What am I doing wrong????

[brmreefer]

May I ask if anything is being dosed to the tank other than the usual alk, Ca, and Mg?
Stuff like Ph buffers, or anything else out of the ordinary? Reason I ask that is because in post #6, it was mentioned that the Ph was easily brought back up to 8.3.
Just curious on that.

In addition, I am thinking the systems may have still been too young, but that is just my opinion. If able to save the fish, then I would look at moving forward slowly until the system matures more.

 

[redeyejedi]

Yes

Ok.. how long was tank setup when you added the fish? If its not old you will still get a ammonia and nitrite and nitrate spike which will kill them. Also i would remove air stones and just get good surface agitation to get oxygen in the tank. Also dont use tap water... use RO water.

 

[irescuedogs]

how are fish currently?pics and params?

 

[irescuedogs]

They’re gone...I tried all that I could do and I had to watch them suffer and die. I’m devastated I feel so guilty. Seeing that will haunt me for the rest of my life. I felt so helpless and they kept looking at me like help and I just didn’t know what to do. I know they’re just fish but they were my fish and they meant something to me. I’m taking this pretty hard. I failed.. and they’re lives are gone because of me..it’s awful

 

[Rickybobby]

Sorry for your losses. Do some quarantine research for sure. I’ve learned your lesson before. Something with velvet came in my tank and wiped everything out before I could get copper. Now I have a coral invert qt tank and a separate fish qt tank. Never had an issue since.

 

[brmreefer]

Sad to hear that. Just a few considerations after the fact that may help if the desire to stay in the hobby still exists:

* Take it slow - Rushing to get that spectacular saltwater system usually does not fair well. Few have done it, but the risks are high to the tank inhabitants if done this way.

- Learn from what just happened and when ready to try again go about it "slowly."

- If additional additives were being to used to adjust tank parameters too fast that could be harmful, so test repeatedly and consistently, but make subtle adjustments.

- As the tank matures, research and learn more as time passes. This will only be useful in the long term. This is a great forum, but learn to sift through the info and do additional research on the topics to validate.

- Everyone's systems are different, so what works for one may not work for another, but the fundamentals hold true.


Hope you decide to stay in the hobby, and again sorry for your loss (A lot us have been there). Learn from it, grow from it, and bounce back. Take care and hope the best for you.

 

[FreakPrism]

Did you use any bacteria in a bottle before adding the fish to establish your nitrogen cycle? If not, that is likely the reason your fish died as it takes time for bacteria to naturally establish and fish are sensitive to ammonia. When I started I used Turbo 900 and added 2 clownfish and 2 damsels in my 65g. Then after 2 weeks I added several corals from there on.

Turbo 900 worked great for me and thankfully everything is thriving including 2 BTA. There are other similar products (Dr. Tim, Biospira ...) but can't comment on them as I have not used.

Also, what was your salinity and temperature at?

 

[redeyejedi]

They’re gone...I tried all that I could do and I had to watch them suffer and die. I’m devastated I feel so guilty. Seeing that will haunt me for the rest of my life. I felt so helpless and they kept looking at me like help and I just didn’t know what to do. I know they’re just fish but they were my fish and they meant something to me. I’m taking this pretty hard. I failed.. and they’re lives are gone because of me..it’s awful

It is hard to watch when you have issues with livestock whether that is fish or corals as they are depending on us to survive. I have a feeling it is something that has been dosed to the tank. The best way to setup a tank is to leave it to cycle for a month or 2 without adding chemicals. As others have said, then test for ammonia,
nitrite and nitrate. patience is a virtue in this game.

 

[Dom]

I did have a cow fish and mandarin goby they both died 2 days after I got them which was like 5 days ago.

I know the OP stated that they quarantine. Based on the above statement, this can not be true, unless they died in quarantine.

A fish should not make it to your display tank 5 days after purchase. I QT all of my fish for a solid 90 days. And if fish begin exhibiting disease during that time, I treat until it clears up. Once clear, I reset the QT clock to 90 days.

So, if you don't QT for a minimum of 30 days (90 is personal preference), you have NOT quarantined.

 

[Dom]

@irescuedogs How long is your quarantine period?