Hardest but rewarding hobby to start. My first tank

[pureconcept]

I liked constantly rebuilding and balancing rocks when i first started. But ... i have sand sifting gobies, jawfish,and a pistol shrimp/goby pair. I was too afraid that they would dig under the base rocks and cause the rocka to fall and possibly create a disaster. So i had to bind it all together amd accept what i have. I dont like the permanence but what choices do i have. Maybe in the future i can make a couple other aquascapes and swap them out on occassion but im afraid doing that will affect my biological filtration and by killing the live rock when i take it out and putting it back in later might cause nutrient spike induced algea blooms

 

[mdb_talon]

Once u start getting corals in, it’s best to leave things as is. The less your hands are in your tank the better. But I agree, we are never truly happy with our scapes, are we? Lol

Well thats a rule i break lol. My hands are in daily it seems for one thing or another.

Usually cause my tang is an ******* and likes to knock my astrea snails off the rocks and glass and they have to be put on their foot again!

 

[pureconcept]

I am always messing with my tank too. I get water everywhere. I originally thought the fish deaths i have were linked to a toxin i put in the water with my hands since the water tests good and i dont see fish sickness symptoms other than fast gilling and losss of appetite for 2 days before they die.
I know im new but with the amount of money and effort i put in i would think my death rate should be lower. How often do new fish die for everyone else ? Im embarrassed to say i thjnk i have lost like 25 percent of my livestock. I have like 15 fish alive but ive lost 8 fish,2 shrimp,and a starfish already. 2 fish were lost in the mail during delivery and in a box for 2 days and died within days of acclimation but the other six were all the same. Lose of appetite gilling and death within days.

 

[pureconcept]

I was told by a professional reefer who maintains tanks for office buildings that fish just die sometimes and if my water tests good to just keep going. But with nearly a 30 percent mortality now im accepting something has to be very wrong. I bought a uv steralizer,copper to treat the fish as they get sick and rally pro medication to treat the tank. Hopefully the rally doesnt kill anything and whatever is killing the fish gets under control. I mean i tried freshwater dips and disnt see any flukes come out. I dont see anything on the fishes skin before death.i thought i saw a dusting on one fiah but when i caught it and looked closer it was gone. Gilling and swollen red gills make me think it might be velvet because of the healthy to dead in two days pattern. It just goes from one fish to another. Im kond of tired and ranting but if anyone made it to the end of this post any advixe would be appreciated

 

[mdb_talon]

I almost never lose fish. Much of that is luck probably, because i am far from an expert as on fish. I do QT everything though and that os probably part of it also.

I would suggest putting a post in the fish disease forum specific to the issues you are having. Put in all parameters, tank info, stocking, etc and there are some smart people that may be able to help or at least give ideas.

 

[pureconcept]

I tried that when i first started and had 3 of the 4 fish die. But now that the tank is months older and i ha e more data points i probably should give that forum another try. That original survivor is still going strong but i am still getting deaths. Im so jealous that you rarely get deaths. Hell i cant even get a copepod population going while others complain they have too many. That makes me wonder if its a toxin too. Tha ks for the advice

 

[ying yang]

On your question on how your aquascape looks.
I think you did a great job,its visually pleasing to look at,it got over hangs/ under hangs,swim throughs and like cavish like structures near bottom near sand so good for active swimming fish and good for fish that like more security of caves,and plenty sleeping spots for each fish and im new to saltwater side of hobby but i see more and more doing nsa aquascapes just lately since i bought my tank 5 years ago and started researching,nsa gives more flow to tank so better for corals and less chance for detritus to build up on/ under/ or around rocks on sand bed as just less rocks on sandbed etc.that piece in middle that overhangs does look a bit square / straight but in time as corals grow into bigger colonies wont be noticeable probably but you could if wanted to glue/ putty couple small boulders ( like really small) to the underside of that square ledge to make it well less straight.
Sorry to hear you losing so many fish after introducing them.does sound like you have some continuning problem going on.and didnt see you mention quarantining fish first. So even one parasite on one fish in your system then it reproduces and aslong as got fish in system ( except eromena,think its spelt) the parasites need a fish host to survive, and if you decide to medicate the fish you got and quarantine any further fish.i would suggest as you say you be adding corals at a later date to medicate the fish you got in a quarantine tank as you got rocks and sand in display tank and for example ive researched that copper for example can leach into the coral sand and rocks then slowly leach back out over time and very small amounts of copper are fatal to inverts like snails/ shrimps and coral ( reason why quarantine tanks are kept so basic and have no sand/ rocks in them,can also be hard to get meds dosages correct if rocks leach in then slowly leach back out etc.
As i said im very new to saltwater but had freshwater tanks for quite some years now and only medicated freshwater few times and seems saltwater fish seem to have more parasites or maybe just not as hardy/ or some are wild caught and lfs's systems are connected so parasites spread between the tanks and hear very often that some people say they will always medicate any new saltwater fish they get if showing signs of ill health or not just incase.im hoping this isnt the case as my qt plan was just to observe for 30 days in qt tank then put in dt tank but i read some fish can be carriers and very hard to spot diseases then if parasites in display tank then have to remove all fish from tank and put in qt system and medicate and run display tank fallow of fish for 45 days and some even saying was 76 days ( and on that note my very first 2 saltwater fish i bought,as acliminatating them in a jug i noticed 2 bumps behind each eye,and under zoom on phone looked like parasites then after 2 days it moved pr looked like parasite ready to drop off, and very experienced guy on here and few others on this forum said looks like brookenella,and kills fish very fast.well kept fish 2 days then swapped them for another 2 at lfs ( from same tank i got first 2,and went in same tank first 2 fish was just in.so i will find out shortly if i made big mistake by not running my qt tank fallow for sometime or bleached qt out and added new water and started cycle from scratch again pffft ) lfs said bumps on head looked like flukes.anyway sorry for big essay and hope you get to bottom of why your fiah keep dying and if decide to medicate fish and run dt fallow just ask on here and some of the more knowledgeable people on here will gladly gove you good advice and what ive noticed is get quick replys and few replys so loving the community here just like yourself ^_^

 

[ying yang]

Oh goodness gracious me.so sorry about such a long post.i need to seriously cut back on length of my posts and get straight to the point or some may not read it all and actually miss my point altogether ^_^