I am very new to saltwater tanks. I set mine up and bought an angel and a dog face puffer. Due to being ill informed, my tank started to cycle, and I had to bring my fish to a local pet store. So I cycled my tank over the next 4 or 5 weeks with live rock, live sand, and crushed coral. All my levels were perfect, and I had my water checked professionally numerous times. It was now time to bring my fish home. After about 3 days, my angel was lying on the bottom of the tank, breathing slowly, and occasionally having some sort of spasm. It eventually just stopped breathing and died. And it died pretty quickly. I checked the levels again, and all of them were fine. The puffer appeared ok just fine and was eating well. 3 weeks later, my puffer starting looking very stressed, becoming ALL black and hanging out at the top of the tank. I have been doing water changes and checking my levels religiously. 2 nights ago, my puffer did the same thing the angel did, and died as well. Does anyone know why this could have happened? Any help would be appreciated, as I would love to have fish in the tank I have spent so much time on. Thanks!
Need help! Disease??
- Thread starter scsc2323
- Start date
tkeracer619
New member
Start with something easy and cheap. Also take your water to get tested at a different lfs or use a different set of kits if you are testing on your own.
How are you aclimating?
Temps spike?
What kind of top off water do you use?
How are you aclimating?
Temps spike?
What kind of top off water do you use?
I have had my water test before the fish died, and after. The water was tested at a few different fish stores, and I was told the parameters were perfect. There have been no temp spikes. I have maintained 78 degrees. I acclamated my fish by adding tank water to the store water as instructed. No QT tank because it was a new setup. Was never told to set up a QT tank by any "specialists" in my area. Top off water I purchase from a local pet store. Fresh water, chemical free.
andrewsmart
New member
Re: Need help! Disease??
we are going to need some info to help.
tank size amount of rock.
salinity or og.
amonia, nitrate, nitrite level.
what is you ph.
temperature.
give us this info and we can talk you through where to go from here.
we will get you up and running.
also what test kits are you using i would get som salifert ones.
was the tank new when you got it.
get a good book the new marine aquarium and the consientious marine aquariust are good ones.
we are going to need some info to help.
tank size amount of rock.
salinity or og.
amonia, nitrate, nitrite level.
what is you ph.
temperature.
give us this info and we can talk you through where to go from here.
we will get you up and running.
also what test kits are you using i would get som salifert ones.
was the tank new when you got it.
get a good book the new marine aquarium and the consientious marine aquariust are good ones.
Tank size is 46 gallons, and it was new when I got it. There is about 20 lbs. of live rock with many invertebraes living in it. Salinity is at 1.021 on my hydrometer, ammonia is 0ppm, nitrites are 0ppm, nitrates are at 10ppm, PH is 8.2, temp is 78. I am using a liquid test kit. I also have two 30 gallon aqua clear filters running and a protein skimmer.
andrewsmart
New member
your salinity is a little low but that is not really a problem as such.
main point i waould make just now is the tank is small for for a puffer or angel fish.
what size and kind were they.
are the aquacleat filters powerheads for circulation.
also 20lb of live rock is not alot you will need more. you can build this up but you need to start slowly with the fish introduction.
how long has the tank been empty now.
this could be a great set up but not for large puffers tangs or angels.
main point i waould make just now is the tank is small for for a puffer or angel fish.
what size and kind were they.
are the aquacleat filters powerheads for circulation.
also 20lb of live rock is not alot you will need more. you can build this up but you need to start slowly with the fish introduction.
how long has the tank been empty now.
this could be a great set up but not for large puffers tangs or angels.
andrewsmart
New member
how did you make up the water for the tank was it bought ro/di water.
I was told my flow rate with the type of filters I have is pretty decent. I can up the salinity no problem. The tank has only been empty now for a couple of days. The angel I had was half yellow and half bluish-purple...sorry, don't know what kind. And the puffer was a dog faced puffer. I know now that I cannot have another of these fish as my tank is not large enough. But I should add more live rock? I started with uncured live rock (smells real bad!). Should I get some more of the same? And anything else I can do to get this tank ready for fish again? How long should it stay empty?
ro/di water? I don't know what that means....still very new to the terminology. I bought the water from a saltwater fish store locally. They claim it to be chemical/phospate free....pure water. I just bring it home and add it to my tank. I add Instant Ocean salt if need be, but that's it.
andrewsmart
New member
ask them if it is ro/di (reverse osmosis /de ionised water ) next time you are in i am sure it will be.
instant ocean is good salt.
andrewsmart
New member
what i would do is add some more live rock if you can afford it.
leave it to cure in the tank for 6 weeks. as we do not really know what killed your fish this will rule out any parasites in the tank.
in the mean time set up a simple q/t tank.
you are right you could add the fish to the display as they will be the first but how would you treat them in there if they have anything.
feed the main tank wheter you add anything or your bacterial colony will die. a small amount of fish food every 2 days really small amount.
start out with a simple hardy fish, chromis are good, royal grama or clowns are hardy.
dont get a damsel they are a nightmare you will regret it.
you need to build up slowly with a marine tank a new fish every 2 months at first.
how big were the fish by the way. i tend to think they may simply have been to big but if that was the case your reading should have showed something.
you could get your og to 1.025 but you might be better finding out what your live fish store has it's og at.
also a refractometer would be a good investment to better measure salinity rather than og.
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