water tests fine-fish dying???

[est706]

We are new at this game...started 7/06 and have a HUGE PROBLEM!!!
The water tests perfect....but EVERY fish (damsels and clown) we add they die within 24 hrs!!! we have yet to keep 1 fish alive....the only things that have lived are 3 hermit crabs. So the big question is what is killing the fish if the water is perfect?????? What are we missing/not thinking of????
the facts:
55 ga tank
emperior 400
magnum 350
1 powerhead
25 lbs lr
heater~80 degrees
40 lbs live sand
reg h2o changes 10 ga every 2-3 wks
Please someone help so we stop killing fish and depleting our savings account!!!! Anything will help...thanks

 

[copernicus45]

what type of powerhead do you have, with only one in a 55 gallon you might need to add more, the more water flow the better, you usualy want 15x-20x turn over rate so with a 55g x 15turnover = 825GPH going through the tank, water flow allows gas exchange, so the fish can get oxygen under the water, in my 55g i have about 25-30x turn over, but thats because i have a reef tank, still with a fish only you want about 15x.
another good rule of thumb is around 1lb of live rock for each gallon of water, live lock is the biological filtration.
Do you use tap water/well water?

 

[est706]

we use tap water (we add water conditioner) to reduce salinity
powerhead: aqua garden 601
when we do h2o changes we buy h2o from the store( we don't make it ourselves)

 

[copernicus45]

hmm and aqua garden 601, never heard of it, is it Saltwater safe, some pumps will have metal impeller that are not Saltwater safe, also what is your Salinity reading?

 

[est706]

1.022 salinity
what about air bubbles?? how do you airrate your tank?
we purchased and are waiting for 2 more powerheads by mail...
we have cooper fittings on our magnum....(shut off valves) is this a problem?
we bought this tank used... he ran a fresh h2o tank then tried to do salt and failed so he sold it to us could there be a problem there? the magnum was used from him also...

 

[emeralcrab]

How are you acclimating your fish when you get them? If they are put in right away with only temp acclimation you could be shocking them also. I don't think it is good to have copper connections either. We use copper to treat ick, but is not save for invert's, and I doubt if very safe for long term use for fish either.
Why did the person you bought the tank from fail at salt? Same problem?
What are your ammo, nitrites and nitrates?
What kind of salt are you using?
Everyone will want to know to be able to help.
The water you are buying is RO?

 

[est706]

nitrites and nitrates -0
amn-.25
ph-8.0
we are not sure of the problem he had
we added the fish by slowly adding our h2o to the bag and removing some of the h2o from the bag...removed some and added some....
and sorry for my ignorance but what is ro?

 

[copernicus45]

RO is a term for Reverse Osmosis water, water which has been filter by an RO system, RO water is very pure and recomended for saltwater tanks. i see your ammo is .25, has your tank properly went through its Cycle stage?

 

[ophiura]

What test kits do you use? Red Sea? Have you had all your tests double checked at an LFS?
We need to know more about the fish. What fish have you tried? How many? What are the symptoms?
I suspect you are looking at some sort of other toxin. What cleaning do you do around the tank? Have you painted or done anything around the tank?
THe copper fittings will be a problem, as mentioned, with inverts. They are not problems for a fish only tank, though can kill inverts in LR asd well.

 

[clintjj]

Do your fish stay by the pump outlets trying to swim into them? you might have an O2 problem. The copper fitting should be removed asap with a big water change afterwards. Copper is more harmful to inverts but at certain levels it is also dangerous to fish. They do make a copper test kit you might want to purchase it will give you guidelines as to what is acceptable and what isn't the fittings might be old and not leak much copper anymore. but I would still change them

 

[ice4ice]

# 1 - Get rid of your HOB filters. Invest in a skimmer instead ! Copper is most likely the cause especially if the person you got the magnum filter was used in a hospital tank to treat sick fish before he gave it to you.
# 2 - Two other possible factors - you are adding all your fishes all at the same time or you are not putting your fishes in a quarantine tank for 3-4 weeks.
# 3 - Get 2 powerheads and place each on opposite ends.
# 4 - Invest in a RO/DI unit.

 

[ophiura]

Personally, I don't think copper is the cause unless the fish were sharks, catfish, etc which can be particularly sensitive to it. Copper is a common disease treatment and fish can generally stand rather high concentrations that are unlikely to develop in a short period from a copper fitting. I would remove it, but IMO such rapid death is not copper related. I would personally lean towards another toxin of some sort.

 

[3m]

Originally Posted by est706
1.022 salinity
what about air bubbles?? how do you airrate your tank?
we purchased and are waiting for 2 more powerheads by mail...
we have cooper fittings on our magnum....(shut off valves) is this a problem?
we bought this tank used... he ran a fresh h2o tank then tried to do salt and failed so he sold it to us could there be a problem there? the magnum was used from him also...

okay so the tank is the only thing you reused or did you reuse the substrate and other bits as well? why did this tank fail on his clock? you need to ask he may have treated something in the tank , something used for freshwater fish that may be harmful to saltwater fish. was the tank cleaned when you first got it?

 

[dmc888]

Maybe you should take a look at whats inside the magnum filter maybe there is some media that only works for freshwater. And put some carbon in there.
Or try running without the magnum for a while.

 

[murph]

My guess would be acclimation shock.
Does your LFS have two separate holding systems? One for inverts and one for fish?
If your testing your salinity with a hydrometer it could be off as much as .005 or more. The reason the hermits lived is that the LFS holding tanks for inverts is closer to the actual salinity of your tank.
The salinity of the LFS fish holding tanks is pretty far off from your tanks salinity so to quick an introduction to a higher salinity can lead to acclimation shock and quick death.
Many LFS will keep the salinity of there fish only holding tanks vary low in a belief it will inhibit parasite problems and reduce overhead. This means a lengthy drip acclimation where fish are concerned may be necessary. Test the salinity of the LFS water as compared to your tank when introducing fish. A drip acclimation will then be necessary until tank water and LFS water are the same before introducing the fish to your tank.
Look to your right and click acclimation for full instructions on how to do this.