My Clown Died...I'm Devastated!

[Feelin_Fishy]

I have a 14g Biocube tank that is alittle over a week old. The tank has been cycled with 8lbs. of cured LR and enough Bio-Spira to cycle a 15g tank. I was told by multiple LFS that I should be fine adding fish as my ammonia and nitrite levels had stayed at 0 for 3-4 straight days. I added 2 Ocellaris Clownfish and 2 Green Chromis, a few hermit crabs, choc. chip starfish, and emerald crab. Was told this should all be fine as long as levels stayed the same. Tonight I noticed my male clownfish lying on the substrate struggling to breathe. Please give me any suggestions so I don't loose anything else. Here are my specs:
Temp: 77deg
Specific Gravity: 1.025
pH: 7.9
Nitrate: 5.0
Ammonia: 0.5 (First times it's ever been above 0)
Nitrite: 0.25 (First times it's ever been above 0)

BRANDON

 

[Feelin_Fishy]

In the last 10-15 minutes he has managed to swim his way up onto a piece of the Live Rock...He still appears to be having breathing trouble though...Should I take him out of wait it out?

 

[t4zalews]

1) your tank has not finished cycling
2) you added too many things at once for such a small tank

you must be more patient with saltwater, please read as much as you can before diving into everything. People on this forum are very knowledgable about close to everything you would want to know. LFS like to rush people into buying stuff or give bad advice to turn a profit.

Just ask questions, read, and know that stuff like this happens. We've all lost something in our tank because of lack of knowledge, its a learning curve.

 

[Feelin_Fishy]

Is there any hope of keeping the remaining fish alive? If so what do I need to do? I was planning on doing a 10-20% water change tomorrow just needed to get to the LFS to get some RO water.

Any recommendations?

 

[OrionN]

Remove them and take them back to the fish store. Your tank is not ready for the animals, too many animals. In a 14 g I would only recommend two clown fish, no other fish, no hermit crab, or star fish. In fact nothing else that you have to feed.
There was no ammonia source before, so the biological filtration did not developed. Now you added all these animal that put out ammonia, the tank cannot handle it.

 

[LiveRound69]

hey Feelin_Fishy ,..i live in louisville too and i dont go to the fish store to get my water....and i dont have a RO unit either...i have two 5 gallon water jugs from wal-mart. Wal-mart has a place in the back usually near the sodas and beer etc...it is called Water Island and the cost initially for the 5 gal jug and fill is around $13 but afterwards...refills are $1.85 ...alot cheaper than the fish store gag..and yes its RO water....and i havent had a problem since i started using it..... as for the fish...what fish store are you going to in the Louisville area ?

 

[clowns101]

the fish will more than likely die.when doing saltwater you have to be VERY patient and let the tank cycle.about 99% of us make the same mistake that you have made.i know that i have.take the fish back and tell the store the problem.tell them that you think that the tank did not cycle and that the amonia got to high and that it killed the fish.most pet stores will not give you your money back but they should give you store credit.if not i would not get to angry with the situation but take this as a learning experiance on use this as i have in the future.