"new Tank Syndrome"?

[antfarm2000]

I've got a 55-gallon that's been cycling for about a month...I've had pre-cured fiji live rock in there for about 3 1/2 weeks as well.

After the initial spikes, my ammonia, nitrite & nitrate are back down to zero.

While i've been able to keep 3 Nassarius snails alive in there for over a week, any attempt to keep fish so far is unsuccessful. I've put in 2 damsels (one last night, one a week ago), and they've both died.

Is there something I'm missing?

[Vert20]

It could be the acclimation process you are using, can you describe in detail how the fish are transported and what steps you take to acclimate them?

-V-

[antfarm2000]

It was transported from the LFS to my apartment in a paper bag, then inside of a back pack.

I acclimated him with the lights off. Put in a little bit of water every 5 or 10 minutes for a while, then when it got full, I spilled most of it out, and then did the same thing, adding a little water every 5 or 10 minutes. Took between 60-90 minutes.

He seemed to be doing ok, but then this morning, he's dead.

[SeanT]

I assume you mean Plastic bag?
Or plastic bag inside of paper bag?
If not that's your problem right there. :D

[antfarm2000]

Double plastic inside paper

[NorthCoast]

antfarm2000,

What are your tank parameters? (e.g. amonia, nitrite, nitrate, temperature, specific gravity and/or salinity, pH, etc...)

It could be a combination of acclimation and water chemistry.

Later,
NC

[antfarm2000]

Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate...zero.

Temperature: 79-80

Salinity: 1.024 (i'm going to gradually increase it a little bit this week)

pH: I think 8.2 or 8.4

Maybe because I'm using NYC tap water. I'm actually searching on line for a RO/DI right now, so I'll have it early next week. Could this be the problem?

Everything I've read said damsels are hardy and fairly tolerant of non-ideal water conditions.

[NorthCoast]

Do you know what the parameters of the LFS water is? Many stores keep a low specific gravity.

When was the last time the water was tested? I ask this because my first tank had something die in the LR at about 6 weeks and the tank cycle started all over again. It took about 12 in total. This doesn't happen often but is very possible.

Just want to rule out the obvious things first... :D

Later,
NC

[antfarm2000]

Well, I haven't tested in about a week.

But I also changed about 15-20 gallons of water on Monday (moved it into a plastic tub I got to cure the LR i'm getting next Wednesday).

[NorthCoast]

You may want to test the water just to be sure.

Now that I have some experience and some more sensitive corals I can usually tell if anything is slightly off before testing. However, I still usually test the water right before purchasing new inhabitants. This way there are no doubts that something funky isn't going on undetected. I can also gage how much acclimation I may need to provide if I can compare my parameters to the LFS parameters.

Later,
NC