[scubagirl]

I just started a 14G biocube about a month ago.. started with three damsels to get the cycle going and then returned them to make room for a yellow clown goby and a skunk cleaner shrimp. My nitrates are still consistently at 20 but ammonia and nitrites are at 0 and the fish store guys said that it was okay to have fish and stuff in there. I also bought 4 small snails and a red mushroom. I bought all of these from a well known fish store. When the goby was in the tank at the store it seemed kind of sluggish and would sit in one spot for a long time until it was poked or otherwise startled, but I was told that this kind of behavior was charactaristic of gobies. So, I brought the goby home and drip-acclimated it first for about an hour and then placed him in the tank. I also drip-acclimated the cleaner shrimp for the same amount of time and placed him in the tank as well. The goby expressed the same kind of behavior as in his tank in the store. The shrimp was moving around a lot and attempted to clean the goby but the goby would not allow it. I fed them half a cube of frozen mysis shrimp every day. The shrimp had quite an appetite but the goby refused to eat. I tried some flakes but still no luck. On the third day after I got the goby, it died. We went back to the fish store to ask them about it and about 75% of the saltwater fish were dead... of course I was skeptical and went to a different store to buy another fish. I got a purple and yellow pseudochromis, which I was told was pretty hardy, though not as hardy as a damsel. I also added some green polyps, a purple mushroom, a daisy polyp frag, a candy cane coral frag, and a very small toadstool. The pseudochromis picked on the shrimp a little bit and would not be cleaned, but I was satisfied with its appetite. It ate at least 3 mysis shrimp when I fed it once a day. But five days later, this fished died! My nitrates are still at 20, but I thought that invertebrates and corals were more sensitive to nitrates than fish? I have a feeling that the clown goby might have introduced some kind of disease to my tank. Sorry for the long story, just thought it might be necessary to give some background on the tank!

[emccullough1]

From what I seen looking up pseudochromis it need's 30gal tank. I dont know if that might be part of the problem. You dont say what kind of goby but most will do fine in 10gal .
Here is the web site I use to look up fish.http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/s...fm?pCatId=2124

[scubagirl]

Well the yellow clown goby was only about one inch long so I think he had plenty of space. I noticed that on both fish their fins looked like they were deteriorating and the goby definitely had little white flecks on him, maybe they have ich/ick?

[AMS]

the LFS lost 75% of their fish??? what the hell?

as far as your situation, my standard boilerplate warning is that if you have ANY suscpicion/reservations about a fish in a store, do not buy it. there are plenty of stores, and if a LFS is willing to sell you a fish that is not doing well, find a new store. also, ask to see your LFS's quarnatine system. the good stores have good QT systems, and are usually more than happy to show it to you. if its a good store, and you are intereted in afish that is not doing well, a good store will keep it in its QT, treat it, and call you when the fish is back in good health.

as far as disease in your tank, its possible, but once you have a tank set up for a few months, and you have live sand/live rock in it, you've already got probably every parasite known to man in there. the key is to judiciously add your fish and properly build your population, keep the envronment stable and clean and properly nourish your fish. that is the way to prevent disease outbreaks.

[cappy290]

Sounds like you got some bad fish from the store. From what you are descibing it sounds like you might of had fin rot and a case of ick I'm no expert but a water change might help you out here b/c the parasites are still in the water which down the road might give you some problems. I have personally had some problems with ick in my tank and have been using kick ick (this is reef safe they say) and it goes away but does come back. Well I hope you get this fixed b/c i know how you feel when you buy something you like so much and it dies on you.

[scubagirl]

Originally Posted by cappy290

Sounds like you got some bad fish from the store. From what you are descibing it sounds like you might of had fin rot and a case of ick I'm no expert but a water change might help you out here b/c the parasites are still in the water which down the road might give you some problems. I have personally had some problems with ick in my tank and have been using kick ick (this is reef safe they say) and it goes away but does come back. Well I hope you get this fixed b/c i know how you feel when you buy something you like so much and it dies on you.

Is your tank a fish only tank or do you have corals in there? I have researched some treatments including kick ick and it does say that it is reef safe but I don't want to take the chance and kill my corals... have you had any problems with kick ick?

[DoLceNBeLLa]

In regards to the goby, some gobies only eat by sifting through live sand in their mouths. That might have been the problem if you didnt have enough sand or it wasn't filled with enough stuff.

I have one of those pseudochromis fish in my 55 gallon and it still picks on my yellow tail damsel like mad. Try switching it for a neon goby or something that is smaller and less likely to pick on the other animals.

In general it sounds like you're rushing your tank's capacity a little. If you look on some of the other forums here, people have threads going for months as they set up their tank. Try keeping the tank as is for a month with regular water changes, maintenance etc. If everything is looking great then move forward.

Sorry for the losses and good luck!

[cappy290]

Ann I have corals in my tank an kick ick worked for me I did'nt lose any corals everything seemed fine. I used this b/c i dont have a QT tank, it's a long treatment like 15 days or something like that but did the trick for me. Do yourself the favor and get the bigger bottle just in case you have to repeat for any reason.

[scubagirl]

Jim - Thanks for your help, and yep I was thinking about getting kick ick because I don't have a QT either... I don't mind the long treatment but do you think it might be a good idea to start the treatment before I put the fish in? Also my nitrates are high - they have been at 20 consistently and my corals and shrimp are doing great, but maybe this is still adding some stress.. I am worried that if I use a treatment like kick ick that it might add even more stress to the tank and cause trouble?

[emccullough1]

From what I have read if you leave a tank fish free for 6 to 7 weeks it will stop the Ick. If you can just injoy your corals that long. Then you wont need to take a chance with med's.

[cappy290]

Originally Posted by scubagirl

Jim - Thanks for your help, and yep I was thinking about getting kick ick because I don't have a QT either... I don't mind the long treatment but do you think it might be a good idea to start the treatment before I put the fish in? Also my nitrates are high - they have been at 20 consistently and my corals and shrimp are doing great, but maybe this is still adding some stress.. I am worried that if I use a treatment like kick ick that it might add even more stress to the tank and cause trouble?

Ann I think you would have to read the bottle about starting the treatment before you put the fish into the tank. Your nitrates really are not that bad your in the safe zone with that, it would be nice to see them at zero(I have never seen mine at zero yet ) I truly dont think you will add any more stress to the tank by saying this I hope nothing goes wrong b/c i will feel like a piece of crap if something did go wrong. Hey are you still using the bio balls that came with the tank? It's good to change them out and put some live rubble rock in there those things tend to collect alot of crap on them which brings up your nitrates or you could also clean the bio balls once a week or twice a month or however you prefer to do it. Doing a small couple of water changes might help you out also while you have no fish in it, that should bring down the nitrates. These are some steps that i take when haveing a problem with the tank I hope it helps you out and you came to the right place the people here are very good at what they do and always willing to help. By the way welcome to RB..

[Salt-lick]

When I first started my tank, I never noticed the spikes in Ammonia, nitrites or nitrates, I have a 29 Gallon Biocube.. have had it for 2 months now and it is running fine. I use live rock rubble and Chaperula (SP?) inplace of my bioballs and took a razor and scratched off the paint on the back of the tank where the bio balls were and put a 10,000 k light on it to filter my water better. I also use a Fission nano skimmer in the return chamber. I would def. take out the bio balls and put live rock in if I were you. Good luck

[scubagirl]

Originally Posted by cappy290

Hey are you still using the bio balls that came with the tank? It's good to change them out and put some live rubble rock in there those things tend to collect alot of crap on them which brings up your nitrates or you could also clean the bio balls once a week or twice a month or however you prefer to do it. Doing a small couple of water changes might help you out also while you have no fish in it, that should bring down the nitrates. These are some steps that i take when haveing a problem with the tank I hope it helps you out and you came to the right place the people here are very good at what they do and always willing to help. By the way welcome to RB..

Jim and Kevin - I took the bio balls out already and put live rock in about 2 weeks ago, but the nitrates are still at 20. I will probably just keep on doing weekly water changes and see if it helps... have you ever introduced macro algae to your tank? I have heard that it helps. I have also heard good things about the mangrove plant. Jim - did you buy your kick ick at your LFS or did you have to order it from their website? Thanks!

[cappy290]

Originally Posted by scubagirl

Jim and Kevin - I took the bio balls out already and put live rock in about 2 weeks ago, but the nitrates are still at 20. I will probably just keep on doing weekly water changes and see if it helps... have you ever introduced macro algae to your tank? I have heard that it helps. I have also heard good things about the mangrove plant. Jim - did you buy your kick ick at your LFS or did you have to order it from their website? Thanks!

I bought my kick ick from the lfs since its about 5mins from my house and really needed the stuff asap. I personally have not introduced macro algae in my tank but another lfs i go to has all that kinda stuff for sale. I also heard good things about the mangrove plants in sumps and refugiums helps keep down the nitrates.

[clown shrimp]

i personally do not like kick ick, if you plan on doing hard corals sps & lps it is fairly stressful to the corals. i would highly suggest ick attack i use it any of my fish get ick. for your fish that were dying its hard to say did u acclimate them? Also how often do you clean the sponge in the filter?
hope this helps! Sean

[NATIVEVAMAN]

At the risk of making a few of you unhappy I will ask,"dont you think if you had a qt and used it you wouldnt need the kick ich"?

[glampka]

Originally Posted by NATIVEVAMAN

At the risk of making a few of you unhappy I will ask,"dont you think if you had a qt and used it you wouldnt need the kick ich"?

Now there's a novel idea - a QT!!!

[NATIVEVAMAN]

I have 2 QT's one is named cathy lol.