Damsels Die In 3 Days - Why?

[TomH]

I had a 60 gal FOWLR tank for years, no problem.

I have a new Aquapod 24 gal, which I am trying to run with no live rock/sand, just the filtration that is built in. With my 60 gal, I used RO water. With the Aquapod, I'm treating tapwater with Jungle "start right" dechlorinator. If I put in a blue damsel, it eats well on day one, stops eating on day two, is listless on day three, and dies on day three or four. No physical abnormalities, no erratic behavior. I've done this three times. I dose the tank with Seachem "Stability" (establishes bacteria in the biofilter) per their directions. I never get any ammonia indication on testing.

Any ideas what's killing the fish?

--Need to RO the water?

--Need live rock?

 

[Pheonix]

what are your other stats for the tank?

nitrite, nitrate, temp, phosphates, etc?

do you oxygenate your RO water before it goes in the tank its notorious for having low oxygen levels straight out the unit?

 

[Mr Miagi]

what are your other stats for the tank?

nitrite, nitrate, temp, phosphates, etc?

Exactly, we need to know more before we can help you get to the root cause of the problem. It sounds like your using alot of chemicals as apposed to just letting things be. Why are you using RO water for your FO 60, but not for your 24 gal? Tapwater is really not up to scratch for marine tanks, so look to use RO in both tanks.

What water movement do you have? Built in filtration on these tanks are pretty weak, and wont give you addequate water circulation. Look to add a powerhead.

IMO, running such a small tank as a FO is going to be very hard. You dont have adequte filtration, so if you still want to run FO, buy a cannister filter and cycle your tank using some media from your LFS, media from your 60g, or another local hobbyist.

 

[Chac]

How long was the filter running before you added the fish

I would suggest gettinag another Marine Ammonia Kit, as IMO you seem to have no or little Biological filtration in your tank

Why not take 5 -8 kgs of your LR from your 60g & buy a small amount of dead rock or reefbones & mix them in the 24g. The dead rock will colonise over time given your 24g a better chance at sustaining life

 

[bunjiweb]

Can I just ask why you arent planning on using any live rock? even 1 or 2 Kilos is better than none at all and it will give you the REAL bacteria to start with, not some pile of #### in a bottle. With proper cured live rock I think you will have much more success keeping fish, without it you need to be very careful and sometimes wait for months before adding fish.

Ben

 

[Lynden]

Can I just ask why you arent planning on using any live rock? even 1 or 2 Kilos is better than none at all and it will give you the REAL bacteria to start with, not some pile of #### in a bottle. With proper cured live rock I think you will have much more success keeping fish, without it you need to be very careful and sometimes wait for months before adding fish.

Ben

Yeah, really, I wondered the same thing.

I have learned over my years of fishkeeping to never trust ANY #### in a bottle... I have been burned many times. It is by far best to use the natural way. In this case, live rock. I woudn't even think of trying to run a tank without it .... got burned when I did try at first...

-Lynden

 

[Mr.September15]

Bio-Spira is in a packet! So HAH!

 

[steelhealr]

Tap water is just NOT the way to run a SW tank. Sorry. Everyone focuses on nitrate etc. Copper, iron, etc, will KILL YOUR FISH. Unless you know the complete makeup of your tap water....even if you don't....at the risk of angering the TW users here, it is just NOT ACCEPTABLE. SH

 

[bunjiweb]

i feel like i should get out my handbags but i really cba to argue with anyone over using tap water...

Ben

 

[maidenfan]

why after using RO water in your 60 gal tank and knowing the benifits of using it have you decided to use tap water

i'm with steel on this one

 

[boshank23]

sorry i am shocked you didnt get the message after the first 1 died, surely it should set off alarm bells if 2 die in the same way but just to make sure you bought a 3rd one???