So Many General Questions!

[must tang]

Ready for this...it's a long one.
Been at this for about 10 months...still trying to get it all right.
I have a 90 gallon reef tank with lots of live rock (about 60 pounds)and hard/soft corals. My corals have always done very well with no problems...knock on wood. My live rock looks great. I add B-Ionic daily. I started with a 55 gallon and shortly thereafter moved up to my 90. I transfered the 55gal. Cyclone Bak Pak 2 (meant for my 55 gal tank) on to my 90 gallon tank. My LFS said that if it seems to be working....and the water looks good and smells good...it should be sufficient for the 90 Gallon. The water does look good and does not have a smell. What do you think?
I also have an Aqua Clear 300 filter. I was told to take out the carbon insert and just leave the sponge. I have done that and I rinse the sponge weekly.
I do a five gallon water change once a week.
In addition I have four power heads in the tank. An aqua clear 4000, an aqua clear 2000, an aqua clear 3000 and a Maxi Jet 600. (now that I look at this...I don't know why the LFS sold me such variety.)
I have two heaters in the tank and good metal halide lights.
Inhabitants currently include a flame angel (I have had for two months) a green chromis (three months) a clown fish (three months) and a queen anthias (three weeks and still hiding in the rock all the time...I think the green chromis intimidates her.) I also have the Saltwaterfish.com cleaner package which includes many snails, shrimp, two brittle stars, crabs... I have two feather dusters.
I had a yellow tang for about three months but after I fed him yesterday morning....and it looked great and ate well...I came in about two hours later and found it dead on the bottom of the tank. I don't know what happened! Even dead...it's color was good, eyes clear and no sign of illness or parasite. It had been doing great (or so I thought) right up till that morning. Two weeks ago the same thing happened to my copper band that I had purchased only a month prior (although I saw him parish over a period of about 12 hours...I still don't know why I lost him) I just hate seeing these beautiful fish perish time and time again.
My fish are all relatively new because I haven't been able to keep anything alive longer then a few months. Twice I added a powder blue to my other healthy stock and within 10 days my entire stock got sick and parished with some kind of ich or parasite that first presented in the Powder Blue several days after I put him in my tank. As much as I like the powder blue....I don't think I will be adding another one until I get MUCH more experience. At least when these fish parished I could visably see a problem. Not so with my current loss.
I tested my water after the death of my Copper Band and my Tang and as always....everything tested perfectly. Salinity is at 1.022-1.023,pH 8.0, Buffering 240, no trace of nitrite or nitrate. No trace of ammonia.
So why can't I seem to keep fish longer? I can explain the Powder Blue casualties..becasue I could see a problem but that doesn't seem to be the case with my Copper Band and Yellow Tang.
Possible problems I wanted your opinions on..
Do I need a R/O machine? I had my water tested and don't have a problem with phosphates. I read in an earlier message that they are not needed unless phosphates are a problem. I use straight tap water and add about 2 gallons a day due to evaporation.
Is my protein skimmer too small? It seems to be producing every day and the tank appears clean.
I don't have a sump...is that a problem? Is my filter enough?
One last question....thanks for hanging in with me. Due to the loss of my tang and my limited number of fish..Once I get a handle on this....I would like to order a new fish from Saltwater.com. I have a 10 gallon QT but doesn't it have to cycle to be safe for a fish for the three week recommended QT time? If I use some of my established tank water, a heater, and an air sponge...is that going to be enough?
So many things I don't know. I thought I would put all my questions into one and hope someone has the patience to weed threw it. I like my LFS but it seems they all say something different and I'm just left confused. Thanks for your input. Responces would be so appreciated. The only thing I didn't mention was diet...I feed once a day and alternate Omega One Marine Flakes, Saltwater frozen multi-pack ( a mixed frozen variety) and Frozen Formual two with extra algae. Is that varied enough?
Thanks.

 

[jimi]

It is hard to say what caused those deaths. Copperbands are tough to keep and powder blues are DEFINATELY not for beginners but the yellow should have been ok. What were you feeding? Do you use any tap water conditioners? A sump and bigger skimmer would be benefitial but not the reason for your loss. You are sure your fish had no spots? Has your tank ever been left without a host (fishless) after the powder blues? What corals do you have? As far as quarantine I usually set up the tank a day or two before I buy the fish then just do several water changes throughout the quarantine period to keep the ammonia down. It is easier to me then keeping one set up then if you have to treat with antibitoics doing water changes anyway. For now I would not add anything for atleast a month or two to make sure everything is stable.

 

[must tang]

Jimi...thanks for your reply. For corals I have a Brain, Green Torch, two leather corals, a sun coral and several green plants that I couldn't identify. They are all flourishing.
Neither the dead Tang or Copper Band had ANY spots at all. That's what has me feeling so discouraged. The Yellow Tang looked so clean and was acting so healthy. I don't know what happened. When the Copper Band died I didn't feet too discouraged because I know they can be difficult...but the Yellow Tang...he was my favorite.
I have been feeding once a day, alternating a marine flake with Sally's frozen saltwater variety and a frozen food with high algae content. Everyone eats everyting I drop in.
I had been using a water conditioner called Fresh Start when making water changes. I ran out and wondered if it was really doing anything worthwhile and didn't replace it. Do you think I should?
When my Powder Blues infected my tank I did leave my tank without a host for three weeks. Since that time I haven't seen any evidence of ich or parasite...even when I then added the Copper Band and Yellow Tang. The fish I have remaining don't show any signs of disease.
When you do water changes in your Q/T tank...how much do you change and how often? I will be using a 10 gallon tank. Do you use tap water or do you have an R/O?

 

[jimi]

I use an r/o unit, you should too. Were you adding untreated tap water directly to your tank after you ran out of conditioner? That could be a possibility but not likely if your corals are thriving. For quarantine I will usually change 3 to 5 gal but make sure the salinity and temp are the same and premix for atleast 24 hrs prior to the change.

 

[burnnspy]

Never add tap water to a reef tank.
I recommend running carbon for a week to make sure no heavy metals are present in the water.
BurnNSpy

 

[must tang]

BurnNSpy
What type of R/O do you suggest? (I checked out your tank pictures....awesome.)

 

[slowest is fastest]

OK...silly question but... you are using a de-chlor before adding the tap water to the tank right? (Sorry had to ask)
As for the heavy metals....I would go on to say that adding tapwater straight to the tank is a bad idea IF you haven't had the water tested first. There are many municipal water supplies that are just fine for all types of aquariums including reefs. You just need to test the water from your tap and act accordingly. Additionly the age and type of plumbing in the house can add to the problem if chunks of build up make it through the faucet aerator and into the aquarium where they may dissolve releasing undesirables into the water.
If you have plastic (cpvc)water line and the water tests ok then I see no reason not to use it. If you have metal water lines ie copper or galvanized then a water filter would be in order just to be safe.
SiF

 

[flydan]

Hey,
60lbs of LR in a 90gal tank is not a lot. You could double that nicely.
I get my RO water from the lfs and that's all I ever use. I would never use tap water. Even when cleaning equipment I do a final rinse in RO water before I put it back in the tank.
Take care,
Dan'l

 

[angelgirl]

I dont think PH has been mentioned here, I have heard that tangs are very touchy about PH levels..It also sounds to me that your IFS is like mine always trying to sell me lots of fish at the same time, which i have found to be a grave mistake..My suggestion would be to set up your quarenteen tank put some sand and lR in it let it cycle, this will take a bit but you need to give your current tank some time just to make sure all of your other fish are ok anyways, then put the rock back into your show tank. Get one fish put him into the QT watch very closely check into freshwater dips ect. Leave him for six weeks then introduce him into your main tank...at this time you can get another fish put in QT and start the whole cycle again. I know this is a very slow and maybe extreme way, but it works for me, and because I dont have lots of $$$ to waste on unnecessary deaths I khave found this system to work. Besides the six weeks that I have my new fish in QT gives me lots of time to read everything I can find about him.. Hope this Might help.
Patience is what reefs are about
Angelgirl