The 3 dead damsels!?

My tank is in dire need of some help and fast! I started my tank approximately 2 and a half months ago.. my ammonia and nitrites are 0 and my nitrates are low (my neighbour has a tank that donated some water to me). I put a pair of damsels, a brittle star fish, 5 snails and 5 halloween hermit crabs in. So far my death tally is 2 damsels and my brittle star. I figured the first damsel could have been due to stress (I later found out it was velvet, even after consulting several "experts" that said it was nitrates from it being a new tank), then the brittle star fish started losing spines and legs before parishing.. once again "nitrates are high".. NO! They arent, i need some help because my second damsel died about a week after the star fish (who was about 3 days after the first damsel) and these are very hardy fish! What's goin on! i'll try to upload some picks of the tank... Any help would be appreciated as this is getting extremely frustrating (at least not yet expensive). Thanks, Evan.

 

a dead damsel is a good damsel....lol joking ;D!!!! the best way i can recommend is run some carbon and do some small water changes ,are you overfeeding or too much light is a good indicator of nitrates .test your top off water etc for it too!!! sorry to hear of your losses!!!

 

hey chap!

Few things:
1. What Is the color of water !? Is it clear ?!
2. Is it smelly ?! (this could indicate bacterial infection)
3. Are your snails active ?! (sudden death or low activity of invertebrates is very often caused by metal poisoning)
4. Do you use any water supplements, trace elements ?!

Sorry for your loss... :-/

 

You started your tank 2.5 months ago, but the question is, how long has it been cycled and when during your tank's life did you add the fish and other livestock? These questions are important, 'cause even if you have 0 readings on your parameters, you can't just add a bunch of livestock at once. Also, how big is your tank? what type of filtration do you have? skimmer? You have to remember, livestock produces waste and you MUST have proper filtration. I'm speaking from experience, right now I have green water in my tank and have to do partial water changes every other day until my UV sterilizer and canister filter arrive next week. I'm new at this, but I have learned from the masters at this forums.

If you had nothing before, but added all at once, you probably had an ammonia spike due to uneaten food and fish waste.

Please tell us more about your tank and equipment. How did you start your tank? LS? LR (cured?)? RO water? How long did it take to cycle? Damsels are very hardy fish. Mine yellow tail went through my tank's cycle, survived and is now happy and well in my tank, so you see, yours dying is very strange. Tell us more.

 

It could be that you are having a problem with low dissolved oxygen in your tank! Nitrates really are not that big a deal except for the adding of fuel to nuisance microalgae growth. Unless you have ammonia and nitrites that are very toxic to most animals and deadly to all in extreme cases, I would search other venues for the death of your livestock.

 

Well, i started my tank (40g) with cured LR and it took about a month and a half to cycle... i then threw in the hermit crabs and the star fish, about a week later my 2 damsels and snails went in... i probably overfed (like most new owners), but i never really had any tests that showed an ammonia spike.. today i'm doing a 15g water change and i'm going to get something that absorbs metals (more specifically copper) i guess.. see what i can do.. i'm running a 10g sump that runs off an overflow into a tower with my filter floss in it.. i've got a protein skimmer in the sump and am running about 300g/hour out of my pump (which is lots for this size of tank, i think).. my snails are not very active, most of the day they are dug in the sand and only come out during feeding time... i dont think it is oxygen because my protein skimmer dumps from about 4 inches above the water in the sump (this would oxygenate the water right?). I also have 3 mangroves in the sump to help with the nitrates... i'll pick up some carbon today as well, see if i can squeeze it into my tower...

 

I would seriously get a good test kit, like api or salifert, or maybe your LFS can test for free. That way you know where you stand as in water params.

 

Cu (copper) does not generally kill fish except in high concentrations. Which if you had, would quickly kill off all life in tank.

Do some back to back water changes... (2x/3x) and retest basic water params.

You should be back on track in no time.

Good Luck!


PS, don't recall if you got forum welcome, so will do again...Scott

To 3Reef!!! ​

Salutations! Glad to see you found way here! ;D ​

The Tao of Marine Aquaria
Tips for Our Hobby and Life

© 1997 Adam H. Whitlock
Edited By Elizabeth M. Lukan 11/25/00 ​

 

Hey guys, thanks for the help. The tank seems to be doing well now after adding the copper absorber and doing a couple 15g water changes! My new damsel is having fun if and when he comes out of his cave under my live rock... hopefully he'll cheer up and get comfy.. he's gonna be in there a while!

 

Yay! I remember when i lost my first fish ( a mystery chromis that i think is a "Bi-Colored Chromis" as the store calls it) good luck and if you need help we are here, 24/7, well at least i am......