My tank is dying?

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glower0617

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Apr 20, 2004
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Well, I know that it is too late for anyone to help me fix this now but I need to understand why all of my fish are dying off rapidly one after another in less than a weeks time.

I have a 90 gal tank with 30 lbs of Fiji, 2-3 inches of crushed pink coral for substrate, 15 turbo snails, 20 red legged crabs, 1 yellow tang, 1 percula clown, 2 damsels. Filtration is a Pro Clear Aquatics wet/dry sump. Lighting is a Coralife 300w with 2 Actinic bulbs.

It started last weekend. My Powder Blue Tang showed signs of Ich so I began treatment with Greenex so that I would not kill my snails. I was told that it should clear up in a week. Well during the course of the week the remainder of my fish have been dying off 1 a day. They look like they cannot see where they are going so they start not eating. I have completed 45 gallons of water change over the couse of last week using 5 stage RO system I have under my sink. There are no traces of ammonia, safe level of nitrite, PH is at 8.1. Nitrates were above normal last week which is why I did a massive water change over the course of the week.

I have had this tank running for 6 months with no problems like this.

I love my aquarium but this is very dissapointing. I feel like I have let my inhabitants down. Can anyone help so I have a better chance next time?

:sad

Thanks
 
What do you mean by safe level of Nitrite? The only safe level is 0 same with ammonia. Your tank was probably in a constant turmoil with the fish you chose to keep. The Powder Blue is one of the nastiest of all Tangs and I would not keep 2 of any tang in a 90 especially with one as nasty as them with another Tang. Ich was bound to happen at some point. Then Damsels and Clowns should not be kept together as they are in the same family and will fight viciously as adults. Also you really need to get more live rock at some point. Live rock serves as a filter (mother nature uses it) and provided protection and safety. The fish might not have been feeling safe with that little of live rock and hiding places. Also for the next time, I personally am totally anti-chemical. I will not use any chemical to treat a disease in any of my saltwater tanks. I would have gotten a Cleaner Shrimp or Neon Goby and added Garlic to their food at the first signs of ich. Anyway, just all thoughts as to what to do next time. Hope this helps and sorry for your loss.
 
The nitrite was not registering. The slight tint to the test that did not meet the minimum measurable level.

I was instructed that I could keep the two tangs in the tank if they were introduced at the same time. I was also reading this week that Ich can also be caused by stress so the 2 tangs in the tank probably caused some of the issue. I will know better next time.

I was feeding them mysis shrimp and seaweed all soaked in Garlic Guard by Seachem. When you soak your food do you drain off the excess garlic before feeding?

I am exploring the reefugium method for filtration to create a more natural means for filtration on my next adventure.

Would you recommend draining the entire tank and replacing the substrate before starting again?
 
I had a similar problem with ich (one fish died then the others started to go one at a time) and have inverts so my treatment options were limited. I got a cleaner shrimp, add garlic to their food every few days and invested in a UV sterilizer. I am happy to say the ich disappeared and has never come back. I also test regularly to keep ammonia and nitrites at 0. At first the cost of a UV steralizer seems like a lot but compared to loosing a tank of fish it is affordable.
 
A UV sterilizer sounds like a good option. I had not considered this before. Are they difficult to maintain?

I still think that the higher levels of nitrate are what started the visious cycle that I had happen. Stress, Ich and slow death.
 
nitrate

I had a small but unrelenting level of nitrate in my tank when I first started out as well ... for like the first 8 months ... no matter what I couldn't get it to come down llower then 20 or so. After talking things out with the gang here I decided that it must be my crushed coral layer over my sandbed that was the culprit. Over the course ouf about 2 weeks I worked on getting the coral out and once 50 % of it was gone my nitrates were nearly unmeasurable ... I still have like 10-15% of the coral in as I didn't want to completely break down my tank to get it out but I usually have unmeasurable (if any) nitrate now. You may want to think about that as a cause of your problem. I also want to add that you do need quite a bit more live rock (as stated earlier). I have a 40g tank and until I got 30lbs of live rock in there it didn't do a whole lot in maintaining the health of the tank, now along with the rock I have a skimmer and a powerfilter running but the filter doesn't have any filter media in it, I use it stricktly for water movement ... the rock adn the skimmer keep the tank in order.

Hope you get your tank up and running well, I know it takes a lot of effort until it's going well and then it's wonderful!
 
I really appreciate everyone's input on my problem. I did not expect so much advice so quickly. I have posted here in the past and did not receive this much help.

Thanks

Any more advice is greatly appreciated.
 
Glower,
I think the UV sterilizer is very easy to maintain. Setting up the pump and all of the tubing at first was the only minor hassle. It runs trouble free. Hope this helps.
 
crushed coral

The crushed coral is larger then sand grains and thus makes small pockets where debris gets caught easily. As the debris decays it gives off the nitrates and nitrites which are the bad things. It seems that the snail and crabs try to clean it well but are often unsuccessful due to all the pockets the crushed coral makes, at least that has been my experience. When you have just the sand bed the debris is larger the the grains of sand and stays on top making it easy for the clean up crew to get to or for you to remove by hand if necessary. Taking away the crushed coral opens up all those pockets and will help get rid of and cut back on debris that is allowed to settle and decay in the tank thus reducing nitrate and nitrite levels.

Hope that helps.
 
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