New Saltwater Mom needs help!! ()

[Candiifir]

Okay, here goes:

my water temp is 79°, salinity is normal, along with the nitrate/nitrite being 0, the pH level is about 0.5 lower than what it should be.

Fish #1 was a black saddled Toby. Been in the tank for 8 days, still doing great, along with my cleaner crabs.

Fish #2-3 were butterfly fish (died immediately) and three striped damsel (still alive and kicking it)

Fish #4-6 were sailfin tang (day 1-2 was perfect. Day 3, out of the blue did the carousel flips and sunk to the bottom-now dead) and orange tail blue damselfish (day one never saw him-day 2 came out a little, now is all over the place enjoying life)

Fish #7-8 blue line snapper (did amazing/very active days 1-5, now just lays at the bottom and every hour or so has a swim spurt and goes back to the bottom) and a blue tang who swam great day 1-2, and day 3 just randomly died-no symptoms at all)

what in the WORLD am I doing wrong??! I’m not emotionally stable enough (kidding.....sort of. Lol) to keep doing this. Some of them are totally normal and some are just dropping. Any thoughts??

 

[ISFNick]

Welcome to R2R!!!

How big is your tank?
Consecutive water changes are a good tool to help offset any possible bad effects.
Are your fish quarantined?

We would love to see a build thread

 

[Dr. Phil]

Welcome to R2R! How long has your tank been setup? I'll also tag the #reefsquad they have more experience and will be able to assist more!

 

[GaryE]

How are you acclimating your fish?

 

[Fred2482]

Welcome!!

How old and how big is tank?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Im assuming your tank is brand new and may not yet be cycled. Lets get you re-started here:

Age of tank
Size of tank?
Type of test kit(s) ?

Salinity should be 1.024- 1.025
Ph range of 8.1-8.3
Ammonia- near zero

How long have you been cycling tank, and are you aware what cycling is?

Some questions may seem rediculous, but also assuring that you were well informed before someone sold you especially a butterfly fish for a newer tank.

 

[Candiifir]

Thanks!! I have been finding lots of answers to questions on here . My tank is 75 gallons, and they aren’t quarantined, they all have their own designated hiding spot where they dont harass one another. I had a pirate ship in the tank and thought maybe it was too crowded, so I removed it and placed a small decorative coral piece in the middle to be sure they still have plenty of room to swim.

 

[mike werner]

Welcome

 

[Candiifir]

I bought the tank brand new about a month ago. Didn’t put any fish in it until about 2-3 weeks of perfect readings. I have a hydrometer for measuring Salinity, the heater in the water with thermostat and a thermometer strip on the outside too, as far as testing goes, I have the strips made by API, it is the 5 in 1- pH, NO2, NO3, KH, GH (strips for salt and fresh)

I think that answered everything so far.
QUOTE="vetteguy53081, post: 7345997, member: 31438"]
Im assuming your tank is brand new and may not yet be cycled. Lets get you re-started here:

Age of tank
Size of tank?
Type of test kit(s) ?

Salinity should be 1.024- 1.025
Ph range of 8.1-8.3
Ammonia- near zero

How long have you been cycling tank, and are you aware what cycling is?

Some questions may seem rediculous, but also assuring that you were well informed before someone sold you especially a butterfly fish for a newer tank.

[/QUOTE]

 

[Crabs McJones]

Welcome to R2R!

 

[Candiifir]

Thanks!!!

 

[Phil D.]

is that wood real or resin? If real the that's an issue.

 

[Candiifir]

Some came with a drip acclimation kit that we used. The first few I set the bag in the water (one at a time) for about 15 minutes, put some tank water in the bag, let them set an additional 10 minutes or so then let them swim in.

 

[SaltyCupcake]

Welcome to R2R!!

 

[Candiifir]

is that wood real or resin? If real the that's an issue.

It’s fake

 

[Candiifir]

I bought the tank brand new about a month ago. Didn’t put any fish in it until about 2-3 weeks of perfect readings. I have a hydrometer for measuring Salinity, the heater in the water with thermostat and a thermometer strip on the outside too, as far as testing goes, I have the strips made by API, it is the 5 in 1- pH, NO2, NO3, KH, GH (strips for salt and fresh)

I think that answered everything so f

 

[blasterman]

Welcome to money wasting hobby of the wild salt water trade. Imagine if you were captured off a open reef in Hawaii (butterfly fish), sat in bags for weeks, and were then dumped in a small tank in somebody's living room half way across the world.

I think its cruel, but who am I to comment on the vanity of a salt water tank. Belly up fish? Just buy more because wild reefs will produce more forever. Who cares. FYI - the majority of fresh water fish are captive breed and raised. Not so salt water.

Damsels are pretty darn hardy. Butterflies and some of the others you mention are intolerant of even the slightest water deviation. Nitrate spikes can kill a copper banded or long nose butterfly.

Reputable reef shops will keep new fish isolated for at least a month so insure they have acclimated to captive tanks. However, most wont do this and will happily keep selling you more fish. Always insist you buy fish that are healthy, happy and have been eating at the reef shop for several weeks.

 

[GaryE]

Please don't trust the strips. They are wildly inaccurate.

Also, get a refractometer. Even a cheap one on Amazon.. far more accurate than a hydrometer.

 

[Fred2482]

I bought the tank brand new about a month ago. Didn’t put any fish in it until about 2-3 weeks of perfect readings. I have a hydrometer for measuring Salinity, the heater in the water with thermostat and a thermometer strip on the outside too, as far as testing goes, I have the strips made by API, it is the 5 in 1- pH, NO2, NO3, KH, GH (strips for salt and fresh)

I think that answered everything so f

Sorry to break it to you, this is a little too fast unless you do an incredible great job initializing the bacteria. The Buterfly had almost no chance. Take a look at #BRSTV 52 weeks of reefing on youtube. It's a great start to get you going.

 

[Candiifir]

@blasterman Thank you for that-that actually makes pretty good sense. The ones that are still doing great (except the blue damsel and three striped damsel) came from Petco. The others I ordered online, and were overnighted to me...