Beginner...ready to throw in the towel!

[LDJ]

Hi, first time on the discussion. I'm so frustrated after 5 months of trying to keep fish alive.
Anyone want to hear my sad story and offer me a lifeline?
I tried to build a top notch 32 gallon bio cube and have suffered nothing but set backs.
Not sure where to go from here.
Ready to sell everything.
Any assistance would be great!

 

[FairbanksReefer]

I feel like SO many problems on this forum can be summed up with “local fish store told me X” and “now my fish or coral are dead”. Dont listen the the LFS, ask people here and they will 100% give better advise.

 

[Rmckoy]

I feel like SO many problems on this forum can be summed up with “local fish store told me X” and “now my fish or coral are dead”. Dont listen the the LFS, ask people here and they will 100% give better advise.

The lfs is making money off of any sales ….
Trust their words With a grain of salt .
it’s on us to research

 

[Sump Crab]

Start over with some real Liverock from KP aquatics. Also quit with all the chemicals.

 

[LDJ]

Biocube has been up and running 5 months.
I'm using a brand new RODI, with a carbon block... never just tap water. I'm using a Red Sea test kit. Do you have a favorite test kit? Ammonia kit?

Yes I'm pretty sure it was Brooklynella disease on the clowns., that why I was using the PraxiPro.

A month after letting the tank sit and clear with the UV, I just don't understand why the three new fish were great for 6 days, eating well and then within 12-18 hours, whet downhill super fast.

I talked to the LFS and they wondered about PH crashing at night and possible killing the fish. I supposed to test that. But my one long termer fire fish is just fine through the whole period.

The tank has been up for 5 months and I thought for sure I had all perimeters in the groove. 1.025 salt, Ph 8.1, Nitrates 20 or less, usually around10-15. I checked my ammonia mid week after the new fish and no ammonia spike or nitrites. Both were zero.

Your thoughts on all of the above?

 

[tharbin]

I'm not good on the more modern cures for fish disease so can't help with that part.

What I can say is stop worrying about the algae. It isn't killing your fish and you are right in the middle of the uglies. Give it time. If it were my tank here is what I would do for now: Get an air pump and a limewood diffuser and put the diffuser in the display and let it run for several days. That is in case the medicines/chemicals lowered the tanks oxygen levels. Do a 20-25% water change. No additives just your normal salt mix. That will help dissipate the stuff in the water. If the fish look better, leave it all alone.

In the meantime if you think the fish are diseased try to give an accurate description and photo or video so that some of the Fish Medics on here can assist you.

Don't necessarily believe everything a LFS or bottle label tells you. Before adding anything to the tank come on here and read threads about the product. You will undoubtably get both 'greatest thing ever' and 'killed my whole tank and all the pets in the neighborhood' responses. You will have to sort through them to decide what is best for you but at least you will have the warnings so that you can apply proper caution. An example is the Vibrant you were dosing. There are several threads on here that call into question the accuracy of the claims on the bottle. There is pretty compelling evidence that it is really just a synthetic algaecide. That's not definitive as the manufacturer has yet to respond but multiple studies point to it rather conclusively.

Also when you buy quarantined fish, check on how they are quarantined. Some LFSs call it quarantine by throwing new arrivals in a holding tank and moving the ones that are still alive after three or four to the sales tanks. Others prophylactically treat all incoming fish and observe. Some move the quarantined fish into untreated saltwater for a while before moving them to display. Some even keep a prophylactic level of medicines in their sales tanks. I personally will never buy another fish that is held in a treated tank the whole time. I feel it is like a taking a person from a clean-room ICU and suddenly moving them into the general population.

What is your Alk level? I really doubt that pH is causing your fish stress unless your Alk levels are really low.

If your firefish is fine then probably your oxygen level is fine too but-- can't hurt and having a battery-operated air pump on the shelf is good insurance for power failures.

 

[rmorris_14]

Biocube has been up and running 5 months.
I'm using a brand new RODI, with a carbon block... never just tap water. I'm using a Red Sea test kit. Do you have a favorite test kit? Ammonia kit?

Yes I'm pretty sure it was Brooklynella disease on the clowns., that why I was using the PraxiPro.

A month after letting the tank sit and clear with the UV, I just don't understand why the three new fish were great for 6 days, eating well and then within 12-18 hours, whet downhill super fast.

I talked to the LFS and they wondered about PH crashing at night and possible killing the fish. I supposed to test that. But my one long termer fire fish is just fine through the whole period.

The tank has been up for 5 months and I thought for sure I had all perimeters in the groove. 1.025 salt, Ph 8.1, Nitrates 20 or less, usually around10-15. I checked my ammonia mid week after the new fish and no ammonia spike or nitrites. Both were zero.

Your thoughts on all of the above?

PraziPro doesnt treat brook.

 

[Fishfreak2009]

Biocube has been up and running 5 months.
I'm using a brand new RODI, with a carbon block... never just tap water. I'm using a Red Sea test kit. Do you have a favorite test kit? Ammonia kit?

Yes I'm pretty sure it was Brooklynella disease on the clowns., that why I was using the PraxiPro.

A month after letting the tank sit and clear with the UV, I just don't understand why the three new fish were great for 6 days, eating well and then within 12-18 hours, whet downhill super fast.

I talked to the LFS and they wondered about PH crashing at night and possible killing the fish. I supposed to test that. But my one long termer fire fish is just fine through the whole period.

The tank has been up for 5 months and I thought for sure I had all perimeters in the groove. 1.025 salt, Ph 8.1, Nitrates 20 or less, usually around10-15. I checked my ammonia mid week after the new fish and no ammonia spike or nitrites. Both were zero.

Your thoughts on all of the above?

PraziPro doesn't treat brooklynella. You need a medication with formalin. A 90 minute bath in ruby reef rally pro is required to kill it, for ALL fish, then they go into sterile quarantine for 6 weeks while the display sits fallow to prevent reinfection. Even if the firefish shows no signs of disease, it can be an asymptomatic carrier. Clowns are much more susceptible to brooklynella.

 

[Roatan Reef]

The lfs is making money off of any sales ….
Trust their words With a grain of salt .
it’s on us to research

This is sooo true.

Just set up a friend's Cichlid Tank a month ago, it was doing great...they jumped the gun and kept adding more and more fish, even when I told them to go slow...they even added some fish that were not compatible for S.African Cichlids.

Tank got crowded, fish got ich, they went to our LFS store that is really good for the most part...they didn't listen to me or others who have been in the Freshwater Hobby for over 15 years...LFS told them to treat entire Tank with a terrible chemical I never use, of course they disregard my treatment method.

Long Story Short...Tank is Crashing, 3 fish down already, tank is a cloudy mess, and I fear will get worse.

But LFS told me I could add this Fish, LFS told me to treat with this Chemical...etc..etc.

I am a newbie at the Saltwater Tank, and this forum is excellent for Help and info.

 

[Rmckoy]

This is sooo true.

Just set up a friend's Cichlid Tank a month ago, it was doing great...they jumped the gun and kept adding more and more fish, even when I told them to go slow...they even added some fish that were not compatible for S.African Cichlids.

Tank got crowded, fish got ich, they went to our LFS store that is really good for the most part...they didn't listen to me or others who have been in the Freshwater Hobby for over 15 years...LFS told them to treat entire Tank with a terrible chemical I never use, of course they disregard my treatment method.

Long Story Short...Tank is Crashing, 3 fish down already, tank is a cloudy mess, and I fear will get worse.

But LFS told me I could add this Fish, LFS told me to treat with this Chemical...etc..etc.

I am a newbie at the Saltwater Tank, and this forum is excellent for Help and info.

If I were to do freshwater. .
I’ve always wanted a discus tank .

I had a massive fw shark when I was a teenager .
I had family with large 250 gal African cichlids
Amazing how active they were .
Everything was mated and always breeding .

at the same time a friend of mine that talked me into starting saltwarer , was breeding frontosa . Ugly with the huge lump on their heads ….

as mentioned above . Take lfs opinions with a grain of salt
Sometimes experience trumps knowledge of a min wage salesman .

 

[Trigger Fish Fan]

How’s the salinity?

 

[Roatan Reef]

If I were to do freshwater. .
I’ve always wanted a discus tank .

I had a massive fw shark when I was a teenager .
I had family with large 250 gal African cichlids
Amazing how active they were .
Everything was mated and always breeding .

at the same time a friend of mine that talked me into starting saltwarer , was breeding frontosa . Ugly with the huge lump on their heads ….

as mentioned above . Take lfs opinions with a grain of salt
Sometimes experience trumps knowledge of a min wage salesman .

I would love a discus tank too. I never bothered with them, because they are very picky at your water parameters and conditions, need the best RODI Water you can give them...but with learning about and doing a Saltwater Tank now, I might be tempted to try it with all the info I now have for SW tank set up.


(Probably not though... 125 Mostly S. American Cichlid mixed community, 2 planted Betta Tanks, and the brand new 40B Saltwater Tank..I'm good for now)

 

[Rmckoy]

I would love a discus tank too. I never bothered with them, because they are very picky at your water parameters and conditions, need the best RODI Water you can give them...but with learning about and doing a Saltwater Tank now, I might be tempted to try it with all the info I now have for SW tank set up.


(Probably not though... 125 Mostly S. American Cichlid mixed community, 2 planted Betta Tanks, and the brand new 40B Saltwater Tank..I'm good for now)

The best rodi water … without salt though ,
Sounds like something I might have been doing for the last 20+ years .
I can maintain salinity , alkalinity , calcium , temp and have <5ppm nitrates , and < 0.1ppm phosphates .