Losing my fish please anybody have any suggestions

[Clarencemartin]

Hi everyone. Well I have my 65 gallon saltwater aquarium and I’m having problems with it. I set my tank up let it cycle for about three months before I put fish in. I started off buying a lot and adding quickly and that was my first mistake. Fish were doing good however, my dog know out the plug for my filter and feeding the fish to much killed my fish before I noticed anything. Other then being cloudy. And I asked the store I go to about that and they said it could be recycling because of all the fish I bought and I put their water in my tank 2nd mistake I did. After finding out all I did wrong and the filter problem and losing my fish. I started over again. This time I did a water change made sure of all the levels bought a protein skimmer and started slow. I put the fish in a pail and let the water of my tank trickle in so the fish could get used of my water. I took the fish out after 1/2 an hour or so and put them in my tank. After a week I noticed my clown fish had ick and before I got the medicine in he had died. Then my other fish started dying and they had nothing in them. My crab shrimp and scallop are doing good. I do have a diamond sand sifter and lawnmower blenny that are doing good. They told my to only feed every other day which I do too I checked the levels and had the store check my levels and they are all good. I just don’t know what I’m doing wrong. Does someone see what I could have done wrong and help me understand? I’m to the point of just getting rid of everything I have and stick with my freshwater tank. Which is doing great. Any suggestions would be welcome. Thank you everyone.

 

[davidcalgary29]

Doing too much, too soon is always a good way to kill a tank, so it's good that you're taking stock of your situation now.

I'd suggest that you're going to have to go fallow for at least 45 days in order to address the existing disease problem in your tank: that means that you're going to have to pull the existing fish from your aquarium and put them into a separate quarantine tank/bin/tote. There are many excellent threads on this site on the process involved in establishing a cheap and effective quarantine system. You can return your fish to your display after the fallow period, and then run all new incoming inhabitants through your quarantine system.

What fish do you intend to stock in your tank, and how much aquascape do you have? While it's certainly possible to put multiple fish through quarantine at the same time, you can (easily) not only stress them, but your display, by adding too much at once.

 

[Milliganj]

Sorry your having a hard time, it sounds like the advice you have been given hasn't been good. I would suggest watching the BRS 5minute guides to begin and research here as much as you can.
Cycling your tank is great but unless you used test kits and kept a constant supply of Ammonia that may have been your first mistake.
Adding too many fish too quickly was likely your second mistake alongside not using a QT method.
The cloudy look sounds like a bacterial bloom probably related to issues 1 and 2.
Removing the plug for your filter while not ideal would likely not cause a huge issue unless you don't have enough live rock or flow. They are two things to consider and correct now.
Taking their water would be the obvious way of introducing Ich but it could have been on any of the fish.
The treatment for Ich would be copper and would kill inverts and is very difficult to remove from a DT so you may have dodged a bullet there. However with very limited information that sounds more likely to be velvet.

I figured from your post you know this now and want advice on moving forward.

Get a QT tank
Go Fallow and get rid of the ich/velvet.
Never add too many fish at one time.
Mess around in the tank as little as possible.
Never skip a water change and have emergency water available.
Test regularly, have a schedule and stick to it, if something doesn't look correct then test and you will find out why.
Calibration of equipment needs to be regular and accurate.
Keep everything stable.
Clear that filter out regularly using old tank water.
Get more live rock.

Hope this helps

 

[Clarencemartin]

Doing too much, too soon is always a good way to kill a tank, so it's good that you're taking stock of your situation now.

I'd suggest that you're going to have to go fallow for at least 45 days in order to address the existing disease problem in your tank: that means that you're going to have to pull the existing fish from your aquarium and put them into a separate quarantine tank/bin/tote. There are many excellent threads on this site on the process involved in establishing a cheap and effective quarantine system. You can return your fish to your display after the fallow period, and then run all new incoming inhabitants through your quarantine system.

What fish do you intend to stock in your tank, and how much aquascape do you have? While it's certainly possible to put multiple fish through quarantine at the same time, you can (easily) not only stress them, but your display, by adding too much at once.

Hi thank you so much for responding to me and I would like tangs which I know they get ick easy and angels I like the draft lions but not easy to take care of. But I like to have some fish too that have a purpose for the tank too

 

[Clarencemartin]

Hi thank you so much for responding to me and I would like tangs which I know they get ick easy and angels I like the draft lions but not easy to take care of. But I like to have some fish too that have a purpose for the tank too

I also think that one of my clown fish had ick starting before I bought him

 

[davidcalgary29]

Hi thank you so much for responding to me and I would like tangs which I know they get ick easy and angels I like the draft lions but not easy to take care of. But I like to have some fish too that have a purpose for the tank too

I think you need to move really slowly and think carefully about each fish that you want to put in your tank. Tangs are not a good fit for your tank, as it's really too small for their needs. Not only do they require lots of swimming space, but they also spook very easily, and will probably develop behavioural problems if stuffed into a 65g tank.

AFTER you take care of your existing disease break -- and set up a quarantine system -- try to think about captive-bred fish that will add life and interest to your tank, and exciting inverts that will perform maintenance and provide lots of interest for you. Captive-bred orchid dottybacks (keep them as a pair), lyretail damselfish, fang blennies, and a coral beauty angelfish are all excellent beginner fish, and pretty hardy, too. Tuxedo urchins are not known to be ich carriers, clean up an awful lot of nuisance algae, and are safe to pick up (not that you should do this).

 

[Clarencemartin]

Doing too much, too soon is always a good way to kill a tank, so it's good that you're taking stock of your situation now.

I'd suggest that you're going to have to go fallow for at least 45 days in order to address the existing disease problem in your tank: that means that you're going to have to pull the existing fish from your aquarium and put them into a separate quarantine tank/bin/tote. There are many excellent threads on this site on the process involved in establishing a cheap and effective quarantine system. You can return your fish to your display after the fallow period, and then run all new incoming inhabitants through your quarantine system.

What fish do you intend to stock in your tank, and how much aquascape do you have? While it's certainly possible to put multiple fish through quarantine at the same time, you can (easily) not only stress them, but your display, by adding too much at once.

I think you need to move really slowly and think carefully about each fish that you want to put in your tank. Tangs are not a good fit for your tank, as it's really too small for their needs. Not only do they require lots of swimming space, but they also spook very easily, and will probably develop behavioural problems if stuffed into a 65g tank.

AFTER you take care of your existing disease break -- and set up a quarantine system -- try to think about captive-bred fish that will add life and interest to your tank, and exciting inverts that will perform maintenance and provide lots of interest for you. Captive-bred orchid dottybacks (keep them as a pair), lyretail damselfish, fang blennies, and a coral beauty angelfish are all excellent beginner fish, and pretty hardy, too. Tuxedo urchins are not known to be ich carriers, clean up an awful lot of nuisance algae, and are safe to pick up (not that you should do this).

 

[Clarencemartin]

Thank you so much for the help you are giving me and I do want a bigger tank and am thinking of a 150 gallon tank. And I do like the coral beauties. I also been try to add color to the tank too. But I really appreciate your help thank you very much.

 

[davidcalgary29]

The best thing that you can probably do for your tank (and tank inhabitants) right now is...absolutely nothing at all. Yes, keep up your water changes. Feed your fish (preferably moved into a quarantine tank). Make sure that nothing's leaking . If you can do this for a few months, and enjoy what you have, you'll then be ready for more fish. I wouldn't move on to a 150g tank until you've sorted out the one that you have, though.

Keep in mind that you're building an entire ecosystem in miniature and that reefkeeping often requires more patience than cultivating bonsai trees. I know that we all live fast-paced lives where instant gratification is possible (and wide-spread), but reefkeeping is not one of those things. Things often seem to progress on a geological time scale, and that can be frustrating to a lot of people. But people have kept their tanks for decades -- @Paul B is at what -- fifty years? -- and they provide endless enjoyment...as long as you move slooowly.

 

[Clarencemartin]

The best thing that you can probably do for your tank (and tank inhabitants) right now is...absolutely nothing at all. Yes, keep up your water changes. Feed your fish (preferably moved into a quarantine tank). Make sure that nothing's leaking . If you can do this for a few months, and enjoy what you have, you'll then be ready for more fish. I wouldn't move on to a 150g tank until you've sorted out the one that you have, though.

Keep in mind that you're building an entire ecosystem in miniature and that reefkeeping often requires more patience than cultivating bonsai trees. I know that we all live fast-paced lives where instant gratification is possible (and wide-spread), but reefkeeping is not one of those things. Things often seem to progress on a geological time scale, and that can be frustrating to a lot of people. But people have kept their tanks for decades -- @Paul B is at what -- fifty years? -- and they provide endless enjoyment...as long as you move slooowly.

I agree and that’s why I have not bought the 150 yet. I feel if I can’t do the 65 I surely can’t do the 150. Even tho the store tells me it’s easier to have a bigger tank

 

[davidcalgary29]

I agree and that’s why I have not bought the 150 yet. I feel if I can’t do the 65 I surely can’t do the 150. Even tho the store tells me it’s easier to have a bigger tank

The "easiest" tank to keep is the one that you're going to maintain and that doesn't make you feel panicked and overwhelmed. This principle is irrespective of the size of the tank, as there's lots of pros and cons for both big tanks and nano systems (pico systems are not the best for the absolute beginner).

Yes, big tanks can leave more room for error, but they are also intimidating, require an ATO system and a bigger wallet (at least in the short term), so they aren't for everyone. Nano tanks won't give you the flexibility of a bigger tank. But the tank that rewarded me the most quickly is the Evo 13.5, which is a bitty nano tank -- but it offers excellent value for money and its small size makes it very easy to conceptualize aquascape. You can also reach in and get the pest algae and anemone if it gets in, and that's much harder to do in a big tank.