I am beginning to question my husbandry skills

[gadwall72]

I have had my 75g up an running for 6 months. I cleaned the tank thoroughly with a vinegar-water solution and let dry for a couple of days prior to set up. I put in my dry rock, live sand and added my water. I cycled my tank slowly. It took 6 weeks to complete cycle. I did a water change and let everything settle back down before adding my first livestock, a pair of clowns. About 2 weeks later I added a Falco Hawkfish and an Orchid Dottyback. Since then at intervals of of at least 2 weeks, I have added a clean up crew, 2 diamond gobbies, 1 leaped out of the tank, replaced with another. It leaped out also. Added a Starry Blenny, Banggais, and Chromis. All of the fish have come from my LFS. I always ask to see them fed prior to purchase.

The Cardinals ganged up on each other. I have two left, one on each end of the tank. All of the Chromis have died. It looked like my clowns were bullying the Chromis. Yesterday I came into find my Hawkfish bouncing nose-down in the current.

All of my water is RO/DI with 0.00 TDS. Salinity is 1.025, pH is 8.2, NH3/NH4 is 0, NO2 is 0, NO3 is 2, KH 7.5, PO4 0.25 and Ca 400. Temp is set at 78. I have done 20-25% water changes every two weeks. I am running a protein skimmer and carbon in my sump. I cannot for the life of me figure out what is happening. None of the fish have shown any signs of ich or velvet. They have not acted strange. They have seemed to be fine one night and the next morning dead. I am at a loss. This has been very depressing over the last few weeks to lose this much livestock! Suggestions are appreciated!

 

[kashman100]

My recommendation would be set up a quarantine tank and treat every fish before putting them in to your display.

 

[S-t-r-e-t-c-h]

Unfortunately, fish jump. This is just a fact of life and not really an indication of any issues with care. You do need to invest in a screen lid to keep the fish in. Elongate, "torpedo" shaped fish are more inclined to jump but you'd be surprised; almost any aquarium fish can and will jump out of the tank.

Your experience with the banggai cardinals is fairly typical in that they can be aggressive with others of the same species. I say "fairly" because some people are able to get away with more in the tank, so common knowledge really goes in all directions with them. Personally, I've had the best luck with them solo but linking LiveAquaria's page on these for example:

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/2672/kauderns-cardinalfish-captive-bred?pcatid=2672&c=15+26+2672

Due to its aggressive behavior towards conspecifics, it should not be kept in large groups, though they do like to have a few other Cardinalfish around.

You didn't mention the species of clowns you are keeping, but they can for sure be more aggressive. Some species more than others, but it's highly dependent on the individual; even regular occelaris clowns that are usually very peaceful can be terrors. That they chased the chromis and that they subsequently died doesn't seem unusual.

In terms of advice moving forward:
- As mentioned above; invest in a screen lid to keep the fish in the tank.
- You are adding fish very rapidly. I'd stop adding livestock for at least a couple of months to let things settle down more and to get to know the personalities of the fish remaining. That will help inform your future purchases.
- Buy a social acclimation box. You likely could have prevented some losses by separating the more aggressive individuals early on. Consider something like this:
http://octoaquatics.com/the-shu/
- Institute a quarantine procedure. Adding fish the way you are, it's a matter of time before disaster strikes. Read this thread for help:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-dos-and-don’ts-of-quarantine.203898/

Hope that helps...

 

[gadwall72]

My recommendation would be set up a quarantine tank and treat every fish before putting them in to your display.

Thanks for the input kashman.

 

[gadwall72]

Unfortunately, fish jump. This is just a fact of life and not really an indication of any issues with care. You do need to invest in a screen lid to keep the fish in. Elongate, "torpedo" shaped fish are more inclined to jump but you'd be surprised; almost any aquarium fish can and will jump out of the tank.

Your experience with the banggai cardinals is fairly typical in that they can be aggressive with others of the same species. I say "fairly" because some people are able to get away with more in the tank, so common knowledge really goes in all directions with them. Personally, I've had the best luck with them solo but linking LiveAquaria's page on these for example:

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/2672/kauderns-cardinalfish-captive-bred?pcatid=2672&c=15+26+2672


You didn't mention the species of clowns you are keeping, but they can for sure be more aggressive. Some species more than others, but it's highly dependent on the individual; even regular occelaris clowns that are usually very peaceful can be terrors. That they chased the chromis and that they subsequently died doesn't seem unusual.

In terms of advice moving forward:
- As mentioned above; invest in a screen lid to keep the fish in the tank.
- You are adding fish very rapidly. I'd stop adding livestock for at least a couple of months to let things settle down more and to get to know the personalities of the fish remaining. That will help inform your future purchases.
- Buy a social acclimation box. You likely could have prevented some losses by separating the more aggressive individuals early on. Consider something like this:
http://octoaquatics.com/the-shu/
- Institute a quarantine procedure. Adding fish the way you are, it's a matter of time before disaster strikes. Read this thread for help:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-dos-and-don’ts-of-quarantine.203898/

Hope that helps...

Thanks for the tips, Stretch.

 

[gadwall72]

BTW my clowns are of the spotcinctus variety.