Help!

[rdwilson]

I have a 29-gallon tank with 20 pounds of live rock. I added a Clown and Royal Gamma several months ago and had no problems. I added a Leomonpeel Angel & an Anthias (I believe a Dispar) about 3 weeks ago. All was good until last week when the Lemonpeel developed red blotches on both sides. The blotches increased and he died a few days later. Now my Gamma is acting different. He hasn’t eaten in a 2 days and just stays at the bottom of the tank under a rock. He’ll come out occasionally, but he looks like he is on his way out… Any ideas what happened to the Angel or what is occurring with the Gamma? My Nitrites are 0, Nitrates between 20-40, and PH is between 7.8 & 8.4.

 

[jhnrb]

It is hard to say what may be going on in your system with the limited information provided, however, your ph swing is too great. you need to get down to no more than 4 points. presently you have a 6 point swing. not good. your nitrates are too high. need to get those under 20ppm continuously. you did not say what salinity you are running, how and when you do water changes, any amonia?, what the oxygen levels are, circulation, etc. I would recommend you go to helpful articles to fish disease and read part 9 1st, if this does not help then you may want to read the entire article. red spots could be hemoraging of some type, can be caused by parasites, bacteria, poor water quality, etc. hard to say. in order to render anykind of a educated opinion your systems history and log would need to be consulted. sorry for your losses, check out the helpful articles and I would recommend the following book to help you with identification of problems with your fish "THE COMPLETE AQUARIUM PROBLEM SOLVER" by Kevin W. Boyd ISBN-1-56465-142-8 Tetra Press #16099 good luck hope something here helps.

 

[rdwilson]

Thanks for your reply. I had my water tested and told it was perfect. So, I did a 5 gallon water change and re-stocked with 1 firefish, 1 royal gramma, 1 flame angel, and I already had 1 clown. Two days after purchasing the new fish, the firefish died... I'm letting that go as either he was sick prior to my purchase or the shock of the move to a new tank. Should I treat my water with anything for parasites?

Another question.. The new fish listed above, should I feed them only flake food or do any of them require anything extra??

 

[jhnrb]

you are adding too many animals too quickly. Read the helpful articles on new systems, and related newbie articles. Then go down the list and read on water chemistry items and feeding articles. It is not possible for me to tell what your problem is. just being told your water is perfect is a matter of opinion as to who is doing the testing. Either you are not acclimating the fish properly, or, something is wrong else where. Check to make sure you do not have any stray voltages in the water, faulty heater, pump etc. if you do not have a ground probe in the tank add one. Until you get your system to stablize, do not add anything else. once your system has run for at least 3 months (yes three months) without losses, you can consider additions, however, only one at a time and at least 2 to three weeks inbetween additions. This is also for corals. You are going too fast. now is the time to slow down, regroup, read, identify your problems cause, correct it, and be patient for a few months. will save you money in the long run. hope this helps. good luck.