new to saltwater - 55g tank

[drewpotens]

I've had a freshwater tank for about two years and just converted to saltwater. I put in 50 lbs of live rock and let my tank cycle for 2 weeks. Then i added 3 red leg hermit crabs and 3 nassarius snails. Then on the third week i added 4 damsels and two clowns. Now its been one month and I added a choc chip starfish and a fire shrimp. I woke up this morning and cant find one of the damsels. Its the domino damsel. Not under any of the rocks, didnt fall into the overflow box, not stuck on the powerhead.

I'm wondering if adding the starfish and shrimp had anything to do with this? It could also just be a coincidence. But pH, ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites are all normal levels. Salinity is fine. Any thoughts on what couldve happened or caused this? Any advice on the process I took to starting the tank would be helpful as well. Just trying to learn as much as I can. Thanks.

 

[jay0705]

If it died the c chip would eat it.

 

[drewpotens]

If it died the c chip would eat it.

i feed my starfish krill about once a week and it takes a while for it to decompose the whole thing. i feel like if it ate the missing damsel i would have caught it breaking it down though

 

[flower]

Hi,

Damsels kill each other off...they are beautiful little demons. After a kill, the hermits, fish and the starfish will all have a feast, and if there is any bristle worms, they finish it up too. Just watch your tank for any ammonia spikes for a week, just to be sure.

 

[drewpotens]

Today I woke up and everything seemed fine. I was out for about 8 hours and when I got home both clowns died and were stuck on the powerhead. I checked my water again and everythings fine. Salinity is .021. Ammonia, nitrate, and nitrites are fine. pH is 7.7. Can anyone tell me some possibilities why my fish are dying??

 

[flower]

Today I woke up and everything seemed fine. I was out for about 8 hours and when I got home both clowns died and were stuck on the powerhead. I checked my water again and everythings fine. Salinity is .021. Ammonia, nitrate, and nitrites are fine. pH is 7.7. Can anyone tell me some possibilities why my fish are dying??

Hi,

Healthy fish don't get stuck on power heads... Damsels are evil little fish, as a rule Clowns (they are in the same family) can usually hold their own, unless they are very small compared to the damsels. It's possible you have a bully or fish killing hitchhiker in your tank killing the others off.

Do you have moonlights? If it's something that hitchhiked on the live rock that only comes out at night, with moonlights you can see what's active in the dark.

 

[geridoc]

Today I woke up and everything seemed fine. I was out for about 8 hours and when I got home both clowns died and were stuck on the powerhead. I checked my water again and everythings fine. Salinity is .021. Ammonia, nitrate, and nitrites are fine. pH is 7.7. Can anyone tell me some possibilities why my fish are dying??

I'm curious why your pH is so acidic. A pH like that might be seen first thing in the morning, but I would expect the pH to rise to 8.3 or so by mid-day. This could be a sign that something is decaying in the tank, or that carbon dioxide isn't being vented. Is there a cover on the tank?

 

[drewpotens]

I'm curious why your pH is so acidic. A pH like that might be seen first thing in the morning, but I would expect the pH to rise to 8.3 or so by mid-day. This could be a sign that something is decaying in the tank, or that carbon dioxide isn't being vented. Is there a cover on the tank?

yeah i have a cover on top. and i still havent found the domino damsel. so it still might be in there somewhere. i moved around the live rock and everything else but still havent found the body

 

[geridoc]

The pH issue probably isn't related to the missing damsel. Over more than 40 years of keeping marine fish I have been impaled many times by fish bones in the substrate when I was emptying a tank for a move or something. Fish disappear, that's just the way it is. You might consider removing the cover on the tank. The tank needs to vent carbon dioxide, or the gas is converted to carbonic acid, which acidifies the water, leading to lower pH. If you are worried about fish carpet surfing from an uncovered tank, use egg crate (available at Home Depot in the electrical department, for example) to allow carbon dioxide to leave while keeping your livestock contained.