Please help!!

jeep rider - 13 , like Slocal, I would never have thought it

87 degrees is to warm, the increased heat will have reduced the amount of oxygen in the water and that could explain the fishes behaviour IMO - fish understandng oxygen is limited saving energy by not moving about to much
slowly reduce temp to 80 - over 3 days
nature finds a balance and the early fish deaths are natures way of finding a stocking level suitable for the enviroment and conditions

also noticed you have a crab? what type, could this be nibbling on your star, as they are not very fast movers and cant get away ( spend some time watching tank after lights out )

wish I could be more help

Steve

 

i can't believe we haven't figured this out! Thanks so much Sr. I truly appriciate your help. your right it could be the tank temprature that could be cause the way the fish act and reduce the amount of oxygen they have. and it could be the crab nibbling off the star. But those are some seriously large chunks he took off. You would think he would've killed the star by now. but its not to big. i wasn't there when my dad bought the crab. its about 2 inches. not too big. but i'll see what i can do. i'll inform my dad immidiatly about this.

Again thanks so much! and you provided much more help than i would have needed and i am very grateful. ;D can't believe i didn't figure out this before. with the temprature and all.

but with the crab theory the star has had this chunks missing before we got the crab. but we've had the crab for 4 or 5 days or even more. dad just got home hes anwering some of the questions but i'm typeing. But is it the tempature and the lack of oxygen causes the clowns to stay in one corner? and the butterfly to be almost sprint swimming across the tank?

 

Excellent point about the oxygen levels in higher heat. That would definitely explain the fish gasping.


Quick question Jeep: are the crab's claws rounded or pointy? If they're pointy, you're going to either have to get rid of the crab or the star.

 

The conditions being less than perfect are making the clowns uncomfortable and thats why they stay in 1 place

what lights have you got? and turn your heater down a notch or 2
if the tank is at 87 with heater off - as you have no corals - you could raise your lights to create more space between them and water surface and thus cool the tank down a little

 

Nice one Slocal - team work makes the dream work

Steve

 

WAIT EVERYBODY I WAS WRONG!!!!!!! Its a 55 gallon tank. i know big difference between the 36 gallon but hey everyone has their moments! and also i'm trying to remember but i think the salinity level was 1.022. i'm not posative if i'm thinking of the right information for the salinity levels.

 

i just got a quick news flash from my dad. the chunks taken from the star actually were there before we got the crab. we are starting to think its the butterfly fish now.

 

It's ok jeep, the problem could happen in any sized tank. I would still look into either adding a lot more live rock and/or a skimmer to help with your nitrates.

If your salinity was 1.022, I would try to raise it slowly back to around 1.024-1.025.

 

lol very true team work does make a dream work. but the claws are actually rounded. but now that my dad is here it is not the crab. it could be adding to it but no its not. the chunks on the star were missing before we got the crab. its hard to tell who in the tank did this.

All the fish:

2 clowns
1 racoon butterfly
1 crab
1 sea star
1 green chromis or a starter fish so we call it.

 

okay. Thanks for your help slocal! ;D