water parameters

[mmasuda31]

im confused...bear with me guys...so ive had my tank set up for a month and a couple weeks. I had added 2 damsels initially a 4 stripe and yellow tail. The 4 stripe died within days. Then I added an emerald crab, peppermint shrimp and snails. They were all doing fine and water parameters were consistant. I added a clown fish which died within days. My LFS claims it had a skin disease, and ive posted about this before and came to an agreement the damsel killed it based on its torn doral fin. I also added mushroom coral and a small frogspawn that ive had for a week. During my battle with the damsel I kicked up alot of sand and from what I can tell my tank went through another mini cycle. However all the parameters seem decent. Ph 8.2 salinity 1.024, temp 78, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, and my nitrates were at .5. I've been warned to add slowly because adding something disrupts the bio load which makes sense. What dosent make sense is why do the fish keep dying off but all invertabrates live and thrive?
I do weekly 15% water changes and all seems well with everything else.

After all this is it possible to add a couple clown fish without killing them?

 

[bertoni]

Maybe not with the damsel in the tank. Sometimes, they are very aggressive, and that tank isn't all that large. The damsels might have brought a disease with them, as well.

 

[mmasuda31]

the damsel is gone bro.

 

[bertoni]

I'd leave the tank fish-free for eight weeks, to let any disease die off (hopefully), and then consider a clownfish.

 

[mmasuda31]

It's just strange to me that every additioanl fish except the yellowtail would die off.

 

[bertoni]

If there was still ammonia in the tank when the fish were added, that could have done it. The tank also might have a predator or a disease running lose. Hard to say.