MantaFan Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 Hey everyone... I've got a problem I can't figure out. I'm not able to keep new fish. I've added a few new fish over the past year and I lose them all after a week or two. All my original fish are doing just fine. I drip acclimate over 2-3 hours and all fish last at least a week. I do a partial water change every 2 weeks and change my GFO every 2 weeks. I'm battling hair algae, so I'm strict about this. Theory 1: Jerkfish - My coral beauty will pressure new fish a little bit at the start, but I haven't witnessed him chasing or fighting - I lost 2 lyretail anthias, and if they were being chased they would jump... this didn't happen - I also have an old mystery wrasse in the tank who loves crustaceans... but I've never seen him bully another fish Theory 2: Water quality - I had this tank setup 10 years ago in Dallas. I had a similar issue where old fish lived, and new fish died - I found that I had elevated levels of chlorine, that my old fish had acclimated to (poor maintenance on my part and forgetting to change my RO filters) - I now have a TDS meter on either side of my DI canister and I change both sediment filter and carbon block when input > 6 ppm (new filters read 4 ppm) - I change the DI resin when output is above 1 ppm Any thoughts?? Thanks!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mFrame Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 Hey everyone... I've got a problem I can't figure out. I'm not able to keep new fish. I've added a few new fish over the past year and I lose them all after a week or two. All my original fish are doing just fine. I drip acclimate over 2-3 hours and all fish last at least a week. I do a partial water change every 2 weeks and change my GFO every 2 weeks. I'm battling hair algae, so I'm strict about this. Theory 1: Jerkfish - My coral beauty will pressure new fish a little bit at the start, but I haven't witnessed him chasing or fighting - I lost 2 lyretail anthias, and if they were being chased they would jump... this didn't happen - I also have an old mystery wrasse in the tank who loves crustaceans... but I've never seen him bully another fish Theory 2: Water quality - I had this tank setup 10 years ago in Dallas. I had a similar issue where old fish lived, and new fish died - I found that I had elevated levels of chlorine, that my old fish had acclimated to (poor maintenance on my part and forgetting to change my RO filters) - I now have a TDS meter on either side of my DI canister and I change both sediment filter and carbon block when input > 6 ppm (new filters read 4 ppm) - I change the DI resin when output is above 1 ppm Any thoughts?? Thanks!! I think your thoughts are in order. When the new fish die, is there any obvious cause of death? That is, are they damaged or do their bodies look intact? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MantaFan Posted January 25, 2016 Author Share Posted January 25, 2016 Thanks, I forgot to add that... Physically, they look fine. The only thing I may have noticed is some panting or labored breathing. I did see that on one anthias and one lawnmower blenny. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steelrain Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 I would trying QT the coral beauty for a few weeks before adding new fish to help narrow the parameters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isaac Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 lots of hiding places? adding to the tank w/ lights out +8-10hrs after? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MantaFan Posted January 26, 2016 Author Share Posted January 26, 2016 Thanks guys! Yes, plenty of hiding... If it was an acclimation shock I wouldn't think the fish would last for a week or more. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Hey Manta, glad you're keeping up with the GFO and DI/RO filters/resin. What fish have you been losing? I think you mentioned anthias, but what other fish have you tried and lost? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MantaFan Posted January 26, 2016 Author Share Posted January 26, 2016 Hey Ty! Clown tang, 2 sunburst anthias, 2 lyretail, mandarin goby, lawnmower blenny. CB, wrasse, blue tang, gramma, and two clowns are happy as can be Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mFrame Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 how often were you feeding the anthias? what food source do you have for the mandarin? do you have lots of algae for the blenny? All of these seem to have very specific diets and all can be tough to get eating when new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 The panting suggests a pathogen or parasite. I don't know if you have a QT but I would try a couple hardy species next and QT them first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MantaFan Posted January 26, 2016 Author Share Posted January 26, 2016 Mike, the Anthias got marine cuisine once a day. They weren't aggressive toward the food so got chased off some. They ate maybe 5-6 mysis each. The tank is a year old and I've seeded copepods. I've got amphipod sheds floating around sometimes. Lots of live rock, so I assumed the single small mandarin was good. The old fish get 1-2 good pinches of NLS each day. Now that I write it out, that doesn't sound like much... Hmmm. Tim, I don't have a QT, but if it's nutrition related, then that may be the answer. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Hi Scott! Not to overthink it but I think it's simply just the type of fish that were added. That's why I asked what types as some are more difficult to acclimate than others to tank life. Anthias are generally shy and hard to acclimate to eating prepared foods. It's best to QT them first and get them eating and used to the foods you'll feed before introducing then into the tank to compete with other fish. The sunburst anthias, on top of being an anthia and harder to acclimate to tank life, is a deepwater species that prefers dimmer lights and needs caves to hide and rest in. Like Mike mentioned, mandarins and the lawnmower blennies have very specialized diets that perhaps your tank wasn't meeting them. I think it's simply just the fish choices and the lower success associated with those particular fish species than probably anything that is wrong with your tank. Just my 2 cents. If you buy a new damsel and kill it, then I'd be worried. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MantaFan Posted January 26, 2016 Author Share Posted January 26, 2016 Thanks Ty... The Anthias were eating just fine, but I get it... I planned to grab some chromis and try them. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Thanks Ty... The Anthias were eating just fine, but I get it... I planned to grab some chromis and try them. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Oh jeez, chromis may not help your new fish live/die ratio. For everyone 5 I've ever bought, 3 will die within the year. Then over the successive years, they'll kill each other off one by one. I always end up with just one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isaac Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 green chromis have always been my "test" fish after the initial cycle. I've never been able to keep green chromis for too long when the tanks are more established... probably due to competition. they are suppose to be hardy, but not against other fish i guess.... thus my "test" fish *lol* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MantaFan Posted January 27, 2016 Author Share Posted January 27, 2016 Thanks guys for the input... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neon Reefer Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 Try something along the line of a two-spot yellow hog fish. If you can kill that then you have a water quality problem or pathogen. I wouldn't worried about Cl- residuals but possibly ammonia residuals then use a binding agent like Ammolock to take care of that issue. Good Luck Andre' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isaac Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 just curious, what brand filter/RO/DI media you using? bad DI resins wont show in TDS, but will have bad crap in the water in trace amounts. Your RO might not be catching other crap from municipal water sources which don't harm much in small quantities, but over time and evap, they add up.... which would be in line with your timeline. established fish adapt w/ the water, new fish cant... acclimation process still too quick (by comparison)... even if you are drip acclimating. Check your municipal water report, cross ref w/ what the current filters/brands takes out, cross ref w/ whats harmless in the tank.. end result may be your answer. speaking of which: (thats round rock) .. a good proper carbon block will take care of these, your typical under-sink carbon blocks wont do as good of a job, which then hits your DI. End result of chloramine w/ sub-par filtering is essentially introducing ammonia into the "clean" side in trace amount, which can add up if you are not paying attention. Most of us don't test ammonia/nitrite too often once we've cycled, with chloramines coming into the mix in higher ratios, we really should more often! BRS has a couple videos on this too (ugh, im starting to sound like a BRS spokesman lately... just a good first step in research!). All of us have our tried and true saying we repeat a lot, mine is turning into "frugal, not cheap" apparently. Re-burns is good too.... get the best upfront, dont waste money over time. (i'm paraphrasing that one). EDIT: this is lakeways: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MantaFan Posted January 28, 2016 Author Share Posted January 28, 2016 Great info... Thanks! I use BRS sediment, Carbon block, and DI resin. From the numbers you posted I should be fine, but let me know what you think. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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