soliver Posted January 31, 2009 Report Share Posted January 31, 2009 I started up my saltwater tank a little over a month ago. It is completely cycled. Levels are all good. But everytime i try to add a fish, it dies. Im thinking there is a toxin in the water(windex...ext). I dont know how to test for a problem like this and i really want to know how to get rid of it. I have been doing water changes, which seem to be helping a bit. I currently have a crab in the tank who seems to be doing fine but the fish keep dieing. I don't have any carbon in the tank right now. Is this something i should add? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CORVETTE Posted January 31, 2009 Report Share Posted January 31, 2009 What is the salinity in your tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osprey Posted January 31, 2009 Report Share Posted January 31, 2009 How have you been acclimating the fish? What kinds of fish have you tried? Which test kits are you using, and exactly what readings are you getting off of them? Just troubleshooting a few common trouble areas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soliver Posted January 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2009 The salinity in the tank is kept around 1.023. It can go up a bit when the water starts evaporating. When i acclimatize my fish, it takes about 2 hours. I slowly add a little water at a time into the bag, letting them get used to it before i add more. I can't remember the name of the test kit, but it isn't strips, I use the tubes. My readings are as follows. Ammonia -0 Nitrite-0 Nitrate- 0.25 PH- 8.2 The types of fish i have tried are.... Clowns- I bought 2 when my readings finally leveled out. I got them and they died by the next morning. Cleaner Wrasse- This guy was bought and lasted about 3 days. He ate the first day but after that he didn't. Lawnmower- He lasted about 4 days. Got him for free at the same time as i got the wrasse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osprey Posted February 1, 2009 Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 Hmmm... it's no surprise to see a cleaner wrasse kick the bucket (they really aren't very hardy; best left on the reef), but the clowns are a surprise. Usually clowns are bulletproof. What kind of behavior are they exhibiting? Any gasping at the surface for air? Are they still active in the bag while acclimating, or do they kind of lie there? Did you use anything out of the ordinary to clean the tank with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordo Posted February 1, 2009 Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 (edited) . Edited February 1, 2009 by sgordon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soliver Posted February 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 Ya i knew the cleaner wrasse wasn't very hardy. I just didn't want to lose another $30 fish so i went with a $5 one. When i was acclimatizing the fish, they were just laying there. There was no gasping at the surface, they(clowns) just layed on the bottom. When i first put them in, the swam around the tank for a bit, and then sat on the bottom. The only thing i use to clean the tank is a tank magnet. I leave it in the tank permanently so i don't have to touch the water. I have reactions whenever i put my hands in the tank so i try to limit it as much as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cuz Posted February 1, 2009 Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 maybe your re-acting to the same thing your fish are???lol are you using ro-di or tap water? maybe try fish from a different supplier? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soliver Posted February 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 I know that its not just my tank im reacting to, i can't go in the ocean either. I use tap water, but im starting to use half tap half RO. The fish i bought were hand picked by me, and were looking very healthy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cuz Posted February 1, 2009 Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 have you tested your tap water? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osprey Posted February 2, 2009 Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 Next time you acclimate, if they do the same thing (lying on the bottom), add an airstone, and neutralize any ammonia in the bag, as well (prime works well for that). They should still be alert and relatively active while acclimating. Lying in the bottom of the bag is a bad sign. My latest addition to the tank, a flame angel, laid in the bottom of the bag like that, but an airstone perked him back up. Not a bad idea to make sure your tank temp matches the temp of the store tank, as well. A move down in temperature can be particularly traumatic, in spite of all the care we take to acclimate them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soliver Posted February 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 Ok thanks for all the info. I will do my best to acclimatize them again. Buy something cheap and go from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishkabod Posted February 2, 2009 Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 The only other thing i can suggest as a non expert of any sort in saltwater anything is to Bring your own bags to bag the fish. Bag them in a much bigger bag and things might work out better. also you could try bringing some Prime with you to the store tp put in the bag prior to transporting the fish. The only other thing i can think of is bringing a battery powered air pump with you(stone and tubing too) Put them in a ice cream pail with a hole in the lid for the air pump. If it's cold outside you will want to warm the car up before you start up the air pump. Good luck L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soliver Posted February 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 I live not even 5 minutes from the pet store. So im not too concerned about the transport to my house. More just why they are dieing once they get in the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordo Posted February 3, 2009 Report Share Posted February 3, 2009 First off, soliver and i went to our LFS together to get the live rock. This may be a possibility why you are having so many problems...Remember how they packed your live rock? They used newspaper and then splashed some water on it after it was wrapped to keep the LR moist... Now would it be possible for some of the newsprint chemicals to leach out onto your live rock during transport? To me it makes sense because every time you wet a newspaper you can see the ink run all over. Has anyone else had experience with this? It sort of just popped into my head after reading the posts about transporting the live rock from the LFS. Our LFS in Sherwood park is relatively new to saltwater. Before they had all freshwater tanks. So maybe they didn't know... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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