please help!!! fish keep dying

[sasquatch81]

Tank parameters:

Salinity: 1.024
nitrate: .3
Nitrite:0
Ammonia: 0
Ph: 8.4
Calc.: 480
Just ran out on alk. Tests but has been pretty steady around 150 ppm
Temp.: 78.2 swings about 1 degree

Livestock:
2 oceleras clowns
2 firefish
8" round lta that was dyed and bleached but has been coming back strong and in my tank for 11 months now.
3" round bta that was badly bleached but getting much better in the tank for 4 months.
6 head candy cane coral
5" paving coral
Massive colt coral
Good size cleanup crew
80 lbs live rock
4" DSB in display

Tank:
72 g display
55g sump/ fuge w/ 6" DSB
Aqua-c ev 180 skimmer
large system pump have not measured output but moves a lot of water
1000 gph powerhead
Dual 250w mh lamps phoenix 14k bulbs dual 4' t-5's

Ok so now that we are clear on all that. My problem is this, I have had this system up and running for about 2.5 years. I started with the 2 clowns and still have them today. The firefish have been in the tank for 6 months and are the only ones that have done well since the clowns. The rabbitfish is seeming a little bit iffy the past two days, when I first took him out of 2 week qt and into the display he showed about 10 spots of ich but they cleared in a day or two. I have put about 10th other fish in and can't keep any alive. Most all have died of unknown causes. Most will make it through qt fine. Once in the display things are usually ok for a week or two and then all of a sudden they just die. I have noticed small amounts of ich on a couple of fish that have passed but it never became more than maybe 20 spots on them. I feed rods food and omega-one marine flakes with garlic, also I feed nori on a clip for when I have had fish that want algae. One coral beauty I had did get that cotton disease I can't recall the actual name now but it seemed that it killed the fish. The hard part for me to understand is that I have had good success with my corals and have brought both of my anemones back to wonderful health but just can't seem to keep any fish alive, other than my clowns and firefish. Does anyone have a clue what I could be doing wrong or if maybe there could be some parasite in my tank that takes out any new fish I put in. I really don't want to keep killing fish but just don't know what keeps getting them. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Beautiful fish that I have lost:

Flame angel lived 6 months
Coral beauty: lived 2 months
Foxface rabbitfish: lived 5 months
Banggai cardinals x2 lived 3 weeks won't buy them again I know their story now.
Filamented flasher wrasse: 1week
Sailfin tang: 1 month
Powder brown tang: 2 weeks
I won't do gangs again I have learned that my tank is just to small for them.

Thanks for reading, really hope to figure this out.

 

[sasquatch81]

Just a little more info, I do a 15 gallon water change every other week pretty religiously. And the gold spot rabbitfish that I have now that has been looking a bit iffy the past couple days has just seemed a bit lethargic compared to when he was first put into the display a week and a half ago. I missed him in the livestock list.

 

[snorvich]

What and how much are you feeding?

 

[sasquatch81]

I feed rods food, omega one reef flakes. I rotate them daily and feed a very small about maybe 1/2 a teaspoon or less.

 

[SecretiveFish]

Let me relate my experience... I too ran into a patch where every new fish we added died within 1-2 months (guessing now it was that elusive Shipping Stress). I love fish, that is why I am in this hobby although my husband is in this for the corals, which made it all the worse. So we started buying the fish that had been at the LFS store awhile, like 2-3 months or more. We still have those fish >1 year later, although our tanks do not exactly have the fish we were planning on. A helmeted turretfish? Really???

If you have been buying the fish that have been at the store awhile, you may be right that there is something in the tank that is killing the newcomers. You may want to catch your 5 fish, put them in quarantine and let your tank run fallow for awhile.

FWIW, I have had poor luck with pygmy angels especially flame angels (0 for 2) and coral beauties (on my third try finally have one that is doing well!).

 

[sasquatch81]

Well thank you for you're reply, I was wondering if letting the tank go fallow for a while would help. I do try to make a few trips to the lfs and monitor health prior to any purchase also most of my attempts seem to do fine in a two week qt. Would I need to remove coals and nems in order to be sure the fallow tank technique will work. Also will going fallow be a sure way to eliminate all bad guys. I was under the impression that all fish carry bad guys but poor water and stress is what causes problems. Idk I just do not want to keep failing at keeping fish. I feel like I do everything I can for water quality and and good care of these guys but just can't seem to keep them alive.