i'm dying over here, and so are my fish

[cps68500]

I cycled my tank about 2 months ago. I finally purchased a pair of clowns and a plate coral about two weeks ago (besides a dozen hermits, these are the only things I've placed in there.) 1 died after 48 hours. It was the smaller of the two and I thought, ok I'm new to this it's probably something I did or the fish was too stressed. I checked levels and everything checked out fine:
Ammonia: 0
NO2: 0
NO3: 0
PH 8.2
TDS:3
Temp:78~79

I did a water change this past weekend, and again tested with the same results as above for water quality. Well I figured I would give it another go.

Bought a blue hippo tang last night. Dead tonight. It was all over the tank in store. Brought it home, put the bag in the tank... waited 30 mins, opened the bag and put about a cup of my salt water in, waited 20 mins, another cup of salt water and after another 20mins I removed him from the bag and slid him in the tank. I did not put the bag water in the tank.

He was fed later on that night, and again this morning as I do with the remaining clown. Tonight I came home and he was in the rocks and would not come out but was still visibly moving. After an hour...I checked on him and he was floating, then sucked into the powerhead... He is dead.

Is it me? What am I doing wrong? I don't want to keep doing this to fish.

 

[MofoCorals]

Have you check nitrite and nitrate? What is you filter system like? How did you performs your test? Has anything fallen inside the tank?tell as much as you can about your tank.

Run some carbon just incase anything fell into you tank.

 

[willray]

IMO your acclimation technique needs to be lengthened and altered..drip acclimate over a few hrs.Is your equipment new,used?

 

[gonorth16]

Where did you buy your livestock?????

 

[jimrawr]

Whats the SG in your tank?

 

[jpnasty]

agreed, drip method is the way to go.

 

[FOXYB]

you may want to slow down, what did you mean by tds of 3? is that the tds of the rodi before mixing or what?

 

[Flame Angel]

IMO your acclimation technique needs to be lengthened and altered..drip acclimate over a few hrs.Is your equipment new,used?

I was thinking the same thing, but I am always second guessing myself. Long and slow like the turtle and it seems to work.

 

[Behrmon]

While I agree that you might want to adjust your acclimation technique I don't think that's the issue here. What is your SG and how do you test it? Has your LFS tested your water? Is it RO water? I would hold off on adding anything at all right now. Are the inverts still alive?

 

[wrassefan]

did you test the SG of the water in the bag before your acclimation? If the bag is 1.015 and your tank is 1.025...that is huge difference...I usually acclimate with display lights off also and keep them off for 5 or 6 hrs to keep the stress down. Too long an acclimation and lack of oxygen is not good either

 

[gonorth16]

Im around the corner in Plaistow if you need anything?
Peter

 

[cps68500]

I have a 55g with 20g sump. In the sump is an ASM G1X.
I use the API saltwater master test kit to test Ammonia, Nitrate NO2, Nitrate NO3 and PH. I have a dropper that I pull water out of the tank and drop into the vials to make sure it's always even.
I've thought to bring the water in for testing, but have not yet.
My SG is 1.025.
I test it with a refractometer.
I did not test SG of the fish bag.
I used tap water to start the tank ( my bad )... and the last month all freshwater top offs have been using heated RO/DI water with a TDS of 0.


I think I have answered all questions...
Thank you all for your help!!!!! and Peter, I may just take you up on some help!

 

[Behrmon]

I would make my priority having your water tested by your LFS even the SG to make sure your refractometer is in check. I'd personally also refrain from adding any tangs into a 55 as it will be a stressor for them. Toxins maybe, what do you clean the outside glass with? Good luck.

 

[cps68500]

I clean the glass with water only, no solvents.

 

[number1gsxxr]

Try to get a store to test your water. Maybe you have a bad test kit. Check the expiration date of your test kits also.

 

[kshliapa]

FWIW- I acclimate this same way and I have not had an issue so I do not think this is the problem.

 

[Blueflu1]

Acclimating by adding a cup of water twice is not really acclimating them much in my opinion. Especially if there is a big change in SG from bag to tank. It may not be the culprit here but it's hard to tell if you don't know the SG of the bag water. If the bag was 1.020 and you did that acclimation and dropped him into a 1.025 water, then it certainly could harm him IMO. Not saying that is the case here but I always drip acclimate for 1-2.5 hrs, depending on species with a heater.

You should calibrate your refractometer with distilled water just to make sure that is is accurate. Typically though I think they don't go off much. Mine is 3 years old and has lost a fraction of a point.

 

[STiTCH87]

I read of RODI top offs, but did you perform a water change yet? If not definitely do that. Also I noticed you said you fed at night then the next morning. That's too much food IMO and the tank water could be too dirty for the fish's health. I'd also recheck the water quality at a store. It's easy to have a faulty test kit or be doing the test improperly. Have you been cleaning your tank with any chemicals? That could do it. Is the top of the tank open? I personally dust my room weekly with something that traps the dust instead of letting it go airborne and I also have a HEPA filter I run at night (though that's more-so for my own personal comfort) but even something like using hairspray or cologne/perfume in the same room could potentially enter the tank airborne. Though it'd be such a minimal amount, especially in a 55g that I doubt that'd affect it much either. Try buying livestock from a different LFS next time; i've has some LFS who's livestock always survive for other and not for me, and vica versa. Everyone's tanks are different so experimentation is never a bad idea.

 

[jayman10134]

I use the API saltwater master test kit to test Ammonia, Nitrate NO2, Nitrate NO3 and PH. I have a dropper that I pull water out of the tank and drop into the vials to make sure it's always even.
I've thought to bring the water in for testing, but have not yet.
My SG is 1.025.
I test it with a refractometer.

in order for the api tests to work properly you have to follow the directions exactly on the back of the color cards. if not they will give you incorrect readings.

 

[newenglandreef]

Re: API, not that it will make a huge difference, but I've noticed that the line on the vial is not 5ml--it's more like 4.5ml. Just for your information, not sure how much of a difference it'll make to you, but if you are using a syringe, you may be overfilling the vial.