New Tank - Everything Dying!

[fokrann]

Hey Guys,
I need some major help - here is the situation.
I have a 29 gallon tank that started with live sand and live rock. Let the tank cycle to completion - took roughly a month.
Added two turbo snails, two damsels, and a feather duster.
Everything great!
2 weeks pass....
Add a leather coral and a mushroom polyp.
2 weeks pass....
add two clown fish and a powder tang, still everything great!
2 more weeks pass....
I perform my first water change, using aqua - safe from my LFS and tap water(sigh). I notice the tang starts breathing rapidly but seems to calm down in an hour.
For my birthday I get a new yellow tang from a friend -- in my rush to go celebrate i allow him to acclimate but didn't QT.
About three days later yellow tang is dead, powder tang is covered in white spots.
Start REEF SAFE ich treatment, maintaining ph 8.3 and Carbonate alkalinity.
My two tangs have kicked the bucket as well as one damsel and both clowns.
My feather duster's crown looks like someone sent it through the wash.
I have one damsel left at the moment and he is looking ill, but seems to be hanging on, my mushroom polyp is fine and my leather coral looks okay, but its stem doesn't seem as strong as it usually is - its half flopping to one side.
Any suggestions to save my remaining critters??
Ammonia, nitrite and nitrate are all at zero, or extremely low.
PH is 8.3.
REEF SAFE ich treament is at day two.
I don't know what else to do.

 

[bigarn]

What is the salinity reading? First of all.. that's to many fish for a 29gallon! To long a time before water change...How much did you change? Was the salinity the same or close to what was in your tank?
Is that the only clean up crew you had in there?
You probably far exceeded the Bioload for your tank.
HTH

 

[msladydarkness]

Chances are you overloaded the bioload by adding too many additons at too close an interval. have you tested for heavy metals or cholorine or choloamine? Tap water can be loaded with them. I'd try using Prime to treat my tap water. Since ph is fine I'd check salinity..sudden changes can affect corals, inverts, and some fish. A good rule to keep when adding things to a tank is 1" of fish per 2 gallons of water, some aquarists do a 1' per 1 gallon rule but I've had better success with the 1" per 2 gallon system. Bi-weekly water changes of 20% is a good habit to get into. You should rarely ever have to do a change greater then 20% except in the cases of use or removal of some meds.
To save your current guys, check all readings and keep a close eye. Treat tap water with a good product like Prime or Amqel before adding water to tank. Limit feeding and it wouldn't hurt.

 

[elfdoctors]

Welcome to the boards!
Your tank is overstocked. Many people can get away with 1 inch per 2 gallons of water, but not for a very young tank. You should not exceed 1 inch of fish per 5 gallons of water for the first six months and then let the fish grow into the 1 inch per 2 gallons of water. When people say that the cycle is finished, they are only referring to the establishment of adequate populations of bacteria which will break down ammonia and nitrites. There are many, many other compounds that accumulated in your water from the rotting material that started the cycle. These will have to be broken down (or diluted as you learn to do water changes.)
There are no tangs that will do well in a tank smaller than 50 gallons. These should be reserved to larger tanks (even for the people who say that they will be upgrading before the fish gets bigger).
How are you measuring specific gravity? Swing arm hydrometers are notoriously inaccurate. Part of the reason to stock very slowly when the tank is new is to give YOU experience in dealing with the necessary upkeep in a tank. A lightly stocked tank is much easier to keep healthy.
Amquel will not help if your ammonia and nitrite readings are already low.
Had you aged the water for 24 hours before adding it? This is important to make sure the chemistries are stable. It also eliminates any chlorine or chloramine that may be in your tapwater. Heavy metals can be checked but this tends to be more of a problem with older tanks (assuming that the water is safe to drink for humans). Heavy metals will accumulate over time as evaporation losses are corrected with adding more water with low levels of heavy metals.
Corals usually need pristine water conditions. Most people recommend waiting 6 months before adding these.
Reefsafe is very spotty at clearing up ich. The only reliable treatments are copper and hyposalinity. Both of these treatments are toxic to invertebrates, corals and live rock so they should be done in another tank.
If the damsel dies, use this as an opportunity to get a QT established. The ich will die off without any further treatment if you leave your tank fishless for a month. You can add invertebrates during this time.
There are very few good things which happen quickly in this hobby. It will teach you patience. Good Luck!

 

[fokrann]

Hey guys,
Thank you very much for all of your sound advice. I was actually using a glass drop stick hydrometer and keeping it at the in the middle of the green area (i believe aroun 1.022).
So there was hardly any major change in salinity or temperature, but I have learned a lot like you said from this.
The damsel that is left is still okay at the moment, and seems on the mend but im keeping it in my thoughts tonight to see her swimming in the morning still.
I have printed out all of the info you have given me, and will definitely keep it handy for future reference. Likewise, I think I'll stick with just the damsel if she survives or just inverts for the next two months as the water establishes itself further.
Thanks guys, and I guess its a bit of a learning experience everyday with these things!
Mike