Can't keep fish from the LFS alive

[kodiak599]

My wife has a small 10 gallon tank with a few pieces of LR. We have gotten a few fish from our local store, and they just don't stay alive. Parameters on the tank are good. I had to store my Maroon clown in there for a week while a new tank cycled. She is alive and well, so we don't think it is the tank itself.

Was wondering if anyone had any tips? Have tried water changes, filter changes, everything we can think of. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated

 

[Allmost]

My wife has a small 10 gallon tank with a few pieces of LR. We have gotten a few fish from our local store, and they just don't stay alive. Parameters on the tank are good. I had to store my Maroon clown in there for a week while a new tank cycled. She is alive and well, so we don't think it is the tank itself.

Was wondering if anyone had any tips? Have tried water changes, filter changes, everything we can think of. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated

the maroon is killing them ?

parameters are good = you do not know what they are, so if you do, post it.

what kind of fish are you trying to fit in a 10G tank ? already stock with a maroon clown ?

you have tried filter change ? then your tank is cycling again ....

since this is posted in aggressive fish forums, I cant wait to see what you were hoping to stock in this tank.

 

[MrTuskfish]

Not much to go on. Some info on what is dying and how they act prior to death would help .Eating? Heavy breathing? Anything unusual may help. Is the few pieces of LR your only filtration? Did the 10 gal completely cycle? Have you tested ammonia immediately after a fish death? How are you acclimating fish from the LFS? Do you know the SG of the LFS water? Exactly what are water parameters? You get the idea, the more info, the more help you can get. In a tank that small, there just isn't room for error, so attention to the little things is extra important.
Edit: Lots of duplication, Allmost posted while I was typing. ( I'm up to 3 fingers and a thumb now, after only owning a computer for 14 years or so!)

 

[kodiak599]

The Maroon is not in the tank anymore, she was just in there for a week while I was cycling a new tank for her. Ammonia in the tank is 0, nitrites are 0, Salinity is 1.022. There is about 8 pounds of LR in the tank, and a carbon filter that hangs over the back. I always test the ammonia after a fish is gone, it is either 0ppm or close to it. We have been losing fish in this tank for almost a year now. Have had a damsel in there, a True Percula Clown. A goby of some sort, don't remember what it was. All the invertibrates we put in the tank live and thrive. Hermit crabs, cleaner shrimp, Turbo snails. It's just the fish that keep dying.

We never have more than 1 fish in the tank at once. There is 1 turbo, 3 hermits and a small shrimp (1.5 inches) in there currently.

If this is in the wrong section of the forum I apologize. Didn't realize this was an agressive only forum. Thought it was for LF and LR tanks as well.

The fish don't seem to be doing anything unusual. The are fine, eating and swimming and being merry. The next day that are on their sides being hermit food.

The tank has been running for 1 1/2 years, so I'm pretty sure it's fully cycled

The fish are acclimated by drip acclimation over an hour or 2. Has worked in all the other tanks we have.

My maroon got moved from a 29gallon into a 38 gallon, that's why she had to be in the 10gallon for a week. Tank got thrown through a cycle I wasn't expecting. Glad I kept her out of the tank until I was sure whether it was going to cycle or not.

 

[clowntriggerfis]

maybe its your LFS?

 

[kodiak599]

That's what we were thinking. Was just wondering if anyone else had ideas about things we could do.

 

[namxas]

IME, sometimes it's where your LFS gets the fish from. One source that one of my LFS uses tend to have a pretty dismal survival rate, but fish from other sources seem OK.

As Tusky mentions, there are some holes in the info.

Are you ghost-feeding the tank when no fish are in residence? If not, it may have "fallen out of cycle", and may spike when a fish is added. Just a thought...

 

[billdogg]

I would suspect the LFS/source of the fish as well. Another possibility - a mantis or pistol shrimp you don't know about?

 

[MrTuskfish]

Can't rule out just bad luck either. 0 for 3 suggests the supply chain or PETCO, but who knows? Water quality is really hard to control in nano tanks; and when occupancy is off and on, even tougher. But the inverts stay alive....back to square one. I wouldn't haven posted this drivel, but my instinct says try a new LFS.

 

[karaim]

Compare the sg at your LFS with the 10g tank. Also the PH.

If I had to guess, your LFS keeps the SG at about 1.015 and your tank is probably 1.022-1.025. If that is the case, that is a very big difference. This is just a guess based on my LFS's sg levels.