Is it normal for fish to die after a coulple months?

[smith1571]

I keep losing my fish one by one I bought 4 lyrel tail anthias and one by one they dies about a month apart. My water parameters are always good. I also lost a clown trigger after 2 weeks and a pink tail anfter 4 months. Is this normal? Im guessing it isn't.

[billsreef]

Your right, that's not normal. Best place to start is describing your tank to us. What size, how it's set up, filtration, live rock, etc. , list the inhabitants, feeding regimen, and also the actual water test parameters. From that we might be able to come up with what's going on and be able to give you some good advice.

[JVITAL55]

Did you fill it with RO water or from the tap? If its from the tap did you dechlorinate it? Tap water has high amounts of chlorine, that will kill fish.

[smith1571]

I have a 65 gal tank with a 29g tank as a sump. I have just a coral beautie, a shrimp, and recently a sea hare in my upper tank. and I have a eel in my sump. I just have a skimmer as filtration and a phosphate reactor. its a bb tank. maybe 30 lbs of live rock I feed the anthias 1 x daily a mix of brine and mysis shrimp and the triggers I feed 1x daily with krill,clam,shrimp.
ammonia is 0
nitrate below 20ppm
nitrite 0
alkalinity 300ppm
ph 7.8
I use ro/di water

[LisaD]

were you putting all these fish in the same 65 gallon tank? I wouldn't think anthias would be compatible with triggers.

also, anthias aren't really beginner fish, and are better off, IMO in an established tank. also, aren't anthias supposed to be fed several times daily, with more variety? my mom used to keep them and she fed at least 3-4X a day. how long has your tank been set up?

other possibilities are that there is a disease pathogen or parasite in your tank - do you QT? also, fish that were caught with chemicals or otherwise stressed/diseased could die within the first few days to months...

I'd have more than 30 lbs live rock unless you have some other biofilter material.

[LisaD]

were you putting all these fish in the same 65 gallon tank? I wouldn't think anthias would be compatible with triggers.

also, anthias aren't really beginner fish, and are better off, IMO in an established tank. also, aren't anthias supposed to be fed several times daily, with more variety? my mom used to keep them and she fed at least 3-4X a day. how long has your tank been set up?

other possibilities are that there is a disease pathogen or parasite in your tank - do you QT? also, fish that were caught with chemicals or otherwise stressed/diseased could die within the first few days to months...

I'd have more than 30 lbs live rock unless you have some other biofilter material.

also, pH is too low, IMO. it should be at least 8.0, up to 8.4.

[JVITAL55]

Do you know your flow rate? For that tank your pump should be putting out 325 to 650 gph. If you're not turning over the water enough, you may be lacking oxygen. Also you might want to consider a UV light if you don't have one. That will help in controling diseases.

[Sk8r]

Fish lifespans vary: 2-3 years for some of the smallest to above 10 for most that we keep.
You should really consider looking at the nanofish for a 60. Most of my fish in my 54 are under 2" long and less than the diameter of a pencil. The eel is a predator, and his diet contributes a large biomass into the tank [sort of like the food pyramid: everything he eats with everything they ate, etc.] Carnivores always pile up the points, when it comes to tank balance.
Anthias, like tangs, require not just swimming room, but running room, and most varieties are healthiest in a very long tank of several hundred gallons. There are a few exceptions that are much more the homebodies, but most want more room.
Consider: blennies, gobies, dartfish, the smallest of the clowns, some of the fairy or flasher wrasses, etc.

[reefergeorge]

First those fish don't belong in a 65 long term. If you shrimp is still alive your water is probably not the problem. They didn't live long enough for poor nutrition to kill them. So maybe they were caught with chemicals or they had a parasite from the lfs. Next time you get fish watch them in QT for six weeks to make sure they are healthy enough to add to your dt.

[smith1571]

Originally posted by reefergeorge
. If you shrimp is still alive your water is probably not the problem. They didn't live long enough for poor nutrition to kill them.

So my waters fine because the shrimp would die before the fish? Also I don't actually feed my shrimp so is that what you mean by poor nutrition?

[latazyo]

did you get all of the fish from the same LFS?

maybe they have a bogus supplier

[Freed]

What do you feed your sea hare?

[mrme]

Ok, It sounds like you put all the wrong fish, in all the wrong places.


Get that eel out of your sump ! Eeeekk !
What if he bites you, or jumps out when your working in the sump ?
Trade him back into your local fish store, for some Chemi-pure. That will help your water perams, and is good to add if your loseing fish.
Its basically carbon, with some ph balancer.

Get those triggers out of there.

If you want Big Fish, Get a Big tank... when you have a BIG checkbook.

try some easier to care for fish.

[mrme]

For triggers you should really have a minimum of 120 gallons to work with. Some eels are smaller and can be kept in less, but most must also be kept in at least 120 gallons.
To the fish, 120 gallons is like a fish bowl. Though it may be hard for us to clean ect... its tiny to them.

[spoon671]

Originally posted by mrme
For triggers you should really have a minimum of 120 gallons to work with. Some eels are smaller and can be kept in less, but most must also be kept in at least 120 gallons.
To the fish, 120 gallons is like a fish bowl. Though it may be hard for us to clean ect... its tiny to them.

Yeah, just get a tank the size of an ocean. That'll eliminate tons of problems, maybe.

[billsreef]

Starting with the water parameters first, the pH is a bit low. Should be around 8.2 - 8.4. What brand alk test kit? Usually the results are in meq/L or dkh, not ppm.

Fish wise, the anthias were underfed. They really need several (4 to 6 x's) feedings a day, especially in the first few months. The clown trigger at 2 weeks is well within the realm of capture and supply chain problems, especially if it was a small one.

[reefergeorge]

Originally posted by smith1571
So my waters fine because the shrimp would die before the fish? Also I don't actually feed my shrimp so is that what you mean by poor nutrition?

I was talking about the fish. You didn't have them long enough for poor nutrition to kill them.

[smith1571]

So I have a total of 100g what would be ideal for stoking my tank I guess i overstocked.

[reefer334]

Your PH is to low 7.8 is to low you need to add more buffers.Triggers are very sesitive to ph and alk unlike most people think triggers are fragile fish as are anthias's.I have kept triggers of all sorts for 5 years I used to lose a lot of triggers but once I raised my PH to 8.2-8.4 I have had no problems. Just look at my thread on my 300 gal tank I have a dozen triggers in there.

[smith1571]

Originally posted by billsreef
Starting with the water parameters first, the pH is a bit low. Should be around 8.2 - 8.4. What brand alk test kit? Usually the results are in meq/L or dkh, not ppm.

I use the jungle
5 in 1 quick test strip is there a better brand?

[reefer334]

I use aquarium pharmsuticals ph and carbonate hardness test kits with good results. Billsreef is right about the clown trigger they can be hard to keep alive when first aquired as with buelines.

[billsreef]

The dip strips are not very accurate. They are good for a very quick and dirty approximation, but not more than that. The Aquarium Pharmaceuticals liquid based kits are fairly decent, as is Aquarium Systems, Lamotte and a few others. Salifet is good and also Elos is gaining a good rep as well.

[smith1571]

Does having a bb tank make it possible to have more fish in the tank?
Also what are the signs of overstocking a tank? What would be the maximum amount of fish for my size tank and what size fish? thanks