Ready to quit

[Mmsetta]

For flow, using my hot mag pro with carbon filter (did have the micro filter for a bit, but that didn't help) which trickles tithe top. Then have fluval sea 425 gph powerhead. And the hob skimmer creates some water agitTion too.

 

[Mmsetta]

The lfs did and said they were fine

 

[Mmsetta]

What could cause a spike in phosphates?. I did have a green hair algae issue briefly . Got some turbos and that cleaned up. Now I just recently had some brown algae that was very stringy. Started to grow more so I took the rocks out and cleaned them with a toothbrush before it got it of hand. (New toothbrush). Put them back in, water change, then introduced the latest two clowns and goby. Reduced my light cycle to 8:00am to 7:00pm. That seemed to keep the algae issue under control.

Now, For these clowns, I was worried they weren't eating, so I fed them two times a day for the last three days hoping to see them actually eat. The goby was for sure eating. But , clowns not so much. I may have overfed, but I was conscious of only putting in a small amount of marine flakes each time. Like barely a pinch.

 

[ReefKeeper09]

As far As rock, I started with 10lbs cured live and 25 lb dry Marco rocks.

How long did the tank sit & cycle before you added fish. Only adding 10lbs of Cured Live Rock but 25lbs of Dry Rock usually takes some time for the LR to Cure the Dry Rock. I have a strong feeling you are getting some ammonia swings. It is common for the fish to "Breath Heavy" Due to the fact ammonia burns their lungs & as a natural reaction they swim to the surface in an attempt to get more oxygen. If the tank was setup in November & already has had 3 Fish in it. To me personally it sounds like everything happened just a smidge too quickly. My tank took a little over a month alone to fully cycle & that was with ALL LR. Considering you used a little over half Base rock I think the overall cure time is extended. The tank might have cycled, but than when you added a fish to the tank the beneficial bacteria was established enough to handle the added waste. Being all the tests are coming out "good" I have a hard time believing. Obviously something isn't right. Especially for this to keep happening. Just personal experience. I know everyone on here will help get down to the point.

 

[cdness]

First off do you know if the clowns you have are captive bred or wild caught? Wild caught fish do have a tendency to be less hardy...

If they are not eating flake, try some good frozen food like PE Mysis or Hikari Mysis. After rinsing the food, add some Kent Garlic Extreme and feed the fish a few minutes later. The garlic can help spike feeding response in fish. Make sure you see the fish eat before they are bagged up at the LFS. Any good LFS will do this for you to ease concerns. If they won't, then find a different LFS.

When the LFS tests the water for you there is a difference between "fine" and "good". I would recommend getting your own kits and doing all of the testing yourself so you have a better understanding of what is happening in your tank.

With that much live rock, you really don't need the canister filter. If they are not cleaned frequently they can become a detritus trap and add nitrates to the tank. This is more of a concern with reef tanks, but it is worth checking and keeping on top of.

What are your acclimation procedures when you buy the fish? Do you do the drip method or just temp and toss in?

Also do you know the salinity of the water at the pet store? Many stores keep their fish around 1.019 - 1.021. If you were at 1.028 and didn't do a very long drip acclimation, you could have causes osmotic shock in the fish which will damage their internals. It is safe to drop the salinity quickly as in hyposalinity treatments, however when raising the salinity it needs to be done gradually and over time. It is at least worth checking into to see where they are at in their tanks.

I second the question on the cycle as well. How long did it go fishless to allow the biological filtration to become mature?

 

[jt17]

Could it be pH? That's one factor that if it's off may not result in an immediate reaction. When I first started out I thought I would spoil my daughters 10 gal fresh water fish by using rodi for their water changes. Thats when I learned the hard way of the importance of pH. I couldn't imagine what would throw your pH that out of whack though. Just one more factor to eliminate.

Are you running carbon? if not you might want to just in case it's some chemical that's irritating them.

Is it possible a mantis could have hitched a ride on your live rock? Although you would have heard the clicking at night.

Never hurts to bump up water change frequency when there's a problem.

That's all I got. Good luck and don't give up. You'll get past this.

 

[ETORRES477]

I would hang with it man, your tank is still young if you started it up in November your tank may still be immature. I think sometimes in the beginning we are in too much or a rush to add livestock. I would add some more LR and keep putting in only RO/DO water. what is the temp of your water when you do the water changes, at a minimum it should be room temp or you will shock your fish and they will die. It sounds like your doing everything right, I would hang in there and reevaluate at the six month mark, this hobby is not easy, and the one thing you need is patience.

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

First off do you know if the clowns you have are captive bred or wild caught? Wild caught fish do have a tendency to be less hardy...

If they are not eating flake, try some good frozen food like PE Mysis or Hikari Mysis. After rinsing the food, add some Kent Garlic Extreme and feed the fish a few minutes later. The garlic can help spike feeding response in fish. Make sure you see the fish eat before they are bagged up at the LFS. Any good LFS will do this for you to ease concerns. If they won't, then find a different LFS.

When the LFS tests the water for you there is a difference between "fine" and "good". I would recommend getting your own kits and doing all of the testing yourself so you have a better understanding of what is happening in your tank.

With that much live rock, you really don't need the canister filter. If they are not cleaned frequently they can become a detritus trap and add nitrates to the tank. This is more of a concern with reef tanks, but it is worth checking and keeping on top of.

What are your acclimation procedures when you buy the fish? Do you do the drip method or just temp and toss in?

Also do you know the salinity of the water at the pet store? Many stores keep their fish around 1.019 - 1.021. If you were at 1.028 and didn't do a very long drip acclimation, you could have causes osmotic shock in the fish which will damage their internals. It is safe to drop the salinity quickly as in hyposalinity treatments, however when raising the salinity it needs to be done gradually and over time. It is at least worth checking into to see where they are at in their tanks.

I second the question on the cycle as well. How long did it go fishless to allow the biological filtration to become mature?

+1 on acclimation procedure...that could cause this.

 

[Trex]

Did you QT the fish?

The heavy/fast breathing for the clowns makes me think brook, which is very deadly if not treated.

 

[TJ's Reef]

+1 to acclimation from a probability of S.G. going from 1.017-19 --> 1.028 would take much longer than even a standard 1-2 hour acclimation period like 2-3 days and is most likely the cause of fish death. Shoreline Hermits and Snails would have no problem but Fish are unable physically to adjust that quickly. If this be the case in S.G. levels you would need to slowly acclimate them from 1.017-19 to a lowered level in your display of 1.021-23 first to be safe then slowly let salinity clime back to 1.025-26 in Display. OR FIND ANOTHER LFS.

Cheers, Todd

 

[Spsnut]

I've always thought it off when people ask for help by begging strangers for reasons for them to keep going???? Either your heart is in it, or it's not. My advise is if you are frustrated, ask for help, and listen to the answers. If your heart isn't in it, it's okay to do your pocket book and any future purchases a favor and seriously think about another hobby. I don't want to sound rude, but we are playing with animal lives here. We all lose things, but those of us who stick it out have a fascination with keeping these creatures that compells us to keep learning how to do things better.

 

[Mike&Terry]

Can you get a better pic of the clownfish? I agree with Trex and suspect this is Brooklynella. The red area may very likely be a secondary bacterial infection.

 

[Badspstank]

Hey send me a pm with your number I will call you my son went through similar thing and it was something we never thought possible. Don not worry guys and girls I will feel you in lol

 

[Badspstank]

Good luck

 

[Smitty_13]

Have you checked to see if any faulty equipment is dispersing stray voltage into the water? This is sometimes over looked when trouble shooting and only take about 30 secs to know if it is your problem.

 

[Mmsetta]

For the cycle. I had just the 10lbs of live rock and other rock/live sand for about a month. Then I added on damsel. He was in there for 2-3 weeks. I have had no amonia spike at all. And all my tests, and I do them every 3 or 4 days, come back with 0 amonia, nitrites and nitrates. I have never had anything other this 0. As you can see, I have some nice coloration on my marcorocks. I wish I got an amonia reading high so I had an answer!

 

[IotaElwyn]

Whats your PH? I have had a few go randomly because my PH crept too low

 

[Mmsetta]

Spsnut. I assure you I am concerned about the livestock. Otherwise I wouldn't consider posting here. And yes you did come off as rude.

 

[Mmsetta]

Badspstank, how do I get you my num? Sorry, never did that before

 

[Diamond1]

Mmsetta sorry to hear about your problems. Don't get discouraged everybody has set backs. I'm from the Cleveland area and I have had a simillar experience with fish from a certain store in Brooklyn that is notorious for their wild caught clowns being not so hardy. I get mine from the store in Columbia Station (they have tank raised ORA clowns) and have had much better luck.