My perc is in the big fishbowl in the sky

saltwaterdude

saltwaterdude

Member
My perc just died this morning. Don't know what went wrong. I tested my water and everything is good, PH 8.2, Nitrates, Nitrites, and Ammonia 0. Temp is 78 degress.
I had cycled it with 2 damsels for 5 weeks. The damsels were doing fine. I bought the perc on Saturday and died today, Tuesday. The damself were kind of aggresive towards it so I returned the damsels Monday. The fish always stayed in the bottom corner of the tank. Could the stress from the Damself kill it, or was it just a bad fish. It really wasn't a graceful swimmer, it would never come out of the corner.
I don't know what went wrong. Is a false percula clown not that hardy?
Also, I bought like 10 lbs of extra live rock along with the fish. Could this of mess up the chemistry in the tank and kill the perc?
 
buzz

buzz

Active Member
The perc may not have been all that healthy to begin with...not the species, just your particular fish. Stress from other fish can definitely kill it. And if there was ever a fish to do it, a damsel is the one.
Sorry you lost it...
If the live rock you bought was uncured, it could affect the levels, and kill the fish as well. When is the last time you checked those levels? Your readings seem fine, but are they current?
 
saltwaterdude

saltwaterdude

Member
Just before i got the fish. And what is the difference in cured or uncured? I bought them when they were in a tank so I don't know if that is cured or not. 4 bucks a pound for figi, is that a good deal?
 
buzz

buzz

Active Member
Sorry...the difference between cured and uncured is this:
LR has a certain amount of die off when it is transported. The longer the trip, the more die off. When it is first brought in from Fiji, or wherever, you will most likely have a lot of die off. This creates ammonia's, etc., and is toxic to your tank.
To keep this from being a problem for you, most (good) LFS' will sit the rock in a tank for upwards of 6 weeks prior to selling it to you. That gives it time for the die off to occur, wash out, etc...and the levels to...well...level out.
Cured LR can go straight into a populated tank.
Uncured LR has not gone through this process. If you put this in your tank, your levels will spike, and can very well kill most if not all the life in the tank. It is great for cycling a tank, but can be very harmful to current tank inhabitants.
You said you got the live rock at the same time as the fish...but you checked the levels before putting it in, not after. I'd bet your rock was uncured.
 
carmen7

carmen7

New Member
What kind of damsels were they?
My tank is in the first week of it's cycle, and I have 1 four striped damsel, and 2 yellow-tail damsels. I'm planning on keeping the 2 yellow-tail damsels if I can, but I'm also planning on buying 1 percula clownfish when my tank is ready... Now I'm not so sure...
I've heard that yellow-tailed damsels are the most are the most docile and easy to keep of the damsel family. :)
~~C.7~~
 
saltwaterdude

saltwaterdude

Member
I had a blue and a yellow tail damsel. They were very territorial so I would not recommend one.
Just rechecked my water and everything is perfect. Must be just a bad fish.
BTW, any Denver area peeps on here? What is your preferred fish store in the area?
 
surfnturf

surfnturf

Member
Saltwaterdude, the clown was knocking on heavens door before he landed in your tank, they don't go down that quick with perfect water quality. The Live Rock was obviously fully cured if you have 0 readings across the board. I have a hunch that your test kits are giving you bad results though, a tank that young should at least be showing a fair amount of nitrates, have the LFS test your water to verify your results. BTW, 4 bucks a pound at a LFS is not only a good deal, but too good, and suspicious.
 
saltwaterdude

saltwaterdude

Member
Yeah, i bought the Master Saltwater Test Kit for $30.99 (ripoff, see it online for $12.99), i am showing trace amounts of nitrates, but with the color coding scheme that the test uses, its hard to tell, the colors are so close together. As for the rocks, yeah I've shopped around and they are usually from $5.99/lb up to $8/lb for figi live rock. So it could be both the rocks and the test kit.
What test kits are preferred among the saltwater enthusiasts and how much do they usually cost?
Thanks for all the help
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top