At a Loss *Please Advise*

[unclereefer]

*Update*

*Update*

I started topping off with salt water yesterday and my sg has come up about .001. Something that I did not mention is that the damsel that is in my tank has somewhat tattered fins on the edges. I thought this might be normal because he is easily spooked and spends a lot of time darting into the rockwork. The rock has vermetid (I know I spelled that wrong) snail tubes all over it so I think that might have something to do with it. Today it seems as though he is not using one of his pectoral fins. Occasionally I will see him extend it and use it but 95 percent of the time he is not. Is my damsel showing signs of stress as well? What is hard for me to understand is that my frogspawn is doing so well. With my last reef tank it seemed as though my torch and hammer would show signs of stress before anything else if something was wrong in my tank. I would like to add more fish (obviously after a week or so) but I am terrified to do so. Anyone who might have any more ideas please let me know.

 

[LeoLionFish]

How long are you waiting after you mix your saltwater?? When you first mix up saltwater it is very caustic. The recommended wait period for me is about 24 hrs. I have a pump and heater circulating it and keeping it at temp before I add it. I don't know if this is your problem just throwing an idea your way.

 

[unclereefer]

I would say the salt water was mixed about an hour prior. I used to always let the water mix overnight but read somewhere that it wasn't necessary. I'm gonna feel real dumb if that's the problem. I could see that potentially being the problem with losing the firefish after the 10 gal water change but I am just slowly topping off with the most recent batch. I'm not sure what effect that would have on the damsel.

 

[Percula9]

It sounds like the damsel has fin rot. You can remove him to quaratine and treat with antibiotics. Damsels are very aggressive and was probably picking on the firefish. As for salt water use after mixing, I use mine about 20 minutes after it is mixed and never had any issues.