starting over

[oyam1]

i just had a die-off of most of my fish.
still not sure what happend.(over stocking/stress)
lost: angel, clown, goby, hawk, hippo...
sailfin still swimming but i dont think will make it.
butterfly weak but started eating today (still scratching time to time).
eel and scooter blenny are only ones that seem not to be ill.
how do i go about starting over???
72bow with heat,skimmer,powerhead x3 LS/LR...
cleaning crew, urchin and 2 starfish...
should i take every thing out???( i have 38hex ready for fish.)
i plan to do nothing for 30-40 days...
what should i do to make my tank healthy again???
thanx

 

[beth]

You need to post up exactly what happened to your fish/tank. How do you have the tank set up and what are your water readings. Take a look at the thread at the top of this forum which suggest what info is needed to post.
I can tell you that you are way overstocked with too many fish. Have you read any good books to help you along with the hobby?

 

[oyam1]

i only have 4 water quality tests in by kit and all are reading that water quality is good and SG is in normal range.
72 bow dbl 34w lighting, heat (200w), power heads x3, skimmer (prizm delux)
LR 70lb LS 40lb+ clean up crew (5 crabs, 30 snails, 3 shrimp, 1 s.s. star, 1 urchin)
up and running 4 months.
i use tap water, and pre-mix my salt days before water changes.
i was doing 5gal water changes Q week.
? if i had ICH , took all fish out put in QT with copper, lost 1 in QT, after 4 days moved fish to 38hex to do hypo or antibiotics,
lost 3 fish in hex moved 3 out of hex and back to 72 as they seemed well all along. kept 1 in hex with antibiotics.
lost 1 of the 3 i put into 72 , moved last fish out of hex and into 72 today.
2 of the 3 fish in 72 are eating and swimming (blenny & butterfly) sailfin tang looking better but still not eating.
i feel my 72 was overstocked with 8 fish 4 of them were over 3.5-4"
what labs do i need to check to make sure water quality is ok.
what should i be changing in what i am doing
i plan to get better lighting and UV...