Fish keep dieing,,what can be wrong

[Germanman]

I knew I could count on you G Man..I am inclinded to think there is something in the water that I can't test for myself..
I wont let the tubes test the water from now on..that is for sure..
I do use ro water,,I will buy 1 more fish and see what happens,if it dies in three hours too then I know something is wrong no matter if the crabs are still alive..They are so hardy apparently...
If the fish dies I will change out my water..would taking 40% out send my into another cycle?? I don't care if it does I just wont to fix what ever is wrong..

sometime crabs are very tolerable to toxins they actually catch crabs in polluted water ways to test how concentrated the pollutants are(another reason i dont sea shellfish). make sure the fish is form somewhere else and i would do the water change now or at least before u add anything more....you may need to cycle a bit after but i have done up to 70% water changes without nay effect just make sure when u do it do it slow and make sure the new water matches perfectly so there is no shock. i would also recommend adding a carbon or similar substance to absorb any left over toxins ore unwanted substances.

 

[missc4]

Ok..I would feel better changing 70% of my water,then I know what ever is in there is gone.If it is some type of posion,,do you think it has hurt my rock or sand?I took the carbon balls out but I have a bag of carbon down there,,I replaced everything in the sump with live rock but I will be putting the carbon balls back in there..Thanks so much I will let you know how it goes

 

[Germanman]

Ok..I would feel better changing 70% of my water,then I know what ever is in there is gone.If it is some type of posion,,do you think it has hurt my rock or sand?I took the carbon balls out but I have a bag of carbon down there,,I replaced everything in the sump with live rock but I will be putting the carbon balls back in there..Thanks so much I will let you know how it goes

70% is a lot it will most likely harm the rock and any bacteria and microbes u have started in there it would be batter to do no more than 40% and then maybe 2 days later another 15-30%

 

[missc4]

ok..I will do that.40% and then again a few days later with 15 to 30 %..thats sounds easier than 70% too..lol..Guess I know what I will be doing tomorrow..So how long after I do this would you wait and try a fish? I will test the water myself to see if there is another cycle but if there isn't how long would you wait?

 

[Germanman]

ok..I will do that.40% and then again a few days later with 15 to 30 %..thats sounds easier than 70% too..lol..Guess I know what I will be doing tomorrow..So how long after I do this would you wait and try a fish? I will test the water myself to see if there is another cycle but if there isn't how long would you wait?

would let it run with the carbon switching like i recommended for that time then do a water change replace the carbon one last time and add the fish.
good luck!

 

[missc4]

Thanks G Man..one last qusetion..how much carbon would you put in..135 gallon tank 20 gallon sump..sump doesn't have 20 gallon in it though..lol

 

[Germanman]

Thanks G Man..one last qusetion..how much carbon would you put in..135 gallon tank 20 gallon sump..sump doesn't have 20 gallon in it though..lol

oh wow umm...i cant remember the amount per gallon..i just used pre sized bags...um....i wana say its 1/2 or 1/4 cup per gallon...in a media bag...but i cant remember now....for so many years i have just filled in and refilled the bags...lol now ill have to figure it out...lol...darn my stupid OCD:coffee:

 

[SHK_ATK]

I sat up my 135 gallon it cycled.Added a damsel and she did fine for a hour or so,died in 3 hours,three more damsels followed and they died in three hours.Today I tried a bar goby he too was fine for about an hour,,started breathing hard at two hours and died by the third..I don't understand what is going on.I checked my water and even took it to be tested,,salt is at 23, amm at 0 nitrites 0 nitrates 0..My crabs are living and doing great I added some more crabs several days ago as well as an emerald crab and all are fine.Any ideas? I am so discouraged and I don't know what to do..Fish die in three hours,no more than two..I don't get it,they seem fine then they start panting and kill over..I know there is plenty of water movement..I have the sump and two power heads going..

If your reading are 0 AMO,ITES,AND ATES, Then your tank is NOT cycled. You need to have some sort of Ates in there, what are your phosphate levels also you can test for copper. But you mentioned you use RO try using RO/DI water instead. Something might be leaching into your tank to have Damsels die. Those are the hardiest (sp?) species you can throw into a SW tank. Did you wash out the sand and LR with ro water? what type of sand are you using. Also using the drip method is WAY better IMO then just dumping some water into a bag every 30 or so min. It gived the fish ample time to slooooooowly adjust to YOUR water vrs the lfs water. But like someone mentioned it will take 2-3 hrs but I rather do this then loose anyfish. So far no deaths in my tank. Anyways hope everything turns out okay. Bigger IS easier.

 

[managuay86]

Dang that sucks, im sorry for that. But you said there are crabs and rock living in the 150? well this thing maybe over looked (if indeed you over looked it ) but invertabrates can tolorate a higher salt level that fish can I know it may sound silly but during my start into the hobby i actually lost fish to water that was too salty... but a more reasonable cause would be a chemical leached in the water since damsels, like shk atk said, are pretty hardy and they are dying. I just dont understand how fish can die like that? I float new fish for five minutes and toss them in the tank and they are eating 30 minutes later. I literally have to put bleach in my tank to kill my fish. I havent lost a fish yet... (knocks on wood) im sorry i dont mean to brag but its just mind boggling.

 

[In2deep]

I had a 60 gallon a long time ago that was a little cloudy from the addition of the new bulk sand when I started it up. It was cloudy for a long time but tested ok. After I thought it had cleared enough I added some fish. The water tested fine but the debris in the water was killing them. Once I had it COMPLETELY clear everything was ok and the tank was great until I had to move. Just something to consider.

Also when I first started I had a hard time picking healthy fish. Now I try not to rely on the store to pick the fish. If they can get away with it they will sell you the ones that are already dead.