MY fish Died in about 16hr

[raphael]

:help: :help:
Ok here is the deal, I am going to go in depth too. I have had my fish tank up and running for about 20 days and the new sand and dead coral in the tank for 8 days. I just bought my first fish yesterday a tomato clown fish and a clarkie clown fish, witha camel shrimp, just to test out the tank. I let them stay in the bag for about an hour to get use to the temperature, them I let them go, things looked fine at first, the clown fish i don't eve think new they were in there together, they stayed on opposite ends the whole time. they did not go far at all just kinda stayed in one spot. the shrimp move around the rock for a minute. I just thought thats how the fish are when they first ge to a new tank kinda shy. The shrimp soon lodged himself in the rock and passed away

I noticed this about 15 hours after I put them in. So on my way to get the shrimp out of the tank the Clarkie freeked out and went belly up.

I did not even notice what just went on. I was busy getting the dead shrimp. OK that was not fun, then I went to bed time to turn off the light, the tomato clown went crazy and swam in a circle for about 6 seconds then went belly up and struggled to breath.

I have no Idea what caused this epidemic, was it my put and the jets causing to much current, stress, the ph levels, I have no clue what went wrong. I only checked the salt levels cause thats all the lfs said i would really need. please help in any way that you can.

 

[misty927]

First off...welcome to the board!

Ok, post all your parameters...tank size, pH, salinity, ammonium, nitrate, nitrite levels. Do you have live rock...what type of filtration are you using. What your cycle completely finished before adding inhabitants? As for why they died, I'm gonna say it's your acclimation procedure and whether or not your cycle was complete. First of all, you said you temperature acclimated them for an hour. Did you acclimate them to your water?? Fish, expecially saltwater, are very sensitive to different types of water and need to be acclimated to different water very carefully. Click on the Acclimation Button that you see to the left of this page to use as a guideline. This is a very good procedure for acclimating your livestock. Also, it is generally not a good idea to keep two different types of clowns. They tend to be hostile to differing species. And it sounds like you need to get a new LFS...if they said that checking your salt levels is the only type of parameter you need to monitor....they are leading you astray and don't know much about this hobby. If you don't have a test kit, go out and buy one tomorrow to test all of your levels! But you have come to the right place....your tank will be perfect after we get done with you. This is the best board I have ever found and will teach you TONS of information. Along with reading and asking questions on this board, I'd suggest buying a good book on marine fish keeping. It will really help you when you're starting out. Good luck and please listen to the people on this site. They're not here to get your money like the LFS, just to help!!!! :yes:

 

[debbie g]

I vote for Misty as chairperson of the welcoming committee.
:yes:

 

[scotts]

R, first of all welcome.
Misty.

Perfect response.
back to R, a couple words of advice from someone who started out wrong. Do a search on this site for cycle or cycling. Search button is up at the top of the page.
Second, research EVERYTHING before you buy it. I impulse bought a beautiful 3" fish. Then later found out it chaged colors and grew to over 18" long. Way to big for my tank.
Don't mean to sound preachy, just trying to help you out.
Scott

 

[scotts]

Oh yeah, my guess why your fish died was because your tank was not cycled. The acclimation probably had something to do with it as well. But if your tank is cycling most things will die not matter how you acclimate them.
Scott again.

 

[mr. tuna]

Ya i agree with the fact
that your tank was not
cycled. 20 days as you
waited wad way to little.
You should wait about
30- 50 days for it to be
just done with its cycle.
Good luck!
Adam

 

[thedraven]

These guys are right... after 20 days your tank probably isnt done cycling. Without a full cycle, your fish were probably poisoned by the ammonia from their waste/food. A cycle usually takes between 3-6 weeks (mine took nearly a month). Also, you may have added too much to the tank at one time. I personally try to keep a rule - only add one fish and one invert max per two weeks. Your acclimation was kinda funny too - you should use a drip acclimation or similar method to equalize the ph/temp/salinity for your fish before putting them in the main tank. Also, youre bound to find out the hard way (like I did) that you should never keep two clown species together - especially clarkiis with tomatos. Tomatos are pretty aggressive, and clarkii's are much more passive. If youre going to keep a pair, introduce two of the same species at the same time. Consider this a learning experience, and keep reading this board - youll grow as a fishkeeper by leaps and bounds. The folks here and definitely knowledgable and helpful.
:yes:

 

[raphael]

I appreciate all of your help and I am sure you guys were exactly right. I bought a test set and tested for the ph levels and clorine and copper. Every thing is where it needed to be. the salinity is at .1022 wich is good. But I think the acclimation process is where I went wrong, and my tank may not be up to speed just yet. WELL the good news, I bought another fish a small damsell just to see if it was stress that killed the last ones. well the damsell is loving it right away he just took off and explored. He is doing fine he even eats. I let this one acclimate a little while longer. I will monitor him for the next week carefully and if all is going well I will get him a partner. Thanks for all the good advice.:happyfish

 

[jimmy g]

How did u acclimate this one? and u also need to buy nitate nitrite and ammonia test kits.

 

[raphael]

Ya the dammsil was a good fish, I let him acclimate for a hour and half or so but in the bag, I guess he was a strong cuss, but he died I am not sure he looked like he liked the tank maby he was not eating, I am not sure whats wrong he lasted two full days. I will try with another this weekend... any suggestions. I suppose let my tank cycle a bit mor.

 

[toni]

Raphael-
These guys on this board know what they are doing. Ammonia, nitrates, and nitrite levels are so important. Listen to these people before you listen to the lfs. You probably need to slow down and give your tank at least a month to a month and a half and finish cycling your tank. While you wait keep measuring your ammonia, and nitrite. When these levels are at 0 and only 0 will you have better luck!!!

Please, Please!!!

 

[raphael]

I have been letting it cycle and will for another couple of weeks, the water looks good and the levels are where they should be so I will just gve it time... thanks