All new fish are dying! Need suggestions

[Tig1199]

Lets start with what I have:
90 gallon tank with drilled corner holes for gravity flow and return to tank.
Refugium with socks, cotton type filtration, bio-balls, carbon sheet, heater and sump.
There are no dead spots in tank due to dual circulator and dual sump return.

Now to the issue. I am new to the saltwater world and was guided poorly on what fish to start with and after my tank was cycled. Within a month I was told I could get all sorts of cool fish. I had a lawn mower blenny, firefish, pair of clowns, emperor angel, idol, some type of crab, cleaner shrimp, snails, hermit crabs, mushroom corals, feathers, and numerous other corals. Oh... and an anenome. So, My idol and emperor died, but I thought that was just par for the course.. I then got another angel that wasn’t cheap.. I drop acclimated everything.. The thing got stressed.. got ICH.. and died. I then was told.. “hey, you should treat your tank with copper”. I removed the corals and inverts and put them into a small hospital tank which killed them.. I then treated the tank with copper. Two months later.... Lawn mower blenny is alive still and no signs of ICH.. I put carbon sheet into my refugium to remove the copper. 2 weeks later, Cooper test reveals no copper.. nitrites perfect, ammonia perfect, slight nitrates (assuming from bio-balls). Added 2 Chromis. They lived...BUT EVERY FISH I HAVE ADDED SINCE, dies within a day.

Any suggestions, I’m all ears. I’ve probably lost 600 dollars in coral, fish, inverts since February and no one seems to know the answer to why my fish are dying!

 

[FindingNem0]

Was it fully cycled?

Did it have enough live rock?

You added fish to quickly and the good bacteria couldn't handle the ammonia.

Don't always listen to LFS, shop around a few places and ask around before buying.

Normally right after a cycled tank you'll get hit with diatoms. That's when you start with a CuC. Then slowly week by week you add 1 fish.

 

[FindingNem0]

Also take a photo of your Main display and dump, so we know the setup.

 

[DaveNJ]

You added too many fishes at one time.

 

[DaveNJ]

Was it dry reef rock that you used?

 

[hdsoftail1065]

Wow, sorry to read about the struggles you are going through. First thing I would do is find a different lfs', they didn't do you any favors or give you what I consider good advise. Post some tank pics, post your parameters and let's get you some help.

#reefsquad

 

[Jason mack]

When you added copper too the dt ... was all your rocks still in there .. if they were then that will certainly be one issue I think.. I would do a triton or Api test see what’s in my water ..
how are your inverts shrimp and crabs ,, or is it only fish dying ..?
What test kits are you using ?redsea saliferts? Other
Can you list your results for. No3 po4 ammonia , no2 ??
The more info incl pics will be beter,
A good start is always water change ... maybe 20-30% if you can as well

 

[Mavric]

What kills me is the fact that you more than likely told the LFS you were new and they still sold you a notoriously difficult to keep fish like an idol. I would highly suggest finding a new LFS. Chances are a lot of the fish you are getting from them are either already sick or highly stressed. You also didn't mention your pH or salinity readings, which may be helpful for the community to help. Sorry about all your losses!

 

[408Dartfish]

Sorry to hear about your our struggles. It bothers me when LFS set new reefers up for failure like that. It’s what drives people out of the hobby very quickly. Don’t give up. Dustin

 

[FindingNem0]

I remember going to my local lfs. They pointed at peppermint shrimp and said its reef safe, I actually took their word and without any research I bought 3, all 3 started picking at my corals at night. I would sometime see the polyps and heads floating around the tank. Making sales is their job, now all 3 lives in my sump.

 

[Aaron-A2]

Woah, you put copper directly into your DT? Even if you run carbon, you will still have copper in your rock/sand/filtration. If someone told you to put copper directly into your DT, do not listen to their advice ever again.

If every fish is dying within 24 hours, it may have to do with acclimation. Can you explain your acclimation process? Also, what temp/salinity do you run your tank?

 

[Super Fly]

Please stop going to that LFS and look for a more reputable/trustworthy LFS, can't believe they recommended an emperor, idol and anemone for a new tank. These people don't care about the fish nor you. I recommend starting with easy to care hardy fish like the chromis and clowns. U can check Liveaquaria to research marine livestock based on compatibility, tank size and care level.

Please be patient when adding livestock and get the aquarium stable prior to adding more livestock. Your new tank was not established with enough beneficial bacteria to handle the massive bio load when all that livestock was added simultaneously. Do u have any live rock in tank? Bio balls will take some time to establish beneficial bacteria so take it slow and add few fish at a time once tank has established.

 

[cracker]

Sorry for your losses ! Hey ,Your a beginner & things "will" happen. This hobby is so involved& there are important stuff You just aren't aware of yet ! Hang in there !
This is a great place for guidance.

 

[NoWaiAma]

Slowly process what everyone has said and please update us. It will seem like a wall. But it is only a wall of people wanting to help.

My lfs had me cycling with fish. And pitched me a tang when I hit diotom. Hang in there.

The reward is so so so very worth it. Patience.

 

[mcarroll]

Now to the issue. I am new to the saltwater world and was guided poorly on what fish to start with and after my tank was cycled.

Most problems can be boiled down to:
Nothing good happens fast in a reef tank.

Definitely take a break from stocking the tank for at least a few months.

You have to be VERY self-guided in this hobby since you'll be taking care of animals. Wild animlas, no less.

As such, you'll want to do as much reading as possible – in books, ideally, then supplemented by online research.

What books do you have? Tullock's "Natural Aquariums" book is my current favorite, but pretty much anything mentioned on this thread will be awesome: How long is your aquarium book collection? I would be remiss if I didn't mention that @Dana Riddle and @Paul B both have penned excellent books as well - look them up too!!!

Reading more, more, more will prevent you from making MANY potentially bad decisions. And the thing is you really can't outsource this responsibility since you are the only person guaranteed to have your sensibilities of good/bad/right/wrong.

Also, tell us about the tank.

When was it set up?
What materials were used?
Was any particular method used?
How are you filtering it?
What are your most recent water test results? Are they similar or different to what the test numbers have been historically?
Any other bumps along the way aside from fish mortality?

 

[beaslbob]

First, try adding some male mollies. Like 2 or three or so. If you can get them acclimated and survive for a few weeks the tank should be ok for the more expensive marine only fish.

Second and even more important, add macro algae to the system. Just a simple partition in the display with some added side lights. So you have a macro area and fish/coral area. The idea is to get the tank balanced out and stabilized with live macro algae which will absorb ammonia first then nitrates, plus phosphates and co2 while returning oxygen and fish food.

Reminds me of a "wall" I hit with my first tank. Every new fish died after a week or two. When I added macro algae sick fish recovered and thrived.

So you may have just hit the bio load max for your particular system. The macros will increase the max bioload and the system will be much more stable and forgiving.

my .02

 

[Tig1199]

Let me start by THANKING EACH AND EVERYONE OF YOU. I expected to hear a lot of incredibly negative responses or none at all BUT I actually saw nothing but people wanting to help me and my wife succeed. I tried to answer as much as I could. FYI I thought I had added pic’s to the original thread but all I had done was upload them.. Now you can see them. Below you will see my tank near the beginning and then one I just took prior to posting.


This was the original set up prior to the ICH!

This is it now.


This is my refugium.

Nitrites-0
Ammonia-+\- 0
Nitrates- 10PPM
Ph-8.2
Copper- +/- .25
Specific gravity- 1.020-1.021
Water changes are religiously done every 2-3 weeks with RO and is approx 25%
All the added rock was live rock when put in.. the sand was not.

Also take a photo of your Main display and dump, so we know the setup.

 

[Tig1199]

Please stop going to that LFS and look for a more reputable/trustworthy LFS, can't believe they recommended an emperor, idol and anemone for a new tank. These people don't care about the fish nor you. I recommend starting with easy to care hardy fish like the chromis and clowns. U can check Liveaquaria to research marine livestock based on compatibility, tank size and care level.

Please be patient when adding livestock and get the aquarium stable prior to adding more livestock. Your new tank was not established with enough beneficial bacteria to handle the massive bio load when all that livestock was added simultaneously. Do u have any live rock in tank? Bio balls will take some time to establish beneficial bacteria so take it slow and add few fish at a time once tank has established.

I didn’t mention this earlier.. I only added 3 fish at a time and they were always smaller. After the ICH, I copper treated for 2 months and then attempted to remove the copper which I have found impossible and now have to remove the rock I have and start over. But when I started adding new fish again, it was only 1-2 at a time and they were drip acclimated.. they all died within less than 24 hrs.. As you can see in the picture tho... My Chromis and lawnmower Blenny are hanging tough.

 

[FindingNem0]

Let me start by THANKING EACH AND EVERYONE OF YOU. I expected to hear a lot of incredibly negative responses or none at all BUT I actually saw nothing but people wanting to help me and my wife succeed. I tried to answer as much as I could. FYI I thought I had added pic’s to the original thread but all I had done was upload them.. Now you can see them. Below you will see my tank near the beginning and then one I just took prior to posting.


This was the original set up prior to the ICH!

This is it now.


This is my refugium.

Nitrites-0
Ammonia-+\- 0
Nitrates- 10PPM
Ph-8.2
Copper- +/- .25
Specific gravity- 1.020-1.021
Water changes are religiously done every 2-3 weeks with RO and is approx 25%
All the added rock was live rock when put in.. the sand was not.

Sorry let me correct an spelling error **SUMP**

Once a tank has ick, you'll have to run it for about 8weeks with no fish in it, so the ick dies from not having a host to feed off.

 

[FindingNem0]

Btw that tank does not look 90gallon to me.


You should really inspect fish before buying them. Stocking 2 to 3 fish for a very young tank is dangerous. Try sticking with 1 fish per a week. Some people do 1fish bi weekly or monthly. The less chemicals you put in your tank the better it is and the more stable it will be. I only started saltwater 2months ago, but I got really lucky with my lfs as they quarantine my fish for me and I can inspect them over a few days to weeks, they will even feed the fish in front of me.