questions

Q1: why does my fish (the black and white stripe fish) has some kind of an infection on the tail whereas my clown fish in the same aquarium is doing fine? The fish died eventually.

Q2: How often do I have to change my salt water?

 

Hard to answer the fish question w/o a pic. Clownfish are hardy, which explains why they can be bred so easily and are so common in aquaria. Other fish may not be as tough and/or certain species are susceptible to particular diseases (e.g. tangs and ick).

As for water, change 10% of the system volume once a week or 20% every two weeks, keep it topped off with fresh RO water in the meantime, and everything should run great.

 

I change 20% a month not every two months and my tank is running great. Ich is caused by a parasite called Cyptocarion Irritans. Clownfish are all but immune to this disease, but have their own version known as Clownfish Disease. This could explain the infection of another fish but not the clownfish.

 

Yeah, the bigger and more well-established systems can often do well with less water changes as long as the micronutrient levels are monitored. I have even heard of people that never do water changes and only dose chemicals. Still, my earlier suggestion is based upon hobby conventions so it is probably the advice you will hear most often. Each aquarium and aquarist will establish their own unique maintenance regime because every system is different.

 

I change 10% water every 6 weeks.

Lots of folks swear by doing it more often and others do it less often. There are give and takes (dosing supplements is a major give and take, for example).

I do not have the experience to say which is better - but it seems to me, the folks that do - don't all agree either.

It's most important to keep your params stable. That should tell you how often and how much in your own scenario.


Stress has a lot to do with fish getting sick. There are lots of things that might stress one fish but not another (new additions, parameters, aggressiveness directed at a particular fish, etc)

 

Agreed.

 

Ditto. If we all agreed about the details all the time, there would be no need for 3reef.;D

 

i second that one, great answer Nano#2 ;D

 

Stress? But my fish always look stress when i enter my room/when i look at the tank. It hides behind the filter and i donno if whether the infection comes from the filter sucking the tail or something.

And btw, my fish tank is only about 1 foot long. I'll post some pics.

 

There, my foot-long fish tank. All my fishes died except the 2 clown fish. Im just a begginer and im waiting to move to a bigger tank (which i already have) but im scared that when i buy those fishes again they'll all die.