Why do I have problems?

[bfons]

Here's the situation. I am simply going through certain fish and inverts. My tank is about 2 years old. I have the following:

45 Gal
1" of crushed coral
15 lbs of LR
1 - 402 Powerhead
1 - Power Head 201 (other side of tank)
36" Coralife Actinic/10,000K
Canister filter

I use RO water and do a 10% change weekly. When doing a water change, I used a gravel cleaner

Temp: 79F
Salinity: 1.024

Creatures that have been in the tank for 4 months or more and are doing well:
- Sebae Clown
- 8 or so Trochus Snails
- Emerald Crab
- Striped Damsel
- Branded Coral Shrimp
- Sea Hare
- Condy Anenome
- Spotted Hawkfish

Items that were in the tank and died in under 6 weeks:
- Small Foxface
- Sebae Anenome
- LT Anonome
- Green Mandarin

Any thoughts as to why I can't keep newcomers alive?

TIA

 

[Oliver]

don't gravel vac the bottom, that is a very bad thing to do. The stuff that is in the sand is good for the bacteria! I have a foxface and from experience they need algae to eat. Did you have lots of algae on your LR??? Did you feed him a high vegetable matter in his diet, like nori? The anemone may just not have had enough light. Do you not have a skimmer, if not, that is a big problem. The mandarin almost certainly died because there weren't any live copepods in the tank, becuase you gravel vac them out!!!!! Sounds like you don't really know what you are doing, I don't mean to sound offensive.

 

[LittlePuff]

I think ya did a little :duh: He's apparently fairly new at this.

Kim

 

[Oliver]

fair enough, but there are certain things that seem to be obvious. I also think that you should get some fine sand to go over the crushed coral, this would look a bit more pleasing as in my understanding, the crushed coral is just like bits of things, rather large.

 

[Max]

I think that you should get rid of 99.9% of the c.c. is you ever want to keep an anemone alive for more than a year at best. Anemones are VERY sesative to water quality and the c.c. is just traps detritus and doesn't provide any denitrification at all. The problem with putting fine sand over it is that it won't stay over it . When it falls into the space between the c.c. you still won't have a low o2 environment so you'll defeat the purpose of the change.
Just a small ," ok BIG", warning don't change out all your c.c. and adjust your water issues too fast or you'll hurt your anemones worse than the nitrate is now. They can't take the sudden shifts in water chemistry so in a set up like yours I wouldn't change out more than 1/4 at the time.
You won't need to gravel vac with a dsb ,"deep sand bed", and it will help all your nitrate sensative critters.
As to the mandrin it probably wasn't the vaccume your tank just isn't old enough yet for mandrins or anems really . I'd wait for at least 8 months so that pod and other micro life populations can increase enough to feed both of these critters. Since you've already had a mandrin ,"if you want another I'd do some reasearch first," I'd add the amount of time you had it in the tank to the equation. The anems need the foods and a really stable tank that this time provides.
hth
chris

 

[FloridaBoy]

Part of your problem is your selections, my friend.
Anemones and Mandarin Dragonets are among the most difficult creatures to maintain with long term success. They are not impossible, some have good success under the correct/special care they require. But, sadly for every advanced or lucky hobbyist who keeps one alive, millions die because they are sold/purchased by aquarists who are unprepared or unwilling to provide them with suitable environment, or lighting, or food, or whatever. This doesn't just apply to aquarium fish; every horticulturist knows placing a sun loving plant inside your closed garage will always result in failure. KNOW what you are buying/creating demand for, it is your responsibility. There are many life forms in the LFS that have no place in our hobby; nudibranchs, ribbon eels, cleaner wrasses, the list goes on.

The Foxface you chose is hardy enough, but even advanced hobbyists lose fish from time to time so don't get discouraged, the key is learning which fish to avoid and doing some research BEFORE you purchase. Your tank may benefit from a good quality skimmer, I am not a big fan of cannisters, nuff said. Your questions will lead to your success.

 

[Max]

Flboy you are 100% correct in practice. In reality though if you can give them what they need they really do quite well. The thing is most people buy these guys either on impulse or on bad advise from a lfs. I'd also have to add seahorses and tangs to those .

 

[bfons]

Thx

Thanks guys,

I was taught by another person to use the gravel cleaner. This was many years ago so he may have told me to use it sporadically and I missed that part. Hey, this will make my water changes go 100% faster!

I really like the look of the c.c. and am not interested in going with sand. Is it imperative I got to sand or can I stick with the c.c.?

As far as a protein skimmer. I guess I am a newbie as I really don't understand them. If I do add one, will this replace the canister? Also, would I want to run both until the skimmer builds up good bacteria?

Thanks for the help guys,

Brian

 

[bfons]

I have a foxface and from experience they need algae to eat. Did you have lots of algae on your LR??? Did you feed him a high vegetable matter in his diet, like nori?

The Sea Hare eats most of the algae so I kept nori in the tank.

Do you not have a skimmer, if not, that is a big problem.

Can you explain what exactly a Protein Skimmer does?

Sounds like you don't really know what you are doing, I don't mean to sound offensive.

I'm in agreement...More research to do! :read:

 

[Max]

If you want to keep anemones yes it's imperative to get rid of the c.c. IMO. It traps too many nutrients and will greatly affect their health. If you don't want s dsb and you have to keep anemones I'd go bare bottom and do frequent water changes.