Coral Reef Tank Help

Starter saltwater tank 55gal…need help?

I had started with a 33 gal tank and had that for 2-3 months, then decided to upgrade to a 55 gal tank. I transfered all of the water from the 33 to the 55 gal, then filled the rest with water. Almost everyone has died since “the move”.

I now have about 40 lbs of live rock, 5 hermit crabs, 1 carmel shrimp, snails, 4 damsels, a lemon peeel and a blue tang.

I am hoping to aventually turn this into a coral reef/fish tank (but that is for later)

Anyways, my Tang doesn’t seem so happy, he seems to be rubbing against the rock.

any advice??

Did you have substrate, rock, and a filter from the 33 that you added to the 55 as well? That’s where all the bacteria that cycle the wastes of the fish are located. Just moving the water does nothing to establish the new tank. Without the bacteria, the ammonia and/or nitrite may have climbed to levels that are fatal to your fish.

It’s also possible that you introduced something along with the live rock that’s causing their deaths. Even live rock (especially if you added water from the store’s tanks) without a quarantine of several weeks has the potential to introduce parasites and bacterial diseases. It sounds as though your tang is showing signs of developing marine ich or marine velvet. I’ll post a link at the end where you can get more info on these.

Besides the potential of pathogens, some organisms on the live rock will almost surely die whenever it’s moved, so it’s best to wait and test the water, and only add the fish once the ammonia and nitrite from the death of organisms on the live rock have been converted to nitrate. Then do a water change to reduce the nitrate level before adding a few fish. It will still take a few weeks before the new rock is cured and the tank cycled.

At this point, if you didn’t use the old substrate, rock, or filter media, any bacteria on it may have died without a constant source of ammonia (and if it hasn’t been kept wet and in oxygentated water). You may need to move either the rock and inverts (shrimp, hermits, and snails) or the fish back to the first tank while treating the other (once you’ve identified wat’s happening with your tang). Medicating in the tank may harm the bacteria or the invertebrates. If you do this, the contents will have to stay separated for at least a month to give any parasites time to die for lack of a host.

See this link to try and identify what your tang may have – especially if you see any spots or grayness to the skin/slime coat: http://home2.pacific.net.ph/~sweetyummy42/disease.html Any name in red is a link to a page with more information about that condition. You might also try a freshwater dip to temporarily relieve any parasites, but if the fish goes back into the same tank, any in stages in the water may reinfect that or another of the fish – so all fish and the tank will need to be treated.

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