First Tank Dead Fish

[mojuave]

I am new to salt water tanks and this is my very first one. A little background: I have read so much and talked to many people but there always seem to be a different version of how to. I opted with majority and went bigger, I have a 125 gallon, two overflows, 45 gallon sump, 2 900gph return pump, 2 maxi-jet 600 used for circulation at 750gph, 9watt uv, marineland magnum 350, 2 200 watt heater, 100 lbs reef rock, approx 40 lbs live rock, live sand crushed coral mix, 2 36" coralife light fixtures with white,blue and "moonlight" led.

My tank sat for about 2 weeks with just sand, reef rock and equipment running while cloudyness was correcting. I added about 35-40 lbs live rock from Petco(which ended up yielding first livestock, a peppermint shrimp hitched a ride) about 4 days prior to live rock I added the "cocktail shrimp" the day of live rock I added microbe-lift special blend(petco reccomendation)

Two weeks later reef rock beginning to turn brown went back to Petco and got 3 hermit crabs, 4 snails and 4 mollies. After 6 days i went and got 1 blue damsel and 4 chromis(was told I'm good) after 3 days 1 chromis went missing, 2 after that 1 dead, 2 after that 1 more dead now day 13 after adding fish last chromis dying(after work today i know hes gone). the blue damsel is looking like hes turning white, the crabs, snail, peppermint and mollies all fine.

I refuse to allow any more fish to die can someone please help me!!!!!

Ultimate goal is to be a beautiful reef with fish.

 

[marcah]

howdy and welcome to the site..:D
the setup for the most part sounds fine, but I would get rid of the cannister filter, it will cause you more headaches ( nitrate factory) then bennifits as you go. I would also add more liverock, rule of thumb is 1 to 2 pounds per gallon. the cannister you can keep and use only as something needed to run carbon, phosphate remover or such... Now as far as the fish it sounds to me like the tank never got time to cycle and the fish are dyiing because of it.. The brown algae you are seeing is most likely diatoms which are all part of the cycle process.. I would also look into getting a protein skimmer, look for one rated twice your display tank size..

 

[Nanna]

Hello and welcome.
First of all you need to slow down, you're moving way to fast. You should never add that many fish at one time. I believe whoever was helping you at Petco was just interested in making a sale and not concerned about the welfare of your tank or it's livestock. Have you been checking any of your water parameters to make sure your tank has fully cycled? If you have been testing, please provide the information on your parameters. Once you post that information we can go from there to see if we can help you get on track.

 

[marcah]

just saw the circulation sorry, I would increase it to run at a turnover rate of about 30x your tank size per hour this will allow for corals down the road..

 

[mojuave]

Thanks for the replies. As far as live rock I was told the reef rock will become live rock I did misjudge the volume of rock so I ordered 100 more lbs from ltd which btw wants to add 12 or better damsels to tank for cycling I don't Like the they are sacraficial fish statement. That's why I went to petco. Picking up a 200 gallon skimmer that was ordered today. The canister is currently using the "polish filter"

As of yesterday lights on temp at 81 ammonia at0.15 ph 8.2 nitrates 10 nitrites .50 salinity 1.0225

 

[marcah]

the rock will become live over a period of time so that will be fine.. sacrificing fish is a big no no and glad you didnt listen to them .. a piece of table shrimp dropped in will jump start the cycle.. sorry that petco ( which doesnt surprise me) had you start loading the fish in that quick.. you dont want to add more then a fish or two every few weeks to let the things adjust..

 

[Nanna]

Sounds like your tank is still cycling to me. The cycle goes ammonia, nitrites then nitrates are last. You still have high nitrites and your nitrates are starting to go up. Do Not use live fish to cycle your tank! I would recommend taking back any livestock you still have alive. Monitor your water parameters, when your nitrites are zero and you only have nitrates start doing water changes to bring them down to zero. Once this is accomplished you can slowing start adding livestock back into your tank.

 

[wontonflip]

+1 everyone -- slow down, and when your ammonia and nitrites read 0, do a water change, then you can add 1 or 2 fish. Don't add anymore for another month. The slower you go, the healthier your tank will be.

 

[mojuave]

So when my ammonia and nitrites hit 0 I will still have nitrates ?? Then change water about how much?? Why are the mollies and peppermint surviving will they still, kinda named the peppermint he's my mascot sort of.

 

[Smitty]

Hello and welcome to the site...glad to have you aboard. When you're ready for your water change, it's best to do a 10-20% change. Everyone has you covered.

 

[mojuave]

Thanks to everyone for all your knowledge. I went back to Petco today and explained to the girl(same one) what info I found on here and WOW!!! she agreed I was not ready for fish. If only she told me I could have saved a few lives. The lfs didn't order the skimmer so I couldn't pick it up but I added a python to order for cleaning and water changes. I picked up another nice chunk of live rock with green, purple and brown colors. I turned the circulator pumps towards the rocks and switched out the two 900 gph return pumps with 1600 gph pumps. the return nozzles are wide mouthed and pointed towards side glass high in tank. The new power behind the pumps is moving the sand and created or should say recreated the cloudy effect. retested water with these results: temp: 81, ammonia: 0.30, nitrites: 0.25, nitrates: 9 and ph: 8.1 I guess I'll wait a few days and retest to see where I'm at. Tomorrow I'm taking the canister filter and changing to carbon filter.

 

[marcah]

glad to hear she came to her senses, like you I wish she had done that before she sold you the first fish.. Glad to hear you decided to get rid of the cannister filter, the heads you have running from the return can they be positioned one pushing water down the front glass and one pushing down the back? making a whirlpool effect in the tank? your corals down the road will love it.. make it so some of the flow meets along the top so you get some bashing of the currents against eachother, your higher demanding ( SPS and some LPS ) will love the current it creates...

 

[TRAUMA]

You got to slow down BIG tanks crash too and when they crash they crash hard. ( the bigger they are the harder they fall)

 

[mojuave]

I'm in no rush I'm just going along with any information I find. If it takes months to establish a tank for years of beauty then months it is. I checked in tank a few hours ago before I left for work. I'm not sure but I think with the new pumps its more air bubbles than particles. I noticed the nozzles are creating an air funnel drawing air from water surface and a lot of air is being returned to sump with that a louder sucking noise. The water from nozzle is already creating enough force in side glass to redirect the current down and created pits in the sand. I had to redirect one to aim more towards surface because I was able to see the glass bottom

 

[little_fish]

Hello and Welcome to the site!

Everyone has you covered!

 

[mojuave]

Ok came home tonight and was pleasantly surprised, the last chromis fish is alive and swimming around even eating awesome. Now I also noticed AIR BUBBLES EVERYWHERE, on thermometer on glass on rocks on pumps. only when I turn on both return pumps this happens. Anybody know why.