help!!

[moomoofatcow]

i have some other posts on here...but to quickly describe the situation:

we just got a 72 gallon tank, with live sand...and 11 damsels and a cleaner shrimp.

since we got all of this 4 of the damsels have died...and im trying to figure out why. i know this is probably a stupid question (and for anyone that suggests getting a book, im already 1 step ahead...they are on the way from amazon.com) but how often are you supposed to feed your fish?

we have been feeding them 2x a day...and there has been left over food, that usually gets eaten up by the next time we feed them....im i supposed to feed them more often?

any other ideas as to why they are dying off? it started out with one dead...and then the next day there was 3 dead......they are just damsels so im not terribly worried, but if we do get good enough at this for bigger and cooler fish...i just wanna make sure they live

any help would be appriciated

 

[Nutfarm]

What are your water parameters? It's probably a spike in amonia or nitrite causing your deaths.

Second, you're actually feeding too often. You don't have to feed more than once a day, if that. If the fish aren't eating all the food you're feeding, you're overfeeding, hense causing more waste=more ammonia buildup.

Test your water and cut back on the feeding.

 

[1979camaro]

FIRST:

"they are just damsels so im not terribly worried" is the wrong attitude for two reasons

1) any unnecessary deaths are bad
2) damsels are really hardy, so if they are dying that is cause for concern

as Nutfarm alluded to, the problem is likely a water parameter issue. based on your other posts i thought you only had one or two damsels in there which is why we thought you probably wouldnt have a major problem with toxin buildup, but with 11 you are doing some serious damage. have you read the post by wayne? have you looked around on here about other peoples setting up process? in my opinion you really need to stop buying fish and doing stuff to the tank until you get the books, study the information here and elsewhere, and get the test kits so that you know what is going on in your tank

being "good" at this is not the issue...though practice and experience help, having a good working understanding of the system you are putting together and the principles behind it is the key to success. many first time reef keepers do really well...its just a matter of patience and study

stick with it...but stick with it slowly

 

[moomoofatcow]

alrighty...

yeah, im not going to be doing anything until i get those books...if there is anything that i can do to save the damsels int he meantime...then im hoping to get some help. what can you do about an ammonia spike? is there anything you can do? if they all die...is the live sand going to go bad? (that's why the LPS guy told me i needed 11 damsels, cuz i needed that much to keep the live sand good)

i have a feeling i need to stop listening to the LPS guy. so far, just about everything he has told me has been contrary to most of the advice that i have been getting on this...and this is from a lot more people. i'll get the books, read them...and then move from there...but if there is any advice on saving what damsels i have left...please let me know.

 

[1979camaro]

i would stop listening to the LFS guy...and start looking for another LFS. Did you read Wayne's post? this is a good article as well...soem if it is a bit dated, but the general principles, particularly on cycling, etc are of value

http://www.reefmaniacs.com/hl/Starting with Marines.htm

did you buy all that live sand? do you have any test kits yet? even if all the damsels die it shouldn't effect your live sand...if the last one dies you could leave it in their to start the cycle for real...

i think we need to know exactly what is in your tank (equipment, sand, rock, fish, etc), but if you are losing fish because of an ammonia apike a water change could help...dillution begin the solution to pollution, and all that

 

[Nutfarm]

You might want to look into returning the fish that are still alive. The damage has most likely already been done from the ammonia spike and it's just a matter of time before they too die (IMHO). If you understood what the salesman at the LFS said and it's not a matter of misunderstanding, they know less than you about cycling a tank already and should be willing to take the fish back. It's worth a try. Get some credit for what's alive and leave what's dead in the tank. NOTE: If they won't accept the fish for credit, remove the dead to avoid further ammonia buildup

I'm with camero... Try and find a new LFS until you have some experience under your belt. There's nothing like a know nothing salesman to ruin a hobby like this for someone trying to get "correct" information. From what I've read from your previous posts, nothing they've told you is even close to accurate. If there's not another LFS in your area, post your questions here and see what the community has to say.

Lastly, get to those books. Your library most likely has a selection, though probably limited, that you could start with until you get the ones you ordered. The first thing you'll learn about this hobby is patience is not a luxery, it's an absolute necessity.

 

[moomoofatcow]

im screwed

unfortunatly for me...i live in a small town with only one LPS, the next enarest one is an hour and a half away. but we are going to get what we can out of the fish (in terms of credit) from the store and stop dealing with them altogether.

this isn't discouraging me from the whole fishtank experience tho...i am still excited about continuing the hobby, and am very anxios to get my hands on those books...so i can do it the right way. i wish that i would have gotten a 2nd opnion a lot earlier than i did, but oh well.

the guy never mentioned anything about cycling, or testing your water...amonia, nitrates, nitrites or anything about them. i have heard about these from this site and others, but don't totally understand what they are, and how they affect the tank...and what you can do for a healthy tank. you'd think that if i was interested in spending money at this LPS that the guy would at least help me get things going...but nope...so he lost my businiess.

which leads me to the next question: is ordering this stuff over the internet good? from what ive seen, most places do overnight shipping and whatnot. and if so, are there any good sites that anyone could recommend? i really want to get away from our LPS, but im not to fancy on driving an hour and a half just to go to the petstore either...so if there is a good internet site for ordering things...please let me know. thanks!!

 

[S.Reef]

Okay...don't buy anything else for your tank. Get a good test kit, and test Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Ph. Ammonia should be zero, along with Nitrite, Nitrate should be under 30ppm. THEN you can add new fish.

Some stuff on the internet is a good deal...but if you are just buying a damsel not worth the shipping. Once you get going again and want pricier fish liveaquaria.com is a good website to buy from. They offer a 7 day guarantee and shipping is only 25 bucks.

 

[1979camaro]

agreeance about liveaquaria...but as sam said, nothing yet! and he is correct about shipping to...it becomes much more worthwhile to order online if you are going to buy a few hundred dollars worth of stock at a time...$25 shipping on a $6 fish is pointless