richmckee

I don't smoke anymore and have no children. When I am at my apartment, I am usually staring at my tank at least half the time because it's one of the few things I own. I doubt that it's a contamination problem as my apartment is cleaned with a HEPA filter vacum regularly and there is very little traffic. I make it a point, fish tank aside, to not have ANY pesticides or neurotoxic chemicals near my presence (and so should everyone - if it blocks biochemical/enzymatic pathways that are essential to life in an insect, what is it doing to you?). I was feeding the fish every 4-5 days, then bumped up the feeding to every 2-3 days, then everyday. The fish died very consistently throughout my change in feeding schedule. Additionally, the largest, fleshiest fish was the first to die in the latest batch (a huge blenny), while my other, smaller fish actually lived until I was able to quarantine. The fish have died in the order in which they were purchased with the exception of the coral beauty. My feeding process consists of thawing the food at room temp, placing a drop of garlic extract, and then adding it 50% at a time to the tank over about 10 minutes. I've been told by countless people that everyday is enough. If that isn't enough, I'm really at a loss for words because it means that I can't trust anyone's advice. The fish seem to like the food because they swarm for it; I can see chunks of shrimp that are .125 - .25 inches long, making me think that it has some substance. I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to use a different brand and mix it up when I get my fish back. I put a bunch of TINY shelled food in the tank (hermits, snails) because I have heard that puffers teeth will grow throughout their lifetime and need to grind them down. There are also a ton of unshelled black slugs that I have seen eaten by other fish while observing the tank. The puffer is a Valentini, which is "Easily able to live comfortably in a 40 gallon tank or larger." according to http://www.wetwebmedia.com/puffcareinfo.htm I LOVE clown triggers and feeding the one I owned right out of my hand was awesome - best fish owning experience I've had I'm definitely getting one when the parameters are right in my next tank. Anyway, I don't have to worry about my favorite fish until I upgrade in a year or two, so I'll cross that bridge when I get there. As far as the store shopping goes I am never trusting another fish store – EVER. It's less frustrating do my own research, but it's a shame because I'd like the hobby to be fun and social regardless of capitalism.

THIS THREAD IS AWESOME.

haha, unfortunately no tangs or triggers. Definitely going to ask this forum about which fish I should add. Had I known a 60 gallon tank was so limited in terms of habitat I would have gotten a 150 right off the bat. Half of my favorite fish need a bigger tank :(

Thanks for the replies.... Once I found out that the rock was for more than display purposes I put more in. I think there is about 60 pounds in there now. Frlejo, thanks for the offer, but a store owner offered to give them a home for a while and I don't want to mess anything up. The tank is empty and the fish have been taken to a store that was generous enough to offer a quarantine for me. After that I am going to give them to a friend with a 150 gallon established tank for a few weeks and slowly add them back. I'll have some updates in a few weeks.

There is just as much rock in the sump which has been there the entire time. I have also added 15 more pounds to the display part of the tank since the last pictures. I am going to quarantine for 14 days and then let a friend keep the fish for a while. I'm going to start adding fish in about 2 months.

Update: My new Blenny just died. I'm going to quarantine my remaining fish with copper for a few weeks and start over.

For a second I thought I was reading my post from a week ago. Took my water into Rose City after every fish died and was told the water quality was perfect. Although I am a newbie and might be speaking out of turn, I am convinced it's something else. My friend picked up new fish that killed his clown fish which had been established for over a year. http://www.pnwmas.org/forums/showthread.php?25544-Newbie-about-to-give-up I'm going to quarantine my fish with copper for 14 days at an alternate location, nothing is surviving more than 1-2 weeks except my beautiful corals which are thriving.

I'm new to the hobby and want to get more technical insight into the chemical cycling of the tank. I've tried looking on reefcentral.com for a nitrate/nitrite/phosphate/ammonia relationship guide but haven't found anything comprehensive. I'm looking for an overview of how fast reactions occur at various concentrations as well as equilibrium information as it relates to bacterial populations. I've had organic chemistry and have a very technical background, so the more details the better. Thanks for the recommendations!

pics ..........

Tank before die odd with tons of rock http://www.pnwmas.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=10825&d=1298866095 After die off with much less rock http://www.pnwmas.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=10826&d=1298866633 http://www.pnwmas.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=10827&d=1298867085 http://www.pnwmas.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=10824&d=1298866094 http://www.pnwmas.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=10822&d=1298866091 http://www.pnwmas.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=10821&d=1298866089

I'd rather not name stores because I don't want to cause any drama (unless you really want to PM me and find out). And, yes, I'm aware that it's buyer beware....my buddy gave me a slight warning but was convinced by the sales associate as well. I figured that between the owner, the sales clerk, and my friend that I was ok. Also, I figured that since I am the best customer ever they would want to keep me happy. I'm a great customer because I believe people at face value, have tons of cash (no credit card fees), and will buy almost anything that people recommend because I don't want to skimp and have it cost me. Great personality traits for an academic, but terrible ones for the real world. One thing of note: every fish that has died has come from the same tank system. The only fish that has lived was from the same store, but a different system of tanks..... I started shopping at Sea Horse the other day and enjoyed the dialogue with the owner. If his fish survive I'll definitely start shopping there more for fish and just stick to accessories and supplies at the store closest to my house.

took a water sample in today and everything checks out fine. My light hood is wired incorrectly and producing a small current. I didn't think this was a problem because it isn't touching any water in the tank and is supported by non-conductive materials. But it's best to just eliminate that vector of contamination. I'm going to mount the light on the wall and rewire the hood so that it sits a few inches above the tank.

I'll have some pics once I find my memory cards...it looks awesome under the halide with all the corals. Thanks everyone for being so helpful and supportive during my time of crisis (I loved that [language filter] jawfish and was really hoping he'd make it). It's a community like this that keeps people in the hobby instead of feeling helpless and broke.

Yeah, that's one of the reasons I'm so frustrated. I look forward to coming home and checking on the fish and corals and want it to be a successful experience. Just gets to me when I try so hard to keep up and fail. I was mostly asking about the maintenance question to see if I was putting in enough time and to see if I can keep up when I get busy with work.

Good news! Nothing died in the last 12 hours! A few things of note that have been misinterpreted and/or details that need further clarification: My temperature has not been above 80 degrees or below 72 since the initial die-off. I am using the light as the exclusive heater but am, reluctantly, pouring more money into a controller/heater combo. I was using about 40-50 pounds of rock from 2 different sources (friend and store). I have reduced this amount to 15 pounds or so because it's easier to remove carcasses with less rock and the fish can't hide when they do survive. The tank was BRAND new, sand purchased from store. Every fish has come from the same store except the newest additions last night (was thinking this might be a good idea to diversify). I did NOT buy from a wholesaler. The plan was to buy a bunch of awesome, smaller fish and grow them into a larger 150+ gallon when I have a more permanent residence. Hence the grouper, tang, etc. which I knew would get larger, but was told I'd be good for a year or so by the store. The second addition of fish was staggered (maybe not enough) over the course of about 2 weeks. I also use a drip line to acclimate most fish for about 30 minutes prior to addition (should I wait longer?). Small and large is a relative term, I consider small to be less than 3 inches (that's what she said! sorry couldn't resist). All of the fish I have added have been small. I can't put TOO much blame on the store; I'm a big boy and knew I was pushing the limits the first time around despite reassurances....stores are in business to sell things (buyer beware). The second time around after I thought I was being patient was the REALLY vexing experience. I have never had a freshwater tank so there's no need to compare the two. I assumed that when I first started I would spend twice as much time and money as I initially thought based on experience with other biological projects, but am more in the 5x range. I realize that the following question has an indefinite answer, but is it realistic to put in 20 minutes of daily maintenance and 2-3 hours once per week? I'm looking to get an estimate on time investment because if this is going to be 45 minutes every day and one 6 hour day per week I can't handle that for a measly 60 gallon. Thanks everyone for your help, I greatly appreciate the enthusiasm and tips!

Thanks for the reply, One thing of note. Here is an abbreviated timeline of my cycling December 11 - purchase and setup. Jan 2 - Everything died for the first time 5 weeks of nothing but corals (corals looking great - even now) February 5 - New group of fish added Feb 21 - Tang/Blenny died but I thought my giant hermit crab hunted them down due to strong circumstantial evidence Today - Blue spotter died for no apparent reason (after hermit removed) The only confusion I have about your recommendation is that I cycled for almost 2 months before I added the last group of fish. Also, my corals (zoanthids and several other types) are doing GREAT. There is visible new growth on every non-fish item in the tank. Are you saying that I need to let the tank be absent of fish completely in order for a new cycle to begin?

Hey everyone, Forgive the length of my post, just wanted to convey as much info as possible. I picked up a tank about 3 months ago because I really liked the salt water aquariums that my friend had and figured he'd be able to help me with problems since he LOVES the hobby. I went all out when I first started thinking that this was a manageable hobby considering my diligence at other hobbies (mushroom cultivation, botany, etc.). My setup consists of: 60 gallon cube with 20 gallon sump, 250 W Metal Halide, Eco-plus 1056 pump, BubbleMax PS2500 protein skimmer, Purigen "ultimate filtration" water polisher, filter sock for the pump and 1" transparent vinyl return tubes. I started with cycled water, bacterially active sand, and cycled rock. Additionally, I put a TON of "special blend" in at the recommendation of the store clerk at the beginning and generous amounts of it on a 2x weekly basis. I bought 3 fish at first (clown trigger, blenny, and clown tang) and 4 more at a half off sale about 2 weeks later (grouper, naso tang, wrass, and something else). These 7 lasted about 2 weeks and died I assumed because of a warm tank (83 degrees). I had the water tested at a store and they found ZERO problems after performing a number of tests; they told me I could buy another fish that day. I decided to let the tank cycle a few more weeks and to more strictly control the temp by using the light as a heater. It should be noted that the light is on/off at random times during the day and night based solely on the need for heat (no consistent light cycle). I am also a nazi about cleaning out the protein skimmer 1-2 times a day. I clean the filter sock every few days. I perform a 5 gallon water change every 2 weeks. I bought a bunch of corals and they all seem very healthy and thought this was a good sign. I picked up another fish (clown tang). A week later I picked up a blenny and a coral beauty. A few weeks later I bought my favorite fish ever, a blue spotted jawfish. At first I fed the fish every 4-5 days but then ramped it up to every other day (a nickel sized chunk of Prime Reef). Every fish listed in the last paragraph died after about 3 weeks in the tank, respectively (except the coral beauty). I just dug my jawfish's body out of his tomb and that alone was frustrating enough to want to give up the hobby entirely. I freaking loved that fish. I literally bought 4 smaller fish on the way home tonight only to find the jawfish dead. I would have not purchased these had I known about the his death. So I guess I will watch these fish slowly die and hopefully figure out what is killing them once they're dead. I have spent a ton of money because I really enjoy the finished product, but this is ridiculous; I have real bills to pay and don't like renting fish at an average rate of 40 bucks a week. I don't know what I am doing wrong, but I can't keep pouring time, energy, and money into something that doesn't work. If anyone has any input I'd greatly appreciate it, because right now I'm feeling like Forrest Gump in a lying contest (clueless). P.S. If anyone wants any of the aforementioned equipment in my setup, it might be available for dirt cheap in about a month.