Fishes keep dying =(

[sparks1107]

Hi guys I kinda new to marine hobby and my fishes keep dying in my 2ft tank. pH & nitrite is fine. and got no idea why the fishes keep dying.

currently using berlin airlift 60

and a jebo waterfall filter

[Solo77]

bro, dont give up but be patient. Maybe you want to consider cycling your tank longer to make it mature before adding livestock. i suggest you get a better skimmer for your 2ft tank...i have used prism and i find it worked....hence if you are on budget side...can consider as some bros here are selling.....water parameters include pH, SG, nitrite, nitrate and phos. level. search thr the forum to understand more in cycling and initial setup. Hope this help. : )

Hi guys I kinda new to marine hobby and my fishes keep dying in my 2ft tank. pH & nitrite is fine. and got no idea why the fishes keep dying.

currently using berlin airlift 60

and a jebo waterfall filter

[sparks1107]

bro, dont give up but be patient. Maybe you want to consider cycling your tank longer to make it mature before adding livestock. i suggest you get a better skimmer for your 2ft tank...i have used prism and i find it worked....hence if you are on budget side...can consider as some bros here are selling.....water parameters include pH, SG, nitrite, nitrate and phos. level. search thr the forum to understand more in cycling and initial setup. Hope this help. : )

thanks for the reply. nitrate and phos is a must have for FOWLR tank? im a NSF =( low income. already bought this skimmer so was thinking it'll b a waste if i buy another skimmer. ive already cycled my tank for quite some time (few mths). and been doing 10-20% water change at least every fortnight if not weekly. with seawater bought from pasir ris fish farm. is the seawater healthy for waterchange? or do i have to buy marine salt and mix myself?

btw, my temp is 25-28 degrees with a fan attached.

any other reasons y my fishes will die?

[sparks1107]

btw, any idea how much will a prism skimmer cost? price of 1st/2nd hand?

[Kalib]

Nitrate and phosphates are not must have, but should be monitored. High nitrates is toxic to fish.

I would like to ask a few questions to find out more, perhaps it can shed some light on the cause of death:

- What fishes did you buy? Some species don't do well(some don't ship well) in the aquarium and die very easily.

- How fast did you stock the aquarium? Although it has been cycled for a long time, stocking the aquarium too fast would cause ammonia and nitrite to spike.

- Any possibility of water pollution? Example: From house-hold cleaning agents(maybe in spray form), pesticides(spray/fumigation), hand creams.

- How did the fish die? Any signs of disease, spots, swelling, reddish markings etc.

Do a search in the bargain corner, the prices are stated when the prism is sold 2nd hand. Its much cheaper than buying brand new.

Usually, natural seawater is alright for water change. It should not have caused the deaths unless the seawater itself has been polluted or carry some disease.

[Solo77]

that is a sound advice from bro kalib.

For the prism skimmer, second hand should cost you 80 and below....i do come across reefer selling for 35....but depending on your luck. For first hand, if not wrong, it should be above 200....

[Underwater]

Sound advice from bro kalib.

Just to add that phosp. remover is not a must. Just that nuisance algae will grow more. Nitrate cannot be too high. Ammonia and nitrite are toxic to fishes and shd be zero. Water parameters are one of the most critical factors. But some fishes died not because of water, it is the fish itself. Some are poorly shipped and handled by the LFS, some highly caught using too much cyniade which ruined internal organs, some species just dun do well in home tanks like cleaner wrasse, some harassed buy existing tank fishes, etc etc. Check your water parameters first, if ok, when you buy fishes, go for the hardy ones and asked the LFS to feed pellets to see if the fishes eat before you buy.

[sparks1107]

Nitrate and phosphates are not must have, but should be monitored. High nitrates is toxic to fish.

I would like to ask a few questions to find out more, perhaps it can shed some light on the cause of death:

- What fishes did you buy? Some species don't do well(some don't ship well) in the aquarium and die very easily.

- How fast did you stock the aquarium? Although it has been cycled for a long time, stocking the aquarium too fast would cause ammonia and nitrite to spike.

- Any possibility of water pollution? Example: From house-hold cleaning agents(maybe in spray form), pesticides(spray/fumigation), hand creams.

- How did the fish die? Any signs of disease, spots, swelling, reddish markings etc.

Do a search in the bargain corner, the prices are stated when the prism is sold 2nd hand. Its much cheaper than buying brand new.

Usually, natural seawater is alright for water change. It should not have caused the deaths unless the seawater itself has been polluted or carry some disease.

just did a 10% water change ytd and 2 of my fishes died again. =( and the algae eater fish jumped out during night time but i managed to put in back in time before it dies. the prawns were jumping like mad during the night. any reason y are they behaving like this?

- dont think its the species i bought. cos i bought many different species before but none survive. had bought before clowns, antieas (think not the right spelling), ah goh goh (thats the way its pronounced) lol, gobies etc. none of the clowns i bought survived zz, think at least 20 clowns died in my tank. really love the clowns but too bad =( really jaded to keep them already.

- normally i buy at least 5 fishes whenever i go for a trip to pasir ris farm. cause the journey is too far, buying more will make it worthwhile. =) is ammonia and nitrite spike be the main reason y my fishes died? nitrite shldnt be a problem because i do check my nitrite once in a while. but i dont do ammonia checks. do i have to buy a testkit for ammonia? or just stick with weekly water change? but whenever i do water change at least 1 fish will die and the prawns will jump crazily. so im always hesitant whenever i do water change.

- dont think the water will be polluted because its at one corner of my room, but will try to take note of this concern.

- the fishes either died of red markings or white spots. for clowns their skins normally look like peeling (with webby thing) on their bodies before they die. any reason for that?

- last question, normally whenever i bought all the fishes i will just empty the water and throw them into my tank right away. shld i be doing anything like acclimatization? however, i donno how to do it even after reading much on it. can some1 tell me how to go about doing it? thanks.

thanks for the replies guys. really appreciate it very much. hope to solve my problems fast so i can keep healthy fishes in my tank!

[sparks1107]

My 2ft tank!

[sparks1107]

Blue sea fan + 2 "blurr fishes" 1 of them died =(

[sparks1107]

My first corals and the irritating hermit crab!

[RevellClownfish]

Buy bio bact..any brand will do..Our tank need regular dose of bacteria...

[sparks1107]

Buy bio bact..any brand will do..Our tank need regular dose of bacteria...

im using API stress zyme for bio filtration boosting atm. i use it whenever i change my water. which is like once a week or every fortnight.

[Kalib]

just did a 10% water change ytd and 2 of my fishes died again. =( and the algae eater fish jumped out during night time but i managed to put in back in time before it dies. the prawns were jumping like mad during the night. any reason y are they behaving like this?

Its unusual for prawns to be jumping like mad, it might be something in the room is spooking the prawns.

- dont think its the species i bought. cos i bought many different species before but none survive. had bought before clowns, antieas (think not the right spelling), ah goh goh (thats the way its pronounced) lol, gobies etc. none of the clowns i bought survived zz, think at least 20 clowns died in my tank. really love the clowns but too bad =( really jaded to keep them already.

Its possible you may not be acclimatizing the fish properly or there's a water quality problem. Its unusual to lose so many clowns as they do well in marine aquariums in general.

Some of the species you bought are difficult to keep, better to attempt them only when you've understood their needs and able to provide for them:

- Anthias, depending on which specie, can be very difficult to keep and die easily. They need many feedings a day to thrive.

- Ah goh goh, if i'm not wrong is the clown sweetlips. These get very big and best kept in a 6ft tank or larger IMO. From what i've read, these fish fare very poorly as well.

- Some gobies are sand sifters and don't eat typical aquarium food. They only consume the critters in the sandbed by scooping up mouthful of sand and filtering these critters out. These fish can starve over time in a 2ft tank, better kept in a much larger aquarium.

- normally i buy at least 5 fishes whenever i go for a trip to pasir ris farm. cause the journey is too far, buying more will make it worthwhile. =) is ammonia and nitrite spike be the main reason y my fishes died? nitrite shldnt be a problem because i do check my nitrite once in a while. but i dont do ammonia checks. do i have to buy a testkit for ammonia? or just stick with weekly water change? but whenever i do water change at least 1 fish will die and the prawns will jump crazily. so im always hesitant whenever i do water change.

This is definitely one of the causes of your problems. Adding 5 fishes to a 2ft tank is way too many fishes, I would recommend no more than 1-2fishes at a go. Between each addition, you should give a gap of 2-3weeks at least to give the bacteria time to multiply for them to handle the new bioload.Adding 5 fishes will definitely cause an ammonia and nitrite spike(very likely at levels sufficient to cause problems) as the bioload increase is too sudden and the bacteria cannot cope immediately. Adding only 1-2fishes at a go helps to minimize the impact of an increase in bioload. The journey is far, but its not worthwhile if your losing your fish. This wastes both your money and the lives of the fishes.

In general, there is no need to test for ammonia/nitrite again after cycling unless you suspect there's a problem with the water quality and need to monitor it. You may want to consider buying your natural seawater from another LFS or make your own artificial seawater. Unless your doing too large a water change(more than 50%), its unusual to have fish dying during the water change.

- dont think the water will be polluted because its at one corner of my room, but will try to take note of this concern.

Do you keep the water aerated? From what i read, you need to keep natural seawater aerated. I can't really remember the reason at this moment, but it is something along the lines of keeping it from going stale.

- the fishes either died of red markings or white spots. for clowns their skins normally look like peeling (with webby thing) on their bodies before they die. any reason for that?

The red marks and webby thing sound very much like symptoms of finrot. This is likely to be caused by poor water quality, possibly ammonia/nitrite levels being too high. I experienced this when i first started and failed to cycle my tank properly prior to adding fish.

Whitespots are caused by a parasite. It is relatively common in the marine aquarium and usually brought on by poor water quality or stress.

- last question, normally whenever i bought all the fishes i will just empty the water and throw them into my tank right away. shld i be doing anything like acclimatization? however, i donno how to do it even after reading much on it. can some1 tell me how to go about doing it? thanks.

Are you emptying the contents of the LFS bag into your display tank? The water from the LFS is likely to carry alot of disease and you should avoid adding any to the tank.

Yes, you shoud acclimatize your livestock prior to introduction. This is likely to be another factor causing your fishes to die. The salinity and pH of your tank water is likely to be different from the LFS. The sudden increase in salinity and pH can cause the fish to be stressed and die or fall ill.

This is how i acclimatize my livestock:

1. Without opening the bag, clean the bag with freshwater and then float it in the tank for 30mins.

2. Empty the contents of the bag in a seperate pail. I bought small pails for this purpose.

3. Fill a 1.5litre bottle with saltwater from my display tank. At the base of the bottle, i have opened a hole and attached a rubber airpump tube to it with a plastic valve at the end.

4. Using a plastic valve(don't use metal) attached to a 1.5litre bottle, i slowly drip saltwater from my display tank into the pail. The rate is around 2-3drops per second. If you don't have a valve, loosely tying a knot or two along the tube should serve the same purpose as having a valve to control the flowrate.

5. Drip and monitor the water level in the pail and how does the livestock do periodically, usually once every 30mins or an hour.

6. Once I have estimated the water level has almost doubled, I remove around 50% of the water in the acclimatization pail and continue the dripping process.

7. If you want to play safe or the livestock is sensitive to sudden water parameter changes(corals, invertebrates), repeat step 6.

8. Using a suitably large plastic mug, scoop some water from the display tank and net the livestock gently from the pail and place it in the mug.

9. Release the livestock into the display tank slowly(best to let it leave the mug on its own), some coaxing maybe needed. Dimming or keeping the aquarium lights off for that day will help in acclimatizing.

Here's a picture of the bottle that i use:

Apologies for the blur pic, but this is the valve that i attach to the end of the tube:

[zola]

if u r using a fan to cool ur tank, the rate of evaporation should be pretty high. wat water do u use to top up ur tank? hope u din top up with more salt water cuz that will raise ur SG.

[jyoon]

Hi Kalib (Bro or Sis), way to go....! Good advice and sharing knowledge.

The way you acclimatize you fish is cool. Thanks for sharing.

Hi Weihao Bro

Stock up as slow as possible. Add 5 fishes at a go is far too many. Is your tank 2 * 1 * 1 (60cm * 30 cm * 30 cm) ? If yes, then it will be max 54 litres of water. Not forgetting your rocks and sand. Thus you should have max of 45 litres of water.

You might exceed the Bio load you tank can handle.

Normally for a start, I use 18 litres per 1 inch fish. This would means you can only have 2.5 inches fish (from head to tail).

You can push the limit to 9 litres per 1 inch fish when your tank mature.

You may wish to share what filter media you are using in your filter.

[sparks1107]

-think the prawns might be jumping because i didnt aerate my newly bought seawater before doing a water change. because the prawns only jumped like mad after i do a 10% water change.

-guess i have to heed your advice and get 1-2 fishes at a go.

-ill try to get seawater from another LFS and aerate the water for some time before doing water change. how long do i have to aerate the newly bought seawater?

-i did empty all the contents in the bag before throwing my fish into my tank w/o doing acclimatization.

-guess will try to make the same bottle as yours to do acclimatization.

thanks heaps for your time spent in teaching me. your post really helps. and your explanation on acclimatization is really good. thanks for your time once again. hope my tank will do well now.

[sparks1107]

Hi Kalib (Bro or Sis), way to go....! Good advice and sharing knowledge.

The way you acclimatize you fish is cool. Thanks for sharing.

Hi Weihao Bro

Stock up as slow as possible. Add 5 fishes at a go is far too many. Is your tank 2 * 1 * 1 (60cm * 30 cm * 30 cm) ? If yes, then it will be max 54 litres of water. Not forgetting your rocks and sand. Thus you should have max of 45 litres of water.

You might exceed the Bio load you tank can handle.

Normally for a start, I use 18 litres per 1 inch fish. This would means you can only have 2.5 inches fish (from head to tail).

You can push the limit to 9 litres per 1 inch fish when your tank mature.

You may wish to share what filter media you are using in your filter.

normally the fishes i bought are quite small. smaller than 2.5inches.

as for my filter it comes along with 1green plastic sponge at the bottom, a charcoal bag i bought many mths ago and 3white filter sponges which i have to cut myself and i change it like once every 1-2mths whenever the cotton is dirty. anything i can improvise on the filter?

[peacemaker]

I think you can't keep using the same charcoal over and over again. You have to change it periodically, say every 1 - 2 mths? You may need to change your filter wool more frequently as well.

I would do a 100% water change with NSW and re-start the ANN cycle without all the livestock. Test your water perimeters before adding them back in.

[sparks1107]

I think you can't keep using the same charcoal over and over again. You have to change it periodically, say every 1 - 2 mths? You may need to change your filter wool more frequently as well.

I would do a 100% water change with NSW and re-start the ANN cycle without all the livestock. Test your water perimeters before adding them back in.

by the way, what does the charcoal bag do actually? dont think i can do 100% change cause theres livestock in my tank at the moment and i dont have any spare tanks to house them. guess ill try to change my filter more often as well. thanks for recommendation.

[peacemaker]

Check out this link: Activated carbon

[Kalib]

Thanks for the compliments everyone, just doing my bit to help.

For aerating the seawater part, from what i know, so long as your storing it you should keep it aerated. If you use an airpump, do cover the container properly as the bubbling will cause saltwater to splash out and result in salt crystals forming outside the container. The salt spray will damage nearby electrical/metallic items.

The charcoal bag might be causing problems also, there is charcoal for freshwater and saltwater use. Do check that your using charcoal that can be used in saltwater systems.

[sparks1107]

Thanks for the compliments everyone, just doing my bit to help.

For aerating the seawater part, from what i know, so long as your storing it you should keep it aerated. If you use an airpump, do cover the container properly as the bubbling will cause saltwater to splash out and result in salt crystals forming outside the container. The salt spray will damage nearby electrical/metallic items.

The charcoal bag might be causing problems also, there is charcoal for freshwater and saltwater use. Do check that your using charcoal that can be used in saltwater systems.

ok will take note. the charcoal bag is bought separately from LFS for marine usage. so not to worry. thanks anyway.

[Underwater]

-think the prawns might be jumping because i didnt aerate my newly bought seawater before doing a water change. because the prawns only jumped like mad after i do a 10% water change.

-guess i have to heed your advice and get 1-2 fishes at a go.

-ill try to get seawater from another LFS and aerate the water for some time before doing water change. how long do i have to aerate the newly bought seawater?

-i did empty all the contents in the bag before throwing my fish into my tank w/o doing acclimatization.

-guess will try to make the same bottle as yours to do acclimatization.

thanks heaps for your time spent in teaching me. your post really helps. and your explanation on acclimatization is really good. thanks for your time once again. hope my tank will do well now.

Hi Wei Hao

If the prawns are adversely affected when you change water, then it got to do with the water you change. l know shrimps are very sensitive to sudden huge SG and temp change. Did you check the SG of your tank when you change water? (Hope you are not adding seawater to your tank to top up evaporated water cos SG will rise). If you are using the seawater right away after buying from LFS, there is no need to aerate it.

You definitely need to acclimatise your newly bought fish, cos the sudden shock in two different water parameters will stress up the fish, leading to easy attacks by parasites and diseases. l would recommend that, if possible, try to buy fishes that are hardy types, already quarantined in the LFS and eating pellets, if you have no time to quarantine at home.

l presumed you have already cycled your tank i.e. ANN cycle, which is the fundamental of marine tank setup.

Bro Kalib had shared lots of good advices. You could pick up from there.

Cheers...

[sparks1107]

Hi Wei Hao

If the prawns are adversely affected when you change water, then it got to do with the water you change. l know shrimps are very sensitive to sudden huge SG and temp change. Did you check the SG of your tank when you change water? (Hope you are not adding seawater to your tank to top up evaporated water cos SG will rise). If you are using the seawater right away after buying from LFS, there is no need to aerate it.

You definitely need to acclimatise your newly bought fish, cos the sudden shock in two different water parameters will stress up the fish, leading to easy attacks by parasites and diseases. l would recommend that, if possible, try to buy fishes that are hardy types, already quarantined in the LFS and eating pellets, if you have no time to quarantine at home.

l presumed you have already cycled your tank i.e. ANN cycle, which is the fundamental of marine tank setup.

Bro Kalib had shared lots of good advices. You could pick up from there.

Cheers...

I think the new seawater's salinity level could be too high? cause i normally dont check the SG for newly bought seawater. if it happens to be too high i just add tapwater to it? and my temp should be quite stable cause the shrimps are already in my tank for quite awhile. normally its 25 to 28 degrees.

for the evaporated water i use tapwater to top up.

i will try to acclimatise new fishes from now on. thanks guys.

ive already cylced my tank for some time already. in fact my tank is more than 4mths old already. ANN? care to elaborate on that?

any hardy fishes that are pretty =) to recommend? other than damsers and chromis.

yea bro kalib indeed shared alot to me and really appreciated that from him. thanks for your reply anyway.