I'm a fish murderer..

[geekengineer]

I seem to be killing fish like hand over fist.

1) Buy clown fish.. doing great for couple weeks but gets sucked into the return box and dies.

2) fix return problem buy another clown fish.. Dies after about three days for unknown reason..

3) buy another clown fish.. Dies after about two hours.. :headwally:

I just never had this happen before like this like I kill them so much and I feel so discouraged... I got a couple soft corals in the tank and Hermit crabs and they seem to be doing fine.

I measure ammonia and nitrites all 0. I can only think this last time I didn't acclimate long enough and the salinity was too different and I should have checked. Uggg.. :headwally:

It was a new tank so I didn't have any other fish in it before before all this.

 

[Daniel62]

Are all the fish from the same place ?

 

[donut0079]

How did you acclimate because two hours sounds like that is a possibility. Also how are your nitrates and spec gravity.

 

[humaguy]

acclimate and qt fo 8 weeks before adding to dt...hang-in there, lol, it can get very discouraging, but we have all been there...check, double-check, then repeat...gl, tk

 

[geekengineer]

Well before I went to bed I like saw him and I thought he was dead and was going to pull him out. He was next to a patch of rock and sand now he looks like he is still alive!! :eek2: Maybe he is just bedding down for the night? I couldn't sleep and checked him again and he still swimming.

But yeah I bought them from the same place and I know I'm suppose to have a QT but its just too painful when you want to get a fish and deal with another tank but I may be forced to go that route if this doesn't work. I probably be killing those to in a different tank lol.

I just haven't had them die so fast before the other one was doing really well if it just hadn't got sucked into the return. :headwally:

 

[geekengineer]

oh SG in my tank was about 1.027 So yeah might be a bit high too. I may need to get that down?

 

[Deinonych]

acclimate and qt fo 8 weeks before adding to dt...hang-in there, lol, it can get very discouraging, but we have all been there...check, double-check, then repeat...gl, tk

This.

A QT allows you to match the salinity of the LFS water, as well as provide a low-stress environment for the fish to acclimate to captive life. Also allows you to treat for any ailments if present.

 

[geekengineer]

fish doing good so far.. Phew.. I wonder if it might been cause my SG is a bit higher level than I thought would be ok. I am slowly taking out saltwater and putting back in RODI water.

But yeah I figured I get in trouble for the QT thing, but it was just too much of a pain. I was hoping to go the keep fish healthy route give them good food etc which seems to be the other school of thought that I hear about. :worried: we will see..

 

[Treasure Coast]

Well before I went to bed I like saw him and I thought he was dead and was going to pull him out. He was next to a patch of rock and sand now he looks like he is still alive!! :eek2: Maybe he is just bedding down for the night? I couldn't sleep and checked him again and he still swimming.

But yeah I bought them from the same place and I know I'm suppose to have a QT but its just too painful when you want to get a fish and deal with another tank but I may be forced to go that route if this doesn't work. I probably be killing those to in a different tank lol.

I just haven't had them die so fast before the other one was doing really well if it just hadn't got sucked into the return. :headwally:

My Clowns sleep sideways above a patch of Zoas close to the surface. They are a bonded pair and sleep face to face. They appear to be dying, but that is just the way they feel safe.

 

[T Haynes]

You say it's a new tank. How new? That may have been your issue

 

[geekengineer]

It is a new tank for me but it was started since December and it was quickly changed from live rock and some sand that was from 10 gallon tank that been going since last march. It should be cycled ok. I haven't been measuring any ammonia that I can tell. It did start getting more of a diatom bloom once I have added the fish.

I do have carbon and of that phosguard reactor. I also have a skimmer. I plan to change to carbon/ironoxide mix once I used up the phosguard I got.

 

[BigBlueTang]

It is a new tank for me but it was started since December and it was quickly changed from live rock and some sand that was from 10 gallon tank that been going since last march. It should be cycled ok. I haven't been measuring any ammonia that I can tell. It did start getting more of a diatom bloom once I have added the fish.

I do have carbon and of that phosguard reactor. I also have a skimmer. I plan to change to carbon/ironoxide mix once I used up the phosguard I got.

I see you're in CO...

Mind mentioning where you are getting your fish? I could possibly point you to a better shop....

 

[donut0079]

My Clowns sleep sideways above a patch of Zoas close to the surface. They are a bonded pair and sleep face to face. They appear to be dying, but that is just the way they feel safe.

I agree completely with this. My clown scared me when he started sleeping sideways at the surface above my return pump. You most likely are just mistaking that behavior. Don't go crazy on the SG as 1.027 is not a problem. Most with reef tanks target 1.025 or 1.026.

 

[geekengineer]

I see you're in CO...

Mind mentioning where you are getting your fish? I could possibly point you to a better shop....

Well I ended up at Petco again after trying other local place. I live in mid-norther Colorado and long story but I tried what I thought would be a better shop longer away that is on the way from work. I didn't have that one didn't live either cause I think it took too long to travel and acclimate it, but that day they I feel like they weren't being really helpful to me either. I don't know if there are any good shops in or around Boulder? That might be reasonably close to me as well.

I think next time need to look at a fish better for health which I am still learning. The previous one I got from Petco might not been doing so hot to begin with.

So far this maroon clownfish seems to be doing well knock on wood.

 

[BigBlueTang]

Well I ended up at Petco again after trying other local place. I live in mid-norther Colorado and long story but I tried what I thought would be a better shop longer away that is on the way from work. I didn't have that one didn't live either cause I think it took too long to travel and acclimate it, but that day they I feel like they weren't being really helpful to me either. I don't know if there are any good shops in or around Boulder? That might be reasonably close to me as well.

I think next time need to look at a fish better for health which I am still learning. The previous one I got from Petco might not been doing so hot to begin with.

So far this maroon clownfish seems to be doing well knock on wood.

I'm actually live in boulder! Just have denver on my profile.

I would recommend Aqua Imports if you aren't wanting to drive in all this snow. Its right next to the mapleton YMCA. They have high-ish prices, higher than you would find at a petsmart, but they usually have decently healthy fish. I'm 0/1 with them right now, but that was me not recognizing flukes early enough.

The store I would very very highly recommend is Aquatic Art, in Highlands Ranch. It's about an hour's drive from Aqua Imports. It's a longish drive, but trust me, it's 100% worth it. Cris Capp, is a former tank of the month winner here, and he is the owner of the store. When you walk in, you see a 8', 600 gallon tank that is very tall(I'm 6'3 and the tank on its stand was taller than I was), and the most beautiful tank I have ever seen. Just to see that display is worth it. AA doesn't have the biggest selection of fish, and they're only open on fridays and saturdays, but their fish are healthy. They order from Quality Marine, which is basically the same thing as ordering something from Live Aquaria. If you can, get down there friday morning, and have your pick of the litter. It's worth it.

Good luck with your clown!

 

[geekengineer]

I think I maybe figured out what happening.. I been having bad bacteria blooms. :facepalm: Also I had programmed my skimmer to only be on about 1/3 of the time. So I think what might been happening is my fish were suffocating when the bloom was getting bad.

I didn't think that would have a correlation but I was looking at some threads about blooms and realized that probably what happened. I'm turning on the skimmer now all the time and the fish seems to be running around more, I replaced some water, and my filter sock.

It seems to be going away now. I was probably over feeding cause I was trying to get the fish to eat thinking that was maybe the problem.