hey guys. so i just set up my tank awhile ago. put in my first two fish on the 10th. a green chromis and a sailfin tang. along with 2 cleaner shrimp and 10 hermit crabs. and on the 13th i got over confident and added 4 more fish. 2 perculis clowns. a blue tang. and a yellow tang. along with another 2 cleaner shrimp and 12 hermit crabs. so everything went well the first day. they seemed lively and were feeding. the second day the fish seemed well. and today. when i went to go feed them three fish died. i checked my water parameters and this is what it read. ph:8.2 nitrate:0ppm nitrite:0ppm ammonia:0ppm the water temp is 77.9 whats going on? is my water temp to low?
help!!
- Thread starter p3t3rc
- Start date
Zoo: my tank is a 150 gallon with a wet dry sump. i have roughly 150 pounds of live rock. i have a t5 bulb along with 2 aqua glow 20 watt white lamps. for the acclimation process i followed the directions of a handful of experienced hobbyist and LFSs.
hey guys. so i just set up my tank awhile ago.
How long ago is "a while"?
i had my tank set up since may. my tank was cycled in july. and has been sitting. till i added new fish sept 10th.
put in my first two fish on the 10th. a green chromis and a sailfin tang. along with 2 cleaner shrimp and 10 hermit crabs.
Ok, when adding stock, you need to consider all that you are adding - not just the fish. Also, Sailfins can be quite delicate and are highly susceptible to disease, and do not handle stress well. This should not be a fish added to a new system.
understood. although the sailfin seems to be doing ok ATM.
and on the 13th i got over confident and added 4 more fish. 2 perculis (Percula) clowns. a blue tang. and a yellow tang. along with another 2 cleaner shrimp and 12 hermit crabs.
Yeah that was probably not the best thing to do. In 3 days time, you went from allowing your tank to settle after its cycle, and stabilize it's self - - to all the sudden supporting a full community of fish and inverts. More than likely, you just seriously overloaded your bio capacity. It is imperative to add fish slowly to these systems because they allow the bacterial colonies to increase at a decent rate to support the needs of the overall system. When you (Figuratively) dump a bucket of life into it in a very short amount of time, you can over-load these colonies, which then become ineffective at carrying out their functions. This can cause fluctuations within the water and induce stress on the animals.
understood. i will refrain from dumping in a lot of animals. i just got to over excited.
so everything went well the first day. they seemed lively and were feeding.
That's usually how it goes - - and a big False Indicator to the aquarist that everything will continue on this happy trail.
understood.
the second day the fish seemed well. and today. when i went to go feed them three fish died.
I have a question for you - Did you take the time to properly acclimate these animals? And more importantly (for the bigger picture) did you bother to quarantine a single one of them? Doesn't sound like it. Sounds to me like they went straight from the store into your tank - Big No-no. See, all fish are highly susceptible to stress. The marked differences are noted in how they COPE with the stress. I wouldn't be shocked if one of your tangs was a recent victim of this loss, as they are the more delicate of the list you provided. When animals are transported from the stores to your home, they are already vulnerable to shock, infection and disease, as their immune system is only a fraction of it's strength when the animal is stressed out. You would be shocked to know just how many animals you purchase - which appear healthy from the outside - are actually hosts to a number of viruses, bacterias and pathogens, which may, at the fish's peak of health, have no detrimental affect on them.... However, in a situation where their immune system becomes compromised, and in addition, other animals in the same state are exposed, these dormant "bad guys" can wreak havoc in a relatively short period of time.
no i did not quarantine them. again i got over excited to see my 2 fish being lively. i have not invested in a quarantine tank yet. but i am going to get one soon. and i believe i did properly acclimate as stated before in reply to Zoo.
i checked my water parameters and this is what it read. ph:8.2 nitrate:0ppm nitrite:0ppm ammonia:0ppm the water temp is 77.9 whats going on? is my water temp to low?
All of your parameters look good, and no, your temp is fine, within an acceptable range. It's hard to say what has happened exactly, but above I have outlined some potential scenarios. I am curious, which were the animals which died? Did you look at their bodies, notice anything different?
Have you looked at the other residents still living, do they show any signs of infection/disease? Do you check any other parameters within your tank? Calcium, O2, etc.??
no i do not check other water parameters. after reading this im assuming i should. any good test kits that will allow me to do so? the blue tang. yellow tang. and a percula clown has died. as far as the sailfin. green chromis. and the other percula they "seem" healthy. i see no signs of illness. not any of the ones i read up on the SW book i invested in.
hey guys. so i just set up my tank awhile ago.
How long ago is "a while"?
i had my tank set up since may. my tank was cycled in july. and has been sitting. till i added new fish sept 10th.
put in my first two fish on the 10th. a green chromis and a sailfin tang. along with 2 cleaner shrimp and 10 hermit crabs.
Ok, when adding stock, you need to consider all that you are adding - not just the fish. Also, Sailfins can be quite delicate and are highly susceptible to disease, and do not handle stress well. This should not be a fish added to a new system.
understood. although the sailfin seems to be doing ok ATM.
and on the 13th i got over confident and added 4 more fish. 2 perculis (Percula) clowns. a blue tang. and a yellow tang. along with another 2 cleaner shrimp and 12 hermit crabs.
Yeah that was probably not the best thing to do. In 3 days time, you went from allowing your tank to settle after its cycle, and stabilize it's self - - to all the sudden supporting a full community of fish and inverts. More than likely, you just seriously overloaded your bio capacity. It is imperative to add fish slowly to these systems because they allow the bacterial colonies to increase at a decent rate to support the needs of the overall system. When you (Figuratively) dump a bucket of life into it in a very short amount of time, you can over-load these colonies, which then become ineffective at carrying out their functions. This can cause fluctuations within the water and induce stress on the animals.
understood. i will refrain from dumping in a lot of animals. i just got to over excited.
so everything went well the first day. they seemed lively and were feeding.
That's usually how it goes - - and a big False Indicator to the aquarist that everything will continue on this happy trail.
understood.
the second day the fish seemed well. and today. when i went to go feed them three fish died.
I have a question for you - Did you take the time to properly acclimate these animals? And more importantly (for the bigger picture) did you bother to quarantine a single one of them? Doesn't sound like it. Sounds to me like they went straight from the store into your tank - Big No-no. See, all fish are highly susceptible to stress. The marked differences are noted in how they COPE with the stress. I wouldn't be shocked if one of your tangs was a recent victim of this loss, as they are the more delicate of the list you provided. When animals are transported from the stores to your home, they are already vulnerable to shock, infection and disease, as their immune system is only a fraction of it's strength when the animal is stressed out. You would be shocked to know just how many animals you purchase - which appear healthy from the outside - are actually hosts to a number of viruses, bacterias and pathogens, which may, at the fish's peak of health, have no detrimental affect on them.... However, in a situation where their immune system becomes compromised, and in addition, other animals in the same state are exposed, these dormant "bad guys" can wreak havoc in a relatively short period of time.
no i did not quarantine them. again i got over excited to see my 2 fish being lively. i have not invested in a quarantine tank yet. but i am going to get one soon. and i believe i did properly acclimate as stated before in reply to Zoo.
i checked my water parameters and this is what it read. ph:8.2 nitrate:0ppm nitrite:0ppm ammonia:0ppm the water temp is 77.9 whats going on? is my water temp to low?
All of your parameters look good, and no, your temp is fine, within an acceptable range. It's hard to say what has happened exactly, but above I have outlined some potential scenarios. I am curious, which were the animals which died? Did you look at their bodies, notice anything different?
Have you looked at the other residents still living, do they show any signs of infection/disease? Do you check any other parameters within your tank? Calcium, O2, etc.??
no i do not check other water parameters. after reading this im assuming i should. any good test kits that will allow me to do so? the blue tang. yellow tang. and a percula clown has died. as far as the sailfin. green chromis. and the other percula they "seem" healthy. i see no signs of illness. not any of the ones i read up on the SW book i invested in.
reefscape: the ammonia tested 0ppm though. can it really clear out that quick? cause i tested it this morning right when i saw it. only the one percula clown lives from the same fish store. and the two cleaner shrimp. this is so depressing.
I have a very hard time believing that your ammonia is zero!!!!!!!! Make sure you are doing the test right!!!! Or, buy a new test kit. It does not matter how long the tank is set up, when you ad the fish, (or live rock, etc) that is when the cycling starts.
icmays: the live rock has been in there for about 2 months before i added the fish. i tested the ammonia and it reads zero. unless im color blind. which im not. and the test kit im using is the api test kit that reefscape had used for his 90 gallon set up. so i dont think theres anything wrong with me or the kit.