Please.......HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[paul monroy]

Hi, I'am having problems with my 10 gal tank. Its been running for a little over a month,and I use to have a Yellow-tailed damsel and three peppermint shrimp to start the cycle. But now My damsel died and one of my shrimp as well. I dont know what caused them to die.
The symptoms of my fish were:
a)Breathing heavy
b)bumps on his body
c)different shades of color
Now, My question is this, Could it be parasites that have caused it?
How long do I have to wait till I can put another damsel in?
Should I feed them different kinds of food instead of just one?
Thank you for answering these questions.
P.S. The other shrimp are still alive and getting better, I think.

 

[azzala]

Paul, A one-month-old tank. That is a young’n. Have you run the standard test on your water? If so what are the readings-ammonia, ph, alk, nitrite, nitrate, temperature?
In all the books I have read 30-50gal. was the minimum size recommended for a saltwater tank. It is going to be difficult to keep the above-mentioned levels stable in a 10 gal tank. I know I started with 30 gals.
Your fish could have some sort of gill parasite (check the disease and treatment section of saltwaterfish.com).

 

[cosmosbasement]

Paul-A ten gallon will work. I have a ten gallon mini with 15 lbs live rock and 20 lbs of live sand. The only thing I have workin' on it is a protein skimmer I modified for it. All is well. As for the symptoms of your fish, sounds kinda like they are stressin'. The color changes in damsels is usually caused by stress. This will then create many problems if the fish stress. They are more capable of getting disease. What color are the bumps? White? Black? Check your levels and let us know.
Hope this helps
doug

 

[slk3599]

Shrimp shouldn't be used to cycle tanks - they don't like nitrates and ammonia will definately kill them.
Did you test your tank for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate levels.
Some of those symptons sound like ammonia poisoning.