The last few weeks I have had 2 peppermint shrimp die (one today), a few hermit crabs, and my yellow belly blue tang decided it would be a good idea to jump out of the tank. After seeing the shrimp today I checked my parameters and ammonia is 0. Nitrites are 0. Ph is about 7.8 or so (this was tested at about 9am) My nitrates were 20 (did a 5g water change after seeing that). My salinity is at about 1.025-1.026 (maybe a little high?). I have a yellow tang and 2 clowns in there now. Along with a few small colonies of zoas, an anemone and a goniapora. My tank is a 24g nano. I'm feeding te fish every other day about a half a cube of frozen food. The days I don't feed them that I feed them a pinch or 2 of pellets. Am I maybe under feeding? Possibly why the shrimp and hermits are dying? ***??
My stuff is dying...
- Thread starter Jritter02
- Start date
maddmaxx
New member
salinity is perfectly fine... how old is this tank?
also a yellow tank and hippo tang should NOT be in a 24g tank, at alllll. and im not tryin to be the tang police. just being a hobbyist here. your tang jumped cause of stress, but when it comes to the shrimp and hermits im thinking possible copper exposure? but keep in mind 2 tangs and 2 clownfish in a 24g you are at a "HI BIOLOAD" for that small of a tank...
also a yellow tank and hippo tang should NOT be in a 24g tank, at alllll. and im not tryin to be the tang police. just being a hobbyist here. your tang jumped cause of stress, but when it comes to the shrimp and hermits im thinking possible copper exposure? but keep in mind 2 tangs and 2 clownfish in a 24g you are at a "HI BIOLOAD" for that small of a tank...
My anemone only gets smaller at night when lights are off. During the day it's huge I know about the tangs. I didn't when I bought them. The blue tang was only about an inch long. They all eat fine and everything so I'm not sure it was stress at this point. When it got bigger I planned on upgrading tanks. I'm actually trying to get my hands on a bigger one now. This tank is about 2 months old. I thought the bioload may have been high too but seeing as how my protein skimmer doesn't pick much up I was starting to doubt that too. All the fish are small. When I bought the tangs I didn't know they should be in so big of a tank and I wasn't told that either (I'm a newbie and they knew it). Both tangs were in 20-30g tanks at the LFS. As far a the copper....where would that come from? I never added any to the tank.
qasim99
New member
The tang probably jumped out due to stress, apparently they are very active swimmers and need lots of room. With regards to the feeding, I have heard that frozen foods are not always all that nutritious, o would personally feed more flakes etc, and only feed frozen stuff when you want to.give the fish a bit of a treat, or if you want to tempt a fussy eater. Not sure what is causing the shrimps and crabs to die, have you recently dosed the tank.with.anything new?
Hey Jritter,
Sorry about your issues.
First thing that sticks out to me is your bioload is extremely high and I would suspect water quality may be affecting your inverts. Just so you know a 24g tank is waaaaay too small for a yellow tang or a blue tang individually let alone both together. They may be small now but they won't stay that way and will get stressed out and sick and will get very aggressive. I would suggest trying to find another home for the yellow tang and sticking with just the pair of clowns (2 clowns alone may be on the high end for your tank size).
Anemones are very demanding of water quality and lighting as well. leo want to make sure you feed your goniapora.
I also would suggest you research everything before you purchase.
Hope you don't take this as being critical, just trying to point you in the right direction.
Oh and your salinity is good not high at all, I run mine at 1.026
Good luck,
Dale
Sorry about your issues.
First thing that sticks out to me is your bioload is extremely high and I would suspect water quality may be affecting your inverts. Just so you know a 24g tank is waaaaay too small for a yellow tang or a blue tang individually let alone both together. They may be small now but they won't stay that way and will get stressed out and sick and will get very aggressive. I would suggest trying to find another home for the yellow tang and sticking with just the pair of clowns (2 clowns alone may be on the high end for your tank size).
Anemones are very demanding of water quality and lighting as well. leo want to make sure you feed your goniapora.
I also would suggest you research everything before you purchase.
Hope you don't take this as being critical, just trying to point you in the right direction.
Oh and your salinity is good not high at all, I run mine at 1.026
Good luck,
Dale
maddmaxx
New member
if the tank is only 2 months old. i suspect you may have added to much to fast and it affected the water quality. i would leave the tank as is for a couple weeks, then try to introduce some clean up crew back into the tank to see how they do. maybe just a few small hermits and see how they fair, then if need be expand on that...
words to the wise, never buy a fish thinking of a future upgrade, life gets in the way alot and that upgrade never happens. yes they were small but they dont stay small. so as they grow and become larger, the tank doesnt so you might not see the stress building up, but within the fish they are becoming stressed cause tangs need long tanks to swim in one direction. so as these tangs grow, in your size tank, they are goin to swim, then turn around, then swim, then turn around. thats like us in a jail cell ya kno.. and yes they were in 20-30g holding tanks at a fish store, but thats a temporary thing just so the fish is sold. not a long term situation....
words to the wise, never buy a fish thinking of a future upgrade, life gets in the way alot and that upgrade never happens. yes they were small but they dont stay small. so as they grow and become larger, the tank doesnt so you might not see the stress building up, but within the fish they are becoming stressed cause tangs need long tanks to swim in one direction. so as these tangs grow, in your size tank, they are goin to swim, then turn around, then swim, then turn around. thats like us in a jail cell ya kno.. and yes they were in 20-30g holding tanks at a fish store, but thats a temporary thing just so the fish is sold. not a long term situation....
maddmaxx
New member
not exactly. it could have caused a high spike real quick that your tank handled on its own. but that spike could have been harmful and what killed your inverts...
also tangs should be feed some sort of veggie often. not just frozen or pellets. they need a veg in their daily diet for best long term success...
maddmaxx
New member
well thats a decent amount of snails and hermits. in this hobby you build everything up slowly. so a new tank like that probably didnt need that many inverts. so some may have died, some of the hermits might have knocked off some snails for their shells, then add the over stocking of the fish, on top of a newly set up tank... sounds like a perfect recipe for some sort of life loss..
gotta go a lil slower boss from here on out....
gotta go a lil slower boss from here on out....
Bioload as in biological loading; meaning all the live stuff you put in there, mainly fish.Most don't count snails and hermits as they don't significantly add to the loading on the tank unless they die and are not removed right away. As maddmaxx said hermits are known for taking out snails for their shells.
m0nkie
Well-known member
if you like those tangs, look into a 150.
Sorry about that, I misunderstood.
gone fishin
New member
Next time your at the LFS check out Live aquaria on your phone for the fish your looking at. They have all the vital stats like tank size ,aggression, care level, special needs. Be proactive on your research, the LFS is just looking for a buck. If in doubt don't buy,most fish are pretty available. Good luck.
