no luck with fish

crankthecar

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Hi i got a red sea reefer 250 about 2 and a helf months ago my coral's are doing great but I can't get fish to survive in my tank my blue yellow tail damsel is my only surviving fish i started with 2 chromies a few days later I added a powder blue tang after 2 weeks 1 chromie died and then the the powder blue tang got caught up in the gyro power head a few days later it died and then the other chromie died I bought a powder brown tang lasted a week and died i ordered a Spotbreast Angelfish female and mides Blenny from live aqwariu (not from diverse den) the Blenny was dead when i turned up the light im not sure it even arrived alive and then the angel fish died 3 days later
I'm scratching my head what am I doing wrong? I'm taking aqlimating very seriously any advice from someone? I can't keep going on in this hobby if I'm keep on loosing fish
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crankthecar

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will quarantine and treating fish help if yes what is the best way to do it ?
 

laverda

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Tell us more about your tank; Parameters, Age, water source? What symptoms have the fish exhibited before dying. Your tank looks brand new so I suspect it has not finished cycling. Ammonia and Nitrite are both toxic to fish. The fact your corals look ok counters that thought though.
 

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will quarantine and treating fish help if yes what is the best way to do it ?

Generally, yes, that's the best practice. You will get lots of opinions about if/how to QT.

At least observing your new fish for a couple weeks to keep serious disease out of the tank would be a good start. Some folks even go as far as to use copper, antibiotics, and deworming meds for every fish.
 
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crankthecar

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Tell us more about your tank; Parameters, Age, water source? What symptoms have the fish exhibited before dying. Your tank looks brand new so I suspect it has not finished cycling. Ammonia and Nitrite are both toxic to fish. The fact your corals look ok counters that thought though.
Nitrate is at about 8 im using rodi water
 

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I have just the opposite - my fish are doing great for years on end (I got to add more tanks to house them and their offspring) but my corals keep dying after a year tops...
 

Dark_Knightt

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will quarantine and treating fish help if yes what is the best way to do it ?
You definetly want to QT fish if you are adding them to a tank that already has fish. I cycled with clowns and I only have clowns in the tank for now. Some species of fish dont need to be QTd, because they dont fare well in QT or because they simply dont need medications, such as mandarins ( special diet prolly wont work in small tank [QT], and they have a thick protective slime coat and they taste terrible, and no pests want to bite down on that. But definetly QT if you already have other inhabitants.
 

vetteguy53081

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You are placing some delicate or challenging fish into what seems like a new tank and simply not recommended for tank yet.
TYou are likely experiencing a curve when it comes to ammonia, nitrate, ph, etc.
I recommend you not stock for about a month and allow the tank to mature a little more and continue to monitor the tank via water testing.
 

Bnutz

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I have also lost more fish than corals. I do qt both in the same tank. No meds. With a temp and drip acclimate of 3x bag water. I found a lfs that keeps their fish in 1.025 water and all fish seem to be doing well. I tried another place that keeps 1.018, runs copper, and high temps. I never kept a fish alive from them. Try finding a store close to your tank parameters it should be less stressful on the fish
 
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crankthecar

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You definetly want to QT fish if you are adding them to a tank that already has fish. I cycled with clowns and I only have clowns in the tank for now. Some species of fish dont need to be QTd, because they dont fare well in QT or because they simply dont need medications, such as mandarins ( special diet prolly wont work in small tank [QT], and they have a thick protective slime coat and they taste terrible, and no pests want to bite down on that. But definetly QT if you already have other inhabitants.
I'm planning on getting a pair of dragonnets but not before a my thank is half year old
 
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crankthecar

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I have just the opposite - my fish are doing great for years on end (I got to add more tanks to house them and their offspring) but my corals keep dying after a year tops...
I'm sorry to hear that i know how it feels when you keep on losing live stock
 

MrSalty

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That's crazy. Have you tested for anything beyond Nitrates? What is your salinity at? I lost a new cleaner shrimp yesterday and felt terrible. I can't even imagine loosing a tank, let alone multiple.
 

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Lot of problems here. I agree with most of what has been said above. Want to add that a potential problem is you are selecting inappropriate fish for the tank. Red Sea 250 is what 55gal 35x20in foot print. Powder blues and spot breast angels need a tank double that size. Checking your amonia and taking it slow is the first thing to do. For diseases velvet is possible given the time line, but in a new tank like that and adding that many fish over a short period of time I would lean towards ammonia. Fish in cycles are pretty dangerous even with bacteria in a bottle. They need more than a couple days to get through. And difficult and high bioload fish like tangs and angels should wait a while after cycling for an established tank. Remember the adage nothing good happens fast in a reef tank.
 
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Haydn

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If the photo in the first post is current, then I'm afraid your tank has not cycled, there is no sign of algae, diatoms or anything which would suggest the tank is maturing. In order for us to help you need to test ammonia, nitrite, Ph, as a minimum and tell us what the SG is. The damsel has survived because they are particularly tough, the other fish you have mentioned are not.
 

KyRo

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If the photo in the first post is current, then I'm afraid your tank has not cycled, there is no sign of algae, diatoms or anything which would suggest the tank is maturing. In order for us to help you need to test ammonia, nitrite, Ph, as a minimum and tell us what the SG is. The damsel has survived because they are particularly tough, the other fish you have mentioned are not.

I agree. My tank looked this new in the first two weeks. It definitely doesn't look very ready.
 

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I'm not seeing a 2+ months old tank in the picture provided.
 
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crankthecar

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That's crazy. Have you tested for anything beyond Nitrates? What is your salinity at? I lost a new cleaner shrimp yesterday and felt terrible. I can't even imagine loosing a tank, let alone multiple.
salinity is 1.026
 

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