Losing fish and invertebrates left AND right!?

[sunken3]

back to you fish issue.. big water change and maybe add some carbon (eg something like a chemi-pure) to remove any toxins that maybe in the water.

 

[Tcook]

I'm on the website now!

You might want to check out their video series "52 weeks of reefing" and the "5 minute" videos. These will introduce you to many of the concepts and equipment used for a successful reef tank.

 

[dedragon]

Truthfully, I haven't done the filter since the first cycle. Suggestions on doing it properly? I meant to create a separate form for this, but since we are already on the subject....

A cannister filter should be changed out at least once a week if you plan to run it on a saltwater tank, if not nitrates will probably continue to increase overtime. Cannisters are just not very fit for reefs but can work if you want to put in the effort (not worth it imo).
What are you using to measure salinity as well?

 

[HygienicMermaid]

Hi all, I've touched base with my local fish "expert" and he gave me some really good advice. He recommended a lot of the stuff ya'll have mentioned, but advised against a major change because the levels have been fluctuating so much. For salinity, I've been using one of the liquid refractometers and a standard hydrometer. I do both to check accuracy of each. Try to get them both as consistent as possible.

 

[sunken3]

the standard hydrometers are ballpark at best.. you should be ok with a refractometer...

good luck.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hi all, I've touched base with my local fish "expert" and he gave me some really good advice. He recommended a lot of the stuff ya'll have mentioned, but advised against a major change because the levels have been fluctuating so much. For salinity, I've been using one of the liquid refractometers and a standard hydrometer. I do both to check accuracy of each. Try to get them both as consistent as possible.

Nobody has mentioned this - but if your pH measurement device is accurate, seeing a pH in the range of 7.4 to 7.9 in a newish aquarium typically points to one thing - poor gas exchange and high carbon dioxide. This forms carbonic acid in seawater and can drop the pH. You need to have good aeration (bubbles) not just circulation, this is needed to drive off the CO2 (like shaking a can of soda).

Jay

 

[Tcook]

Nobody has mentioned this - but if your pH measurement device is accurate, seeing a pH in the range of 7.4 to 7.9 in a newish aquarium typically points to one thing - poor gas exchange and high carbon dioxide. This forms carbonic acid in seawater and can drop the pH. You need to have good aeration (bubbles) not just circulation, this is needed to drive off the CO2 (like shaking a can of soda).

Jay

Good catch

 

[MnFish1]

I would suggest that there are only a few things that can kill invertebrates and fish. A toxin (from somewhere outside the tank - like a soap, pesticide, copper, some other metal, etc), too much heat (a malfunctioning heater), low oxygen, death in the tank which causes an ammonia spike - and then a cascade of events. Some would also add stray voltage to that list - I'm not a big believer. I am not sure re-doing all of your equipment will necessarily help. Are you doing water changes, etc? Do you use Carbon? Have you added copper? What is your water source? My guess is that since it SEEMS like the main issue you started having was invertebrates, I would consider checking into those areas. There is nothing wrong with a fluvial filter.

 

[dedragon]

I have been making it, as I don't know where to buy bulk salt. So yes, treated tap could definitely be the issue. Is there a website you'd recommend? I will be moving shortly, so it would be a good time to change it up if needed.

? dont know what you meant buy making salt here. Salt mix can be bought anywhere from amazon, LFS, bulkreefsupply, petco etc

 

[dedragon]

Hi all, I've touched base with my local fish "expert" and he gave me some really good advice. He recommended a lot of the stuff ya'll have mentioned, but advised against a major change because the levels have been fluctuating so much. For salinity, I've been using one of the liquid refractometers and a standard hydrometer. I do both to check accuracy of each. Try to get them both as consistent as possible.

Add something to absorb whatever is in the tank, I would prob use chemipure blue and maybe some cupramine. And a couple water changes as well as cleaning or changing the filter pads in the cannister
A big water change to remove toxins will not effect the fish in the tank if the salinity and temperature is matched. it would effect invertebrates and corals but you dont have any right now (i think)
Just check and recheck with calibration solution at 1.0265 using the refractometer.

Nobody has mentioned this - but if your pH measurement device is accurate, seeing a pH in the range of 7.4 to 7.9 in a newish aquarium typically points to one thing - poor gas exchange and high carbon dioxide. This forms carbonic acid in seawater and can drop the pH. You need to have good aeration (bubbles) not just circulation, this is needed to drive off the CO2 (like shaking a can of soda).

Jay

Good catch, maybe adding an hob filter or another powerhead inside the tank pointing at an angle at the surface could help

 

[dedragon]

Also checking the fish again, i think lunares wrasse eat invertebrates, not sure about snails but like shrimp and stuff. I dont keep non reef safe wrasses so idk

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Another angle to look at here are the two wrasses (and the third clownfish). Could some of this loss be attributed to aggression and not being reef safe? Also the tank is possibly too immature for an anemone? Hope we can find a solution to your tank issues.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Another thing, I believe the type of anemone here is prone to eating fish and inverts rather than fun things like hosting clowns and possibly was to blame for earlier losses.

Even though I don't typically buy my fish here, I often use Live Aquaria as a reference when trying to decide if a fish or invert is appropriate for my tank since they spell out things like tank size and reef compatibility in a nice straightforward way. Sometimes they aren't totally accurate but it's a place to start your research from.

 

[BiggestE222]

Over the last month, I have lost every single invertebrate I have purchased, as well as four other fish. I have a 49 gallon bowfront aquarium with an FX4 fluval filter, which is double the filtration "required" for the tank.

The first issue I noticed was that my specific gravity was way off. So I did distilled water to decrease it, which was successful. I have checked the PH constantly, but the levels tend to fluctuate. Recently, the ammonia just spiked and killed my hogfish I had bought less than two weeks ago. The other fish I have right now are OK (knock on wood) but my Haitian anemone died. I'm truthfully at a loss, but I'm starting to think there may be a fish disease involved. But... Which one? I know for sure, it is not ICK. But I truthfully have noooooo idea what other diseases there are? I currently have two Ocellaris Clownfish that have been there throughout the whole thing (but, the third I bought died) one six line wrasse and one lunar wrasse. I also have a blennie who is loving life.

Suggestions?? Thoughts??? HELP!!

I am sad for your pets. Really need to up your husbandry game. . Any ammonia is bad

 

[ying yang]

Add something to absorb whatever is in the tank, I would prob use chemipure blue and maybe some cupramine. And a couple water changes as well as cleaning or changing the filter pads in the cannister
A big water change to remove toxins will not effect the fish in the tank if the salinity and temperature is matched. it would effect invertebrates and corals but you dont have any right now (i think)
Just check and recheck with calibration solution at 1.0265 using the refractometer.

Good catch, maybe adding an hob filter or another powerhead inside the tank pointing at an angle at the surface could help

Hi maybe spell check changed what you meant or maybe im wrong but did you mean add cuprisorb ? Instead of cuprimine?
And for the op .watching lots videos and researching has made my reefing alot more easier,reading up on problems before they happen so i can spot a problem as it just starting and react faster and have basic idea of what to do.
But like others have said,from my research i found out live rock is most reefers filter and a sump to hide the equipment like heaters and a skimmer and more water volume so more stable and i keep check on the nitrates and know what i can add if need be

 

[dedragon]

Hi maybe spell check changed what you meant or maybe im wrong but did you mean add cuprisorb ? Instead of cuprimine?
And for the op .watching lots videos and researching has made my reefing alot more easier,reading up on problems before they happen so i can spot a problem as it just starting and react faster and have basic idea of what to do.
But like others have said,from my research i found out live rock is most reefers filter and a sump to hide the equipment like heaters and a skimmer and more water volume so more stable and i keep check on the nitrates and know what i can add if need be

Lol yes

 

[ying yang]

Ok good just incase op doses and gets more problems especially interverbrates,
Spell check great isnt it lol
I once used to play this war game and in world chat with possibly hundreds reading it,i said i have good herpes and want good herpes pffft.
Really meant to say " i have good hero's" and i want good hero's" so yeah spell check lol ^_^

 

[DaddyFish]

@HygienicMermaid If you are looking for a worthwhile improvement in filtration without completely ditching the FX4, I suggest adding a Seachem Tidal-110 HOB to the tank. You can run it with the coarse foam, then a medium foam or disposable two-layer poly filter material (available in bulk off Amazon), followed by the bag of Matrix media included with the Tidal filter, or substitute a mesh bag filled with carbon. You'll need to run either the bag of Matrix, bag of carbon or both to keep the poly filter material from floating away against the top of the chamber. You can also mix both the Matrix and carbon into the same mesh bag, it just makes cleaning out the used carbon every 2-4 weeks a bit of a pain.

The Tidal-110 setup will provide excellent aeration and improved gas exchange, as well as skimming the surface and polishing the water. I'm still running the combination FX6 and Tidal-110 setup in a 90-gal with great success. You will need to service the Tidal-110 once per week and the FX canister should be good for once per month.