Now what?

[polka]

Hello, I wrote quite a while ago about my yellow tang having pop eye. Well unfortunatley, he passed the next day. Then my new butterfly passed after only a week and now (one month after all of that) my clarki, which I have had for almost a year took a turn for the worse three days ago and now is gone. What gives? My levels are all on track the only thing I have in the tank is a cleaner shrimp and a snail and about 6 small blue legged crabs. I am really really frustrated!!!!!!!!!! I read about you guys haveing your fish for years, hell I can't even keep them for one year. And I also can never seem to keep more than two or three alive at the same time, I always end up with just one fish in the tank. Any ideas and suggestion would be very appreciated! I feel like I'm back at square one and this tank has been up for two years. I think maybe plastic fish would be better!

 

[jimi]

What are your water readings? Give a complete breakdown of your system. What kind of butterfly was it?

 

[polka]

Hi Jimi,
Here it is: 40 gal f/o up for about 2 years c/c sub, two power heads for aggitation (one at surface, one toward middle), cpr2 bakpak.
I have 1 cleaner shrimp, one turbo snail, 5-6 blue legged crabs (small).
my readings are: ph - 8.0; salinity .023; ammonia 0; nitrates 0; nitrites .20 -.40; lights on for approx 5 hours; temp 76 -78.
The type of butterfly was a pacific dbl saddle. He was at the pet store for approx 2 months before I purchased him. Seemed very healthy. I had him for 1 week and the tang suddenly got popeye and died within 24 hours. Then three weeks went by and suddenly the butterfly died. Now the clarki is gone. I have done h20 changes twice during all of this. I am very nervous about what to put in the tank. I was at a store today and just looked at what they had, the clerk asked if he could help but I had to decline because I just don't have a clue. Is the tank diseased? do I just have bad luck and should switch to fake fish?
Thank you for your time and patience! I hope I have answered your questions.

 

[beth]

Did you mean your nitrates are .20-.40 and not nitrites?? Hopefully, because if your nitrites are that high, that is definately a problem.
What filter are you using?

 

[polka]

Sorry!.......happy fingers out of control. Yes Nitrate is .20-.40 and Nitrite is 0. As far as filtering......? I have a cpr2 bakpak on the back of the tank. It has the pre-skimmer on as well. Is that what you were asking, Beth?
Thanks!!!

 

[beth]

Well, with the tang and butterfly, it is not surprizing that they died in a 40 gal tank. These fish need much larger tanks. MUST. Additionally, butterfly fish are not the easiest fish to keep. What were you feeding these 2 particular fish?
Now, the clark...not sure. This fish should have been fine. What else do you have in tank for decor? What were the symptoms of the clark? Anything else in the tank?

 

[polka]

Hi Beth!,
I realize the tang was not suppose to be in the tank, however, when I got him he was very small and was only about 2" big when he died. As for the butterfly, well am I a goof the store clerk said that it would be fine, guess I should have done more research, just goes to show that you can't really trust those clerks!
Anyway I was feeding them seaweed, flake & frozen. As for the clown he was fine inthe am then by the evening when the lights came on, I noticed he was hiding. He didn't appear to have anything on his body, like parasite or film. Within about 1 1/2 days he was gone.
Any ideas on what I could add now that there are no fish? Also, is there anyway to determine what, if anything, is in the water. By that I mean if there is a parasite or disease in the water. How can you know and what can be done before I add more fish?
Again, Thank you!

 

[jimi]

The saddle back is onre of the better butterflys to keep. I would say your nitrate is the problem. 20 is high and 40 is way to high to keep those kind of fish healthy. Now you could allow your tank to go without a host(fishless) for 30 days to lesson the chance of any parasites surviving in your tank and infecting a new fish. Then quarantine anything else you put in after the 30 days.

 

[polka]

Ok Jimi, now as far as my readings.....I have posted before that I can't seem to get it lower than .20-.40. If I leave it fish free and do a h20 change would that lower the nitrates? Also, I still have no clue what to put in my tank. I don't want to lose anymore fish. I know I can put clowns in, but I also wanted some sort of variety. My past two years with this tank, I have gone through a lot of fish, sadly, most of that was due to bad advise. Anyway I thank you for your time!