New to salt water tank.. need advice

[Lith1um]

So i set up a 120 gallon salt water tank

ordered some live uncured rock from liverocknreef.com . They shipped me rock they had freshly picked up from the ocean floor with all kinds of good stuff on it. I also bought plain cured rocks from the local fish store.

ive got 2 penn plax cascade 1500 canister filters.

cycled my tank for almost 2 months and made sure everything was good before i added fish.

started with 2 clowns and 2 lawnmower blennies.

2 weeks after adding clown i added 2 yellow tangs (3 inch) and a foxface rabbit fish and a red fire shrimp

2 weeks later i added 2 yelloweye koles and 2 powder blue and 3 more clowns and 2 cleaner shrimps

8 days after(today) both my powder blues died the same day. First one i found dead when i woke up this morning and the other seemed low energy hiding between rocks and not eating mysis when i poured the whole cube and i monitored if it ate which it didnt so i moved it to a qt tank but didnt survive.
Salinity at the local fish store is 1.018 and my tank is running at 1.023. I drip acclimate any new fish for 2-3 hours and slowly bring salinity up from 1.018 to 1.023.

my dp and qt tanks are same salinity at 1.023 and i used my own tank water for qt tank. This was my first time ever using a qt tank but experience wasnt good

tested amonia, nitrite and nitrates 3 times today.
Amonia 0, nitrite 0 and nitrate at 20 ppm (it used to be 40ppm a couple of weeks back hence i added an additional filter)

what am i doing wrong?

 

[stanleo]

I see a couple of issues, the biggest being you are stocking too fast. Only add two new fish at a time about a month apart, not two weeks. Every time you add fish to a tank, the bacteria need to proliferate to a point where it can handle that many fish, then you can add more. A good rule is that it takes about 4 weeks for this to happen.

Another issue the choice of the powder blues. They need a bigger tank than 120 to be healthy and these fish are prone to ich and velvet. The smaller the tank they are in, the more stress they will be under and the weaker their immune system will be. You already added yellow tangs to the tank before the blues so the yellows already established their territories and probably didn't tolerate the blues encroachment very well.

I would stop getting tangs from this point on. I have been researching and debating and ultimately decided against getting another tang. I have a yellow in my 120 as well. I think you will be fine with what you currently have but up your water changes to keep up with the bioload until everything evens out as far as water parameters. The yellows and the koles might be ok, but watch for too much aggression from the yellows towards the koles. You might have to choose which ones you like and go with them. Hope this helps.

 

[lpsouth1978]

The simple answer is that you are trying to put too many tangs and clowns in a tank that is too small to house them all. Tangs and clowns are VERY territorial and will not tolerate others in the same area. In the case of tangs, powder blues and yellow tangs are both at the top of the charts for aggression towards other tangs, especially con specifics. I can only assume that the powder blues were both quite stressed and perhaps this caused the deaths. I have a 200g tank 5 tangs and there is still a good deal of aggression from my PB.

As for the clowns, you will almost certainly end up with a bonded pair, maybe 2. each pair will claim a territory in the tank and defend it from other clowns, sometimes to the death. You may have enough space for 2 bonded pairs but that 5th clown will certainly end up dead at some point.

Now, the cause of the tang deaths is just speculation at this point, but there is a lot of info missing that we will need to really identify any issues. your acclimation process and SG seem good. You mentioned feeding mysis, but what else do you feed, any vitamins, aminos, supplements? How often do you feed? A full list of water params would also help. I know you said they are all good, but listing them can't hurt.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Too many specimens added quickly. Cycled means tank has ability to break down waste adequately, not ready for full stocking.
Salt level a bit low. Bring it up to 1.025-1.026.
I recommend a second opinion on your water parameters by taking a water sample to a trusted LFS FOR testing and comparison to your readings. With what you added to tank.... zero readings seem improbable

 

[BeejReef]

Best of luck.

Also, a lot of herbivores in a young/smaller tank. They'll eat mysis, but they all (tangs, blennies, foxface) prefer to scour the rocks for algae. Can't imagine the tank grows enough for that many.

 

[Lith1um]

This pic is from last week before i added my second cannister filter..

2 occelaris clowns, 2 black/white strip clowns and one all black clown

I also have a niger trigger that i forgot to mention. Very shy and only comes out to eat and then hides again.

i will take a water sample to my LFS that i bought my powder blues from to get a second opinion

In about 6-8 months ill be moving to a 300-350 gallon tank.. once im fully aware of the do’s and donts

 

[Rick Mathew]

So i set up a 120 gallon salt water tank

ordered some live uncured rock from liverocknreef.com . They shipped me rock they had freshly picked up from the ocean floor with all kinds of good stuff on it. I also bought plain cured rocks from the local fish store.

ive got 2 penn plax cascade 1500 canister filters.

cycled my tank for almost 2 months and made sure everything was good before i added fish.

started with 2 clowns and 2 lawnmower blennies.

2 weeks after adding clown i added 2 yellow tangs (3 inch) and a foxface rabbit fish and a red fire shrimp

2 weeks later i added 2 yelloweye koles and 2 powder blue and 3 more clowns and 2 cleaner shrimps

8 days after(today) both my powder blues died the same day. First one i found dead when i woke up this morning and the other seemed low energy hiding between rocks and not eating mysis when i poured the whole cube and i monitored if it ate which it didnt so i moved it to a qt tank but didnt survive.
Salinity at the local fish store is 1.018 and my tank is running at 1.023. I drip acclimate any new fish for 2-3 hours and slowly bring salinity up from 1.018 to 1.023.

my dp and qt tanks are same salinity at 1.023 and i used my own tank water for qt tank. This was my first time ever using a qt tank but experience wasnt good

tested amonia, nitrite and nitrates 3 times today.
Amonia 0, nitrite 0 and nitrate at 20 ppm (it used to be 40ppm a couple of weeks back hence i added an additional filter)

what am i doing wrong?

Welcome to the R2R Family...Great to have you...Lots of experience here to get advice from....Explore...Learn....Share

 

[40ozboys]

IMO you stocked that take way to fast.. not enough time for all the bacteria to do it’s thing, I would get a second opinion from lfs to see what your water Perameters, I’m thinking something’s out of wack, what are you testing with?

 

[Jon Fishman]

Regardless of what happened "short term" I would suggest sticking to only 2 clowns TOTAL, and not get 2 of the same species of tangs, they will likely fight. 6 of any type of tang is too much for that tank as well. Even though they are small now, and have what appears to be swimming room to us..... they will get stressed.

I run a lot of UV and I'm still turned off by tangs..... just too darn prone to disease for my taste, and in fish, stress brings out the disease, and kills them.

Welcome! That rock looks great though!

 

[motortrendz]

Just be sure to keep up with the canister filters. They can be a nitrate factory.

 

[Dragon52]

In about 6-8 months ill be moving to a 300-350 gallon tank.. once im fully aware of the do’s and donts

[/QUOTE]
Welcome to R2R
It will take longer than 6-8 month's to learn all the do's & don'ts.
I've been doing saltwater tanks on & off for 40+yrs & still don't know them as others on this forum will say the same thing. Going slow is the best thing to learn in this hobby.

 

[HotRocks]

Good looking tank you have there! As mentioned by others a proper cycle is largely important to a successful tank. When adding fish in large quantities and quickly doesn’t allow your beneficial bacteria that processes Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate to colonize and keep up with the waste being created by the fish. What happens is the ammonia can gain headway and if not processed timely it will begin to very quickly have a negative impact on your livestock.
Also with tangs, they are very dirty and even if your biofilter can properly process the ammonia your nitrate will build quickly without a proper export method. More than a skimmer will be necessary IMO.

 

[Jon Fishman]

I agree..... I would suggest working with a sump, reactors, etc. if you're trying to learn what will be needed. Also, 6-8 months you won't even get to the point where your corals will consume enough to even really have to "try" to keep them alive..... they'll be fine just depleting your salt-mix for whatever trace elements they need.

 

[Rick Mathew]

This pic is from last week before i added my second cannister filter..

2 occelaris clowns, 2 black/white strip clowns and one all black clown

I also have a niger trigger that i forgot to mention. Very shy and only comes out to eat and then hides again.

i will take a water sample to my LFS that i bought my powder blues from to get a second opinion

In about 6-8 months ill be moving to a 300-350 gallon tank.. once im fully aware of the do’s and donts

Great looking tank...Just an FYI...speed is a powerful enemy of being successful in keeping a salt water system..."Slow and Stedy" wins the race...work for stability then move to the next stage....

 

[Sdot]

Welcome to the addiction! As mentioned by many take your time! You have years to learn how dynamic a reef environment is, and even then there is still plenty to learn. If i were you, i would get an icp test and start from a real basis of what's going on with your water. Lastly whats your plan for this tank? Do you plan on keeping coral? I would suggest you have better understand of equipment and water chemistry before jumping into something bigger... just a suggestion. You will have plenty of help here however.

 

[Lith1um]

IMO you stocked that take way to fast.. not enough time for all the bacteria to do it’s thing, I would get a second opinion from lfs to see what your water Perameters, I’m thinking something’s out of wack, what are you testing with?

Api testing kit

i will be taking a sample to have them look at it

their coral tank runs at 1.021 and fish at 1.018... i keep mine at 1.023 is that fine or should i go higher like 1.025?

i have a small zoanthid and about 5 inch wide toadstool coral added to the tank last week

just noticed one of my yellow eye kole tang has swollen lips and keeps them open wide..do i need to do anything?

 

[Lith1um]

Welcome to the addiction! As mentioned by many take your time! You have years to learn how dynamic a reef environment is, and even then there is still plenty to learn. If i were you, i would get an icp test and start from a real basis of what's going on with your water. Lastly whats your plan for this tank? Do you plan on keeping coral? I would suggest you have better understand of equipment and water chemistry before jumping into something bigger... just a suggestion. You will have plenty of help here however.

Yes coral would be one of the main attractions in my tank in the future..taking it slow just added two beginner coral zoanthid and toadstool

what else do u recommend i try?

 

[vetteguy53081]

 

[40ozboys]

Api testing kit

i will be taking a sample to have them look at it

their coral tank runs at 1.021 and fish at 1.018... i keep mine at 1.023 is that fine or should i go higher like 1.025?

i have a small zoanthid and about 5 inch wide toadstool coral added to the tank last week

just noticed one of my yellow eye kole tang has swollen lips and keeps them open wide..do i need to do anything?

I would slowly raise salinity to 1.025, as far as the swollen lips I’d pay close attention to him to see if it’s a infection, I’ve had one that got stung by a bristleworm as he was snagging some algae off a rock and the lips were all swollen, could very well be a coral sting as well.

 

[Lith1um]

I would slowly raise salinity to 1.025, as far as the swollen lips I’d pay close attention to him to see if it’s a infection, I’ve had one that got stung by a bristleworm as he was snagging some algae off a rock and the lips were all swollen, could very well be a coral sting as well.

i just got a good look at him and his lips had redness now instead of white. Anything i should do?