[astokl12000]

I purchased a Diamond Gobby last week. It looked good for the first few days but started hidding a lot in the rocks thereafter. I found it dead this morning. Bad track record of dying snails and now this. I am begining to think somethink is seriously wrong with my tank. All measurements are perfect but about the only creature I can keep alice are crabs.

Help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ninong]

It's hard to guess what the problem might be if you say that your hermit crabs are still alive but snails and even fish all die shortly after being added to the tank.

The Diamond Goby (Valenciennea puellaris) may not be the easiest fish to keep but it shouldn't have died that fast, assuming you did a proper acclimation.

Try answering all of the following questions so that we can review what your stituation is:

1. Size of tank? Glass or acrylic? Purchased new or used?

2. Live rock? Purchased new or used?

3. Sandbed? Composition of sandbed? (Fine particle aragonite or crushed coral?) Acquired new?

4. Age of setup? How long has your tank been set up?

5. How long did you wait after setting up the tank before adding your first fish?

6. What have you added so far and what died and what, if anything, is still alive besides the hermit crabs?

7. Any signs of any worms dying? From either the live rock or the sandbed?

8. I assume that all of your pumps, etc., were purchased new??? And there are absolutely no brass fittings anywhere, right?

9. Have you ever added any sort of medication or 'treatment' to this tank for any reason whatsoever?

10. What salt mix are you using? What is your salinity (or specific gravity)? What is your pH? What is your calcium? What is your alkalinity?

11. How do you maintain your calcium and alkalinity levels, assuming you have started some regime to maintain those???

12. Have you ever added anything in the so-called "trace elements" universe? If so, what? And how much?

Thanks!

[astokl12000]

Ninong, answers to your questions. Thank for all the help.


1. Size of tank? Glass or acrylic? Purchased new or used?

210g brand new glass tank

2. Live rock? Purchased new or used?

Purchased new from Liveaquaria

3. Sandbed? Composition of sandbed? (Fine particle aragonite or crushed coral?) Acquired new?

Crushed coral (very small pieces, almost like sand) purchased brand new in sealed bags

4. Age of setup? How long has your tank been set up?

The tank has been set up for 40 months now

5. How long did you wait after setting up the tank before adding your first fish?

4 months

6. What have you added so far and what died and what, if anything, is still alive besides the hermit crabs?

I added several turbo and asortia snails and they all died. Try aclimation over 3 hours. Now the gobby. Acclimated over an hour.

7. Any signs of any worms dying? From either the live rock or the sandbed?

Not sure I see any worms. Amybe I do not know what to look for.

8. I assume that all of your pumps, etc., were purchased new??? And there are absolutely no brass fittings anywhere, right?

Brand new and no brass fittings anywhere.

9. Have you ever added any sort of medication or 'treatment' to this tank for any reason whatsoever?

I added a solution to get rid of white cloudy particles in my water at the very begining. It stated on the lable that it is reef safe.

10. What salt mix are you using? What is your salinity (or specific gravity)? What is your pH? What is your calcium? What is your alkalinity?

I use Instant Ocean Synthetic Sea Salt . My salinity os 1.025 on the dot. My ph is 8.2. Did not yet measure calcium not alkalinity. Just measure Nitrates, Nitrites, Amonia and PH.

11. How do you maintain your calcium and alkalinity levels, assuming you have started some regime to maintain those???

As stated above dod not measure those two.

12. Have you ever added anything in the so-called "trace elements" universe? If so, what? And how much?

Nothing except for the solution from question 9.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by astokl12000

The tank has been set up for 40 months now

I assume that's a typo, right?

Not sure I see any worms. Amybe I do not know what to look for.

Usually there will be some polychaete worms that come in/on live rock. So anything that looks anything at all like a worm would be a worm for our purposes.

That's OK because you have answered this question in that what I was looking for was evidence of copper poisoning. Polychaete worms will exit the live rock and/or live sand (in a mature sandbed) when copper is accidentally introduced into an aquarium.

Eventually you will need test kits for calcium, alkalinity and magnesium, so you may as well get them now. It's important to know if somehow your calcium and alkalinity numbers might be way, way out of balance. I like LaMotte test kits for calcium and alkalinity but Salifert would be OK, too. I used Salifert for magnesium testing.

There have been instances in the past where reefkeepers have lost livestock because of faulty batches of Instant Ocean salt. There is a very long thread on Reef Central on that topic. So it is important to rule out that possibility by testing your tankwater for calcium and alkalinity. In the thread in question, the alkalinity of the problem salt was testing at 95 dKH, which is astronomically high. The tests that measured the alkalinity at 95 dkH were performed by Dr. Randy Holmes-Farley. The hobbyist(s) with the problem Instant Ocean salt had sent him some samples for testing because all they knew from their hobby-level test kits was that the alkalinity was "very high."

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by astokl12000

I added a solution to get rid of white cloudy particles in my water at the very begining.

This could be a very important clue. We need to know what caused the "white cloudy particles" in the very beginning. That's why you need to test your water for calcium and alkalinity.

[astokl12000]

I will test this weekend and reply as soon as I have some results.

Thank you,

[astokl12000]

Ninong,

Tested the water and here are the results:

Salinity - 1.025
PH - 8
Amonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 5
KH - 9
Alk - 3.2
Calcium - 500

Please advise if you see any issues.

Thanks,

Adam

[Ninong]

The calcium at 500 ppm now may have been higher when you noticed white particles in the water "in the beginning." That's just a guess.

In any event, 500 ppm Ca is not a problem but it would be better to not let it go higher than that. A better range for most reef tanks would be between 425-475 ppm.

Your alkalinity is fine. BTW, 9 dKH and 3.2 mEq/L are just two different ways of saying the exact same thing. They're two different units of measurement of total alkalinity: dKH (degrees Karbonate Hardness) divided by 2.8 equals mEq/L (milliequivalents per liter); mEq/L multiplied by 2.8 equals dKH.

P.S. -- I have no idea what your problem might be but it's obvious from your current test results that your salt mix is not the problem.

[Ninong]

This is probably not part of the problem but just for the record, what is your tank's water temperature?

[astokl12000]

It is 79.5F.

Waht would you recommend to lower the calcium?

Also, what type of fish would you recommend to try again? A clown?

Adam

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by astokl12000

It is 79.5F.

That's fine!

Waht would you recommend to lower the calcium?

Nothing. It's OK at 500 ppm but you might want to watch it that it doesn't go any higher than that.

Also, what type of fish would you recommend to try again? A clown?

That might work, assuming that you want a clown(s). For example, don't go out and buy damsels just because they are indestructible because you may have a very difficult time removing them from your tank later on once you discover you really don't like damsels at all.

Clownfish are pretty hardy. Be sure to choose a species you like and, if you intend getting an anemone later on down the road, be sure to choose a species that accepts the anemone you plan to get later.

Personally, I see no reason to add a single clownfish, especially in a 210-gal tank. I suggest that if you are interested in clownfish, you get two of the same species so that you will end up with a pair. Personally, I would avoid Maroon clownfish (Premnas biaculeatus) because they are so aggressive.

Another possibility might be a nice, smallish, Foxface rabbitfish (Siganus vulpinus or S. unimaculatus). Try to find one around 3" long. They are fantastic herbivores and relatively hardy. Caution: their spines are venomous, so you don't want to touch their spines, ever!

You might want to add three or four Trochus snails to your tank before adding another fish just to see what happens.