Keeping fish can be so frustrating sometimes!

[jpccusa]

I have a 100g saltwater tank that is the focus point of my living room. I love the fishkeeping hobby and I've been doing it since I can remember, first with freshwater, now with saltwater.

Unfortunately this weekend was a disaster for me!

Everything started last Friday (03/07) when I bought some new fish. As a rule, they all go to a hyposaline quarantine tank for 45 days. This supposedly reduces the fish stress and inhibits parasites to complete their life cycle, ridding the fish of them.

Well, I did all the setup and the week was going alright until Thursday 03/12 where my Blue Tang died. Those are really delicate fish and I didn't think much of it. Turns out my other expensive fish also died yesterday.

No matter how much you read and research, there is always a time when you don't know what the heck is going on. Well, I kind of know what killed the fish, I just don't know why it happened.

Right now I am sad, demotivated, and angry at myself. This hobby can be so frustrating sometimes!:awcrap:

 

[dr73]

I have kept fish for about 20 years now and it can be a pain at times. You can do every thing to the letter and still have things go wrong. Sorry to here about the problems you are having. I only keep fresh water though. I have alway been to nervous about salt water. To many things to worry about for me + the fish can get very expensive too.

 

[carol]

So sorry!
We were going to dive into Salt this year but then with housing prices dropping we also decided we were going to try and buy a home in about a year. I looked at the rest of the family and said "This probably means that by the time we get things stable, we'll have to move". And we all decdied to stay with Fresh for now. LOL>

Tonight seems to be a fish night!

 

[Elusive]

Your tank probably had a spike, too much of a single chemical and the fish probably couldnt handle it. Do you test the water and see if everythings alright? If you dont have the gear to test your tank I would say that you should go to a fish store and ask for one. Whats really funny though, the cheap fish always survive, not the expensive ones. It seems like the ugliest corals and fish seem to survive a lot easier than the really cool and pretty looking ones.

Good luck, and I hope you'll stay with the hobby.

 

[LBoz]

JP...sorry for the losses, guy! Along with the lines of testing your water, although with Salt, I'm sure you're especially vigilant in that regard, but here they do things to the water when the weather gets warmer. They increase the chloramines for one thing. Have you gotten a municipal water analysis in the mail (unless you're on a well)? Maybe they've changed something resulting in increase stress which again results in higher susceptibility of those lovely parasites. I'm sooo ready to be done with fish!

 

[tricksterpup]

I feel your pain, I had an entire reef tank crash on me years ago. I got out of the hobby because of it. I had a couple of 400 watt MH lights above my tank running. The AC shut off on the hottest day that summer, it was 98 outside. I came home to a cooked tank. Everything was dead. I had an adult purple tang die on me, not going say how much that was down the tubes. Lost all my inverts, crabs, shrimps, corals, it was just a mess. And it smelled terrible. I have all the equipment and a new 75 in its place but will not do reef or sw for a while. The original tank cracked as well due to the heat.

 

[jpccusa]

I have kept fish for about 20 years now and it can be a pain at times. You can do every thing to the letter and still have things go wrong. Sorry to here about the problems you are having. I only keep fresh water though. I have alway been to nervous about salt water. To many things to worry about for me + the fish can get very expensive too.

I was always nervous about saltwater as well. Price and sensitivity of the animals kept me from having one for years. I got convinced after an employer gave me the 100g tank.

So sorry!
We were going to dive into Salt this year but then with housing prices dropping we also decided we were going to try and buy a home in about a year. I looked at the rest of the family and said "This probably means that by the time we get things stable, we'll have to move". And we all decdied to stay with Fresh for now. LOL>

Tonight seems to be a fish night!

Thanks Carol. And not starting a saltwater aquarium now is a smart move if you're planing on moving soon. Toss the freshwater fish in a bucket and they'll be happy until you are done moving. Saltwater fish, not so much!

And yes, I've noticed tonight is fish night at CS.com. LOL

Your tank probably had a spike, too much of a single chemical and the fish probably couldnt handle it. Do you test the water and see if everythings alright? If you dont have the gear to test your tank I would say that you should go to a fish store and ask for one. Whats really funny though, the cheap fish always survive, not the expensive ones. It seems like the ugliest corals and fish seem to survive a lot easier than the really cool and pretty looking ones.

Good luck, and I hope you'll stay with the hobby.

Yes, my tank had a spike, but what is frustrating me is that I don't know where it is coming from. I didn't overfeed and I have a bio-wheel filter working (which I'm starting to suspect it is the culprit), besides an air line to help oxygenate. I tested the water in the first day and every day after the first death.

About the cheap fish, the only survivor is a Firefish Goby ($10). :angry01:

My tank has a bunch of cheap fish because they are the few that survived quarantine. :roflmao:

JP...sorry for the losses, guy! Along with the lines of testing your water, although with Salt, I'm sure you're especially vigilant in that regard, but here they do things to the water when the weather gets warmer. They increase the chloramines for one thing. Have you gotten a municipal water analysis in the mail (unless you're on a well)? Maybe they've changed something resulting in increase stress which again results in higher susceptibility of those lovely parasites. I'm sooo ready to be done with fish!

Thanks Lori. I've been testing the water and having partial water changes since yesterday. I also bought Amqel + to help remove ammonia and nitrates. I'll test the water again tomorrow and if I still have high readings, I'll remove the bio-wheel.
As far as the origin of my water, I have a 7 stages reverse osmosis system which I hope is taking care of all chemicals in the municipal water.

 

[jpccusa]

I feel your pain, I had an entire reef tank crash on me years ago. I got out of the hobby because of it. I had a couple of 400 watt MH lights above my tank running. The AC shut off on the hottest day that summer, it was 98 outside. I came home to a cooked tank. Everything was dead. I had an adult purple tang die on me, not going say how much that was down the tubes. Lost all my inverts, crabs, shrimps, corals, it was just a mess. And it smelled terrible. I have all the equipment and a new 75 in its place but will not do reef or sw for a while. The original tank cracked as well due to the heat.

WOW! The tank cracked as well?!?! You came home to a fish stew then. Yuck!
I stayed away from MH until now due to their price and cooling requirements... My tank is fish only with a few mushrooms, live rock and sand, and inverts.
I'm sorry to hear you left the hobby altogether. I guess since the most expensive part of the hobby was destroyed (the tank itself) it was easier to just stay away from SW. I believe if something like that happens to me (AKA the Big One here in CA), I would not start from scratch. I'd breed guppies in a 10g with an air line. LOL

 

[tricksterpup]

WOW! The tank cracked as well?!?! You came home to a fish stew then. Yuck!
I stayed away from MH until now due to their price and cooling requirements... My tank is fish only with a few mushrooms, live rock and sand, and inverts.
I'm sorry to hear you left the hobby altogether. I guess since the most expensive part of the hobby was destroyed (the tank itself) it was easier to just stay away from SW. I believe if something like that happens to me (AKA the Big One here in CA), I would not start from scratch. I'd breed guppies in a 10g with an air line. LOL

Yeah, it was a Acrylic tank to boot. So it wasnt a total burst all over my floor.

But yeah, I had hard corals along with soft in there as well. It was a nice tank, I was upset that it crashed. But i gotta tell ya, it was a money pit. I remember setting up a 55 gallon reef tank it starting costs were about a grand. Thats with the lights, live rock, filters, pumps and sand.