Heartbroken

[Carmen]

It been a rough month. I received a 14 gallon bio cube from my kids for mothers day. I was so excited! Well I'm saddened because nothing has worked out like the saltwater stores said they would. I bought live sand and cured live rock. Please be patient with me I am a newbee at this. In July I had two clown fish, one tang and a cronie. (?) And a cleaner shrimp with two hermit crabs and two snails. All was great! Love getting up early and drinking a cup of coffee while I watch my fish. First, the cleaner shrimp died. Was told salinity to high. Water testing came out great. Salinity was 24. So I lowered the salinity to 20 which, then the snails died. The vicious cycle starts. The next thing I notice was the tang had a white film on her, along with what looked like white sand particles. Spoke the the lady at the fish store, recommended fungus rid, something like that. Treated couple of days, and one of my clown fish died. I continued to treat for 6 more days. No change. Spoke to a different saltwater store and they recommended maracyn daily. So I then started treatment as directed. 2 days later, other clown fish died. I was told to continue with the maracyn, which I did. Well yesterday I lost my tang, and then I had put the cronie out of misery also. Well, this morning I awoke with my anonome laying in the sand. It was gone also. I truly am heartbroken. I don't know what to do or who to believe, I truly think the extended treatment of maracyn finished them off. But I am aware on how hard it is to treat. Unsure if it was ich or velvet though. I am pretty sure sure they were going to die anyways. I tried dips, and everything I could think of. I cleaned my tank today, the way I normally do. The nitrates are high but unsure what to do at this point. I have a few pieces of soft coral that is still alive and a cleaner shrimp. Oh and two hermit crabs. I don't know what to do at this point. Do I even want to continue. I am truly unsure I can handle this. And if I do, how do I proceed? Do I wait a few weeks and clean again until I can get the nitrates & nitrites down? And repeat that step again. How long before I can introduce fish back into my tank? I guess I need someone who knows what to do to guide me. Can anyone help?

[Reefing Madness]

1st, go back to the store and tell them how much they owe you for virtually killing your fish for you. Wholly crap!!!
What are your water readings.
Ammonia
Nitrites
Nitrates
Calcium
PH
These are the readings most important here. Ammonia is dangerous to all in the tank, Trites are next terrible. Trates in low readings are ok, not great but ok, like under 10. Next, what type of filtration are you running? Skimmer? Powerheads? How much Live Rock do you have? You should have about 20-25lbs of Live Rock in there with a 3-4" Sand bed. Next, you salinity should read 1.024-1.026.
Getting it together: Water changes- Start with 10% a week to start with. This will help with water parameters. Next. Dont' put a Tang in such a small tank. Clown fish are ok, but it is recommended they have a 20g tank. They crabs and snails are ok, depending on the crab. Blue leg and red leg are reef safe, the others may pick at your corals. What kind of lighting do you have? Anemones need strong light to survive. Having the right size fish in the right size tank will keep them healthy and less stress.
Ich is a nasty lil parasite. If there is no host for them, you have but to wait at least 6 weeks before ading another fish, and he should be ok. Do not add a bunch of fish at the same time. You will be ok, this can be overcome. You just have to be patient now. Although dips can be helpful, they also stress the crap out of the fish you are trying to help, which is not good. As long as you can keep the fihs eating, they will overcome it themselves.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-08/sp/index.php
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/a....cfm?c=15+2124
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...159&pcatid=159
hhttp://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/bionitrogencycle/a/aa042098.htmttp://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+1926+168&pcatid=168

[Carmen]

1st, go back to the store and tell them how much they owe you for virtually killing your fish for you. Wholly crap!!!
What are your water readings.
Ammonia
Nitrites
Nitrates
Calcium
PH
These are the readings most important here. Ammonia is dangerous to all in the tank, Trites are next terrible. Trates in low readings are ok, not great but ok, like under 10. Next, what type of filtration are you running? Skimmer? Powerheads? How much Live Rock do you have? You should have about 20-25lbs of Live Rock in there with a 3-4" Sand bed. Next, you salinity should read 1.024-1.026.
Getting it together: Water changes- Start with 10% a week to start with. This will help with water parameters. Next. Dont' put a Tang in such a small tank. Clown fish are ok, but it is recommended they have a 20g tank. They crabs and snails are ok, depending on the crab. Blue leg and red leg are reef safe, the others may pick at your corals. What kind of lighting do you have? Anemones need strong light to survive. Having the right size fish in the right size tank will keep them healthy and less stress.
Ich is a nasty lil parasite. If there is no host for them, you have but to wait at least 6 weeks before ading another fish, and he should be ok. Do not add a bunch of fish at the same time. You will be ok, this can be overcome. You just have to be patient now. Although dips can be helpful, they also stress the crap out of the fish you are trying to help, which is not good. As long as you can keep the fihs eating, they will overcome it themselves.
Marine Ich/Cryptocaryon irritans - A Discussion of this Parasite and the Treatment Options Available, Part I by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com
Nano Fish
Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Aquariums: Clown Goby, Green
hhttp://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/bionitrogencycle/a/aa042098.htmttp://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+1926+168&pcatid=168

When I tested today the ammonia was 180, ph was 8.0. Doesn't test calcium at all. The nitrates 60 and nitrites about 2.0. Do I need different strips? I have an osmosis reversal system. Thats the only water I use. The bio cube comes with the lights and UV lights built in. I removed some on the bio balls and use a bag of carbon and I also have a protein skimmer, and of course a heater. Which stays at 78. I keep the bright lights on for about 8 hours and change to the uv for about 4. I was told to keep the lights off while treating the ich. Not sure if that's what killed the anenome. I really feel like such a failure right now. I just wanted to save them all, and ended up losing them in the end. I guess I need more rock it sounds like. I think I only did 12 lbs. I was told when my salinity was 24 that it was to high for the cleaner shrimp. That the reason they died was they suffocated. That I needed to bring it down to 20. Is this not correct? This is going to sound really stupid, but what do you mean if there is no host for them I will have to wait for 6 weeks. I'm just trying to make sure I do this right. I have tried to follow everything I have been told to a tee but it's just not worked well at all so far. Oh thank you for the links!!!

[twisted]

If you started your tank in July, it's about now that you should've started to add fish to your tank. What was overlooked is the fact that it takes 2 to 3 months for tour tank to build up the bio end to sustain life in your tank. Shame on your lfs for carelessly selling all those fish to you. Especially the tang. Take some time and research and learn what you are getting into and the steps to do it right. It willb worth it. Ask us lots of questions and stay positive. Were here to help you on your way


Twisteds 180 Reef

[twisted]

Another thing....dont take the advice of the lfs without getting another opinion or 3.... Lol
Just b patient and learn about each thing you add and test regular do water changes and keep a log of results and things you notice going on in the tank. Good reefing is very rewarding but comes with a big responsibility. Good luck!


Twisteds 180 Reef

[Carmen]

Another thing....dont take the advice of the lfs without getting another opinion or 3.... Lol
Just b patient and learn about each thing you add and test regular do water changes and keep a log of results and things you notice going on in the tank. Good reefing is very rewarding but comes with a big responsibility. Good luck!


Twisteds 180 Reef

Thank you!

[twisted]

Anytime.
If you look through the threads at the failed attempts and problems, you'll see most of them have a few things in common. First is that they didn't cycle the tank properly. Overstocking. Wrong fish to tank sizing....and then the big one that covers most if not all of the above mentioned- they took Advice and direction from the lfs.


Twisteds 180 Reef

[twisted]

There's some great peeps here and most of us went through what you r now....lol and are still learning from our mistakes ;-)
Trust me, you'll have more fun with your tank if you take your time and "earn" your way to a bada$$ tank


Twisteds 180 Reef

[Carmen]

There's some great peeps here and most of us went through what you r now....lol and are still learning from our mistakes ;-)
Trust me, you'll have more fun with your tank if you take your time and "earn" your way to a bada$$ tank


Twisteds 180 Reef

Thanks guys, I'm going to let my tank sit for 6 weeks. Of course, with 10 % cleanings every week. Then I will try again. Slowly.

[leebca]

Carmen,

You'll benefit from posts here in Reefland. Please do reading while you're waiting:
Bio - Lee (a.k.a. leebca)
Setting Up a FOWLR Aquarium
Fish Stocking Limit - for FO and FOWLR
What Size Tank is Right for That Fish?

The 14 gallon tank will not be a very good tank for Marine fishes, but it would be a good tank for a reef setup (without fish).

Good luck!

[unfucwitabLe]

it might have been that your anemone was dying and polluted the water, killing off the fish and inverts. one by one. i had an anemone without proper research and it ended up killing my vlamingii tang, clown, and a damsel. they require lots of lighting and a very well established tank.

[luamada]

I would not do a salt water in a 14 gal at all. Please just do a fresh water because the salt water needs a lot more space than that. You may have two clown fishes, but I would not even do that. Have a fresh water or buy a bigger tank. The minimun should be a 55 gal. prefer a 70 gal. I have been doing this for five years now and it is very scary when a fish die. to take it out of the ocean to kill it is a crime. Please read a lot more about it. this site is great to learn about it. learn learn learn. I read for 2 years about saltwater and still make mistakes. read here when you have a disease too. i had ich and that is what sounds like you had, i got here for hours researching about it and then went to the store to get the medication and drove 2 hours to a store that has a good reputation. be careful please with our little friends. Go slow and good luck.
anything you are welcomed to email me. I don't know much but will be glad to share.

it might have been that your anemone was dying and polluted the water, killing off the fish and inverts. one by one. i had an anemone without proper research and it ended up killing my vlamingii tang, clown, and a damsel. they require lots of lighting and a very well established tank.