3 New Fish Died

[nitr8]

I bought three fish last Saturday, two clowns and a royal gramma. Three days later all three died. Everything else in the tank is doing fine, fish, inverts, corals except one digitata frag and trumpet frag I lost. All tank parameters seem to be okay and there is plenty of surface agitation for gas exchange. I checked the salt content of the water from the store and it was 1.020 so I did a one hour drip acclimation to bring it up to 1.026. All three seemed fine the first two days, swimming and eating. I spoke to the store I got them from, gave them a water sample and they couldn't find any reason why only these three fish died after three days. The tank has been running for a little over two months. Any ideas?

SG: 1.026
Temp: 79 - 79.5 (daily swing)
ph: 7.9 - 8.2 (daily swing)
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
Phosphate: 0
Mag: 1400
Calcium: 488
Alk: 8.3

Tankmates:
1 green chromis
1 yasha goby
1 lawnmower blenny
1 orange spot blenny
1 bangaii cardinal
1 cleaner shrimp
1 Blood shrimp
1 Peppermint shrimp
1 Randalls pistol shrimp
1 Sexy shrimp
2 Harlequin serpent stars
3 Porcelain crabs

 

[lgull1]

swing

swing

The salinity content is a hell of a swing for one hour for a fish to deal with. Mostly likely that. Sometimes fish do not show anything for awhile then boom. fish stores sometimes keep salinity low for parasites.
Parameters look okay except for your calcium is high but that does not effect fish.


My two cents.

 

[nitr8]

The salinity content is a hell of a swing for one hour for a fish to deal with. Mostly likely that. Sometimes fish do not show anything for awhile then boom. fish stores sometimes keep salinity low for parasites.
Parameters look okay except for your calcium is high but that does not effect fish.


My two cents.

The fish store said that one hour was too long and that may have been what caused it. They recommended 15 minutes.

I'm having troubles with my clacium. I can't seem to get it down. Hanna checker says 577. Salifert says 488. Big difference but either way too high. I'm hoping once the coralline takes off it will lower it some.

Thanks.

 

[aguila88psi]

Death by pistol shrimp maybe ???

Be careful with the orange spot blenny and SPS, they can nibble on the corals

 

[nitr8]

Death by pistol shrimp maybe ???

Be careful with the orange spot blenny and SPS, they can nibble on the corals

I didn't know a pistol shrimp could take down fish. It's less than an inch long. I thought they used their "pistol" against pods or for defense.

So far so good with the OSB. He's been behaving although very territorial against the lawnmower.

 

[albano]

The salinity content is a hell of a swing for one hour for a fish to deal with. Mostly likely that.

The fish store said that one hour was too long and that may have been what caused it. They recommended 15 minutes...

IMO... 15 minutes is not enough, much more than hour is too much
Almost every LFS and online shipper (except DD) runs their systems ~1.020 and less..I've had my reef tanks at over 1.025 for more than 10 yrs and in that time have added 100s of fish in multiple systems, and I don't believe that any HEALTHY fish had a problem with the 'salinity swing' with 30-60 min acclimation.

 

[Daimyo68]

In no way, shape or form, is 1 hour too long. Sry but IMO, they are full of sheet. I drip acclimate every fish I get for an hour, and have never lost one.

What size tank do you have?

I would keep an eye on the other fish, just to make sure they did not possibly pick a parasite from the 3 fish that just died.

 

[bhsgk]

IMO, a 1 hour drip acclimation is the sweet spot for pretty much everything. A 15-30 minute drip is too fast and more than 1 hour is unnecessary. Only dripping for 15 minutes for a .006 change in salinity is pretty stressful for a fish.

I know of a situation here locally with 2 guys that both bought a foxface at the same time from the same tank in the same LFS and only one guy drip acclimated his fish. Well, only one fish survived (the one that was drip acclimated), the other died within a few days. I believe the change in salinity was .006 or .007.

 

[nitr8]

In no way, shape or form, is 1 hour too long. Sry but IMO, they are full of sheet. I drip acclimate every fish I get for an hour, and have never lost one.

What size tank do you have?

I would keep an eye on the other fish, just to make sure they did not possibly pick a parasite from the 3 fish that just died.

90 gallons.

 

[ReefDabs710]

With that many tankmates and the tank being only two months young I've heard that all fish have ich ..and if you add too many too fast they wont be able to fight off the ich...just what I've heard.

 

[bhsgk]

With that many tankmates and the tank being only two months young I've heard that all fish have ich ..and if you add too many too fast they wont be able to fight off the ich...just what I've heard.

No

 

[ReefDabs710]

Maybe not... Just what I've heard, and I was told this by Dexter owner of Triad Reed Critters, and he said that even though his business is tell sell fish and corals, adding too many too fast will cause exactly that...death to the later added fish. And that slowly building up your tankmates works better. Because of ich ans them being able to build up defense to it.
Who knows though I'm still New and there's lots to learn

 

[bhsgk]

Maybe not... Just what I've heard, and I was told this by Dexter owner of Triad Reed Critters, and he said that even though his business is tell sell fish and corals, adding too many too fast will cause exactly that...death to the later added fish. And that slowly building up your tankmates works better. Because of ich ans them being able to build up defense to it.
Who knows though I'm still New and there's lots to learn

No. You have no idea what you're talking about. You're mixing up quite a few things and none of them are applicable in this case. You have a lot to learn before you should be answering questions. Feel free to start your own threads with your own questions in the New To The Hobby sub-forum, but please refrain from answering questions about things you know nothing about.

 

[Reefer54]

No. You have no idea what you're talking about. You're mixing up quite a few things and none of them are applicable in this case. You have a lot to learn before you should be answering questions. Feel free to start your own threads with your own questions in the New To The Hobby sub-forum, but please refrain from answering questions about things you know nothing about.

so what do you have to say? oh....nothing helpful.



IN regards to the issue at hand....slow down. Do some research on your current stock list, as while I am sure it looks great to have all those critters together, I do not believe you will find long term success. Your tank is young....enjoy it while it is young, build it to maturity with well educated decisions and responsible choices.

I didnt see your tank size listed, but I did not read EVERY post. You need an appropriate sized tank for the creatures you want to put in it. There is also an order to which things should be added. There is a lot to learn, and I commend your effort to jump in and do it, but it is not so easy as full up a glas box and throw some flakes int he water.

Take some time. Realize what you have for a while before you add anything else.

Good luck.

 

[bhsgk]

so what do you have to say? oh....nothing helpful

If you would have read ANY of the posts you would have seen post #8 with my opinion and firsthand account of the issue.

If you want to answer a question posed in a thread shouldn't you read all the pertinent information? Post #9 listed the tank size. There is only 5 small fish in a 90 gallon tank with all the correct parameters. The list may seem a bit long but that is due to the formatting used. The bio-load is relatively small and the OP has appropriate filtration. This is not his first tank nor his first day in the hobby.

 

[Reefer54]

I'll give. I didnt read. I saw your post. 1 hr is a sweet spot...I dont think so. i think it s a minimum. I dont care to pick on your just the way you treated Reefdabs. But I give.

 

[bhsgk]

Unless it's a starfish or another delicate invert or even a particularly sensitive fish, there is no reason to drip acclimate for more than an hour. That is unless it's a huge swing in salinity like this case. Going from 1.023/1.024 to 1.025/1.026 in an hour is applicable.

I posted what I did due to the fact that another person, who could also be new to the hobby, would skim or read this thread and only see the reply in question, be mis-informed.

 

[Reefer54]

I am glad you are helping. I personally believe the best advice for the poster is to slow down. 90 gallons, 9 gallosn, I dont care. they all react different to additions, and in every case time should be taken between additions along with montioring and param checks. Stabilization should be had prior to introducing a new element or the problem (should one arise) may not be ever addressed correctly.

1 hr. min. hardier fish, min is fine. more sensitive fish/invert, err on the side of caution. regarding your earlier post about the foxface....drip accs are not a choice. the non drip guy, well, the lfs is happy.

 

[nitr8]

Reefer54,
I've been in the hobby for quite a while and if you read my build thread I've been planning, researching and building this tank for the past three years and finally got it up and running. In no way shape or form did I fill up a glass box with water and expect a reef tank. Also please tell me what made you suggest that I do some research on my current stock list? 3 years of reading and key word google searches isn't enough?
I agree that I may be moving a little fast especially with the latest (3) fish addition. My justification is my parameters are acceptable and stable, the clowns were small juveniles and royal gramma was rather small as well. I will agree that moving too fast is what caused my lose so thank you for the advise i will definitely slow down. Here is when everything was added.

7/9: water
7/19: chromis
7/21: cycle complete (NH4: 0, NO2: 0)
7/27: cleaner shrimp
7/28: blood shrimp
8/2: Yasha goby and pistol (paired last night!!!)
8/2: peppermint shrimp
8/3: red harlequin SS
8/6: porcelain crabs (purple, green and white)
8/7: b&w harlequin SS
8/17: lawn mower blenny
8/29: sexy shrimp and banggai cardinal
9/5: orange spot blenny
9/7: 3 dead fish
9/10: 3 dead fish died

 

[ReefDabs710]

You know bhsgk everyones entitled to their own opinion, just not their own facts.
Seems reefer54 has the same opinion as me aswell.
My opinion is that your some kind of snob, because you seemed pretty rude, but hay that's just my opinion.
Were all here to learn and or help, so chill out.... Telling me I can't post...