Brand new to Saltwater

Shawna Solomon · Jul 19, 2018

Hello all,
I am brand new to saltwater. I love aquariums and still have two freshwater aquariums set up but recently purchased a 125 to start a reef tank. I currently have 1 clownfish, 1 green Chromis, 1 cleaner shrimp, 1 sand sifting sea star, and two emerald crabs. We also have a few frags that were given to us (my husband and I ) from a friend. One is a xienna, we have a Duncan coral, a BTA, and a GSP (I think that is what it's called). We also have a Haitian anemone we bought from Petco. My issue is, in the last week I have had five fish go missing and one die. I acclimated them with a drip acclimation over a few hours. I bought a scopas tang that just died after a week with no visible signs of disease and then I lost 3 chromis and 2 damsels this week. The chromis and damsels disappeared at night and I have not seen them since. What causes fish to just completely disappear? I have read this is sort of common but don't understand why? Anyone have any tips they can give me on how to save the fish?
Ammonia is 0. Nitrites are 0. Nitrates are less than 5. Calcium is extremely low I am working on that but not sure if that would have something to do with missing fish... Phosphates are 0. and my alkalinity is at 11 right now.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Shawna

Retro Reefer · Jul 19, 2018

Welcome to R2R!!

Crabs McJones · Jul 19, 2018

Shawna Solomon said:
Hello all,
I am brand new to saltwater. I love aquariums and still have two freshwater aquariums set up but recently purchased a 125 to start a reef tank. I currently have 1 clownfish, 1 green Chromis, 1 cleaner shrimp, 1 sand sifting sea star, and two emerald crabs. We also have a few frags that were given to us (my husband and I ) from a friend. One is a xienna, we have a Duncan coral, a BTA, and a GSP (I think that is what it's called). We also have a Haitian anemone we bought from Petco. My issue is, in the last week I have had five fish go missing and one die. I acclimated them with a drip acclimation over a few hours. I bought a scopas tang that just died after a week with no visible signs of disease and then I lost 3 chromis and 2 damsels this week. The chromis and damsels disappeared at night and I have not seen them since. What causes fish to just completely disappear? I have read this is sort of common but don't understand why? Anyone have any tips they can give me on how to save the fish?
Ammonia is 0. Nitrites are 0. Nitrates are less than 5. Calcium is extremely low I am working on that but not sure if that would have something to do with missing fish... Phosphates are 0. and my alkalinity is at 11 right now.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Shawna

Welcome shawna to r2r and thanks for introducing yourself

#welcometor2r
Did you quarantine any of the fish before adding them? What type of cleanup crew do you have? The damsels and chromis possibly killed eachother as they can be fairly aggressive. Only other thing would be is if you introduced a parasite of some sort into the tank. It's not uncommon at all to not find dead fish as your clean up crew can make quick work of them.

Antics · Jul 19, 2018

Welcome! Always nice to hook a new one into the hobby!

Fudsey · Jul 19, 2018

Welcome to R2R ! ! !

What Crabs said

CUC can make quick work of dead fish

Shawna Solomon · Jul 19, 2018

Crabs Mcjones said:
Welcome shawna to r2r and thanks for introducing yourself

#welcometor2r
Did you quarantine any of the fish before adding them? What type of cleanup crew do you have? The damsels and chromis possibly killed eachother as they can be fairly aggressive. Only other thing would be is if you introduced a parasite of some sort into the tank. It's not uncommon at all to not find dead fish as your clean up crew can make quick work of them.

If they are dead I can't find any bodies for them. I did quarantine the tang but the chromis and damsels I added to the main tank and treated it. I know I shouldn't have! My lack of patience killed me on that.. I only have the sand sifting star fish, cleaner shrimp, and two emerald crabs at the moment.

Shawna Solomon · Jul 19, 2018

Fudsey said:
Welcome to R2R ! ! !

What Crabs said CUC can make quick work of dead fish

I bought them at petco they are little emerald crabs. I have no idea what a CUC is I need to do some more research.. lol

Crabs McJones · Jul 19, 2018

Shawna Solomon said:
I bought them at petco they are little emerald crabs. I have no idea what a CUC is I need to do some more research.. lol

Lol sorry about that. CUC stands for clean up crew. Snails, crabs, shrimp, worms ect...

jsker · Jul 19, 2018

Welcome to R2R and reefing

CUC-means clean up crew. Usually consistent of different snails, crabs and inverts

Jason mack · Jul 19, 2018

Shawna Solomon said:
Hello all,
I am brand new to saltwater. I love aquariums and still have two freshwater aquariums set up but recently purchased a 125 to start a reef tank. I currently have 1 clownfish, 1 green Chromis, 1 cleaner shrimp, 1 sand sifting sea star, and two emerald crabs. We also have a few frags that were given to us (my husband and I ) from a friend. One is a xienna, we have a Duncan coral, a BTA, and a GSP (I think that is what it's called). We also have a Haitian anemone we bought from Petco. My issue is, in the last week I have had five fish go missing and one die. I acclimated them with a drip acclimation over a few hours. I bought a scopas tang that just died after a week with no visible signs of disease and then I lost 3 chromis and 2 damsels this week. The chromis and damsels disappeared at night and I have not seen them since. What causes fish to just completely disappear? I have read this is sort of common but don't understand why? Anyone have any tips they can give me on how to save the fish?
Ammonia is 0. Nitrites are 0. Nitrates are less than 5. Calcium is extremely low I am working on that but not sure if that would have something to do with missing fish... Phosphates are 0. and my alkalinity is at 11 right now.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Shawna

Welcome To R2R , watch Your phos at 0 .. i would raise that a little , also you say calcium is low .. what About Magnesium?
And Alk at 11 .. is nice if you have a lot of big sps ..but I think a little lower maybe 8-9 would be better .. what salt are you using ? What does it mix at for alk ..
Calcium has nothing to do with missing fish as far as I know
Happy Reefing !!

Shawna Solomon · Jul 19, 2018

jsker said:
Welcome to R2R and reefing

CUC-means clean up crew. Usually consistent of different snails, crabs and inverts

Oh okay, thank you!

Geebs19 · Jul 19, 2018

I agree with the above. Those chromis and damsels can be vicious and potentially picked each other off in the night. It’s tough lesson to learn that QT any new fish is a must.

Shawna Solomon · Jul 19, 2018

Jason mack said:
Welcome To R2R , watch Your phos at 0 .. i would raise that a little , also you say calcium is low .. what About Magnesium?
And Alk at 11 .. is nice if you have a lot of big sps ..but I think a little lower maybe 8-9 would be better .. what salt are you using ? What does it mix at for alk ..
Calcium has nothing to do with missing fish as far as I know
Happy Reefing !!

Yes, the calcium is at 80. It dropped pretty far after my last water change. I am not sure what my magnesium is I need to buy a test kit for that because at the moment I only have ammonia, nitrates, nitrites, phosphates, alkalinity, calcium, and Ph. I use the instant ocean reef salt and purchase RO/DI water from my local fish store. I don't have any SPS at the moment it seems those are a little more advanced and I would like to wait for the tank to establish more before adding any. I will do some research on lowering my alkalinity. I have been using seachem reef buffer because my PH is low it is about 7.8-8. I also have been using reef complete to raise the calcium.

Shawna Solomon · Jul 19, 2018

Geebs19 said:
I agree with the above. Those chromis and damsels can be vicious and potentially picked each other off in the night. It’s tough lesson to learn that QT any new fish is a must.

Thank you, I knew I shouldn't have added them. I just was too excited and wanted to see some life in the tank. I will be doing that from now on.

Jason mack · Jul 19, 2018

Shawna Solomon said:
Yes, the calcium is at 80. It dropped pretty far after my last water change. I am not sure what my magnesium is I need to buy a test kit for that because at the moment I only have ammonia, nitrates, nitrites, phosphates, alkalinity, calcium, and Ph. I use the instant ocean reef salt and purchase RO/DI water from my local fish store. I don't have any SPS at the moment it seems those are a little more advanced and I would like to wait for the tank to establish more before adding any. I will do some research on lowering my alkalinity. I have been using seachem reef buffer because my PH is low it is about 7.8-8. I also have been using reef complete to raise the calcium.

Where does the tank sit in your house .. low ph is because of co2 build up .. if you have a skimmer you could run a fresh air line to it from outside .. or open the windows more ..
Calcium shouldn’t drop after a water change .. normally it’s replenished in a new tank before dosing is need .. is this right calc 80 ... normally it’s 350-450

Geebs19 · Jul 19, 2018

Shawna Solomon said:
Thank you, I knew I shouldn't have added them. I just was too excited and wanted to see some life in the tank. I will be doing that from now on.

We are currently setting up a 100 gallon and my wife is chomping at the bit. I said we would be lucky to have fish in it by the end of the year haha.

jsker · Jul 19, 2018

Shawna Solomon said:
Oh okay, thank you!

Your welcome

Lovemyreef2015 · Jul 19, 2018

Welcome to R2R

Shawna Solomon · Jul 19, 2018

Jason mack said:
Where does the tank sit in your house .. low ph is because of co2 build up .. if you have a skimmer you could run a fresh air line to it from outside .. or open the windows more ..
Calcium shouldn’t drop after a water change .. normally it’s replenished in a new tank before dosing is need .. is this right calc 80 ... normally it’s 350-450

The tank sits right next to my doors to the backyard but I can't open the windows because it has been about 103 feeling like 112 outside and it would raise my temp in the tank too much. My calcium was only at 120 and then over the weekend we did a water change and when I checked it yesterday it was at 80. I am not sure why it dropped. Or why it is that low to begin with? Is it usually higher with new water?

Shawna Solomon · Jul 19, 2018

Shawna Solomon said:
The tank sits right next to my doors to the backyard but I can't open the windows because it has been about 103 feeling like 112 outside and it would raise my temp in the tank too much. My calcium was only at 120 and then over the weekend we did a water change and when I checked it yesterday it was at 80. I am not sure why it dropped. Or why it is that low to begin with? Is it usually higher with new water?

I do have a protein skimmer in my sump. Are you talking about the airline hose that adjusts the skimmer? I have the seaclone brand.