is this possible

[rccub23]

went to frag swap last sunday, and brought home a truckload of stuff. some of the stuff was various corals. i acclimated the corals and then placed them in my tank. that was sunday evening. as of today, two fish are dead, and another one looks pretty bad. what did i do wrong. and what can i do to fix this. water tests show everything is ok, except my nitrites are just a bit high. i am pretty new to all of this, so any help is appreciated. thanks.
charlie

 

[capncapo]

If you're asking if they died because of the introduction of the corals ... I seriously doubt it.

 

[latazyo]

if you are talking about the 140g in your sig, then I doubt any amount of new live rock or coral could have caused a chemistry problem...that's a decent sized amount of water

Id bring a water sample to a LFS and have them check it to rule out user/kit error on your part

 

[stlouisguy]

How new is your tank? Did you test for amonia?

 

[Nanook]

High nitrite is very toxic to fish. Is your tank not cycled yet?

What are your ammonia levels, nitrite levels and nitrate levels?

Which test kit are you using?

We need more information about the "specifics" of these particular tests and the brand names you are using, many brand names are absolute, unreliable junk.

I would immediately brew up some new saltwater to get ready for a big water change!!!

Also, what is the specific gravity and measure of testing it?

 

[Nanook]

One more piece of advice, don't add anything else to this tank until these problems are all resolved...perhaps find a mentor that lives close to you and can give you a hand.

 

[chadfarmer]

could you give me more info about your tank?

 

[JxMetal]

Yeah, I'm assuming this tank is about a month old or so....

 

[rccub23]

ok, took a water sample to beldts fs. here are the results:
ammonia-0
nitrate-0
nitrite-5
ph-8.2
salinity-1.024 measured with a refractometer
calcium-500

i did not think that the new frags did this. i was wondering if i was doing something wrong personaly. the guy at the lfs said that the quality of my water was very good. he also said i could have just bought "bad" fish, although he did not offer a refund. i will do a water change soon. i will not add anything else to my tank until this has been resolved. thanks for all the replys.
charlie

 

[DARKSILENTTYPE]

whats your KH ?

 

[Reefer Wannabe]

My thoughts too... Low Kh was the only time that I have had major problems keeping fish alive.

 

[hagfish]

As Nanook pointed out, Nitrites are deadly. I'd say everything is at risk until they come down to zero. 5 is pretty high. You should be at zero at all times once cycled.

 

[JxMetal]

yeah, any nitrite over 0 is deadly. I don't know where he comes off saying the quality is very good. Maybe he'd change his mind if he was swimming in toxins.

 

[Reefer Wannabe]

Oh, I thought that said nitrate 5. That explains a lot. Yeah, nitrite needs to be 0.

 

[paulamrein]

I was reading an article on the reef fish forum and under the thread What tang for my 30g they had link to another thread about tank maturity. It's an awesome read, although a bit extreme to some degree, they say tanks take about a year to fully cycle. I don't know what everyone else thinks about it, but it made sense. I liken it to putting a jaguar into a "rainforest" that is currently a desert. Sure, with a lot of rain and time it will be a rainforest. Like new tanks, it is not at all ocean quality no matter what brand you buy. So, it makes sense that there is mystery deaths and spikes. I only cycled for a month and I have lost 12 fish in 5 months. Grant it, there are a lot of things I could have prevented by knowing what to do and when to do it, but I think it plays a part. Just a thought from a current refishtard.

 

[levon15]

have lost 12 fish in 5 months

Has this death rate slowed down any?

 

[paulamrein]

Yeah, I've kept the clowns for the whole time, and since then, I've had no deaths for about a month or so. Mostly ich, and a jumper.

 

[zt444a]

Too many fish too fast.... and possibly too big for the tank. Ick can be a stress disease too, brought on by improper tank-mates and overpopulation...

Can't it?

Howie

 

[rccub23]

hello again, my KH is 14, and yes, my tank is fairly new. maybe i added too much, too early. the tank is about six weeks old. i will do some water changes, and then just wait a couple months before i add any more fish. i dont want to kill anything else. thanks for all the help.
charlie

 

[JxMetal]

yea just slow down and do some water changes so the tank can stabilize