Fish not making it past a month...

[iammitch3479]

SO i have had my tank for just under a year now and the only fish i have been able to keep alive more than a month or two are my two oc. clowns. I have gone through a flame angel (died of assuming velvet, and ich probably from the stress of the velvet) that was a while ago, my clowns caught velvet and i saved them. lost a bi color to velvet presumably because they were in the same time period.

months pass, everything is great, corals flourishing, fish happy, hosting my two BTAs so i went ahead and bought a Midas Blenny, he died 2 weeks later, all of a sudden one day he was all discolored and purple with clamped fins and then the next day he was dead. My most recent purchase was 3 Chromis and two have died so far and the third was looking healthy till last night before the lights were all the way off (sunset mode for LEDs) he was on the bottom in the corner. today he looks fine again iI don't know what that was about but i just don't know why i cant keep anything alive other than my clowns. i continue to test water bu weekly, never seen anything spike. Just tested today and the results were normal:




amm - 0
nitrite - 0
nitrate ~ 5
ph - 8.2
alk - 125
calc - 410
pho - 0

these are what they have continually been.

feeding mixture of mysis, brine, spirulena, and some reef frenzy occasionally.

55 gallon display ~ 65 gallons total (with sump), water changes every week of 5 gallons. Running : protein skimmer (eshopps i think not sure the model) and a sock for filtration. I have 2 AI Nanos and a 24" T5HO x4 bulb on one side. ummm i can't think of anything else that would be useful let me know. just don't know why this is happening. Here are some pics:

http://imgur.com/a/SPtg3#21

 

[CoralJunkie]

What does there poop look like?

 

[mnavick]

Have a 2nd water test by a fellow local reefer or store using their kit just to rule out yours.

 

[iammitch3479]

I never really see their poop lol

 

[CoralJunkie]

Stringy white poop=parasites

 

[theone]

IME pygmy angles are very sensative creatures. I gave up on them years age. They stress easy and can sometimes be very finicky eaters.

Blennys, if they don't eat lots of algae, can suffer quickly.

Cromies, although hardy, are easily stressed too.

Are your clows breeding? if so they can be very aggressive when eggs are around and could be attacking more peaceful fish.

The longer you acclimate the better. I have acclimated for hours for some fish. If you are buying baby fish, it can be very challenging to keep them alive unless you have a very mature tank with the right kind and size food along with great O2 levels.

I have a 50G and I consider it a nano I will never buy a fish larger that a diamond goby. IMO pygmy angels need at least a 75-90G tank that is very mature.

Good luck

 

[jamesdong009]

Are you able to quarantine the fish before they go into your display?

 

[iammitch3479]

I quarentine everything after the Angel because it caused such a headache. It was sort of an impulse buy. Never making those two mistakes again.

The poop is never white and stringy.

The clowns are still relatively small, Idk how to tell if they are breeding or not, don't see any eggs but I can definitely tell which one the female is because she bites the crap out of my hand. The other just hides in the anenome. I bought them as babies about a year ago.

About the o2 levels and size of food, the mysis and brine is definitely small enough. I can't feed PE mysis because its too big but the brand I have is small. And I don't know anything about the o2. I usually buy juvenile fish so maybe that's it.

 

[ducducguzzi]

mantis shrimp??

 

[wdebenedettojr]

What do you do in quarentine? Like what meds and how long are they there for?