My Fish are dying

Okay I have a 55 gallon tank with 30 pounds of live rock. My water test are perfect and I have many inverts that are flurishing. I can not seem to keep my fish alive....is it possible there is something in my tank getting to the fish? I have seen a really long thin worm in my tank but i did a gravel vaccum and I haven't seen it since. I had a yellow tang for 2 days it was wonderfully active and was eating well and everything and I woke up this morning and he was dead like something tried to pull him into the live rock. Any ideas? Please help

 

bristle worms typically wont attach a fish. especially a tang. do you have a starfish? please list your water params so we can see them. alto of times, thinking they are "perfect" just isnt enough. also, two days may not necessarily mean blame on the tank. fish could have had an issue prior to your purchase. what other fish have you lost recently?

 

When we see "my water tests are perfect" and your fish are dying - usually means you water is not "perfect".

Can you post actual values of:

pH
Temp
Specific Gravity
Alk
Nitrates
Nitrites
Ammonia

How old is the tank?

What other fish are in there/have died?

what is your filtration? Sump? Protein skimmer? Media reactors?

What kind of lighting?

Any other fish in there living?

A 55 is a bit small for a YT IMO anyway . . . .

Starting out here will help us guide our guess as to what's going on with your tank.

Aside from this info, do not purchase any other fish until you have this figured out - it's both cruel and a waste of money.

 

I will run water tests when I get home so I can give you exact values. I don't mean they are perfect, I have been in the hobby for 10 years and have never had an issue like this. Will do water tests and be back later this evening. What really confuses me is that my inverts are anything but dying. Wouldn't they be the first to go if it was the water??

 

What's your acclimation procedure?

 

I had a purple pseudochromis and two domino damselfish that I had 3 months with no issues at all. Then I got a percula clown and since it's death I haven't been able to keep anything. I also got more live rock durin that time which made me think that maybe it was a hitchhiker because there is a fairly good sized black crab living in one o my live rocks that I can't identify but I don't think that's it either. And I use the drip method to acclimate fish. Doing water quality when I get home tonigt

 

I read a similar situation in another forum about this mysterious situation. They also had a black crab who hitchhiked in on some LR! I would suggest creating a crab trap with some bait. Put a glass tilted on your LR with some silver side or what ever you want to use and hope he will go in, it cant climb up the glass. Thats just my opinion. Good luck!

 

Yeah, I would suspect the crab too.

 

I would guess the crab as well. My 55 had a similar problem, and I chalked it up to O2 levels in a certain place in my system. I had an anthias and tang and one other fish hide under the same rock and die. I rearranged the scape, added a little more flow and haven't lost a fish since (well one due to and overflow incident but that can happen)

 

Try aerating your tank more.

Think about it, in a real reef environment, there are waves to aerate the water.

Air bubbles being pushed into the water increase the amount of dissolved oxygen in the tank.

I do this by putting my return from my canister filter 1/4 or 1/2 an inch above surface of water.

HOB filters do this already.

Others might suggest pointing a powerhead toward the surface.

give it a try, you'd be surprised what good aeration can do to a tank