase, a ten gallon will only support maybe 3 small fish. To compound your problem damsels are very aggressive and don't play well together. Yellow tangs don't belong in a tank smaller than, depending on who you talk to, 75 gallons or so. So anyway your fish probably killed each other. Do some research before your next purchase, find a home for the tang and enjoy the hobby!
 
bigarn

bigarn

Active Member
You say you let it cycle with nothing in it. Did you have live sand? Is the live rock you used cured? If not, your tank probably never cycled yet. Also that is to many fish for a 10 gallon, and to early to introduce them. Once your tank is definitely cycled add a good clean up crew before fish.
 
avbryce1

avbryce1

Member
ok thanks i used crushed coral and the fs said that the liverock had been cured but how do i really know.also how can fish stores break all the rules? and how do i know when its ready
 
marvida

marvida

Member
Get a test kit. The ammonia cycle goes something like this: organics are broken down into ammonia then into nitrite and finally nitrate. Nitrate is less toxic than the other two and gets removed by water changes and by algae. This process will take 4-8 weeks. Get to know the search function of this board. There will be tons of info already here on almost any aspect of marine aquaria. Don't hesiate to ask questions, don't get discouraged, and oh yeah, don't beleive anything your LFS says until they earn your trust.
 
I

ivanfj

Guest
I am sorry for your loss, but you gotta slow down a bit here. You are adding too much too quickly. IMO, I would start again. Get some LS instead of those CC. Don't cycle w/ fish. A raw shrimp from the supermarket would kick start the cycle. Test your ammonia. You should see it raise in the first few days and come back down to 0. Nitrite would also come down to 0. And when both are at 0, you are ready to add a fish. 10 gal couldn't really hold that many fish. A pair of clowns is the max you can go IMO. Don't get any tangs. They need much larger tanks to thrive. Continue monitor your system closely as your fish would produce some waste and nitrate would go up as well. You can get a small cleanup crew by then.
 
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