Why are they keep dropping dead?

[trotsky123]

Hi, I have a 54 gallon corner tank.
Current stock is:
Yellow tang (2 in)
O Clown
Walmart puffer (yellow with black dots)
Blue cleaner wrasse
Red eye cardinal
Sand sifting starfish, crabs, snails.
All my fish is small and pretty happy. Yet, I can not introduce any new fish - it drops dead 4-5 days later. I took the water to second test in two of my LFS - all great!
I tried Hippo Tang
I tried an Angel
I tried a juvi Dragon Wrasse (there should be no aggression issues here - he didn't even go into hiding, just swap around all happy).
I enjoy looking at them - all happy swimming around - eating from 1st day.
Then on 4th or 5th day I find them dead on the bottom.
I saw many aquariums, I read many articles, suggestions, I know I am not maxed out with what I have.
Yes, there is NOTHING that i can add for it to stay alive.
Any suggestions, please?

 

[saxman]

We need more info regarding your setup:
How long has it been running?
What equipment are you running?
Which tests were performed, and what were the test results? ("good" or "fine" isn't what we're looking for)
Did you QT the new fish? How long?
Not that they shouldn't have lived, but all three fish you added that died will outgrow a 50 gal, esp a corner setup fairly quickly (unless the angel was a dwarf).

 

[trotsky123]

How long has it been running? - over a year
What equipment are you running? - Fluval 305
Which test were performed, and what were the test results? ("good" or "fine" isn't what we're looking for) - nitrate, nitrite all at 0, ammonia spiked a bit but because of dead fish, ph is 8, salinity is 1.023
Did you QT the new fish? How long? - no QT - i will get a divorce before i get ok to put another tank
also i know about people QT when they add new fish to their established expensive huge tanks
i have no corals or expensive rare fish and just acclimate the same way i did ALL of them in the past

 

[saxman]

Do you run LR in your DT (if so, about how much?) or is the 305 the only form of biofilltration?
Your pH is a tad low, esp for everything else to be "0"...what's your water source?
How often do you clean the filter?
Are the fish all coming from a single source?

 

[njbillyv]

Is it possible the Tang is harrassing them causing stress?
I'd think the first step would be for you to get some good test kits and make sure of what your water parameters are. I'd recommend Seachem or Salifert.
Sorry about the dead fish.

 

[trotsky123]

Hi, I do have all test kits on the planet!
All water parameters are good
I observed the tang - 1st day there were turf wars.
2nd day they were like schooling fish - the fins even didn't go up

 

[njbillyv]

If you're confident the water is fine, then I would blame the Tang. I recently had to get rid of one because of this exact reason, I couldn't add new fish he'd just chase them around until I had to come to the rescue. Besides, the tank is too small for him anyway, might as well get it over with.

 

[saxman]

Did the fish you lost have any nips in their fins? I wouldn't discount the puffer...

 

[trotsky123]

Problem is that when I get to it, it's already chewed up by Crabs.
It seems like it IS an aggressive fish in my tank.
I should get something like little huma huma trigger and see how Tang can kick its .ss
btw i am kidding

 

[flower]

Hello and welcome to the site...
My advice: Find out about what fish are suited for your tank and what fish get along with what others.

A page so you can see the kind of info it has for you