Adding fish

[JohnA26]

Hello, being new to saltwater reef aquariums. I acquired a friends nano reef tank, lots of coral, anemone, 1 sexy shrimp, 1 skunk cleaner shrimp, 1 black clown fish, 2 hermit crabs, 1 conch, 2 turbo snails and 2 whelk or cerithium. We are interested in adding moving color (fish) and personality. So we tried a Royal Gramma, he disappeared to a hole in the rocks and I never saw him eat, only peaking out of the rock, now it has been a month and no more peaking, nowhere to be found, not even a corpse. The we added a psudochromis (Yellow with purple stripe). He got attacked by cleaner shrimp (or he was just trying to clean him), he hid, but then came out to explore a few days, ate a little and about 5 days later we woke up to him being eaten by cleaner shrimp and snail. I've done all the tests on the water, everything ok. All corals are colorful and alive. So I am now challenged to add fish and keep them alive. Do you think I am getting unhealthy fish? I do not have a quarantine tank, I only have a small aquarium, and no space for a QT. I float the bag 30 min, then do very slow drip for 30 min. I have next week off of work, I am thinking of adding multiple fish at one time if stress from existing is the issue. I have been given many suggestions and have possible narrowed it down to purple or red firefish, Cardinal (Bangaii or PJ), a goby and blend. I like 6 line wrasse, but have been told they get aggressive as they age. I am also not opposed to royal gramma or something like it as well. I've also looked into coral beauty, but I read they may eat my coral. Please let me know your thoughts.

 

[BostonReefer300]

Sorry about your fish! How many gallons is your tank?

 

[BostonReefer300]

And how big/old is your clownfish?

 

[Tchung23]

Firefish. I have a Helfrichi and they add such colour to the tank.

 

[JohnA26]

Sorry about your fish! How many gallons is your tank?

Sorry just a 13.5 gallon

 

[JohnA26]

And how big/old is your clownfish?

My clown is 2 years, I’m told about 2-2.5 inches I would say, very calm and docile

 

[BostonReefer300]

One possibility is that you're clownfish is being aggressive and has bullied the others to death. Did you notice any aggression? Alternatively, it could be that you purchased unhealthy fish. Did you get them from the same place? If you're dealing with a bullying problem, there's not going to be much you can do about it in a 12.5G setup other than either just live with the clown you have or re-home it and add a couple other fish afterwards. If you got sick fish, I'd try a different vendor for your next go. For acclimation, it's good that you're being careful but you've got to worry about ammonia---especially for fish that came via shipping. They build up a lot of ammonia in the shipping water. Once you open the bag and expose the water to air, the pH rises and you get more free ammonia which is toxic. Therefore, the long drip acclimation you're doing may be exposing fish to damaging ammonia and you could be damaging the fish that way. If you are getting fish shipped, you can still drip acclimate after temperature equilibrating the sealed bag---but add a couple drops of seachem prime or the equivalent to detoxify the ammonia.

 

[JohnA26]

Thank you for all that info. I purchased both from the same local retail store which I purchase my water. He stated that he medicated them to prep for sale. As far as bully, no not anything from the clown, actually I saw him hanging out with the psudochromis away from his coral (the other side of the tank where the pseudo was hanging out and they where both just chilling. The only bully option I thought I saw was as I release the pseudo the cleaner shrimp seemed to jump on him, but in reality I would guess he was trying to clean him or he thought I was releasing food. And a couple times when the pseudo was in it’s rock hole and a shrimp antenna was in front, the pseudo nipped at it but nothing more, shrimp didn’t seem to care.
so if I can confidently add more fish from another retailer, what do you think of my ideas from the original post?
Also do you prefer and have success with getting fish shipped? And if so where from?

 

[BostonReefer300]

Sorry I can't recommend an on-line fish vendor. I do all my fish purchases through my LFS. That being said, I'd give somewhere else a try given that two from your LFS have now died on you. If you post a question about best online vendor in the main forum, you'll get lots of suggestions. I'd strongly recommend going with a place that sells pre-quarantined fish so you don't have to deal with QT. For a tank that size, a firefish could be great! Also, check out tail spot blennies. Have fun!