Tank Cycling

[ssssg]

Hello, I have 40 g saltwater tank. I had a bunch of fish die about 3 months ago and all of a sudden fish are dying again. Check the water twice a week and the water is fine. Is there anything I can do to identify the problem. Lionfish died 2 days a orcupine puffer died last night and now my Hum trigger will not come out of its home. Any assistance is appreciated. Note I changed about 3 g of water last night.Thanks

Steven

 

[Pheonix]

those three fish are big boys for such a small tank, what water do you use to do your water changes with, what are the stats of the tank? you say they are fine but one of us on here may be able to notice something perhaps your missing

how often do you feed?

i take it, its a fish only system? are their any other inhabbitants in there?

 

[ssssg]

Thanks for the response. The lion was a dwarf and the puffer was aout 1.5'. We were feeding the lion silversides. That fish didn't really eat that much, so that could have been its problem. The puffer somewhat ate. We had recently started feeding them rosie reds. The puffer usually went after them, but the day before it died it didn't want the rosies. Is it possible that the Rosies are bad for them? not sure what inhabbitants means. Tahnks

Steven

 

[Ter]

Do you Have a testing kit? if not go and buy one right away.
ammonia, no2, no3, ph, kh, po4... you should have at least them ( even more if its a reef )!
and Hydrometer for salinity in your aquarium in your tank... if u do have them all.. test and post ur results here
Ter

 

[SNAIL]

Puffer fish (some species not all)..... will release toxins in the water if frightened.
Lion fish have poisonous spines and belong to the scorpion fish family.
Huma trigger, a very large fish...min tank size alone 55gal.
Your tank is too small to handle the bio load produced by these fish.
How old is your tank? What setup do you have? Reef or fish only?
Please read, do the homework and don't rely too much on what your LFS says.
I have done Marine tanks in the past with great success but a small mistake is all
you need to kill them all. Your tank doesn't leave you much room to compensate for errors.

You definitely need:

Protein skimmer
Hydrometer
Water test kit for amonia, nitrite, nitrate
Filter (2 x or more) capacity based on your tank size. Ideally, canister filter.
If you have a sump, even better.