# advice on fish



## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

hey there gang ,im having an issue with stocking my tank and not quite sure what is going on .i had a huge crash last month with my tank due to an bad water change .all my fault .anyways heres my prob 
this is twice i have added fish to my tank and both times i purchased fish from a lfs .heres the problem everytime i add fish with in one day the fish are dead. today i added 2 file fish and one of them is floating . i cant see a prob with the tank as i have two clowns in there and a yellow watchmen goby and several cuc with no probs , so im confused on what i have to do to make this right .
a= .25
no3=5.0
no2=0
p.h =7.8
k.h= 12 dkh
ca=28 a little higher than normal 
thanks again 
tom


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## zenafish (Feb 20, 2007)

How are ou acclimatizing the new fish? And the 0.25 ammonia needs to be addressed.


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## Tim (Dec 11, 2011)

Love filefish, one of my faves.

Are the clowns beating them up?

Did you get a chance to see if the fish were eating at the LFS before you bought them? It may not be your tank, it could have started way before you got them. 

Perhaps it is time to get a quarantine tank so you can then keep an eye on them and figure out what is going on.


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*fish*

hey there i knwe i was forgetting to put something in my post i dripped the fish for a few hours before i put them in .
my water change is being done tonite .
have not seen anything with the clowns and file fish so far .
cheers 
tom


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## azotemia (Jan 28, 2009)

*my guess...*

might not be your fault at all... where are they from? ( not lfs, but where were they actually caught). wild or tank raised? how were they handled from the ocean to the lfs. Perhaps, they were poisoned before they were caught? (dynamite fishing).

just my guess


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*fish*

hey there i am not sure as the store i got them from does not post where or what they are on there tanks . 
im not gonna mention the store as many on here use the store and i do not want to taint the store if they are not at fault ,
simple answer i wont buy anymore fish from the store till i can figure out what is going on ,th econfusion is that i bought two others from a diff store and have not had a problem. so leads me to my tank conditions or fish quality from store .
thanks 
tom


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*Ready to give up.............help*

I'm ready to give up . I don't know what I am doing wrong
Every time I do a water change I am loosing fish. 
I did a 25 % water change with ater I had done thru my RO\DI
Unit water was dosed with salt at a saliity of 1.025 
Water was heated and sitting for 2 days 
All I added to the water was prime one capful.
I fed the fish with cyclopeeze and coral snow . Before I went 
To bed . This morning both my clowns are dead. 
This is the second time after a water change . 
If anyone can please help I'd appreciate it
I don't have water test results as I am at work

Very discouraged any help would be appreciated 
Greatly
Tom


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

on topic but somewhat off topic. Get a water tester from the city of Toronto to see what's going on with your water. It's free and they'll call you after it's done.

To me, it sounds like something in your water but I could totally be wrong. Or possibly something in the buckets you're mixing in?


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## Tim (Dec 11, 2011)

can ro/di units go bad? I don't have one so I don't know much about them but could the filters need changing or have gone bad?


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*water*

Same water I have had no probs for a year and a half. 
The ro di unit is about six months old but I don't use it a lot 
As its just for the 29 g bio cube . 
Same pails I have been using for the last year or so 
I am using h2o salt from NAFB
Could it be my ro unit?????
I make the water and it suts in a plastic water cooler jug
Then when I'm ready I pour into pail
Mix salt. With powwer vhead and heater . 
The last time I did the same thing except I didn't. Ket the water
And salt sit . This one the water was in pail for two 
Days. 
I don't get it. 
All I did was change water didn't touch filter sponge or skimmer
At all ????


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## carmenh (Dec 20, 2009)

Oh man, that sucks 
Have you considered trying a different batch of salt? Just in case?
Are you using a refractometer or a hydrometer?


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*salt*

Its the same salt I have been using since I started and never
Had a problem with it previous to these two times.
I am using a refractometer.


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*tank failure*

ok i have come to the conclusion that it was me again causing this catastraphe , how do u say F#$% M$.......

chkd water when i got home ...
a=0
n03= 0
n02=0
p.h= 8.0
salinity 1.028
--------------------
had some left over water in a pail so i chkd the levels in that water ..
i dont know what i was thinking when i chked it i should of seen this salinity when i did the chk with the refractometer ....
salinity was 1.035
a=0
n03= 5.0 ppm
n02=0
p.h 8.4

i beleive i did too much of water change temp may h ave been an issue with a heater i had in pail . 
butt deff the salinity level was way too high .. correct me if i am wrong .

im so dissapointed in myself doing this i almost ready to pack it up . and say screw it . 
thanks for everyones input and yes would appreciate any input from anyone after these results 
thanks again 
tom


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## Tim (Dec 11, 2011)

So Sorry to hear that. I have no idea if that was what did it, but sounds like the simplest explanation for what happened.

I have been paranoid doing exactly what happened to you as I believe I killed my first fish due to the same thing. 

I created a checklist that I have to go through when I do my maintenance to make sure I don't mess up as I am always getting distracted by something (usually kids). 

Since this has happened on a couple of occasions for you perhaps creating a checklist for yourself would help.


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## 50seven (Feb 14, 2010)

-the salinity can increase or decrease as it gases off in the hours after it is mixed. Always test it before you add it, regardless of how long it has been sitting with heater and powerhead.

Also if you are doing a 25% WC (BTW that's a lot!) you need to make sure that that water mixes well and slowly. Siphon the new water into the tank using a 1/4" hose or smaller. It takes a while to empty the pail, but you get a more stable WC. just get a reliable clip to hold the hose from falling out. I used this method for a year with no issues. (Personally, I'd only do 10% and only once per week, if not every other week. Consistency is more important than quantity.)

At the beginning, I killed a fire goby and a Lamark angelfish doing the same thing as you, so don't beat yourself over it. I just get mad at myself for carelessly killing off some magnificent creature...


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## 50seven (Feb 14, 2010)

BTW don't pack it in yet. SUM will have clowns on sale again this weekend...


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*tank*

i am upset at just that i had a nice set up with some nice fish and they seemed happy ,just annoyed , with a busy life i guessi just believeed i was doing a good thing by changing the water thats all. today i just bought a 25 gallon food grade container for water storage . its still in the car havnt decided where to put it in the basement yet . just a question when i fill this up with r.o water , do i dose it with salt or as required when i do a water change . and one more thing what kind of pump do u guys use to get the water out of the barrel as this only has two small 2 in openings so not sure what kind of pump i can fit in there . i figure this will take out the extra canister in the laundry tub ,, just in case somehow something is getting tainted while it sits in the tub.would apppreciate any ideas 
and thank u kevin for your tips on how to slow it down a bit .
i dont think i will give up but shit my pocket book is taking a kick in the ass
thanks again 
tom


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