fishes die

[coralife]

I have been keeping my fishes for 3mths in a 2ft tank and transfer to 3ft tank for 2 mths. The fishes are swimming and eating well. Just a week ago. I bought 2kg live rock from fish shop in yishun. My fishes die one after the other. Now left only the coral. The fishes body changes to light colour and something white, after that it cannot swim and lie flat on the sand. What type od diesease is it ? I have change the water a few time to get rid of ammonia. I did not use the test kit as it is quite expensive and it come in big packet. How to overcome this problem? Just my bad luck, I dare not go to the shop again.

[Vinoth]

Is it cured or uncured live rock? I am a newbie here. I have read somewhere that u should not add uncured live rock if you already have a established tank. Since the uncured live rocks may have dead bacteria and other organisms which can create a ammonia spike. Also i read that there are some biological bacteria product which can consume ammonia immediately when added .

My knowledge is very minimum. May be experts can help you more.

[junyong84]

I have been keeping my fishes for 3mths in a 2ft tank and transfer to 3ft tank for 2 mths. The fishes are swimming and eating well. Just a week ago. I bought 2kg live rock from fish shop in yishun. My fishes die one after the other. Now left only the coral. The fishes body changes to light colour and something white, after that it cannot swim and lie flat on the sand. What type od diesease is it ? I have change the water a few time to get rid of ammonia. I did not use the test kit as it is quite expensive and it come in big packet. How to overcome this problem? Just my bad luck, I dare not go to the shop again.

the problem is not the shop but with u.

First the liverock form the shop, might not be cured. by adding the rocks into ur new tank, u r just causing another ammonia spike. ur new tank...pls explain if u r using completely new water? some old water from ur old tank or alot of old water from ur old tank...

pls note that even when u add old water from ur old tank... and u top up wif new water...u r already changing the water chemistry... n shldnt intro new stuff into ur tank so quickly..

good luck

[coralife]

I did not top up any new water. I just add in the 2kg of live rocks. The shopkeeper told me that not to worry the LR had been cured, so I just add on to my tank. My friend who also bought from him recently also had this problem today. Can anyone help me with this? Is it that I had to recycle again. How long does it take? I have already changed 30% of water 4 times. Do I have to change new water again or just leave it to recycle. Thanks alot for your help.

[coralife]

I have bought nutrafin ammonia & nitrite test kits. For ammonia, I get 0 and for nitrite I get 0.2. Is it safe level now? When can I buy new fishes? Did anyone use this test kits before? How accuraccy is this test kit?

[Clownfish]

i think maybe bacteria infection

may not be ur LR cos 2kg isnt much....

wat other things did u do lately? e.g. stir ur sandbed, take out whole lots of bioballs, etc....

[coralife]

I did not take out any bioballs no disturb the sandbed. I just add LR to it. The LR is almost white in colour. My friend also bought from this shop had the same problem. Clownfish die and also now next target the damsel which could not eat at all. When I bought the LR and put into the tank, my water in the tank become blured and lots of white flies (PODS) can be found. Now I think ammonia and nitrite had gone, water had become clear. Hope to add fish soon.

[terryansimon]

I'm guessing....something wrong with the live rocks.

moral of the story. never trust the LFS people. or at least take their advice with a pinch of salt. very misleading at times.

[victorp]

Both ammonia and nitrite must have a zero reading for a few days before you can add in new LS (and you can only add one or two in a space of at least a week; more weeks the better). What about your nitrates? Your new LR is the most probable cause of your problem - if it is supposedly cured, you should still cure it separately.

This is what I would do if I want to add LR to my existing ones...use marine salt water to scrub and wash you LR. Put them in a container and immerse them with salt water. Put a powerhead in to circulate the water and an air tube to bubble air in. After a week, replace about 75% of the salt water with fresh ones, and the following week with another 50% water change. In the third week, start measuring for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. If ammonia and nitrite are zero reading for a few days, do another 50% water change, wait about 2 days, and mix a bit of this water with your main tank. You should then be able to put in your cured LR in your main tank in a day or two after that.

[coralife]

My corals and 1 boxer shrimp are still doing well in the tank. Can shrimp adapt to water containing ammonia and nitrite? Seem that the toxic in the water had no effect on them. Does anyone use nutrafin ammonia & nitrite test kit before? I get light green colour for ammonia and light pink fot nitrite. From the chart it said to be safe level. Ammonia - 0, nitrite - 0.2. My itchy hand to buy the live rock without cure and have to redo everything again. My tank is already mature just by adding new LR give me such a hard time. Please assist me. Do I need to redo everything starting from scratch or just wait for water to cycle. My tank with the new LR is already 3 weeks.