Whats wrong with my fish ??

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by FWC

There have been two in the last week.

First was a female anthias who was badly beat up by my male ,and she soon developed a cloudy layer over he eyes ,followed by clowing over by her whole body ,loss of balance ,stopped eating and died.

I replaced her with another female last night ,and she looks to be pretty healthy so far.

Originally Posted by FWC

I picked up a little cleaner wrasse toight to help ease the fishes itching, all my fish are molesting him to clean them :P

Originally Posted by FWC

O.k ,more info.

I just tested the water ,it came back the following. It probably also explains the coral not looking so hot.

Nitate = 3
Nitrite = 0.05
Ammonia = 0.7
pH = 7.3 (I believe the low ammonia is why the coral is un-happy)

Tank has been up for about 2 months

Also the anthias wasnt ill looking when I added her ,however after a few days eyes ,and then body clouded over and she died.

Also something is coming over the filefish. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

too many added at too soon i believe you maxed out your bio load, there are 6 fish in the picture above and the tank is only 2 mths old.....minus cycling and its alot of fish in a couple short weeks.


the tests say so them selves there should be no amonia present in a healthy tank.

fish will always go to the cleaner because there is nothing else they can do the cleaner will always accept a free meal.


first i would get rid of the amonia by a hefty water change and feed the fish with garlic soaked foods.i wouldnt add anything else to the tank for a few weeks, they really need to mature. the way to a successful tank from scratch is one with a low bio load added over time.

good luck

[FWC]

Sounds good.

I'll buy some more salt and do a 50% change in godspeed ,and soak all their food in garlic. Not sure how I'll do that for the filefish ,though...

I'll be sure to keep thing updated with how my fish do

Also yes ,no more fish for this tank in a long while.

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by FWC

Sounds good.

I'll buy some more salt and do a 50% change in godspeed ,and soak all their food in garlic. Not sure how I'll do that for the filefish ,though...

I'll be sure to keep thing updated with how my fish do

Also yes ,no more fish for this tank in a long while.

if the filefish doesnt eat it it wont be a big deal the idea is to keep their appetite up, if a fish starts to lose its appetite its all downhill from there.the fish will love the garlic.

the corals are most likely unhappy because of the amonia and diatom algae, brush the algae off your zoas they will open again.

get a test kit for phosphate and see where you stand there controlling phosphate is a huge factor in controlling algae

[fishytime]

+1 to what Denny(reefwars) said.....I would also think about where you are buying your fish from.....it doesnt sound as tho your getting the best advice...dont be afraid to ask questions and be "up front" and honest about your tank.....say something like "Im looking at fish X, my tank is two monthes old, its gonna be a reef and I have these fish so far"....this will go a long way in getting, hopefully, good advice.... ....consider yourself fortunate that your filefish is eating a prepared food..... they are considered an expert only fish.....anthias are another fish in that category.....Ive steered many experienced hobbyists with large enough and mature tanks away from them at our shop....really a difficult fish to be successful with

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by fishytime

+1 to what Denny(reefwars) said.....I would also think about where you are buying your fish from.....it doesnt sound as tho your getting the best advice...dont be afraid to ask questions and be "up front" and honest about your tank.....say something like "Im looking at fish X, my tank is two monthes old, its gonna be a reef and I have these fish so far"....this will go a long way in getting, hopefully, good advice.... ....consider yourself fortunate that your filefish is eating a prepared food..... they are considered an expert only fish.....anthias are another fish in that category.....Ive steered many experienced hobbyists with large enough and mature tanks away from them at our shop....really a difficult fish to be successful with

absolutely man i myself wouldnt try that filefish and anthias are known to be very tricky eaters and finiky fish:P

its cool that the filefish eats frozen off sticks id like to see a video of that

[FWC]

Originally Posted by reefwars

its cool that the filefish eats frozen off sticks id like to see a video of that

Shall do ,once I can find some more SPS skeletons. I've used up all of mine so now she's eating my millipora until I get more in hand.

I shall also buy a phosphate test kit on my crusades tomorrow.

ETA : I'm also assuming getting a pH buffer wouldn't hurt either ,to help bring it up to around 8.3 ??

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by FWC

Shall do ,once I can find some more SPS skeletons. I've used up all of mine so now she's eating my millipora until I get more in hand.

I shall also buy a phosphate test kit on my crusades tomorrow.

ETA : I'm also assuming getting a pH buffer wouldn't hurt either ,to help bring it up to around 8.3 ??

re test your ph throughout the day first and see what the differences are and do so for a couple of days, adding buffer is a last resort.


when you get the test kit and you test for phosphate if there is any consider looking into a reactor to run some gfo.it will keep algae away and even keep you from cleaning the glass less.

[FWC]

Originally Posted by reefwars

re test your ph throughout the day first and see what the differences are and do so for a couple of days, adding buffer is a last resort.


when you get the test kit and you test for phosphate if there is any consider looking into a reactor to run some gfo.it will keep algae away and even keep you from cleaning the glass less.

Shall do ,on both ends.

[FWC]

Originally Posted by fishytime

+1 to what Denny(reefwars) said.....I would also think about where you are buying your fish from.....it doesnt sound as tho your getting the best advice...dont be afraid to ask questions and be "up front" and honest about your tank.....say something like "Im looking at fish X, my tank is two monthes old, its gonna be a reef and I have these fish so far" ....consider yourself fortunate that your filefish is eating a prepared food..... they are considered an expert only fish.....anthias are another fish in that category.....Ive steered many experienced hobbyists with large enough and mature tanks away from them at our shop....really a difficult fish to be successful with

Very true to everything said.

I know all about the filefish and their reputation ,I bought her knowing the risks ,and so far I have not come to regret it.

The Lyretails suprised me, I only found out that they are supposed to be picky fish a few days ago. The male is doing perfect ,feeding on NLS and frozen ,and the female takes frozen ,so I guess I lucked out.


Heh ,I few years ago I had a sunburst anthias in my really getto 10 gallon ,she did really good (about a year) until her mouth got busted up and she stopped eating Perhaps I have an anthias green thumb

[fishytime]

Originally Posted by FWC

The Lyretails suprised me, I only found out that they are supposed to be picky fish a few days ago. The male is doing perfect ,feeding on NLS and frozen ,and the female takes frozen ,so I guess I lucked out.

getting them to eat is actually the easy part of the equation......... they dont have a stomach like most fish....they do best with several small feedings a day, which for most people either isnt physically possible or causes their tanks nutrient issues......the other part is, they have a very complex social hierarchy..... the males keep harems of females so in a small tank with only one female to chase, chances are your female will be stressed.....