Need help with losing fish

Pizan · Apr 7, 2014

Hello, I'm not new to the hobby but I'm having a huge problem that simply won't go away. I have a 75g fo salt water tank with plenty of live rock. My water parameters are perfect with 8 to 8.2 ph a salinity of about 1.021 no ammonia or nitrites and nitrates around 40ppm which ik isn't perfect but should be ok for fish only. Every new fish i add to the tank seems to die one to two weeks after i get them sometimes even the weeks but never right away. They're always appropriately sized for my tank and are always eating. I just don't understand why they are dying consistently after a couple of weeks. Right now the tank has a pearlscale butterfly and a baby flag Fin angel ik i will have to get rid of eventually. There is also an algae blenny. These fish have been fine for almost a year but no new fish are making it even if i put them right into the main tank instead of the quarantine. I also always drip acclimate and make sure parameters ate identical before adding new fish. Any ideas why new fish only last one to two weeks???

jrbates08 · Apr 7, 2014

I'm not sure at all if this maybe the problem or not but is it possible the current fish could be causing grief to the new fish?

jrbates08 · Apr 7, 2014

I mean I know these 2 fish are not known to be aggressive but maybe after being alone for so long maybe they're stressing the other fish?? I'm just throwing out a suggestion, not a fact

Pizan · Apr 7, 2014

The pearlscale is a little aggressive the first day but after usually leaves new fish alone. This problem had also seemed to happen weather the fish were added to the main tank or quarantine tank.

jrbates08 · Apr 7, 2014

Are u purchasing all ur new fish from the same LFS? MAYBE it's THEIR problem and not yours??

Pizan · Apr 7, 2014

I have purchased from two separate stores and the same thing happens but the majority come from one store over another. So maybe it is their problem and the one or two other dead fish were a coincidence. The only problem i found with their water was that the salinity was kept between 014 and 018 which is why i dripped the fish instead of floating the bags.

Bluesaltwater87 · Apr 7, 2014

just a few questions

Do you have a RODI unit for water and if so what is you TDS?
Have you tested your water for contaminants or chemicals?
Do you have an acrylic tank and if so do you use windex to clean the outside?
my last question.
what kind of filter setup do you have.

Im not trying to talk down to you at all my friend. I am just shooting out questions for the process of elimination is all. I want to help you out as much as i can.

Pizan · Apr 7, 2014

I use a Tap water filter by aquarium pharmaceuticals but I'm not sure what the tds is I'm not sure how to test for that. I also do not know how to test for chemicals or contaminants but i do have several fish doing well for several months. The tank is glass and i always spray the towel not the tank when i clean it. Also i set up a refugium about 17 gallon with a 7 inch live sand bed and the plant is growing very well. I use socks at the.beginning of the setup with live rock under the socks that also get light during the day. The plant and rock get about 12 hours of light a day. At the end of the refugium is my skimmer, uv light, and return pump to the tank. I used to use a wet dry setup but had this problem with most fish with both filters.

Bad Company · Apr 7, 2014

Are you sure that nitrates are only 40 ppm? Sometimes in the high range it's hard to tell, and API kits can read low if they aren't shaken enough. Existing fish can get used to higer nitrates, but your new fish might not be adjusting well... you may want to do one of the following:
- Step up your water change schedule
- Add more macro algae to your refugieum
- incorporate a waterfall algae scubber

Pizan · Apr 7, 2014

Thank you everyone i will look into the algae Scubber. I change the water once a week currently and change two or the buckets of water meaning 8 to 12 gallons. I do make sure i shake everything as the directions on the kit specify so i don't think the nitrates reading is incorrect but maybe I'll try a different kit to double check

Bluesaltwater87 · Apr 7, 2014

Do you run your uv all day and night and what is it rated too?

I do recommend on getting an RODI unit. it works a lot better than the pharmaceuticals. I did the same thing for about 2 years. but when i got and RODI unit the fish seen to be full of energy and the corals grew bigger and better than before.

My system has a UV Light on it but i only run it for 3 hours at a time every 12 hours.

the only thing i know of to test for water contaminants is to buy some test strips and test for copper, lead, floride, ect. that kind of stuff. Copper is deadly to saltwater fish and corals. here is another thing to ask do you use fabreez or anything like air freshiners in the same area as the tank? that is how i contaminated my tank many years back.

Pizan · Apr 7, 2014

I do not use any air chemicals but i will definitely look into testing for other stuff. I know that there's no copper in the tank because i had to test the tank over a year ago and then took all the copper out and have tested it since to make sure. I do run the uv ask the time why do you only run it several hours a day?

Bluesaltwater87 · Apr 7, 2014

well A UV light will kill small bacteria and parasites. but if you run it 24-7 it can be bad because it kills good stuff too.

If i have a bacteria bloom or a parasites problem that just happens all of a sudden i will run it 2 times a day for 6 hours for 3 days. but if you kill off too much bacteria than your killing the good stuff too. I use a UV for basically a support system than a filter really. A filter you run 24-7 this for me only kicks in every 12 hours currently because my tank has no parasites or bacteria blooms. and hopefully stays that way.

hope this helps and i hope you find the answers to your issue.

lnorman00 · Apr 7, 2014

when the fish die, did you notice anything unusual with them? like cloudy eyes or swollen eyes? did they swim upside down before they died? did they float or stayed on the bottom? sometimes we over see the causes by simply taking the fish out without noticing their behavior before they died. sometimes even Ick is not visible to the human eye because it could be internally attached to the inside of their gills or a simple pop eye could stress the fish a lot.

Pizan · Apr 7, 2014

Thank you if i find the tank is clean i may start trying that add well maybe my good bacteria ate getting killed i never thought of that

Small triggers · Apr 7, 2014

I'm agreeing with whomever suggested aggressiveness...
I have a reef...and a Lamarcks angel that was killing everyone I added in about 3 days...happened 4 separate times...thought I was getting sick fish until I saw her do it to the last one...what you might want to do is use an acclimation box with new fish...and rearrange some of the rock work if you can...
With FO tanks, even high nitrates are not a problem for the current fish, but as someone else intend out they could be hard for the new fish to deal with, but if are really only 40... That's not going to affect them...

Bad Company · Apr 7, 2014

Regarding nitrates, I have a waterfall scrubber and an Eshopps PSK-100H skimmer on my 70ish gallon tank with 20 gallon sump. The scrubber holds nitrates at 0. It's read zero for the last 12 weeks. I now only test monthly, and WC once a month. I also do not have an RO/DI system, it's all tap water and instand ocean. My 10! fish and 2 LPS and 2 zoas are all doing really well too. Because my corals are so small, I don't need to dose at present, but I also don't spend any money on filter media or chemical additives.

I couldn't recommend a waterfall scrubber more highly. It has made this hobby accessible for me (low maintenance and cost).

Pizan · Apr 7, 2014

When the fish die i notice them swimming on the bottom and having trouble Luke swimming on their side and such. I also notice.then turn.pale white that may be from death but s portion of their bodies go completely white over night. As far as aggression the fish also go after one to two weeks in the quarantine as well same thing with no other fish and i don't see much if any aggression after the first day or so i add new fish. I will need to look into a scrubber i have a skimmer already but i guess it may not be enough. I just don't think the fish ate dying from nitrates because i drip them and the nitrates never go above 40 ppm. Its just very upsetting losing so many fish after a couple weeks when you already learn their personalities.its not like they die in a couple days its always 2 weeks when they've seemed healthy then all of a sudden swim weird at the bottom and die the same day. No color loss or change in eating habits until the day they die as well.