New to this, a little puzzled & frustrated,,,

[JoeySugar]

Hey Folks, Great place here,,& thanks! ,,maybe more experienced people can shed some light on my dilemma, I have a 56 Gallon Tank & a 25 Gallon Sump underneath with a Eshopps S-150 protein skimmer, about 40lbs of live sand & another 30lbs of live rock,, I took my time let the tank cycle for a month, after 1 month, I started putting in life, 3 emerald crabs, 6 hermit crabs & 3 Chromis, the Chromis lasted about a week, all crabs doing fine! ok fine, part of the deal, so next I added a cleaner shrimp, he has been in the tank & has already molted twice & doing great to date! , here is where it starts getting tricky, a week later I added 2 Clownfish (about 1") to date they are still in there doing fine & growing! the next week I added a Blood Red Fire Shrimp & to date it's doing fine & has molted once already, the next week I added a Yellow Tang & a Bubble Anemone, to date, both are doing just fine & dandy! the next week I added a Copper Banded Butterfly & to date he is doing fine, the next week I add a Coral Beauty, he was fine for 2 days & then bam,,,,,, started breathing heavy & swimming in one spot, I went back to the fish store with a video & the guy tells me he looks stressed,,I also brought a water sample, he said the salt was a little low but not crazy like 1.022, mind you, all other life in the tank is doing fine,,,so I do a 20% water change as per him, the next morning the Coral Beauty is dead! okay so now I am bummed,,, I let a week and a half go by & figure I will try my luck with another fish, so I buy a Sweetlips Clown, about 2 1/2" beauty, probably a bad choice because I should have researched the fish before I bought it, it seems they are difficult to keep & probably would have started eating my inverts that are in there as it grew, anyway,,, a repeat performance as the Coral Beauty, it lasted 2 days & croaked on the 3rd day,,, now I am afraid to put another fish in the tank,,do you think this was just a coincidence or am I doing something wrong?

 

[monique]

how come you are not doing quarantine first? anyways how long are you taking to acclimate the new fish to the water. also are you using ro water to do your water changes. i put my new fish in a bucket then add a cup of tank water every 20 min for about 2 hrs then they go in qt for at least 2 wks then i put them in main tank again acclimatizing them to tank. your water is probably significantly different from store water. also take into consideration temp of water they are in verses water they are going into. surprizingly fish can shock from just 4 or 5 degree change. its stupid, throw 2 fish in and one lives forever, the other goes belly up 5 min after hitting the water. if it was me, would research the new fish you want. get something that will mesh well with the rest of the group. then do a good water change, clean your skimmer and filtration, check your water peramitors. make sure everything is as correct as you think it should be. then go get your new fish. take your time getting him used to the tank water. dont rush. 2,3 maybe even 4 hrs. something that works good is a 2 gal juice jug that you can hang on the side of your tank. put the fish and his water in it, hang it on the inside of the tank so the water gets to be the same temp and add water in 1/2 cup at a time. do not add the water the fish is getting used too to your tank. throw it out. putting the new fish in a cage so the other fish get used to him without being able to hurt him wouldnt hurt either. ps. your tank is pretty small for a tang and a butterfly. also if you dont start qt'ing your fish sooner or later probably sooner you are going to get something that kills everything. good luck.

 

[Becky]

Hey there @JoeySugar and welcome to the forum! :)

 

[JoeySugar]

Thanks for the info,,,I have only done 1 water change so far & I started with distilled water then added salt, I have a Rubbermade Brut Pail with a heater & power head to mix the salt, it was a 10 gallon change, both stores I have purchased fish have said nothing about QT tanks, I thought the were just for sick fish, I have spent about 2 hours acclimating fish to the tank, first I would put the bag in the tank & turn off lights, let it sit for a 1/2 hour, then open the bag & start putting a 1/2 cup of water every 5-10 minutes for the next hour and a half, then net the fish & put it in the tank,,,,I guess from what I am reading I need to rethink this,,,

 

[monique]

you should be doing a water change every couple wks minimum. at least 10 %. on your set-up would be about 7 gallons. i have a ro unit and do my own water. qt tanks are used for sick fish but you are mainly using it to be sure the fish is not sick before you add it to your system. lots of people use it for new corals too after they dip them as to make sure they aren't adding coral parasites. your fish get used to the quality of water they live in. the salt and chemical levels may be correct but there can still be lots of toxins in the water. new fish get shocked and die because they cant take it. usually its immediately or 2 to 3 days later. watch for bullying too, your new fish will just stress out, stop feeding and die. i always use a cage for new fish for a couple days so the others in the tank get used to him. also feed your tank well and turn out the lights for a day or 2 when you let him go. this can help a lot with aggression. so does moving things around in the tank. breaks up territories which also helps with agression. do a little reserch on water and how to keep the quality up. work on that for a couple wks. then think about what you want your tank to become and work towards it. take your time. i think you will be much happier and more succsessful. i have a 265 gal reef. just moved. tank shocked and i lost 6 yrs of collecting. now i start over- to say i'm pissed is an understatement. so your frustration levels are minor. i learned how to take care of my tank by reading, asking questions[be careful there, everyone thinks their answer is the only way to do it] and learning the hard way. ps- if you get a tip or an answer that sounds bogus, check it out first before you try it. usually if it sounds off it is