Damsels lost

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richardiv87

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Nov 22, 2004
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I just put 3 damsels into my newly cycled tank (the ammonia spike, nitrite spike, and the whole lot went well, if not quickly - 1.5 weeks only), and within 12 hours I have lost 2 of them. The third looks ok, but compared to the other 2, anything does! Any idea what may have caused this? Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 10-20, pH 8.2, Salinity 1.023, temp 76. Very confused at why this has happened.

Now, given this is the case, do I leave the fish in the tank (will this effectively recyle the tank with a more hardy ammonia spike?), or do I take them out?

Please help. Also, I have a lot of very small white "things" crawling around on the glass and are also swimming around. No idea what they are - help is appreciated on this also. Thank you!
 

Unit4

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Nov 26, 2004
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Did you acclimate the fish at all, or just drop them in?

Adding 3 fish at once is not a good idea. they should be added slowly over a long period of time (a week in between at least)
 

richardiv87

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Nov 22, 2004
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Was going on the recommendation of the lfs...all at once, acclimated over about 45 minutes (using drip method). Would have thought that the fish get too territorial if not added at the same time. Do you think I should leave them in the tank or take them out?
 

AW2EOD

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Sounds like you didnt do anything wrong. One thing you have to consider is that the 3rd damsel killed the other 2. They are not "nice, peaceful" fish. When I fisrt started salt...using my 55gal. tank, I used 3 damsels to cycle the tank. They survived the cycle, but one of the damsels killed the other 2.

Damsels can live through almost anything. I've had damsel live in a tank where the nitrate levels were 190ppm.....when anything over 80ppm - 100ppm is poison to fish.

The "white things" you have in your tank are good. Leave them be, and dont try to clean them out. They are small organisms called "pods". They are a sign of a healthy tank.

I'd leave the remaining damsel in the tank, wait another 2 weeks (keep testing the water in case your cycle period isnt over) and if everything is fine after that, I'd start adding whatever fish you want to stock the tank with.
 

richardiv87

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Nov 22, 2004
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Strange thing is that according to the books and research, the one that survived was the most timid of all three...guess it depends on the personality.

One further question, and thank you all for your input, should I leave the ones that didnt make it in the tank, or will it cause problems?
 

Dewey115

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May 15, 2004
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How big is your tank? Are you sure that your ammonia tests are accurate? Adding three fish to a tank will cause another increase in ammonia then nitrites like another mini cycle. What kind of water are you using? Maybe there is something in your water that is killing them? Damsels I have seen are usually not aggressive enough to kill all of the other fish within a few hours (especially other damsels), they just pester the hell out of everything most of the time IME, and if your tank is large enough they will be fine together and mainly bother any other fish you have, each staying in their own territory in the tank. Do you know if the water has enough oxygen? Without enough oxygen in a smaller tank the water may have quickly been consumed by the fish killing two of them. Is the third one breathing heavily? And take the others out of the tank, something has killed them and just leaving them in their to pollute the tank might kill the last one.

Rick
 

richardiv87

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Nov 22, 2004
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Thanks Rick

Actually lost the other one soon after...

55Gal tank with 80lbs LR, and a 4.5" sand bed (not yet live, but getting there). Water quality is good (pods, feather dusters, shrooms, and mini-stars as evidence), although did use mixed tap water, but ran it in the tank for a good week before adding even the sand - yes, quite a sand storm. Don't think oxygen is an issue as I have a pump running 24/7. Would a carbon filter cause problems?

Will be testing, and testing, and testing for a couple of weeks, and then try again. If thats not successful, I may try re-cycling the tank. Thoughts on that?
 

Dewey115

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Carbon shouldn't hurt anything, especially not at this stage. I use carbon all the time, just change it often and you will be fine. Oxygen can still be low even with pumps, I used to have to have one of my powerheads make many bubbles so that I felt comfortable with the oxygen level in my tank. After the skimmer I haven't had to worry at all. Surface agitation will help, but depending on how much you have in the tank I doubt it would be enough. Might still be something in your water, but with pods and other critters living I doubt it is that. My suggestion is to let is settle for a while the way it is, preferably try to find some RO water and do your water changes with that (I noticed a massive improvement in my old tank by only switching to RO water instead of tap water). A local store here has a water "station" that has RO water in it for pretty cheap. Hell even walmart has a Culligan water thing. Its much more expensive than where I get mine, but its worth it if you cant find a cheaper place for it (or get your own RO unit... but I dont have one either so I cant say I consider it a need if you have other access to RO water... more of a nice extra). Once things settle down slowly add a fish at a time and see how it goes. If you see that it is breathing heavily you need more oxygen. This should be a good start and as long as you go slow it should be pretty easy to find out your problems before they kill off everything. Good luck

Rick
 
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