super fustrated!

chella81

chella81

Member
Hey..Well tonight I added 3 damsels..to my tank that I've had set up for almost a year..and after almost two hours..they have died...this reason i gave up for awhile with putting fish...I took my heater out a couple of days ago..cause thought it was faulty..made sure my temp was stable at 76....could have bad sand, coral...and live rock in my tank that is poisioning my tank...i'm lost and about to take my tank down...
 
J

jstdv8

Guest
much more likey that there is something else amiss, like there is ammonia in the water, you have lids on the tank and or no surface aggitation to allow oxygen in and CO2 out. electricity leaking in the tank through faulty wiring (why did you thinkt he heater was bad?)
or how about your acclimation process? id you see the fish eat at the store before you bought them? were they acting fine in the store?
There are lots of reasons, just gotta narrow down the possibilities.
Have you personally tested the water with all the regular tests?
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member

+1 to everything above and I also think 76 is way too cold..78 is the lowest it should be.
 
teresaq

teresaq

Active Member
I dont think it was temp. I keep one of my tanks at about 74.
How were fish Acclimated?? what are your water readings. include SG, ammonia and ph.
 
chella81

chella81

Member
I have a delux hood top on my tank, but the back of it is proped up do to having my skimmer running...which I'm not sure if I have it on the right setting do to not having any foam yet on the top...my acclimation this time was just floating the bag for 15 mins..dumping some water out and then adding my some of my water to the bag..doing this process every tens mins for about an hour..I have used the drip method and I have had the same results..I bought these fish from the store that I worked at..I watched them eat prior to buying them..that acted totally fine in the tank and ate..in the begining when I first set my tank up...I had it tested had some smaller fish stores..everytime it was tested they said my water quality was perfect...only thing was my temp. needed to be a little cooler then when I had it at 80 F...Then I left my tank alone for 8 months because I was discourage from fish dying every time I put them in and I have had friends you set up their tanks the same time and put fish in with no problems...I thought my heater was faulty cause it would never go below 80...and I had talk to someone that said maybe my heater had small cracks in that it was sending out small electric shocks that was killing the fish over a short period of time...I just dont know what it could be going wrong...If I have bad substrate or live rock...this picture on profile is when I first set my tank up...out of the 3 damsels that I added..I guess 2 have died..the 3rd one is still belly up and breathing this morning..i thought they all died last night...I just don't know wha tI'm doing wrong or why I'm having such a difficult time..I know it can't be this hard...
 
J

jstdv8

Guest
wait, so you left the tank alone for 8 months and then tried again?
How long did you have everything turned on and running and heated and doing tests and stuff before you decided to put the fish in?
That acclimation process sounds like that wouldnt be the cause, should have been sufficient, especially for damsels who are very tough fish.
how long have you had the skimmer?
 
chella81

chella81

Member
I've had everything up running the whole 8 months i should say with out putting fish in..i just put my skimmer on for almost a week..but i've heard it can take 3 to a couple of weeks for foam to start collecting....i've tested every so often to see how things were doing..made sure the salinity was ok..which I keep at around 1.020-1.021..just not sure what else i'm doing wrong..
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
What are your water parameters (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH)? What are you using to test this? How old are the test kits? Have you ever checked them against someone else's or the LFS's?
What are you using to test salinity?
Can you list everything in the tank?
 
chella81

chella81

Member
I'm using test strips..i know they are not accurate as the liquid testing kit is..my ammonia is reading now at 0.5 which is stress, nitrite is showing up clear which is ideal, nitrate are reading at between 40-80 which is okay and un safe and ph is reading at 7.8..so i'm prpbably due for a water change now... my test strips are only a few months old...thinking about getting liquid test here soon..i've had my water tested at LFS before and they said my water is fine, but have not had it tested at one recently..going to try to do that when my work schedule is not so busy...this is what I have in my tank..regular hanging off the back filter that is for a 29 gallon..seaclone 100 protein skimmer..10 lbs of live rock (which I know i need more of) I have live sand, crush coral, and white sand for substrate which is about 1- 1 1/2 inch thick on the bottom..right now i dont have my heater in cause i was testing it to see if that was the problem..my heater is for the 29 gallon..I have a power head on one side..but didnt have that running since with skimmer there seems to be an extreme amount of water movement..that i thought it might stress the fish too much at once..
 
snowflakeclown

snowflakeclown

Member
This might be a stupid question, but are you using tap water and are what are you using to kill chlorine and other additives/metals? Hard breathing is either poor water quality or very high ammonia/nitrites.
 
chella81

chella81

Member
I'm using R/O water...and using instant ocean marine conditioner..the one fish is still alive, but still laying on its back..
 
J

jstdv8

Guest
.5 ammonia is killing the fish.
mixed with a low salinity (most reefers use 1.025 or 1.026
You have to find out whats causing the ammonia and remove it.
Never put a fish in a tank that has any ammonia present.
Have you had any other livestock in the tank over the 8 months of being fishless? Snails, crabs, shrimp or anything?
So over the 8 months the temp and salinity were kept proper the entire time, it was jsut fishless? Is that correct?
 
J

jstdv8

Guest
also, get that powerhead running and point it so that you have LOTS of ripples on the surface of the water. this will help exchange gases so the fish has ample oxygen.
 
chella81

chella81

Member
Could my live rock be causing my ammonia to be up? The temp and salinity were kept proper the 8 months..Haven't had anyother livestock..it's been fishless the whole time..i've tried hermit crabs in the begining and they died..I'll get my power head running..
thanks so much for your help so far....
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Your live rock should be aiding in filtration, not adding ammonia to the water. Something else is going on, especially if you can't keep hermits alive.
 
chella81

chella81

Member
Thats what i thought..on my live rock i have purple algae, green forest colored algae, brown some what fuzzy algae....i just dont know what else it could be..
 
chella81

chella81

Member
sorry pics are kind of crappy..the picture on the left has some purple algae growing on it..the one to the right has the dark green and brown algae on it...
 
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