My fish keep dieing,please help.

[dustin1544]

I have a 20 gallon tank with live rock,power head and a canister filter,with a very fine live sand bed in it. I cycled my tank with 2 domino damsils in it. Ammonia,nitrites are at zero now,with the PH at 8 and salinity at 1.022. I lost one damsil(dissapeared). The other one about a week or so later started breathing heavily and then over the next 2 days lost color and then would stay at the top of the tank. On the 4th day he was dead. My tests,plus having green hair algae in my tank indicate that my water is healthy. My next fish was a 3 stripe damsil who died within 4 days of having him. He also lost color and stayed at the top of the tank. FYI,they ate fine. I'm thinking that some how I got parasites in my water. Please help!!!!! I had the local pet store also check my water and my water was almost identical to theirs,which is why I'm assuming some sort of parasites. (They did say that my water was slitely hard.)

[ihaveblackhair29]

your water being hard doesnt have to do with parasites but if you see white spots on your fish that could be ick. you might wanna try getting test kits for yourself and do your own tests because somtimes fish store tests arent really inaccurate. theyve been telling me ive had zero nitrates for the longest time and than i finally did my own test and the nitrates were off the scale...

[Amidicus]

I didn't think parasites could kill that quickly.Do you have the correct ratio of salt in the water? Have you added anything to the water lately?Do you do regular water changes weekly( I have to with freshwater) with dedicated,tank water only containers?You might have inadvertantly exposed the tank water to toxins such as dishsoap or something else by accident that is having a fatal effect on your fish.Are you adding the correct amount of stress coat,or something that neutralizes the chlorinated tap water before it goes in the tank?I assume it is the same for saltwater as it is for freshwater,if not then disregard.Usually when they gasp at the top there isn't enough oxygen in the water.Chlorine in their gils makes it harder for them to breathe also.My first tank I lost a handfull of mollies and swordtails because of high ammonia levels and not adding enough stress coat to the tap water.But surprisingly,I had two female platies survive(very hardy fish) that nasty ordeal and they are still alive today ! I have a freshwater water setup with some salt added.Good luck!

[dustin1544]

I didn't think parasites could kill that quickly.Do you have the correct ratio of salt in the water? Have you added anything to the water lately?Do you do regular water changes weekly( I have to with freshwater) with dedicated,tank water only containers?You might have inadvertantly exposed the tank water to toxins such as dishsoap or something else by accident that is having a fatal effect on your fish.Are you adding the correct amount of stress coat,or something that neutralizes the chlorinated tap water before it goes in the tank?I assume it is the same for saltwater as it is for freshwater,if not then disregard.Usually when they gasp at the top there isn't enough oxygen in the water.Chlorine in their gils makes it harder for them to breathe also.My first tank I lost a handfull of mollies and swordtails because of high ammonia levels and not adding enough stress coat to the tap water.But surprisingly,I had two female platies survive(very hardy fish) that nasty ordeal and they are still alive today ! I have a freshwater water setup with some salt added.Good luck!

I do water changes with stress coat weekly. I do water tests almost every day. I did a water test last night and my ammonia and nitrites were 0. My KH was 16,which is high. My PH was at 8.6 which is high. I guess I need to figure out how to lower both my KH and PH. Other than that. What if I did get soap or something in the water? Does that mean I should change all of the water or will it fade over time? I failed to mention that my salinity is 1.022,which is good. I need to go get more test kits and maybe try a dechlorinator or something. Thanx for your help.

[Amidicus]

I'm still learning things myself but those are things that could cause you problems.I wouldn't change all the water unless you are positive that something bad contaminated it.You might want to try a hardier fish.I lost a bunch of mollies initially,one two days after I bought him and yet other species made it.Hope you get it figured out.Good luck.

[tjigger]

That Green Hair growing in your tank is not good, (use RO or RODI water at water changes) but it shouldn't make your fish die.

What has the tank temp been? Any quick changes?

[dustin1544]

So why is green hair algae bad? Because with all of the research and talking with multiple aqaurists,I thought it was good. What is RODI water? My temp has been at about 76.

[Triton]

Dustin,

Hair algae is a nuisance algae and is a sign that there are excess nutrients in your tank. Also, I did not see where you mentioned what your nitrate level was? Fish staying at the top of the tank could be a sign of oxygen deprivation. This could be caused by high nitrates/nitrites as it inhibits the ability of the fish's blood to carry oxygen properly to the lungs and rest of the body.

Also, full water changes are not a good idea. Especially in a new tank, this can interfere with the tank having a full cycle. Plus there is some question about the toxicity of freshly mixed saltwater.


RO stands for Reverse Osmosis. This is a type of filtration used to purify water. Most Culligan water that can be bought in 5 gallon jugs in the store is treated by R/O.

Also, how thick is the sand bed and exactly how long has the tank been cycling?

J.

[dustin1544]

My tank has been up and running for 2 1/2 months. I have yet to test for Nitrates,because I do not have the test kit yet,but I'm getting it this week. As for the substrate,it is about 2-3 inches deep. Is that bad? Thanx for all your help. What do you keep your tank at as far as PH and Alk.....etc? I'm just trying to figure this all out because I'm not going to give up. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!

[tjigger]

I like a little deeper sand bed.(4-5in)
Pull as much hair algae out the tank as you can and get that test kit.

PH = 8.3
Alk = 2.9 meg/L
KH = 8 dKH
Ca = 425 - 450
Nitrite= >0.25
Nitrate= >20
Ammonia = 0.0

[dustin1544]

I don't understand why I need to pull the algae out. Some fish eat it. Once I get my tank water right,I was planning on buying a lawnmower Blenny,to eat the algae. So exactly why do I need to pull it out?

[emu]

well you can leave the algae there if you want. pulling it out wont get rid of it completely but if you dont do anything about it it will take over your tank

[tjigger]

I don't understand why I need to pull the algae out. Some fish eat it. Once I get my tank water right,I was planning on buying a lawnmower Blenny,to eat the algae. So exactly why do I need to pull it out?
Once your tank gets established the hair algae will start growing out of control, the blenny will slow it down but not stop the growth.
You want to get it out of the tank because hair algae feeds on all the nutrients in the water that could be used by good algaes and corals if you add them.

[dustin1544]

OK,it makes since now. I will get as much out as possible. So what do you know about this stuff called Purple Up? I think that's what it's called. It promotes corraline growth and I was thinking about trying that down the road when I figure my water out.

[tjigger]

OK,it makes since now. I will get as much out as possible. So what do you know about this stuff called Purple Up? I think that's what it's called. It promotes corraline growth and I was thinking about trying that down the road when I figure my water out.
I used Purple-Up to help startup my coralline growth when I set-up my Florida tank and it worked great(maybe to good), Make sure you keep the glass clean if not the Coralline will grow quickly on it.

[dustin1544]

Sweet,I think I'm gonna try some of that. So what exactly is a Florida Tank? Is that what you just call your tank that's in FL?

[tjigger]

Sweet,I think I'm gonna try some of that. So what exactly is a Florida Tank? Is that what you just call your tank that's in FL?
I turned my 180gal reef in La.into a FOWLR and set-up a 235gal reef at my house in FL.

[dustin1544]

That's awesome! So I finally have some good news for you. I bought 5 gallons of RODI water from Wal-Mart and took water out and added all 5 gallons into the tank and added more salt also. The good news is......

(Before)
PH=8.6-8.8
KH=16 dkh
CO2=1,8

(After Adding RODI Water)
PH=8---8.2
KH=13 dkh
CO2=3,7

I'm going to do another water change in a few days with more RODI water. So hopefully within the next week or so I will be able to add live fish. I'll probably just go with 2 damsils at first. I'll keep you posted.

[tjigger]

Did you mix the salt before you put it in the tank?
Its best to mix the salt at least 1 day before you add it into the tank.

[tjigger]

Also add a powerhead or air stone to keep the water moving.

[dustin1544]

No,but I dont have any fish in there anyway. I use instant ocean and it desolves right away. Now if I had fish in my tank then most definately I would have mixed it ahead of time.