sad sad day for a newbie

it was just one rock
roughly 2.5 kgs, cured? (whats that haha) not sure just got it from the fish shop and put it in the tank

 

its a triangle shaped tank made for a corner
about 300-400 ltrs
as of now its only got 2 fish in there
small picaso and a medium sized lionfish

 

that's definitely not too many fish for that sized tank. When live rock is shipped, there is a lot of dead items on the rock. "curing" is leaving the rock in a separate tank long enough for these dead items to be removed before adding it to your tank. unless the lfs just received the shipment, the live rock was probably there long enough to be cured.

 

hopefully someone else will chime in. it sounds like you are going through another cycle. the reason could also be overfeeding. you might cut back on the amount and how often. do you have enough of a clean up crew (snails, hermits, etc.).

 

thanks for the help so far
yea the rock was in another tank at the lfs
clean up crew doesnt exist, no snails or anything
also think the ammonia might be because of the live fish we used to feed the clown trigger, however the lion only swallows whole feeder fish and wont eat anything else..

 

The root issue here was one of compatibility. That grouping of fish was volatile. Clown Triggers (along with most triggers) can be very aggressive to down right "mean". The Lion now probably has Ich from all the stress and the other trigger may have killed the Clown. Adding live feeders only makes things worse as this encourages aggressive behavior. Lion fish, for the most part, do require live food so the die is cast. The fish death could very well have spiked Ammonia and Nitrates. Over skim or at least heavy skim for a few days along with adding some Ammonia and Nitrate absorbing media. Don't do excessive water changes unless Ammonia is reaching truly toxic levels. I would re-think what I want the scheme of the tank to be regarding your fish stock.

 

i would definitely invest in a cleanup crew. there are websites in the states like reefcleaners.com that will make suggestions based on your setup. i say the sites are in the states since i doubt they will ship to australia. however, i'm sure you guys have something similiar. if not, i'm sure that you could get one to make a suggestion and then you could go out and buy the crew yourself. i think your water problems are from excess food and waste.

 

of course, these animals might not survive with the fish that you have.

 

thanks for the replies appreciate it
good news, lions eyes have cleared as well as the spots
im guessing it may have been stress due to the clown trigger dieing?

do you think it is too soon to add a new fish to the tank in about a week or so?
seeing as i lost 2 the tank is looking empty and i want to add some more.

i also have been offered a 50ltr rectangle tank 1ft x 1ft x 2ft
any suggestions what i could do with it?
i dont have a hospital tank or a sump so not sure what i could use it for, any ideas appreciated

 

first problem is this....200-300l is 100g max! When you have large predator fish with very little rock in the tank and no sump, no skimmer you are going to have problems...big problems. That is WAY WAY too many fish to keep in a tank that size (with those type of fish!) Predators produce a lot of waste products, and you simply do not have the biological filtration to handle it.

You are very lucky that you did not have WWIII in that tank with the fish you had in there. The lipstick tang died from being in such an aggressive tank. The clown trigger is one of the most aggressive triggers.....honestly the volitan lion is going to be too big in that tank shortly!

How fast did you add those fish to the tank? How old is the tank?

And definately YES....it is WAY to fast to add any fish in there! You need to add more LR, let it finish cycling and settle down. I would say wait at least a month before adding anything else in there (and honestly I think you are maxed out fish wise with that filtration)

Clean up crew is tough call with those fish. My lion never did attack any of my cuc, however I have a predator tank right now with a golden puffer, a niger trigger and a picasso and anything I put in there is ate immediately!