rapid fish loss

[TinaM]

I have had my tank up and running since October 2005.

46 gal. FOWLR
45-55 pnds live rock
live sand
CPR Protein Skimmer
maxi jet 1200 power head

temp 75-78
Nitrates 10
Nitrites 0
Amonia 0
PH 8.0

After the tanks cycling I added 2 damsels, lawnmower blenny, 2 feather dusters, 2 hermit crabs, all from a previous tank that I had for about a year.

about a month after that I added a tomato clown and a pair of percula clowns (who all got along well)

about a week after the perculas were added the smaller of the two died. A few days after that the larger one died. I read that sometimes this sort of thing happens with percula's. So I decided to wait about another month and purchased a royal gramma. I noticed that one of my damsels was aggressive towards this fish so I decided it was time to take him out. I had to take out 75% of the LR to catch him. I put the rock back in waited a few days and decided now would be a good time to add another fish, since territories have been disturbed and I got rid of the bully. i bought a yellow angel and a cleaner shrimp. About a week after I bought him he died. No apparent illness? A couple weeks after he dies my blenny died. I had him over a year and he ate very well?? I did notice right before he died he was hanging out in the return pipe of the protein skimmer. It is like he was trying to get some fresh water?? No apparent signs of illness for him either. Two days after the blenny died the royal gramma was dead! i then took the tomato clown out and my other domino damsel I decided to keep. These were the only two left. i put them in a QT and shortly after the clown died. Now I have the damsel left but he is VERY pale. And at times it looks like he is going to die. Very lethargic. My crabs are fine as well as the shrimp. The feather dusters are not opening as much as they should be.

My question is, do you think this is sometype of fish disease that killed all the fish or something wrong with the tank. The water is clear and clean however, the LR is very "dusty". I noticed when I took it out to catch the damsel, brown dust filled the water...

Any suggestions, ideas or advice would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[kevin2000]

Might be a number of things but stress resulting from too much/too soon combined with aggressive and incompatible fish would be high on my list.

Lots of "general" rules used by many in SW ... they don't always apply but may have some merit. One of the general rules is to "go slow" and some would argue that a new tank should add one fish per month ... you put in six in two months. Another general rule is to try and limit your stocking to one inch of adult sized fish per 5 gallons of water ... your 46 gallon tank has about 35 gallons of water after you take into acct water displacement of rock/sand -- you do the math.

Most experienced Aquarist would argue that putting more than one species of clownfish into a small tank is a big mistake ... recipe for stress and perhaps a fight to the death.

Many Aquarist would agree that most Damsels are a poor choice for an aquarium as they often make life miserable for other fish.

Heres a good article on QTing ... discusses some of the stress related issues that many aquarist overlook ... might help.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-02/atj/feature/index.php

 

[TinaM]

Thanks Kevin2000 for the advise. I read the QT article and will now quarantine all new fish. Since my damsel is the only survivor, I will watch him in the QT and if/when he gets better I think I will take him to the LFS. I new he could be a problem I just couldn't catch him in the main tank so I just left him alone.

As far as the main tank goes, would it be safe to leave it "fishless" for about a month or so?

 

[kevin2000]

Fishless for a month is pretty common ... s/b no problem.