4 dead fish this morning...others in danger?

[SaltyT]

I have no idea what the PetCo salinity was, and didn't think to test their water before adding them. I drip acclimated them because that's what people said you had to do for saltwater fish and I didn't want to mess it up.

It's not necessary to drip acclimate fish if your tank's salinity matches the salinity of where the fish are coming from. Make sure to ask what salinity the fish are being kept in and then double-check the salinity of the bag just to make sure.

If there is a discrepancy larger than 1 - 2ppm between your tank's salinity and the salinity the fish are in you must bring their salinity up slowly (ideally 1-2ppm per day). If you raise the salinity too fast you can dehydrate your fish and kill them. Hopefully this was not the case.

I honestly don't think your fish died from a tank cycling issue. They likely died from advanced disease or possibly dehydration.

 

[15aleo]

Can you post a pic of the setup?

0 to 0.25 nitrate doesnt sound like enough to be lethal.

Whats your setup, powerheads, filtration, etc?

Stress can kill fish very rapidly, have you got much hiding spots? Did they looked stressed when you bought them? Heavy breathing, etc.

Low Oxygen can also stress and kill fish, hence what type of flow do you have? Is flow rippling the water surface?

A bit more info could help us to help you instead of making guesses

Hopefully we can help

 

[Just John]

Once you get this sorted out that is going to be a beautiful tank!

 

[Cell]

its also concerning that OP is still reading Nitrite which is completely toxic to animals and again leads to the question, was this tank even through its cycle?
none the less there are a lot of questions that aren't being addressed so i'm just going to assume user error/inexperience was the culprit.

Nitrite is not toxic in saltwater. FW only.

 

[Cell]

6 fish, all 1" or smaller in a 30 gallon tank isnt going to spike ammonia to lethal levels overnight, even if he wasnt cycled.

 

[Danroo]

Water seems cloudy meaning the biological bacteria wasn’t enough to contain all the bio load at once. Should’ve kept prime until the bacteria rammed up.

 

[Frostblitz20]

not saying this is a cause at all but what test kits do you use? some of them are not that great IMO. Also did you dead fish have any markings on them where aggression could of played a part.

 

[15aleo]

not saying this is a cause at all but what test kits do you use? some of them are not that great IMO. Also did you dead fish have any markings on them where aggression could of played a part.

API saltwater master test kit. Nope, no torn fins or other damage I could see.

 

[Rubberfrog]

Stray voltage is one of those boogeymen that people love to blame for everything. It's such a rare thing, that it should be one of the last thing we look at. Test your water again today.

 

[Danroo]

API saltwater master test kit. Nope, no torn fins or other damage I could see.

API shows wrong readings. My lfs keeps it. It always showed something else on my salifert

 

[z-reefer]

What water did you use to set up the tank? ( ro/di or tap)

 

[Cell]

Stray voltage doesnt kill fish as they are not grounded.

The living cardinals and CUC suggest disease killed the others.

 

[Just John]

API shows wrong readings. My lfs keeps it. It always showed something else on my salifert

Have a look on this site and you will see a lot of people saying the same things about API. I first bought API and ended up replacing them all.

 

[LeftyReefer]

Corals and snails don't look all that happy either.
Might want to have Petco check your salinity levels. Maybe your refractometer is off and your salinity is higher than you think...

 

[15aleo]

Have a look on this site and you will see a lot of people saying the same things about API. I first bought API and ended up replacing them all.

The only immediate options I have are either API test kits or TopFin test strips, I'd have to wait for shipping for anything else.

 

[Frostblitz20]

API saltwater master test kit. Nope, no torn fins or other damage I could see.

When your able to get away from API kits they are not the best at all but better then nothing. my advice is invest in a Red sea Marine master kit if you only are doing Fish for now if not then also pick up the Reef foundation kit as well.

These are way better. If you want just one test per kit style then go with Salifert as they are good and are about 15$ per test type. but overall i suggest Red sea marine master kit as its 5 test in one kit at around 40-60$ depending on where you buy it from.

 

[Cell]

Are the cardinals breathing fast right now?

 

[Danroo]

Have a look on this site and you will see a lot of people saying the same things about API. I first bought API and ended up replacing them all.

Through research I learned in this hobby is going cheap will cost you more money down the line.

 

[Frostblitz20]

The only immediate options I have are either API test kits or TopFin test strips, I'd have to wait for shipping for anything else.

Dont go to Petco for test. look up a LFS in your area they are willing to help you test your water with better test kits some have these really nice machines that they dont sell to the public that will run all test with one sample but will charge you like 15$ which is a cover price for the test disk they require.

 

[LeftyReefer]

Petco sells the Seachem ammonia badge alerts for like $8. Might want to grab one so you don't have to constantly test.
I'd run a water sample to Petco for testing and while you are there, grab an ammonia alert so you don't have to constantly test for ammonia.