Please help...at a loss...fish keep dying

[TopReefer]

so i have had my 55g salt water tank running for about 9 months now. the first 6 months everything was thriving. out of no where my fish started to die one at a time. lost my 2 clowns...then my 2 angels...then my blenny and now all i have left is my wrass. all my corals are fine, the wrass is fine and is one of the original buys. Nitrate, nitrites and ammonia are all at 0...ph is 8.2...salinity is 1.023-1.024. temp is 78. calcium is at 420, and phosphates are at .16. green haired algee has been growing and ive been triing to get the phosphates down. any new fish i put in dies within 3 days. i drip acclimate all my fish over an hour. i dont understand why no fish will survive past 3 days but the wrass and corals are all thriving. PLEASE help...i love the hobby but i am getting depressed that i cant keep new fish. i use ro di water at all times and have a sump...protine skimmer...uv sterilizer...chemipure...2 1150gph powerheads...what am i doing wrong??? what could it be??:angryfire:

Kristian

 

[Newsmyrna80]

Are you quarantining the fish? What kind of angels? For a 55 gallon only 1 angel should be kept. How long did you have each fish before they died?

 

[snorvich]

Are you quarantining the fish? What kind of angels? For a 55 gallon only 1 angel should be kept. How long did you have each fish before they died?

Actually, in a 55 gallon tank, no angels should really be kept. What is your acquisition/quarantine/acclimation process?

 

[Newsmyrna80]

I was thinking of a dwarf angel...that's why I asked what kind of angel

 

[snorvich]

So was I. They are algae eaters and require about a 75 gallon tank for grazing purposes.

 

[TopReefer]

yes...dwarf angels...a flame angel..and a coral beauty. Drip acclimate for no less then an hour. they last about 2-3 days. i have a 10 gal quartine...but only use it to home the sick if any. but the angels arent the only ones that i have tried. the list that have passed is...4 clowns( 2 at a time)...a blenny, 4 diffrent angels all at diffrent times...

 

[snorvich]

yes...dwarf angels...a flame angel..and a coral beauty. Drip acclimate for no less then an hour. they last about 2-3 days. i have a 10 gal quartine...but only use it to home the sick if any. but the angels arent the only ones that i have tried. the list that have passed is...4 clowns( 2 at a time)...a blenny, 4 diffrent angels all at diffrent times...

The time may be too much, too little, or just right. Unless you measure SG of the transport water and match it to the water where the animal is going, you will have an issue. Successful aquarists have a quarantine tank with SG matched to transport water so all that must be done is temperature acclimate.

 

[Deinonych]

The time may be too much, too little, or just right. Unless you measure SG of the transport water and match it to the water where the animal is going, you will have an issue. Successful aquarists have a quarantine tank with SG matched to transport water so all that must be done is temperature acclimate.

+1

When I first started out, I drip-acclimated and kept losing fish after a couple of days. Once I started matching my QT to the transport water, I no longer lost fish due to acclimation stress.