why do my fish die?

ok i will make sure to get some test kits. if there are high ammonia levels and stuff all i can really do is a water change until its at an ok level right? or else what are some good chemicals or something i can add to the water to make those go down?

 

Sorry for your losses. It's really hard to help without knowing your levels. 1.020 is really low, I know most of the 3reefers run their systems between 1.024-1.026. (mine is 1.026) I believe natural saltwater is 1.026, correct me if I am wrong guys. I agree with corailline too many fish too fast. Your ammonia levels had to be through the roof with no real surface for ammonia neutralizing bacteria to grow on. (Live rock or another surface)
I would invest in a good aquarium keeping book and read through it a few times. There are a ton of good ones out there. That helped me ton and it will save your wallet.

 

+1

You will need a test kit, make sure it tests for ammonia.

Try to get some curedlive rock.

I would also get some Prime or similar product, but it's only a band aid, you still need to let the tank cycle and only add one fish at a time and only after you have a 0 value for ammonia for at least a week or two.

Do not let the store talk you into buying any more fish or other live stock, even if they say it will help the tank cycle.

After doing more research, try to come up with plan of what type of fish and how many you want in the tank ( 3 would be a good number, added slowly not at one time). What type of inverts and corals.

 

ok thank you all for your advice. i will go get some test kits and LR and we will see what happens. i do have a book already... saltwater for dummies, but i have not exactly read it all the way through, just jumped around for info.

 

Not a problem! Hey everyone has to start somewhere. I had a rough start too, but if you keep at you'll get it. Good luck.

 

one more thing. how do i know if the live rock has been cured? i normally get my fish stuff from petco. will their live rock be cured all the way or is there going to be something i have to do to it to make it ok to add to my tank? also, do i need to wait for my ammonia levels or anything to go down before i add some live rock?

 

To be honest if I buy anything from petco rock wise, I buy the dry base rock (stuff in the bins). I am just scared of there stuff and what nasties could be in the live rock.

I started with all non-LR just dry base rock and bought very tiny little rocks to seed my tank. I just let it run it's course till all the levels were perfect. Ammonia at zero, etc..

The LR will have bacteria on it, this help neutralize your ammonia. So no you do not need to wait. I would find out how high it is before you put the rock in though, so you have a knowledge of what it was before the rock.

 

so if i do get a live rock from petco you are saying it is possible for it to have some bad bacteria on it or something? also is it something my cleaner shrimp would be able to take care of?

 

Not to insult your intelligence, but are you using water straight out of the tap? If you are I highly recommend that you use RO/DI water. If your budget is tight, you can buy it at the stores for about 25 cents a gallon or so. Water straight from your tap may still have chlorine in it and kill your fish as well.

 

not bad bacteria per say, but rather unwanted hitchhikers and a ton of die off. More bad than good. Then you will have more problems to deal with. I like starting with a clean slate (dry rock) and know what's going into my tanks.

You could always order rock online. There are some pretty good places, some are sponsors of 3reef. I hear their rock is amazing. I never ordered rock online, so I do not know the name of site. Help me out guys.