ready to give up :(

[chella81]

Hey everyone! I'm back..still having trouble with keeping fish, but seem to keep them a little longer then I did before though. I'm just really getting my hopes up with my tank. Tonight I dripped acclimated my fish for 2 1/2 hours and then put the fish in the tank which lived for an hour...I have no idea why I am having such a hard time with my tank..it shouldn't be this hard..I'm about ready to just give up!

 

[flower]

Originally Posted by Chella81
http:///forum/post/3270448
Hey everyone! I'm back..still having trouble with keeping fish, but seem to keep them a little longer then I did before though. I'm just really getting my hopes up with my tank. Tonight I dripped acclimated my fish for 2 1/2 hours and then put the fish in the tank which lived for an hour...I have no idea why I am having such a hard time with my tank..it shouldn't be this hard..I'm about ready to just give up!

Don’t give up. It’s possible your are just in too big of a hurry. Before giving up do things my way…
Just set up your tank with live rock and filtration and let it just sit there for a month or two. I know everyone talks about a cycle. To be honest I have kept fish for years and I never even checked for a cycle, and when I did...I didn't trust the tests. I always just set up my tank and waited. Stuff grows on the rocks, when those critters emerge then your tank is about there. Watch and enjoy whatever the live rock produces for a few more weeks. Then after that few weeks add one fish, wait another month before adding another. I have never lost a fish to a new tank…not ever in over 30 years.
People watch for a cycle because as soon as they get that reading they are ready to jump in and add a fish. They are in a hurry and that is the #1 cause of failure. IMO
Also you may be getting bad livestock if you keep getting fish that die from the same store.
Not that the fish are not healthy when you bring them home, but if you chose a fish that just arrived at your pet store they are already over stressed from that shipping, then they re-catch the poor critter by chasing it around and netting it and you bring it home to your tank, that’s allot to put a saltwater critter through. Choose a fish that has been in the LFS for a few weeks and is swimming around and eating good.
I hope to continue seeing you around the site.

 

[chella81]

Thanks so much for your help...i've had the tank set up since march..but I did over a 50 percent water change about a month go to change from using my tap water into using R/O water..My live rock has some green algae on it and some little green fuzzy looking plants...but I have not seen any critters or anything like that from them. So I'm thinking with doing the big water change that I basically started my tank over...I had my water tested on monday at a LFS and they said everything was fine except my ph was down due to using R/O water..So I bought a buffer to raise it up. Other then that they said I would have no problem with adding fish. It just gets frustrating when a friend of mine set up a tank the same time and she has fish thriving in hers and I can't even get one to live

 

[handbanana]

Hey Chella,
Dont give up yet! Your still in the beginning, Things will turn around.
Im with Flower, Be patient when adding your fish. Get setup, find some real nice LR and have everything going. Sit back for awhile and watch your tank, get things the way you like them, adjust your rock scaping ect...Soon critters will make their apperence and thats entertaining in itself. I watched my empty tank with pods, worms and bugs and such for 3 months before I got my first clown.
Before that I added 3 peppermint shrimp and all died overnight. It is very discouraging but dont give up yet! Were here for ya!
Oh yeah...just my .02 but LFS are in the biz of making money, not for looking out for your best interests. I could be wrong but I trust the peeps on this site ten times more than my LFS. I mean I was once told my 55 gallon was never going to work and I should get out of the hobby before I even got in it. And that was a store I went to buy LR and LS from...just sayin..

 

[flower]

Originally Posted by Chella81
http:///forum/post/3270582
Thanks so much for your help...i've had the tank set up since march..but I did over a 50 percent water change about a month go to change from using my tap water into using R/O water..My live rock has some green algae on it and some little green fuzzy looking plants...but I have not seen any critters or anything like that from them. So I'm thinking with doing the big water change that I basically started my tank over...I had my water tested on monday at a LFS and they said everything was fine except my ph was down due to using R/O water..So I bought a buffer to raise it up. Other then that they said I would have no problem with adding fish. It just gets frustrating when a friend of mine set up a tank the same time and she has fish thriving in hers and I can't even get one to live

Well let’s see what we can do about that…
Before you do anything else…purchase your own marine master test kit.
How much live rock do you have?
What kind of mechanical filter?
Instead of buffering for PH…add just a little bit of Alkalinity buffer to your Top Off water. (ONLY when you have test kits to see how much and how often)
Never do more than a 30% water change unless there is an emergency like a serious ammonia spike or some other dangerous toxin in the water.
Run carbon in the filter and swap it out at least once a month.
A picture of your tank at this point would be very helpful.

 

[blenny]

Yes Yes a Pic if you can , Like all said before dont rush. remember the old saying, Things come better to those who wait, I know its hard but here we can all help you have a great running tank, trust me i rushed the 1st time before finding friends on this site !!

 

[jstdv8]

Let's speculate while we wait for the pictures
If the fish is dying within an hour of entering the water is it likley that there is a serious shock there of some sort? PH shock? even if it is drip acclimated, the drips are still lower PH than what the fish is used to... or how about some sort of electrical current in the water?
Would getting a damsel be in order for such a situation? If the fish dies we are out 5 bucks and we know that no other fish is likely to live in there either? and if it lives it might inspire confidence and let the owner get used to livestock?
I dunno, just typing out loud, im no expert

 

[jc germ]

When I got into the hobby about 3 years ago , also all went wrong ill never trust the LFS again with anything, they are all in it for the money, I agree with Flower get a good test kit first and sit back and wait
I went thru the same thing ,get a fish and it just died ,did some research on the net and joined forums like this one ,I think all will agree with me never rush into this hobby ,I know it sucks if you buy things and loose them it is very discouraging ,but don’t give up I wanted to so many times, just thought I’m wasting time and money, and getting nowhere ,and I think it was on this site I found help and today I thank all on saltwaterfish.com
Good luck I know you will have a super tank
Regards JC germ

 

[tank freak]

If you are drip acclimating a small quantity of water for 2½ hours outside your tank without heating it the temperature will drop significantly (obviously it depends on your room temp, i like it nice and cool) and they may get quite a temp shock when you throw them in the tank. Just another possible reason out of many.
I personally prefer to put the bags inside the tank and every 20-30 min throw in a small glass of water during about 2 hours

 

[deejeff442]

i have never acclimated anything for more than an hour.never once lost a fish within hours of putting them in the tank.fish are pretty tough .when i got my 8 inch hippo and 8 inch unicorn i acclimated them for an hour.when they got in the tank they swam around weird for a day.come to find out the fish supplier had them in hypo.they lived and are still here lovin life.if your fish are dying in an hour you have some serious tank problems.electric shock,some kind of poisin whatever.seems you need to tear down the tank and clean it with bleach then start over with water you know is good.fish just dont die in an hour upon introduction without something seriously wrong.high levels of ammonia might do it .you need to get a test kit for that but if there is some kind of posien in the water youwont show it on any test kit we use.

 

[flower]

It is just a very new tank, and a very new hobbist.

 

[handbanana]

since were speculating, what about spraying for bugs?
I know since the weather got warmer my apartment complex now has exterminators come twice a month to spray. I go home at lunch now when they spray and shoo them away from my tanks.
Maybe some sort of pesticide? or air freshiner? could that effect fish?

 

[mony97]

Just as a clarification the fish are dying and resting on the sand or floating or are they disappearing? Maybe some sort of not so fun hitchhiker?

 

[flower]

Originally Posted by Handbanana
http:///forum/post/3271130
since were speculating, what about spraying for bugs?
I know since the weather got warmer my apartment complex now has exterminators come twice a month to spray. I go home at lunch now when they spray and shoo them away from my tanks.
Maybe some sort of pesticide? or air freshiner? could that effect fish?

Bug spay, if it gets in the tank would kill everything.