need some advice

[avilla]

I have had my aquarium running since october, 2006. After I got it up and running I purchased a few fish and they are all still alive. Over the last couple of months I have purchased various fish and they have all died. I tested my water levels and everything appears to be ok. I do not have any idea why my fish keep dying.
Does anyone have any advice or suggestions. I am getting very frustrated and it is getting pretty expensive. I have lost about 8 fish for no reason.
I currently have in my tank a puffer, yellow tank, a couple of damsels, a dwarf angel and some star fish.
Help!

 

[miaheatlvr]

Originally Posted by avilla

I have had my aquarium running since october, 2006. After I got it up and running I purchased a few fish and they are all still alive. Over the last couple of months I have purchased various fish and they have all died. I tested my water levels and everything appears to be ok. I do not have any idea why my fish keep dying.
Does anyone have any advice or suggestions. I am getting very frustrated and it is getting pretty expensive. I have lost about 8 fish for no reason.
I currently have in my tank a puffer, yellow tank, a couple of damsels, a dwarf angel and some star fish.
Help!
Whos tests your water? Losing that many fish in a short period is a red flag, can you tell us about your tank? Size? Lighting Filtration? Set Up? Live rock? Live Sand? etc etc. Can you give us the test results from your LAST tests? We have to start somewhere!

 

[grumpygils]

Originally Posted by avilla

I have had my aquarium running since october, 2006. After I got it up and running I purchased a few fish and they are all still alive. Over the last couple of months I have purchased various fish and they have all died. I tested my water levels and everything appears to be ok. I do not have any idea why my fish keep dying.
Does anyone have any advice or suggestions. I am getting very frustrated and it is getting pretty expensive. I have lost about 8 fish for no reason.
I currently have in my tank a puffer, yellow tank, a couple of damsels, a dwarf angel and some star fish.
Help!
Bump for more system info

 

[avilla]

I test the water myself. I purchased one of the water testing kits and I have had the owner of the fish store I purchase some of my fish from come by and take a look. The ph is at about 8.4 and the nitrate, amonia etc are all at about 0. Usually when I go to the store to see what they have I bring some of my water for them to test with their more accurate tests and they all show fine. I have never really had a problem with my water.
My aquarium is 155 gallon and I have the live sand and live rock.
For my filtration I have two filters running at each side of the aquarium (I am not sure exactly what they are called), a protein skimmer and one of the big green canisters with the multiple layers of filters inside of it.
My lighting came with the aquarium and is one of the black overhead lights that sit on top of the aquarium. My lighting is good for fish only but it could be stronger.
Does this help?

 

[ridomart]

My be you arn't acclimating them. The fish stores usualy set their salt at 1.016 & some of them have copper in their systems. You should set the bag with the fish in the aquarium, & pour a little of your tank water in every so often for about a half hour. Then empty the water in the bag into a bucket & put your fish in the tank. You don't want to get their water in your tank if they are using copper.Also when you buy a fish watch it for a while, make sure it eats, coloring ,see if it scratches, ect.Any of your fish chase the new fish?

 

[avilla]

After I purchase the fish I place the bag in the aquarium. About every 15min I use a turkey baster and add some of my aquarium water to the bag. I do this for about an hour to an hour and a half.
I do not actually watch to see if they are eating but usually ask the owner if they have been eating.
I have a little Damsel that can be nasty if they go around his little shell. However once I add the fish to the aquarium they typically just go down to the bottom and stay there. When I get up in the morning they are dead.

 

[rbaldino]

Originally Posted by avilla
After I purchase the fish I place the bag in the aquarium. About every 15min I use a turkey baster and add some of my aquarium water to the bag. I do this for about an hour to an hour and a half.
I do not actually watch to see if they are eating but usually ask the owner if they have been eating.
I have a little Damsel that can be nasty if they go around his little shell. However once I add the fish to the aquarium they typically just go down to the bottom and stay there. When I get up in the morning they are dead.
What are the fish that have been dying?

 

[ridomart]

The fish that die, do they look like they might have been killed ( mantis shrimp ), white spots, anything different? You've got to have something different with your water. Your fish can live in it , new fish can't. Hopefuly one of the monators will pick up on this.

 

[ridomart]

See tzimmes thread on ailing angel fish

 

[phoenixofthepyre]

Are they dying or missing? Missing would indicate maybe a killer(mantis) dying I would go for something in the water. I've also been having problems with my 12g. Tested it and nothing was wrong but when I put something in there it was showing bad signs very quick. Also, are you acclimating them correctly?

 

[avilla]

The fish I have tried to add are as follows:
puffer, and eal, dwarf lion fish, a tang (different from the yellow tang), a spotted sweet lips, etc.
It would be hard to say if they were beat up by another fish. When I find them in the morning they have ususally been breakfast for my crabs.
There is a mystery here that needs to be solved.
Will one of the monitors eventually see this?