lost first fish, help me

[MrChico]

Help me I have lost my first fish!!

Everything was going just as I thought it should, when all of a sudden my false perc died in the night

Parameters are as follows:

Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0
Ph = 8.1
Kh = 214.8
Salinity = 1.023- 1.026 (still tweaking the top-off)

I donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t have test kits for other stuff (I know, shame on me)

Fish list: (in order of age in tank)

1 Yellow tail damsel
5 snails (various)
3 peppermint shrimp
1 8-line wrasse
1 blue eyed cardinal fish
1 false perc (yesterday was 2)
2 engineer goby
1 sail fin tang
1 1-spot fox-face

Some things to note are that none other fish have seemed sick and that the fox-face often times has a lot of black in his yellow and at night when he sleeps he look possessed, the brown algae keeps growing worse and I am starting to think It is time to buy a large clean up crew. The tank was started on 12-1-05 and was cycled by Christmas I have added fish once a week after the cycle but have not added any fish for 2 weeks. 4 days ago I added 25 lbs dry base rock and last night I added 1/5th the suggested amount of kalkawasser to my auto top-off.

Tank is 120 gal. With 40 gal. Fuge/sump

So what should I fix?

 

[clownaround]

Salinity = 1.023- 1.026 (still tweaking the top-off) is quite a salinity swing. Does it constantly swing from one extreme to the next? False perc is a hardy fish and the salinity swing could cause stress which leads to death

 

[Saltcity]

First off..........Don't add anything to the water unless you can test for it!! (like Kalk)

You definately need many, Many more snails!!! Get a clean up crew!!! You should have started with the cleaner crew first, let them help get things under control and then slowly add fish But.......Too late for that!

What are your Nitrates???

 

[MrChico]

I will go buy the nitrite test kit next

I am also putting 1 cube of frozen food in daily and the 2 tangs are eating (1) 1 x 3 sheet of algea daily

 

[MrChico]

I lose about a gallon a day to evaporation and I just started the top-off in the last week. Salinity should get better right away.

 

[dchao]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6567528#post6567528 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MrChico
Parameters are as follows:

Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0

.....

I will go buy the nitrite test kit next

I am also putting 1 cube of frozen food in daily and the 2 tangs are eating (1) 1 x 3 sheet of algea daily

Mr Chico:

I think you might have Nitrite and Nitrate mixed up. You need the Nitrate Test (NO3).

Also, from the other thread, I gather that you were overfeeding the fish. You can target feed your fish so there will be no uneaten food left behind, otherwise, make sure you only put enough food in the tank so the fish can consume in 3 min.

From here on, take it easy, let the water settle down, and excess nutrient removed and don't add another fish in there for another week or so.

 

[MrChico]

I just bought the nitrate kit, I am at work right now but will test tommorow.

When it comes to a clean up crew what and how many should I get?

and I waited for a full cleanup crew becuase I used too much base rock to begin with, and for the the first month the sand and rock was too clean and I thought that they would starve. Boy, I wish I could get bat to that.

I have no other fish that will be added at least 2 months or when everything is stable which ever comes last.

 

[evolution]

A little off topic but...

Your tank may be too new for the foxface and the wrasse. The foxface eats a lot of algae but usually not the kind I see in your tank. Mine eats a ton of hair algae and cheatomorpha. If you can keep a good supply of nori or something similar available, he will stay happy.

If you dont have enough vegtable matter in your tank, he may soon start nipping at polyps, and at the rate these guys eat, you might not like the results.

As far as his color, it is completley normal. They can look downright spooky at times but it is related to his mood and not his overall health.

Dont add any more fish for a while, suppliment the foxfaces diet with seaweed or some chaetomorpha, buy some more snails (12 turbos, three conchs, and 6 to 10 nassarius) an emerald crab or three, toss three chemi-pure bags in the sump, keep up on water changes and last but absolutley not least:

Research everything you do before you do it using the experience gathered in this forum!!!

I cant stress the latter enough, this is a tough hobby if you walk into it uneducated. I plan on becoming a donating member very soon because I have saved a lot of time and money using the triumphs and defeats documented on this website as my guideline on reef husbandry.

So if you plan on adding anything to your system, search the forums for people that have had thier experiences with them and make your decision. I have made my mistakes and have relished my succeses, all thanks to the people that contribute to this great forum.

Happy reefing!

 

[MrChico]

I have a sump full of macro-algea that I am harvesting and they are eating a 1 x 3 sheet of algea every day.

the wrasse is eating the frozen foods everyday.

I am done adding fish for quite a while.

and thankyou for the clean-up list, I will research those guys.

 

[MrChico]

can you tell me more about these chemi-pure bags?

I have not heard of them before, is there a brand name?