Helllp

[LT1OwnzYou]

Lost 3 fish OVERNIGHT'~! The remaining ones are breathing pretty hard, and less active, what could cause this? It looks like they lost total colorl even the live ones are discolored. WHAT IS HAPPENING~?! DOING WATER CHANGE ASAP~!?

[MonoSebaelover]

How about you give a little more info on tank, fish that died, fish that are alive, water quality, filtration, etc.

[LT1OwnzYou]

55 Gallon, 20lbs live rock, Magnum 350 canister filter

lost

Dwarf Lionfish
Filefish

Fish that remain

Baby Marble cat shark
striped damsel
clarkii clown
bursa trigger
2 scooter blennys
hawaiin hawkfish

all seem to have a hell of a time breathing

did a 10% water swap on it

i JUST put in a carbon catridge in the magnum and now im getting these problems, ran it with the micron before... what is going on? Getting a test kit soon, but just 2 days ago the water quality was fine.
Its almost like their skin is flaking off...
I added some meds for ick yesterday as i saw it starting to develop in the trigger and he was brushin up against some rocks.

im clueless :confused: :confused:

[BrianH]

Did you test for ammonia & nitrites??? Sounds like the tank is overstocked and under filtered to me.

JMHO
Brian

[gcvt]

Originally posted by LT1OwnzYou
Getting a test kit soon, but just 2 days ago the water quality was fine.


How do you know if the water was okay 2 days ago if you don't have any test kits? Did you have it tested at your lfs? If so, what were the results? I suspect you have a serious water quality problem - that's a lot of fish for a 2-month-old 55g tank. Grab ammonia, nitrIte, and nitrAte tests kits or have your lfs run water tests for you; that will help in figuring this out.

[LT1OwnzYou]

I borrowed some from a freind
he just stopped by
Ammonia is ok, Nitrites are no good... Actually are way high... like 8ppm

I dont kno what the hell caused it so spike, but i need it lowered ASAP~!

My 10 gallon has spiked Nitrites as well...

other than water changes n e ways to lower that sucker and save my fish? I cant stand to lose n e more :shake:

[mogurnda]

One thing that is always recommended is that you soak new carbon before use. I am not sure if I believe it, but some say that dry carbon can suck the O2 out of your tank water.

I agree with the other posters about the tank being overloaded.

If I were to bet on anything, though, it would be burning from ich medication. What did you use, and how much?

[BrianH]

The only way to lower the nitrites is with water changes. The only way to keep them down is to remove the fish. See if your lfs can hold them for you until your tank is cycled.

You'll also have to see if they will take some back since a 55 can not handle that fish load.

Brian

[LT1OwnzYou]

I used MelaFix, reccomended to me by a guy at the LFS. Used less than the recommended dose. I soaked the carbon before putting in the new filter catridge, but just in case i have a bubble wall running if the o2 was sucked out. I will have to pick up some more salt later today, and continue changing the water till i can get it down...

Didnt think 6 fish would overstock a 55....

[DEmigh]

Generally speaking:

Medication + carbon = no medication

[Sregnar35]

Before you buy fish you really need to read as much as possible about them. Liveaquaria.com has info on what size tank is best for what fish. It's never going to be 100% perfect info, because most tank recommendations are debatable, but it's good info anyways.

[mogurnda]

Medication + carbon = no medication yep

[LT1OwnzYou]

I stopped the filter when i put in the meds :)
I was thinking of picking up some of the premade water at the LFS. U can buy it by the gallon there, maybe doing a few gallon swap that way. HTeir breathing is calming down some, I did research all the fish i have before purchasing, they all were doing great, eating, lively... just 2 days ago... this is crazy... Im just worried about losing my trigger, hawkfish, and shark... the others arent that expensive.. but those guys are the life of the tank.

so buy water good idea?

[Kurt]

Do you have also a power head to give some more surface movement in your tank than just the canister filter? Important to have the surface moving, will provide more oxygen than pumping air into the water is what I am told.

You mentioned you didn't think six fish were too many but if I count the dead ones and live ones you mentioned there is 9.
which I think would be OK if all small , but they grow so I am not sure what size fish you have. But also a no no to have that many fish in the new tank. At 2 months there shouldn't be more than a couple fish. I know , I know you have been told otherwise but now you know, this is what happens.

[LT1OwnzYou]

well they were all really small.. no bigger than 2 inches except for the shark. I have 2 powerheads. One small one, and one that used to be used in an outdoor pond that we no longer use, prolly a good 200gph pump.. so there is definitly current. I am going to try and swap out about 15 gallons of water today with some premade from my LFS, the fish seem to be breathing a little easier than earlier... Also going to add some of that Nitrite reducer to the canister, see if that helps... I would be ok if i didnt lose n e more fishies...

[MonoSebaelover]

All right I hate to be the one to say this but you REALLY need to slow down and learn about what fish are compatible and what aren't in your size tank. I can guarentee you that trigger in the near future will kill the Shark and both Scooter Blennies, and would have killed the Dwarf Lion and the filefish. Treating a main tank is a no no, and agree with everyone else that when you add carbon there is no more meds. So I think you learned a major lesson and I would suggest if they all survive either returning the Trigger and Shark, or the Shark and the Scooters. IMO keeping a shark in a 55g tank is cruel. They may not be very active but they are active enough to not work in a 55. Plus you are lucky because Sharks, Rays, and Eels can not handle medicines so be thankful you put carbon in the tank and DO NOT retreat with the Shark in there. It will kill him. Anyway, hope this helps.

[LT1OwnzYou]

From what I have been told, the trigger will not be aggressive to the other fish considering their size. The shark will not stay in the 55 for more than a few months. It will be upgraded to a good size 100+ tank. I dont plan to keep the trigger for its full life cycle, my LFS does fish credit on them so I am going to try to keep their size within reason. I would agree that its a learning experience. The premixed water change of 13 gallons seemed to knock the Nitrite levels down to right around 3ppm which is still high but considerably lower than the 8-9 i woke up to this morning. What does kinda tickle my brain is the LT anenome in the tank has suffered no adverse affects to the spike in nitrites. Usually they are extrememly sensitive to that sort of thing. I believe the tank will have a few weeks to get back on track.
I contacted my freind who does this for a living, he said the change in the 10 gallon was due to the live rock addition, just threw it out of wack. So it too will be left alone, just cleaned. Should straighten out with the new filter etc.

In either event, the fish breathing patterns have calmed significantly and activity is rising in the tank. Thanks for all the help! :D

[LT1OwnzYou]

On a related note. I am cautious of feeding the fish. I usually feed once to twice daily of 10-15 feeder guppies total. Of course the lion isnt going to be eatin em, just the trigger, shark, and oddly enough the clownfish. Food raises Nitrites... what would u suggest?

[racerX]

prior experience and alot of research after i had the same reaction from my fish in a QT led me to find that melafix sucks the oxygen out of the water and an air stone is a must if used. It will also kill the anenome, any snail, or star fish you have. even though it says it won't on the bottle. even a tupperware bowl would work for a QT just put in an air stone and a power head and you should be able to treat in that. I just found this out on here about two weeks ago. And it works. now i have an old ten gallon QT. but the melafix works but it just has some really bad side effects that the bottle don't tell you about. I had three fish die of lack of oxygen cause i medicated and then left for a few hours. hope this helps.

Shane

[LT1OwnzYou]

Well Melafix was the one recommended to do the least damage to any inverts. Like i said, i did use less than recommended, only 1 treatment, but i think it did suck the oxygen out of the water, the air stone has been going nonstop since morning as well as the powerheads.. water change seems to be helping a lot... still worried about feeding, I kno the fish can prolly stand a day or two without feeding... i hear sharky can go up to a week... maybe i should hold off a day or two??

[MonoSebaelover]

Whatever the fish store told you about the trigger is false. There is no peaceful trigger except for those in the genus Xanthichtys and even they can be aggressive. If a trigger doesn't have enough territory and too many space invaders they become VERY aggressive. The thing that draws me to them is they are very unpredictable. A trigger can be 100 percent amiable in a tank for months then over night kill every single fish and be a trigger only tank come morning. Just warning you now. Live foods increases triggers aggression by 50 percent because they find the small fish to be a game and soon they realize all their tankmates are games. Triggers are a lot smarter than most people give them credit for. They are called the saltwater fish that is most like a dog for a reason. They are extremely intelligent. As for feeding live freshwater fish to saltwater fish it is extremely bad and will dramatically reduce a fishes lifespan. If you feed a fw fish to sw fish the fw fish has 20 percent HIGHER fat concentration than your average saltwater fish which leads to fatty liver disease which causes the liver to grossly expand and crush all surrounding vital organs. A very slow painful death. It is the equivalent of making a person eat at McDonalds the rest of their lives. It is not good and dramatically decreases the life span. Food does not raise nitrites. Food is ingested by fish which then create waste (ammonia) and that is turned into Nitrite (by nitrifying bacteria) and is then turned into Nitrate. If you do not have enough bacteria to support the bioload and their eating habits then that creates an ammonia spike which is then turned into a Nitrite spike. So you are experiencing the second part of the cycle. I would highly suggest returning a couple of the fish until you learn the ropes of saltwater. BTW, anemones don't always show problems right away. The high Nitrite will kill it within a short while. Just warning you. Anyway, good luck.