I want you to sorta move on and theres not a maybe to it.
Im about to give up
- Thread starter youtoo54
- Start date
mariobrothersleeve
squirrel
Just dont post a sappy "i wanna give up" and not want to change anything. Its really pathetic. The tank you have is amazing and you should feel lucky to have it. Its actually really sad that youve been doing this for over 2 years and you havent figured out the very simplistic basic beginner knowledge to saltwater keeping. Good luck fella
Look dick I ve had this tank up and running this whole time and not done anything any differently than I am now and not ever had this problem. I took it down built it into my wall fired it all back up and now Ive got fish dieing problems. Its not all of them but its more than I want to see die. Ill do water changes more often to see if that helps, im also going to pull the shrimp out he is something I didnt have before. All the other fish that are gone were small but the fox face today was a prety large fish. Him or something else in my tank killing them makes more sense than my lack of water changes. But Ill do both. You on the othe hand can go some where else
mariobrothersleeve
squirrel
Ok, now you said you moved it. Did you change you substrate? This could be your underlying issue. How long was your lr out of water? Did you do a complete water change? These are very possible. Something predator coming out of a 3yr old set up is very hard to believe without seeing issues long ago
Didnt change my substrate just rinsed it over and over and over again and then added 50 more lbs. My LR went from the tank to a tub that I transferred all the water into until the wall was done. Then from the tub to tank after it was moved. The LR wasnt out of the water very long and had a heater and water circ the whole time. Now I also have a serpant starfish in there that I just saw with a flash light. There is also something pink coming from under one of the rocks that looks like little fingers that has some 2" long white needle looking things that is not there in the day light.
Greenman
Reefing newb
Sounds to me like you really didnt want much help at the start of this post every suggestion i've seen you come back with attitude about it. Loosing fish is the unfortunate part of this hobby.. It happens... I've had a chem. imbalance kill over 900$ worth of fish. Basicly you take what's going on, work with it till you figure it out and you know how to deal with it if the problem ever returns.
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wontonflip
I failed Kobayashi Maru
I got completely lost in this thread :shock: So I'm just going to start over, even at the risk of having missed a bit of info LOL
Ok, so first things first, how do you acclimate your fish? Were they eating at the lfs, then were they eating at your new tank? It's likely you just got bad fish from the LFS (Petco is a hit or miss -- bifferwine had great fish from Petco, but my local Petco has sickly fish)
I'm not so worried about fluctuating Nitrates especially under 10ppm. Hell, my tank's a fowlr and my nitrates haven't always been great lol
I missed if you checked for phosphates. I must agree that the hair algae is coming from somewhere. Are you using tap or rodi for water changes and top offs?
I also agree that you should be topping off daily. I have a 125g plus a 60g sump. I installed an ATO to make sure my salinity doesn't swing too much from evaporation. I can't imagine my salinity after 3 days of not topping off. It's possible your salinity swing could have stressed out your fish.
+1 Smitty, maybe you have a predator that you don't know about....hear any snapping/popping?
Since my tank is fowlr, I can get away with no water changes for a while (not a good idea, but I get lazy sometimes...I've gone months without a water change...I don't recommend it, but it happens). But since you have a reef tank, maybe up your water changes, too but if your levels are really in check like you say, then you should be fine with what your doing.
Just keep an open mind about some of the advice, though. Think about this: If your maintenance procedure is really working great, how come you're losing so many fish? Maybe it's time to at least just consider what some people are advising you here. Then again, you literally could just be getting bad stock from the LFS.
Ok, so first things first, how do you acclimate your fish? Were they eating at the lfs, then were they eating at your new tank? It's likely you just got bad fish from the LFS (Petco is a hit or miss -- bifferwine had great fish from Petco, but my local Petco has sickly fish)
I'm not so worried about fluctuating Nitrates especially under 10ppm. Hell, my tank's a fowlr and my nitrates haven't always been great lol
I missed if you checked for phosphates. I must agree that the hair algae is coming from somewhere. Are you using tap or rodi for water changes and top offs?
I also agree that you should be topping off daily. I have a 125g plus a 60g sump. I installed an ATO to make sure my salinity doesn't swing too much from evaporation. I can't imagine my salinity after 3 days of not topping off. It's possible your salinity swing could have stressed out your fish.
+1 Smitty, maybe you have a predator that you don't know about....hear any snapping/popping?
Since my tank is fowlr, I can get away with no water changes for a while (not a good idea, but I get lazy sometimes...I've gone months without a water change...I don't recommend it, but it happens). But since you have a reef tank, maybe up your water changes, too but if your levels are really in check like you say, then you should be fine with what your doing.
Just keep an open mind about some of the advice, though. Think about this: If your maintenance procedure is really working great, how come you're losing so many fish? Maybe it's time to at least just consider what some people are advising you here. Then again, you literally could just be getting bad stock from the LFS.
FishyReef
Broke Reefer!
I'm a bit lost through some of the back and forth and name calling, so I'm also just going to start over and ask a few questions:
What do you have for flow in the tank?
How does your sailfin react when you add a new fish?
When you put a new fish in, do you keep your lights off for a period of time? if so, how long?
How many new fish do you add at once?
How long do you wait between adding new fish?
You said you've had your sailfin forever - what is "forever"? (months, years, etc)?
You mentioned you have a brittlestar - is it green?
What do you have for flow in the tank?
How does your sailfin react when you add a new fish?
When you put a new fish in, do you keep your lights off for a period of time? if so, how long?
How many new fish do you add at once?
How long do you wait between adding new fish?
You said you've had your sailfin forever - what is "forever"? (months, years, etc)?
You mentioned you have a brittlestar - is it green?
Neno reefs
Reefing newb
Is that pink thing you saw a fire worm?? If so that would explan loseing all those fish, also +1 on more WC
AnthonyTheNewbie
Reef enthusiast
Man, people get so nasty when you tell them you don't agree with them. Mario, instead of being a dick about stuff, explain why something would be better (And yes, I saw you explain it, but with a huge amount of attitude). Ever stop to think he might respond better if you didn't act like a douche? All he was trying to say was he's been doing the same thing for a while now and never had a problem before. Suddenly things took a turn for the worse. Instead of lashing out, maybe, throw a little sympathy his way rather then call him pathetic? We've all lost fish before, and it's never a fun event. Try to be more understanding.
Youtoo, sorry about your fish bro. Although I must agree with them on the more consistent water changes. Fluctuations like that can really stress fish out. Also (could be wrong) but tangs are usually sensitive fish aren't they? Maybe stay away from them for a while until you're sure things are starting to turn in the right direction.
Wish you the best of luck on fixing your problem, hope things turn out better.
Youtoo, sorry about your fish bro. Although I must agree with them on the more consistent water changes. Fluctuations like that can really stress fish out. Also (could be wrong) but tangs are usually sensitive fish aren't they? Maybe stay away from them for a while until you're sure things are starting to turn in the right direction.
Wish you the best of luck on fixing your problem, hope things turn out better.
mariobrothersleeve
squirrel
Easy newbie, there was no attitude. This is about water changes. If you want address the "dick and douche" issues you have, start a new fourm titled mariobrothersleeve is a meany or of that nature. Watch your boundaries, very close to pushing limits....
salt_for_brains
Alabama Reefer
How big are these carpet anemones? If predation is going on I would seriously be looking at those two. If your water chemistry was off enough to kill a fish then I seriously doubt the two anemones would still be alive. I'm not saying you don't need to top off more regularly and do water changes. Your hair algae is consuming most of your nitrates and phosphates so it doesn't surprise those readings would be low.
charlieB
Reefing newb
+1
Also how large is the sailfin tang? A friend of mine had a similar problem in his 250 gal tank, over the course of a few months he lost 2-3 new tangs and 2 foxfaces, was very confused because his water chemistry looked normal and couldn't see any signs of stress in his other fish/inverts. Eventually after lots of observation it turns out his yellow tang was being extremely aggressive towards both the new tangs and rabbitfish being introduced, even when they were of similar size (his yellow tang was about 5"). The tang would go into/behind the rockwork and seek out the new fish while they were hiding/acclimating and pick at them relentlessly. I would agree with salt for brains though that if predation is occurring I would look first to the anenomes, though keep in mind that even fish that die from non-predatory causes can easily be consumed without a trace in a matter of hours by a strong CUC, especially if the death occurs overnight.
AnthonyTheNewbie
Reef enthusiast
Yep, I see no attitude at all. Lol'd irl at you. :Cheers:
Also, +1 to Charlie and Nick. Good advice.
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Zissou
What about my dynamite?
Any sign of disease that's specific to fish, like marine velvet or ich? Seems strange to me that the inverts are alive and the fish are not. The algae could just be a matter of leeching phosphates from the rock and not necessarily reflect on the water quality; I don't think it would show up in test kits since it's constantly consumed by the algae.
Weird shit does happen in this hobby. Zoanthids seem to melt as soon as they touch my water. :grumble:
Weird shit does happen in this hobby. Zoanthids seem to melt as soon as they touch my water. :grumble:
FishyReef
Broke Reefer!
I have 3 guesses, but am still waiting to hear the answers the questions I posed earlier :)
My guesses are:
1) The existing sailfin tang is being too aggressive with new additions
2) The brittle star is a predatory green brittle star and is getting the new fish while they hide in the rocks during the time that they are still getting used to the tank
3) Not enough flow to meet oxygenation needs of new fish
4) Unhealthy fish to start with (knowing how large the new additions are and how fat/skinny they are would be useful)....
My guesses are:
1) The existing sailfin tang is being too aggressive with new additions
2) The brittle star is a predatory green brittle star and is getting the new fish while they hide in the rocks during the time that they are still getting used to the tank
3) Not enough flow to meet oxygenation needs of new fish
4) Unhealthy fish to start with (knowing how large the new additions are and how fat/skinny they are would be useful)....
salt_for_brains
Alabama Reefer
That's 4 just saying:mrgreen::D
FishyReef
Broke Reefer!
I know, I know LOL
I just didn't feel like going back and editing afterwards ;)
The first 3 were my initial guesses, and the 4th is a new guess!
I just didn't feel like going back and editing afterwards ;)
The first 3 were my initial guesses, and the 4th is a new guess!
salt_for_brains
Alabama Reefer
Gotcha;-)
