what should i do... need some real reefer advice

so here is my situation.

my tank is in the process of cycling and is on the 4th week. just recently had a nice diatom bloom. i was talked into cycling with a few damsels from my LFS. i had bought one from one store. and then a week later i was talked into getting two more.

well, the first on i bought is the only one living still. the other two died since. one of them died within about two days and looked as if was loosing color on one side of it before it died. the other one died about a week later and looked like it had lymphosystis. white tips on all his fins and mouth was decaying. Another thing i noticed was that the one healthy fish was really bullying the others and didnt give them much of a chance to get acclimated.

my question is, do any of these symotoms sound like a real disease and something that i need to pull the survivor out of the DT and put in a QT to let the tank rid itself of parasites or is itmaybe that the fish just stressed and died???

thank you the help is appreciated, im wanting to know if after my cycle i can add livestock or if i have to wait the additional tie to heal my DT

 

So the two that died were the two that you bought last, correct? If so, then I wouldn't be too worried. The two fish came from the same store so you may have just got bad livestock. And once a damsel claims his territory he will bully anything that looks similar to him that comes into the tank. I would just ride it out with your one damsel.

 

yes the two that died came from the same store and were added after the first fish which is still alive.

 

One fish is more than enough to get you through a cycle. Take it back after the cycle completes if you do not want a damsel in your tank.

 

I understand this now. i have learned so much from all of you since day one. im on here about 6 hours a day just reading. but as far as my question and the disease, should i be worried or can i press on. Of course after my cycle is complete and my params are stable

 

I don't think you need to worry, between the cycle and the rough introduction the other two died. The parameters were so different from the store to your tank that the last two were fighting an uphill battle.

Press on slowly.

If you are going for a reef tank add the corals you want before fish. Then only buy reef safe fish. Add the fish in order of aggressiveness. Least to most.

 

thankyou for the encouragement. imjust going FOWLR but im still going to give it a couple weeks then do a WC then decide what to add. probably some sort of CUC at first.

 

Good idea. Still add the fish in the order I mentioned.

 

thank you again. are there such a thing as a invert safe trigger?

 

Not that I have heard of. Some are less likely to attach but they usually feed on inverts. You might get lucky but the odds are against you.