New girl on the block

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ChristinaJ

New Member
Hi everyone,

Right now I have not had a skimmer yet,..been looking for a small one,...have been doing weekly water changes,..go to the store with my water sample,...all is perfect,..
I have bought a purple tip anemone,..which moved around for a couple of days and has now found it's preferred place,..feeding him a piece of shrimp every couple of days,..my 2 clownfishes are happy,...when I come to the tank at 5 pm they practically jump out like puppies to get fed,..they are very responsive,..I have a few yellowstar corals,..tiny little things,...they are ok...few emerald colored zoanthids,...they are 50/50 some died, some are growing,...I have some grey colored soft corals that look like a arms with a hand..they are doing good,...most of my snails have died mysteriously though,...all at about the same time,...only have 2 out of 10 left,...my red hermits are still around. My tank is at 4 months now,..oh and I have a little "dragon tree" coral, and some mushroom looking ones,..earthy red, and blue,....also 2 grass looking ones with purple tips (stargrass?) ..not sure about the names,..someone was selling them on kijiji

tank 36 Bow
2 florensent lights - 10,000 k and atintic blue (?) blue on 10-10 white on 12-8
marineland filter, and 2 water fans,...
temp at about 76-77
salt is good

Any suggestions or comments?

Christina
 

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Scott Conoly

Scott Conoly

Member
Hey Christina and welcome.
I am relatively new to the hobby (about a year into it) as well. One observation that someone told me once relates to the diver sculpture. My fiancé has something similar in her tank and although we haven't noticed any issues as of yet, a lifelong aquarist told me that many of the sculptures contain bound phosphates that can leach out into your aquarium water, causing high values of phosphates and other nuisance elements. You may want to confirm this on your own.
Also..beautiful tank! If you haven't already invested in test kits I'd recommend a simple API kit plus one for phosphates, calcium and alkalinity as your tastes evolve. The brownish, "arms with hands" coral is familiar to me and seems to do well in most conditions but your zoa may be touchy. As you pose questions to this group you will want to have some parameters/values for more common elements on hand so they can best advise a course of action.
Best of luck


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nanoreefing4fun

nanoreefing4fun

Well-Known Member
RS STAFF
Cheers for starting a tank thread ! Pretty rock & scape - Love clownfish ! :clownfish:

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ChristinaJ

New Member
thanks all,...unfortunately my clownfish died with in hours of eachother,....eventhough I had my water tested that day at Al's Acquarium here in Calgary who told me that my water was good but nitrates were high,...so I went home to do a water change,...as I don't have a protein skimmer and found them both dead,...I came home with 2 blue damsels so I hope they survive,...I had a coral beauty,..but from day one he was unhappy and died a week later,...mmmpphhhhff...still can't keep snails,..they also die off,...I have lots of crabs though,...who are getting bigger,...also my corals and purple tip anemone,..are doing well,...Could it be because of that diver stature I have in the tank??? should I take it out?
what is your opinion about not having a protein skimmer,...I have seen a 50/50 opinion,....

thanks all
 
Paul B

Paul B

Well-Known Member
Christinaj I can't see your tank from here but I can say that high nitrates or high phosphates will not kill clown fish. Your corals and anemone would die much faster. Any metal poisoning would also kill your anemone right away so that isn't it either. The dead snails are a puzzle as they are pretty hard to kill. What did the clownfish look like just before they died and after they died, besides dead. Did any of them shake their head back and forth very fast? Did they gulp water from the surface or swim up side down? Did they have their mouth wide open after they died or were their gills flaired out?
 
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DaveK

Well-Known Member
With the fish losses and not coral losses, I suspect a disease problem. You shouldn't be loosing fish at that rate. Here is what you should be looking for -

DaveK's Standard Lecture #3 – Common parasitic diseases

Look for these three major parasitic diseases that clownfish, and for that matter most other fish tend to get a lot.

1. Ick, officially known as Cryptocaryon irritans - look for small white dots that seem to fall off in a day or two, sometimes leaving behind small circular wounds. Treatment is by hyposalinity or copper.

2. Velvet, or gold dust disease, officially known as Amyloodinium occellatun. Looks like the fish is covered in a coating of gold dust, and the fish is often going around scratching. Treatment is by copper.

3. Clownfish disease, officially known as Brooklynella hostilis. Looks like gray irregular patches. Treatment is Formalin.

All treatments must be done in a quarantine tank.

As a corollary, or possibly "corallary" (grin), I will add the following -

Never, ever medicate a reef system to treat a fish disease.

No matter what the LFS says, no matter what it says on the bottle or package, no matter what someone else may tell you, in my opinion there are no "reef safe" treatments that are effective against fish diseases.

Always treat in a quarantine tank. Although, if you are treating a different disease, you might use a different medication.

Just so everyone is clear on this, I shall repeat this advice -

Never, ever medicate a reef system to treat a fish disease.
 
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ChristinaJ

New Member
My clownfish seemed to struggle to swim,...looks like their tails were heavy and they were moving their fins rapidly,....i did not see their state as the first one was half eaten by crabs as my clownfish were small,...and the other one i fished and and flushed,..i also had a coral beauty that died last week,...but i think he was not right right from the start and he died 2 weeks after i got him,..i did do 2 water changes and the nitrates are much lower now


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Paul B

Paul B

Well-Known Member
Dave is correct, they died from disease. Most likely a parasite which are very common in a new tank. Can't tell from here and we can't see the fish.
 
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ChristinaJ

New Member
So I bought 2 blue damsels earlier this week,...and one is already dead !! I am almost thinking I brought home a bug from the store I bought the last 3 fish from (Big Al's Aquarium) as my clownfish (bought at Pisces fish emporium in Calgary) were very happy and healthy for close to 3 months!! and within 2 weeks after adding a coral beauty (Big Al's) from the fish store everyone is dead...the one blue damsel which is left seems to be active and healthy for now,...not going to add anymore fish,...until I don't know when,...how do you know you have a bug in the water?? I did bring the nitrates down to almost 0,...What else to do??
 
PCDS

PCDS

Active Member
I'm so sorry. I'd wait a while before adding any new fish. Maybe you should consider a quarantine tank? I feel a bit hypocritical saying this because I didn't have one myself, but every new fish is a massive gamble without one. Good luck.
 
Shawntay

Shawntay

New Member
Hi ChristinaJ. Sorry to hear about your fish. I am new to both the reef and the site so I can't offer any advice but it's nice to meet other ladies in the hobby.
 
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