Having trouble keeping fish alive.... Reef is fine!

[JohnnyB]

Since I have moved to TN one year ago I have been having trouble keeping fish alive. I don't know what the problem is. I'm running a 29g biocube w/ about 26# of live rock. What are the possibilities? My PH has been fine, along with everything else i test for. The only thing that has been running a little high is the KH. My corals are growing good. My shrimp, crabs and snails are also fine.

 

[eliramos]

how do you acclimate your fish?
do you have numbers for your parameters to go by?
also an fts might help along with list of fish youve tried...
youve cast kindve a broad net for answers

 

[JohnnyB]

I float bags for temp acclimation and then drip acclimate for water acclimation.
I had clowns, damsels, chromis, small tangs, cardinals, and gobys... OF course not all at once.
I bought 2 different types of tangs one yellow and one sailfin 3 weeks ago, along with a mandarin goby all dead now... $120 worth of fish
bought 3 chromis last week, only two made it into the tank (one died in transit), only one left in tank today.
i haven't water tested in a few days. Did a 2.5-3 gallon water change today.

 

[eliramos]

how far in between are you making these purchases? With a tank volume like that you cant add too many within a certain amount of time because you need to give the bacteria in your tank time to grow to accomadate for your new biolaod. i have a 29 gallon also and at one time had 5 fish.. it was way overstocked but i added slowly and kept up with 2 water changes a week.
whats your
salt level
nitrate
nitite
and
ammonia

 

[Fengxzhang]

Do you have any bully fish in your tank? I can't add any fish without them dying.

 

[Tradewinds]

How long do the fish typically live or do they die within hours of putting them in the tank?

 

[Gauge]

Are you getting all of your fish from one source? Also if one of them had a parasite try leaving your tank fishless for 8-10 weeks then try again with 1-2 clownfish.

 

[Herefishyfishy]

We need specific tank parameters:
pH, hardness, salinity, ammonia, nitrates, temp, frequency of water changes, age of tank, filtration method, etc.
Also if new fish get quarantined and how, copper, chem, or other? What type fish have died, how long each lasted. Bullying? Need all the info or just shooting in the dark.

 

[JohnnyB]

Sorry it has taken me so long to reply. I've got a bad case of the flu and have been running a 101.7 fever for abut 36 hours straight. I just tested my water here are my results salinity 1.025-1.026, temp 76-77 degrees, PH is 7.8, ammonia 0ppm, nitrite 0ppm, nitrate 0ppm, GH&KH 196.9ppm, calcium 480ppm... I don't have any other to run at the moment need to go shopping i guess but its going to have to wait. I did a 3 gal water change 3 days ago. I have one chormis alive, it has been in the tank for 9 days. I had a bully in the tank, was an at one time small brittle starfish that grew to the size of dinner plate he is gone. fish that have died in the tank since I got here, 2 regular clowns that were fine in the tank in florida, yellow fin damsel, dominos, 3 strip damsel, pajama cardinal, clarkii clown, regular green goby, mandarin goby, yellow tang, sailfin tang, chromis and I think that covers it. The clowns and yellow fin damsels came with me from florida bought from oceans direct they were in the tanks for over a year and fine until the move. I bought a pair of pajama cardinals in crossville they died in a week. Bought the mandarin goby, and 2 tangs from a different store in crossville and they died in a week. The chromis came from the coral reef in knoxville and are the last fish i have put in. Everything else listed came from Reefs2go.com out of Florida. The Corals that came from reefs2go are fine. The confusing part of all this to me is that the reef is fine and dandy, its actually growing and has grown alot over the past 3 weeks. I've had trouble with green hair algae, but between water changes and new additions to my clean up crew I've got that under control. if I missed anything you need to know please let me know. I appreciate any help and advice. As you all know fish aren't cheap and I've lost a lot of money on them.

 

[J062682l]

Could have been the move. IMO 29g is too small for tangs. Either way that sucks man sorry for your losses, good luck

 

[JohnnyB]

they were very small tangs less than 2", I got them to eat the green hair algae, and I'm planning to upgrade to a 120g at the first of the year.

 

[soccerbag]

Agree with the fact that it was a heavy bio-load for that small a tank. I have a sailfin in a 247g and it is almost outgrowing that tank. Parameters look good. My best guess is that one of your fish got stressed out and marine velvet was introduced. Out of all of the fish that have died, did they stop eating a few days before they died? Did you ever see them swimming right in front of a powerhead (almost trying to swim into the current)? Marine velvet will wipe out most fish quickly - even healthy fish that are introduced to the infected tank. Some fish seem immune to the parasite. It is tough to actually diagnose marine velvet. There are symptoms that the fish will show but since most are dead, there isn't much you can look for now.

My advice would be to take the remaining chromis out of the tank and run it fallow (no fish) for around 10 weeks. The parasite will die off with no host in which to attach itself. Save your money on fish, put that money towards your upgrade. Cultivate your corals and concentrate on that until you reach the end of the 10 week fallow period. Then you can start introducing fish very slowly (1 per month or two months). Once you get your new 120g up and running, turn the 29g into a "quarantine" tank and introduce your fish properly (QT for 4-6 weeks to treat and monitor fish before something like this is introduced into your tank again). Velvet is a tough lesson to learn. I learned it the hard way and hope that you can learn from my mistakes. QT every fish - regardless of the source. This is really the only way to protect yourself from something like this in the future.

That being said, it may not be velvet - but it certainly sounds like it (seeing as all of the corals are happy). I'm assuming you have proper flow in the tank if the corals are growing - so that should not be the issue either.

Good luck to you and let us know how the upgrade goes. And hold off on the bigger fish (even those that will grow into a bigger fish) until you get the bigger tank. All of your tank inhabitants will thank you . Hope this helps a bit.

 

[JohnnyB]

I don't think I was clear on the tank load. There have never been more than 5 small nano sized fish in the tank at one time and no more than 3 introduced at one restock. the tangs were very small guys or i would not have considered putting them in the tank, i knew they wouldn't outgrow it before they could be moved to the new tank. I don't have a way to QT right now. But i've already decided that the biocube will be turned in to a QT halfway house for new fish and corals after the upgrade. Speaking of the upgrade, I'm researching everyday trying to find the best deal on a reef ready acrylic tank, sump/refugium, and everything else that i'm going to need to make this tank essentially idiot proof. Where do you people shop?

 

[J062682l]

Check Craigslist. Every time I look on local ads. There are tons of tanks and equipment kn there for sale

 

[JohnnyB]

I check craigslist every day for stuff. thinking about truvuaquariums.com for the tank.

 

[JohnnyB]

so i've been reading up on marine velvet all afternoon. After I moved here and found the local pet store, i decided to replace 2 fish that had died during the move. I bought 2 pajama cardinals from a store in crossville tn. The first one died within a week. That fish showed no signs of sickness or stress. The second one died 2 weeks later and had spots the looked like freshwater ICK on it. Then with in a months time the rest of the fish started dying one by one. Then as i would try to restock, they would die one by one. So if this chromis lives does that mean i don't have marine velvet? if it dies will fallowing the tank for 2 months clear it from the parasite?

 

[JohnnyB]

So my little chromis is still alive and kickin'. He isn't showing any signs of sickness either. He's eating flakes, gel food and frozen. Water Test Today was nearly perfect and the KH is under control for the time being.