New to the hobby! Unfortunately already lost 2 fish! Need some guidance.

[Nahdurr]

Hello everyone! Just started into this hobby due to my kids showing an interest and always having an interest of my own.

I started a week ago after going to a local reef shop, got a 5 gallon reef tank with several corals (2 mushrooms, acro, favia, torch, lobo, Kenya tree, GSP, zoa), an anemone, and 2 clownfish. I basically asked them to set it up for me and this is what he made me. They used cycled water that’s been there for 4 years. He acclimated the fish for 5 days in the tank before I picked it up.

I got Reef Nutrition beta brine to feed the fish, which he recommended 1 drop daily.

I took home 2 gallon jugs, one RODI 0PPM water and other saltwater from the shop.

Did daily top off with freshwater with an ATO.

He advised a 1/3 tank water change weekly.

Fish and corals looked great for a week. Eating well, no signs of stress.

Then didn’t first water change with the cycled saltwater. I didn’t warm the change water. Usually tank is at 80 bit after water change dropped to 76 and climbed back up to 78-79 within an hr.

After this clowns seemed a bit stressed but no unusual behaviors. Following day one clown fish looked more pale and then a few hrs later found it dead within the rock work next to the Kenya tree. Other clown seemed okay at this time. Following day I noticed a white film around second clown, was fast breathing and skimming the surface, he started losing bouyancy and saw I’m swimming to surface but sinking back down. He quickly died after that.

I tested ammonia at 0.25ppm, 0 nitrite, 0 nitrate, pH 7 or 7.5. Used imagitarium test kit. Took water to reef shop for testing salinity and was told it was “spot on”.

Corals and anemone seem okay but Kenya tree is slumped over now.

Other person at reef shop was shocked I was feeding daily. Also recommended daily 10% water changes for now and retest ammonia in couple of days.

Looking for any advice, insights on what happened.

Thank you!

 

[Ocean_Queenie]

Hello & Welcome

 

[Evil1]

 

[Uncle99]

Welcome to R2R!
No such thing as cycled saltwater, the water itself contains little good stuff.
It would be cycled rock you would need to instantly cycle safety for fish.
It’s a small tank, so not forgiving.
Likely died of ammonia.
Tank should mature for a few months before even the first soft coral is added.
If that comes from LFS, it’s not correct process.
Sorry.

The process would be Rock, sand, saltwater, flow and heat + a bottle of bacteria, let stand 2-3 days to be safe, then put in new fish.

You’ll need to keep a close eye on the tank, things will change fast.

 

[Fish Styx]

Welcome to R2R!
No such thing as cycled water, water contains little good stuff.
It would be cycled rock you would need to instantly cycle safety for fish.
It’s a small tank, so not forgiving.
Likely died of ammonia.
Tank should mature for a few months before even the first soft coral is added.
If that comes from LFS, it’s not correct process.
Sorry.

The process would be Rock, sand, saltwater, flow and heat + a bottle of bacteria, let stand 2-3 days to be safe, then put in new fish.

^ This. I would not be a patron of that LFS any longer.

Welcome to the reef.

 

[saltcats]

Welcome, and sorry you are having a rocky start!

You may wish to look for a different reef shop - I don't think they've been giving you good information
5 gallons is definitely much too small for those clownfish, although it is unlikely to have caused these rapid deaths.

Many people feed daily or even multiple times a day, although some people do skip days. Neither method should be 'shocking' to someone at the LFS.

Are you familiar with the nitrogen cycle in aquariums?
Bacteria grow in the aquarium which can convert toxic ammonia to nitrites, and then others which convert the nitrites into nitrates, which are the least toxic.
As other commenters have said, there's no such thing as 'cycled water' - the bacteria grow on surfaces within the aquarium and only an insignificant amount are in the water. You'd need cycled rock, sand, or filter biomedia to set up the tank quickly.

Can you post a picture of the tank so we can better see what they have given you?

 

[Rocktron1]

Send in a photo of whole tank so everyone can see - we would be looking at the base rock. Was it dry rock or live rock? And how big is the filter as a small tank like that would rely on a decent piece of live rock to assist with biological filtration to house all the beneficial bacterial

 

[ryanjohn1]

Welcome sorry for ruff start.

 

[paragrouper]

Hi, sorry to hear of your troubles. In their haste to get you into a new aquarium, you may not have received the best advice from your LFS (as others have mentioned).

very small reef aquariums are very difficult to start with, as changes that would be little in a large aquarium have a far greater impact—so things can go sideways quickly.

I would recommend you do a bit of research on your own.

in the forums you can find a section on Nano tank builds, which have a good description of the nano aquariums that folks here have built. It’s a good place to learn about what is possible and what to beware of when putting together a small tank.

beginners Guide this is a link to a really good place to start

and

 

[jsker]

 

[00W]

Welcome Welcome to R2R!

 

[kevgib67]

Welcome, glad you are here! Sorry you got off to a rough start. Listen to the advice here so you can turn this around, which you can.

 

[1112-425XL]

 

[Strawberry]

I agree with the previous comments about the LFS giving bad advice & apologize for your fish loss. The tank definitely needs to cycle for longer to reduce ammonia levels & 5 gallons is too small for even one clownfish. If you’re interested in giving them a more accommodating and ethical setup, innovative marine has a 15 gallon AIO tank you can preorder on their website for just around $100 after shipping cost. Welcome to the hobby & try not to get discouraged! It’s a continual learning experience & part of what makes it so enjoyable for us

 

[Wrassenaround]

 

[Gman83]

Welcome!

 

[Nahdurr]

So glad to have joined this community. Thank you all for the great advice.

I got the impression that they are not a great LFS based on my interactions with 2 of the folks there having had greatly differing opinions and advice.

I'm not entirely sure if he used dry or live rock but please refer to the picture attached.

He did use a starter bacteria product when he set the tank up. He added the clownfish after letting the tank sit for few days. He did say that clowns would not be able to live in this tank indefinitely and would outgrow the tank and that I would have to size up.

I think I am going to size up the tank to a 15-20 gallon tank, turn this around and keep the corals healthy, and wait a while until I add fish back into a larger tank.

Thank you all!

 

[Fish Fan]

First of all, welcome!!!

As others have said, I think you got some poor advice from your LFS, who may have been in a little bit of a hurry to sell you and your family a setup.

My concern is that I hope you and your kids don't get discouraged. You've had an unfortunate start, but it can be a very rewarding hobby.

I am not at all an expert, but there are many here on R2R that I'm sure can get you guys back on track, so come back often, post often, and listen to what the most experienced members are suggesting.

My quick things would be, what are you using for rock? Did your LFS at least start you with some nice, cycled rock for this "instant tank", and did they explain the role of live rock in your tank? It's literally your filter, your tanks life-line.

And, if you can bring a sample of your tank's water back to your LFS for a salinity check, please, please, please have them test for at the least ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate, and in fact anything they are willing to test for you. Home test kits for such things, like your Imagitarium test kits (are you sure these are even for saltwater?) are known to be somewhat flakey, and should be seen as "indicators" rather than "absolutes".

I hope this helps, and best of luck!

 

[vetteguy53081]

 

[Fish Fan]

So glad to have joined this community. Thank you all for the great advice.

I got the impression that they are not a great LFS based on my interactions with 2 of the folks there having had greatly differing opinions and advice.

I'm not entirely sure if he used dry or live rock but please refer to the picture attached.

He did use a starter bacteria product when he set the tank up. He added the clownfish after letting the tank sit for few days. He did say that clowns would not be able to live in this tank indefinitely and would outgrow the tank and that I would have to size up.

I think I am going to size up the tank to a 15-20 gallon tank, turn this around and keep the corals healthy, and wait a while until I add fish back into a larger tank.

Thank you all!

Sorry, I just missed this. Cute looking setup for sure, but you have obviously dry, dead, base rock. You simply CANNOT start a tank with fish and corals all on day one using this kind of rock. I think others would agree that in light of this, you should run far, very far from this LFS. I fear they are after your money in the short term, and not interested in your long-term success.

Please stick with advice from others here. Repost your questions on some of the other forums, and you will get some sound advice.

Best of luck, don't give up! Happy New Year!