First Nano Inhabitants Died-what Are My Next Steps?

[SkiFletch]

Agreed no fish straight away, clear that water of bacteria/parasites first. I also agree that if the LFS water is way out of whack compared to yours you should acclimate longer. But then again if you go to a good reef shop that keeps healthy tanks/fish that should be a moot point

 

[sianeds]

Maybe it would be worth lowering the SG of the nano for a week or so to helpkill off any bacteria in your water. While this is happening it gives you a chance to have a look around some other stores and find one you like. You can choose your fish and ask the LFS to keep them for you for a week. This will do 2 things. 1st you will know that they haven't come straight from the suppliers just to be bagged up and moved to your tank within a day or so and so should be less stressed. 2nd it will give you chance to establish that they are healthy and feeding before you take them home. It also makes waiting easier if you know you can go and visit "your" fish.

 

[gigmeyer]

I can raise the temp and/or lower SG relatively easily for a period of time. Will my snails, crabs, and shrimp mind these gradually made changes? I suppose raising the temp to 80 is not a problem as many people keep tanks this temp or higher for their reefs anyway. Up until now, all additions have done surprising well and have kept the tank immaculate. I saw Aiptasia and bought the Peppermint...gone in a day. Bubble algae started so I added the emerald crab...gone in a day. I have a mag scraper expecting diatom problems on the glass, but the Turbo's and Nerites knock it back without breaking a sweat. The Turbo's even ride the HydorFlow like they're in some sort of amusement park.

Bottom line is I hate to mess with anything that is working so well (current setback notwithstanding). Maybe I should skip fish altogether and move on to the coral phase .

If waiting 3-4 weeks under current conditions for the bad things to die of starvation due to lack of hosts is safe, I might choose that option. I'm very confident in the lfs I will be using and won't let the proximity of this particular Petco influence my decision making again.

 

[SkiFletch]

Do you have mexican Tubos, or more like astrea turbos? Unfortunately "Turbo snail" is not terribly descriptive about snails . Not your fault as the industry labels lots of snails "Turbo" . Regardless, most snails are tolerant of 80f and say 1.021sg so if you go slow, no problems there . In the meantime you could consider corals as its been a month. Whats your lighting like and what species of coral did you have in mind?

 

[gigmeyer]

Sad to say, I purchased the Turbo's at Petco and they were just called Turbo's. They have a cone shaped shell and could really be Astreas as far as I know. I learned to be more specific when I bought a conch that was a horse conch and not a queen conch. Was surprised when the first thing it ate was a Nassarius snail purchased the same day (instead of algae) The lfs person just called them conch's and suggested it would be a nice addition to the cleanup crew. Needless to say, I was returning the well fed beast the next day.

As far as corals are concerned, I'm still researching and have no clue yet. I have a 150W SunPod HQI, so I should (I think) be able to put most corals in there, but there enough kinds and compatability issues to consider, I'm totally lost. I'm reading Aquarium Corals, Selection, Husbandry, and Natural History by Eric Borneman and J. Veron and so far it's managed to make my head hurt. The Amazon reviews were good on this book, but it's way more technical than I expected.

My understanding is that the tank should be pretty mature prior to adding corals. Some say up to 6 months, but the LFS owner said I should be ok in another month. I'd ultimately like a small colorful clam if there is one suitable for a 24g Nano and was going to make my last fish a 6 line wrasse as I've read that they are good at eating things that tend to bother clams. It was going to be my last fish as it is the most aggressive on my list. The clam does sound a little risky though as a death can potentially nuke a tank. Not good for a newbie.

If there is a hardy safe coral to start with like a leather or mushroom, I'd consider it as a way to get started while waiting for the dust to settle on whatever caused the fish to die. The one thing I'm sure of is I'm not interested in a coral that needs special feeding at this time. I assume those would fall into the difficult category anyway.

 

[n3ont3tra]

I'm reading Aquarium Corals, Selection, Husbandry, and Natural History by Eric Borneman and J. Veron and so far it's managed to make my head hurt. The Amazon reviews were good on this book, but it's way more technical than I expected.

My thoughts exactly. Also, from what I've heard, most mushrooms are easy corals.

 

[steelhealr]

Gig..you're still going too fast. You're thinking corals and you just lost 2 fish. Listen...you'll get a lot of differing advice here, but, if you want a successful nano, here are some thoughts:

1) You must have patience
2) adding fish changes the nano dynamic..it adds a nitrate load. Fish first...corals later..but AFTER you can demonstrate to yourself that you can keep the fish...keep them ALIVE...and keep your nitrates low. It's common to think to add your corals first. NOT. If you are going to have fish, fish add poop, ammonia and YOU add food. Not good for corals if you don't know where your nitrates are going.
3) The tendency is to 'coral plunk', i.e., toss in corals first, ask questions later. Although it is done, you shouldn't be adding corals for at least a coupla months. Let the tank mature a bit. Be sure you are safe from algae blooms and cyano (well....not safe but they usually occur early on)
4) no fish should be subjected to a 0.007 s.g. change in one hour...go slower
5) I DON"T think this was a bacterial thing and would NOT alter the ocean parameters that you have stabilized your tank to

SH

 

[steelhealr]

PS....be careful what you read. Yes...everyone posts that mushrooms are 'easy'. They are..but they also can secrete things into the water and have competition on contact. When corals die, they can nuke a tank. NOTHING is so easy in marine keeping that you do things WITHOUT READING AND ADVICE FROM YOUR FELLOW REEFKEEPERS.

Yes..Borneman is technical...but so is reefkeeping. It should be on your shelf. SH

 

[gigmeyer]

Hey Steele...No worries. The original corals comment 2 posts ago was meant in jest. Hence the . My plan has always been to work up to about 3-4 fish before even considering corals. This would (and will) take place over a period of several months. Knowing next to nothing about corals now, I don't see seriously considering them unless I have a plan in place. Having had a problem with fish after 4 weeks of cycling, jumping to corals that are more sensitive to nitrates and other parameters seems foolish. The thought behind the fish plan first was always to make sure nitrates can be kept low enough with a regular feeding and water change schedule. Much of this plan comes from reading your insightful posts. The SLOWLY message did sink in!

The only thing I'm seriously considering now is how long to wait until attempting to add a single fish from a good dealer. No doubt the water that came with the original fish was not very good, but I'm still concerned that may not be the only explanation for the loss as the Banggai seemed very healthy for a day. The water still reads perfectly for the normal tests, but are there any other parameters that may make it toxic to fish and not to snails, crabs, and shrimp? Should I check for trace elements, electrical charge. Any other biological reasons like isopods etc. At this point I'm just considering sitting tight for a few weeks and then possibly starting with a single Banggai.

 

[steelhealr]

Do you have a local marine dealer? Have you tried liveaquaria.com? Expensive shipping tho. Keep an eye on the tank and let it settle now. Both of the fish you chose are pretty hardy...clowns and banggais. Try one at a time next time and a slower acclimatization. I don't normally do it, but, you could test your dealers water params, but, I nice slow A should be fine. I use the float technique for fish and do several changes. I DO know that some people just chuck 'em in. Not MY recommendation. Hang in....we ALL get problems at some point. SH

 

[gigmeyer]

Thanks. That'll be the plan. The lfs I was too lazy to drive to will be the source in the future. I'll check water parameters during acclimation and acclimate the greater of an hour or the time needed to get the parameters essentially in sync. In this case, I took the time to drive back to Petco three days after the fact to look at the original tank and do post-mortem testing. Lesson learned.