Hi everyone, long time lurker, first post.
I've got a new reef tank, that has been running about 6 months now. 130 gallons, all marco-rock plus caribsea live sand. It's my second reef tank, but it had been about 10 years since the last one that I abandoned when I moved and have just had small freshwater tanks before now.
For some reason, I cannot seem to keep new fish alive. At one point, there was a bullying lone anthias (I know, but true) which I removed. Once he was gone, all other fish in the tank were suddenly out and about and much happier. So I thought I could try adding some more fish.
It's a very peaceful tank. Lots of corals that are all growing and healthy, one cleaner shrimp, 3 emerald crabs, 5 pajama cardinals, one watchman goby, and a bunch of snails. That's it.
Parameters are all stable and good. Changing 20 gallons weekly with TM pro reef, testing water every week.
Most recently I added 5 purple firefish and two black/white oc. clowns, and a tailspot blennie.
All of them were out and eating and moving around for about a week, and though they weren't voracious eaters, they were eating.
Then suddenly I'm losing one or two a day -- only the new fish -- just dead on the sand in the morning with no sign of injury or disease.
This has happened over the past month with a Tomini tang, and a Lamarck's angel as well. Out and eating, then boom, dead. Only the cardinals and the goby seem to be immune.
I've just added some activated carbon in a bag in the sump, and I'm working on buying and installing a UV sterilizer, since I figure there must be something in the water that I just can't see or test for.
Any ideas would be much appreciated. This is so disheartening.
I've got a new reef tank, that has been running about 6 months now. 130 gallons, all marco-rock plus caribsea live sand. It's my second reef tank, but it had been about 10 years since the last one that I abandoned when I moved and have just had small freshwater tanks before now.
For some reason, I cannot seem to keep new fish alive. At one point, there was a bullying lone anthias (I know, but true) which I removed. Once he was gone, all other fish in the tank were suddenly out and about and much happier. So I thought I could try adding some more fish.
It's a very peaceful tank. Lots of corals that are all growing and healthy, one cleaner shrimp, 3 emerald crabs, 5 pajama cardinals, one watchman goby, and a bunch of snails. That's it.
Parameters are all stable and good. Changing 20 gallons weekly with TM pro reef, testing water every week.
Most recently I added 5 purple firefish and two black/white oc. clowns, and a tailspot blennie.
All of them were out and eating and moving around for about a week, and though they weren't voracious eaters, they were eating.
Then suddenly I'm losing one or two a day -- only the new fish -- just dead on the sand in the morning with no sign of injury or disease.
This has happened over the past month with a Tomini tang, and a Lamarck's angel as well. Out and eating, then boom, dead. Only the cardinals and the goby seem to be immune.
I've just added some activated carbon in a bag in the sump, and I'm working on buying and installing a UV sterilizer, since I figure there must be something in the water that I just can't see or test for.
Any ideas would be much appreciated. This is so disheartening.