[marciemp]

I have a 92 gallon bow front corner tank. We have fish, live rock, hermit crabs, peppermint and cleaner shrimp, and zoanthis polyps. The water quality seems good, O ammonia, O nitrite and 20 nitrate. The tank was second hand and came with most of the rock, a blue tang, a yellow tang, a yellowtail damsel, a yellow watchmen, 2 nemo clown fish, one very large peppermint shrimp, one zebra hermit crab and one snail. We have added lots of hermit crabs (some blue legged, some red legged, some zebra, and one orange legged), 5 peppermint shrimp and one cleaner shrimp, and some snails, and a red starfish, these were all added over time. We added one 4 stripe damsel, and a domino damsel. The 4 stripe was injured on the drive home (got caught in the corner of the bag) and ended up with an infection, so she died. The domino damsel went missing for a couple of days then I found him stuck in a hole half eaten by bristleworms and a hermit crab. Yesterday we got 5 tiny blue green Chromis and this morning 3 of them are gone. I saw one way in the back being eaten by a peppermint shrimp, but I assumed he died first then the shrimp ate him. I don't think we have a mantis shrimp but there is a crab of unknown identity, he seems so small, always hiding, and slow though. He does have hairy legs which I have heard is a bad thing. He is very small, between the size of a dime and a quarter. I have only ever seen him in one of 2 rocks, he usually stays in a hole right by some zoanthid polyps and his little pinchers come out at feeding times.

Could this little crab be the problem with our new fish? What else could be killing them? The new fish seemed fine and were mostly schooling well when they were released. They were acclimated slowly. Could we have other bad inverts and not know it? I have never seen anything else. The new fish were all very small, could they be injured or killed by hermit crabs or the shrimp. Our hermit crabs are all quite small. Most are very small, and 6 are a bit bigger, but still about the size of a quarter or smaller (not including the shell). The shrimp are all medium except the one that came with the tank, he is pretty big, and also very bright red (but still striped like the other peppermints).

The temp is 77-79 F (can't read the thermometer accurately but it is stable) and the specific gravity is 1.024.

There are also quite a few bristlewroms, they are pretty big, but not huge. the biggest I have seen is 4-5 inches, and lots of tiny starfish like things (brittlestars?) None of these seem dangerous.

Maybe the fish hide in the rocks at night and something eats them? If it is the crab, how do we get it out?

Thanks,
Marcie

[glampka]

Your crab may be an emerald. I had one that went from green to totally hairy. Normally they don't go after your fish but if they are hungry they will. It is possible, it could be the crab. If you want to get rid of him make a trap out of an empty pop/soda bottle, put some food in it & put it near where he hangs out. Hopefully he'll go in there & when he does just pulll the bottle out. You could have something in the rocks as well. You might want to turn off all the lights in the tank & room & take a look to see what comes out. Get a red light or red filter for a flashlight. The other possibility is that your damsels are doing in your chromis. Dominoes can be very aggresive towards other fish.

[pogodzib]

Have you ever checked what SG the store's tank water is set at? Saltwater fish can go great at levels as low as 1.010, but they can't handle having the SG raised too quickly. If your LFS is trying to save some money and surpress ich outbreaks, they may be keeping their fish under much lower SG levels in their tank and then when you get your fish, they are being exposed to a much higher SG in a fairly small amount of time.

[marciemp]

Actually I did notice when checking the salinity in a bag from the LFS that it seemed low. We were adding a starfish so we had to aclimate it very slowly and after adding a tiny bit of water probably 7 times, the bagged water still only measured 1.021, and we are at 1.024. I must have been quite low before we added any of our water. Maybe I will get in the habit of checking the salinity of the water n the bag with the fish as well, I usually take 1½ hours adding our water at about 1/2 a cup every 8-10 minutes, but I may have done it quicker and the chromis were very small.

Glampa, We don't have a Domino damsel anymore as he was eaten, but we do have a 4 stripe who was added at the same time as the chromis. I read a lot of books and they all said it would be OK, but now my LFS has said the 4 stripe damsel could be the problem. What about the yellowtail damsel? He has been in the tank for a long time, and I have seen him be agressive towrds new fish. He picks on the 4 stripe a bit, and I have a sneaking suspiscion that he killed the domino and picked on the original 4 stripe that we had, who eventually died from an infection in a wound she got on the way home in the bag.

The crab we have doesn't look green at all like the Emeralds I've seen, he is more light yellowish peach, and has dark red on his claws. He is very small, and was in the tank when we bought it second hand. The guy had the tank for a couple of years and didn't know it was in there! Must have been on the live rock. I don't think he ever comes out of his hole though, I've even checked at night.

Thanks,
Marcie

[Danakor]

a better way to acclimate your livestock than adding 1/4 cups at a time is to rig up a drip line. basicly take a bucket drill a hole in the top feed some air hosing through it put a valve on it(you can buy these pretty much at every fish store) and pour your livestock into the bucket then set it so that your drip is at about one drip every 2 sec. after a while when the bucket starts to get full scoop out some water and throw it out. It is a very slow way to acclimate your livestock.

[marciemp]

Thank you, That sounds like a great way to do it. What would the valve be called at the fish store? Also do you place the other end of the hose in the main tank and start a siphon to get the drip going, or do you put some tank watert in another container and put the hose in there?

Seems like basics I know, but our LFS just said to add a bit of water at a time ( every 8-10 minutes) out of a cup, then add the fish after 1½ hours of doing this.

Thanks,
Marcie

[jtravapd]

im not sure whats killing your fish, but i have had fish tanks all my life....fresh and salt....this is my first time with live coral...but in all of them it seems green chromis dont take to the shock of being transported well....i know people have had great success with them, but i bring them into the tank slowly...probablly over a total of 3 hours using the drip method. just because in the past i have had trouble keeping them alive...and wouldn't you know it, im down to 2 chromis left...all my other fish are fine...even my starfish are doing great as well as a very small hippo tang......i would say look around your tank for a hitchhiker or it could very well be that the stress of a new tank and the trip to it, got to them..

[phi165]

What sources does your LFS use for the fish? It could be that they were caught using cyanide. The fish would seem fine for a while but die after a few weeks or so.

[glampka]

All damsels are aggressive. I just got rid of 2 yellow tails because they were causing all sorts of problems attacking any new adds to my tank. They should be banned from lfs!!!

[Danakor]

start a siphon straight from your tank, your that way there is nothing that will change from your acclimation to your tank. Not sure what the valve is called, you usually get one with your air pump. it looks like a T bend for plumbing but instead of having a third outlet there is a screw that lets you adjust the flow.