Green Chromis'?

[Justinnn]

I just set up a 14g biocube and I am starting my first ever reef tank. Ive had it up for 2 weeks and have had 2 green chromis' in it while cycling. They had been doing fine and the cycle is near its end when suddenly both dead. I have 4 blue leg hermits and 2 bee snails. Reasons why chromis' died? Perhaps the cycle end? anmyway let me know. Oh also i just starting checking phosphates and they are pretty damn high. I am new to nano and reef tanks so perhaps in a this smaller environment levels are more drastic?

 

[Goodwood]

In my experience they need to be feed a few times a day kind of like anthias, never had a phosphate problem so I cant help you there.

 

[Rob Martin]

Fish should only be added after the cycle is complete & water parameters are stable IMO.
Rob.

 

[Navyblue]

Ammonia is toxic to fishes, the chromises can take it for a while but it doesn't mean that they can go on that way forever. Just imagine if someone is knocked down by a car and doesn't die right away and is hauled to a hospital and died there. The cause of death is the car accident and not the hospital.

2 fishes is a lot of fish for cycling for a 14G, I'd even consider 2 small fishes the full bioload that a 14G can take, and most would think that to load the full bio capacity of a tank for cycling purpose is a very bad idea. Anyway using fish to cycle a saltwater tank is yesterday's practice, uncured liverocks cycle on its own.

I don't think it is an easy thing or even possible to kill fish with phosphate in a SW tank, other stuffs are likely to kill them first before phosphate is high enough to do that.

Do check out these links:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-02/rhf/index.php

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-09/rhf/index.php

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php

 

[Justinnn]

Exactly what I figured, The thing is i Added them to start the cycle no expectation of them living. What I found strange was that they Died AFTER the levels declined. I assume they were slowly dieing anyway. poor guys...

 

[Fiddler]

you used them for the cycle expecting death, lol

thats kinda evil <--- thats not an opinionn on how to start a tank, just about the value of life

 

[stykthyn]

an evil reefer mwuhahahhah

 

[Navyblue]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9250778#post9250778 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Justinnn
Exactly what I figured, The thing is i Added them to start the cycle no expectation of them living.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9250778#post9250778 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Justinnn
poor guys...

I find those two statements contradicting.

 

[jlo0218]

even large amounts of nitrate wouldn't kill the chromis since it's so hardy... smaller amounts of nitrite probably wouldn't kill the chromis either; however ammonia is more toxic to the fish... when you cycled your tank, the chromis probably helped boost your cycle... made it go faster, by just a little bit. (which is not really worth it if you already have live rock in there)... then there's an ammonia spike period during the cycling, and it doesn't happen right away.

what likely happened was the ammonia spike.

at least now you know the ammonia spike occurred, and you can see the ammonia go down everyday, nitrites up and down, then nitrates up and down.