[matt127]

I am new to having fish. I have a local fish shop owner cleaning and taking care of my tank. He is also a personal friend. I have a 75 gallon tank with liverock. My tank has been set for two months and just recently had two fish added. We added an adult heniacous and a fox face. I realized after a few days that the heni was not eating and noticed that his body was getting black sores on it. To make a long story short the heni and the fox face both died. The owner said there was probably a bacteria infection that contaminated the fish. He treated the water with some sort of antibiotic.

After several days and after a water change and water testing we purchased 3 small heni's. The next day we noticed a blood spot on the side of one of the henis and found himm on his head still alive. I attempted to move the crabs away but it was too late, the crabs ate the fins off of the fish and the fish later died.

This morning I woke upi to check on the other 2 and we found one dead at the bottom being eaten by crabs.

If that was not bad enough, I received a call from my wife saying she went to check on the last fish, but it was already dead and eaten too.

Right now we are pretty frustrated beacuse we have spent over 100 dollars in fish that had only lasted 2 weaks. Could something be wrong with the water? Are my crabs too aggressive? Or is this normal when starting a tank.

Does anybody have any suggestions?

[glampka]

Has your water been tested for various parameters & what are the results? You're cycle should be completed by now. If I were you, start out with some inexpensive fish like chromis or clowns. Don't mess with damsels since they'll probably be problems later down the road. There is always the possibility that you have a hitch hiler that came in on the rock & is killing things off. What kind of crabs do you have? Any emeralds? If they're not well fed they will go after fish. After the lights have been off for an hour or so, take a look in the tank to see if anything has come out that could be killing off the fish.

[matt127]

He tested the water and everything was normal. I did have higher nitrate levels the other day probably because of the dead fish. It was tested and was normal before we added the new fish.

I have blue legged hermit crabs in my tank. It may be a stupid question, but what is a hiler and what does it look like. If we would have one how do you get rid of it?

[glampka]

Should have been hitch "hiker". It could be anything from a crab, bristle worm or any other non wanted animal.

[rlcline76]

I am guessing that you are not quarantining...?

[matt127]

I am really leaving it up to my fish man to take care of them. I am sure I am not. What do I need to do?

[rlcline76]

I am concerned about these black spots, my offhand guess ia a bacterial infection. I like doping my fish elsewhere if at all possible. Less risky to your other critters. I would set up a QT, cheap 10 gallon set up from Walmart. See where the BS is coming from. If your fish can survive a few weeks in QT without signs of illness, then start focusing on the main tank. Could be that you fish were nursing wounds from something in the tank. Could be that one fish introduced something nasty and all of your fish caught it.

[carmanimports]

i would not put fish in for a month if the is a deisie in there it will die of without a host to carry it or maybe the fish u are getting are sianide cuaght and not net cuaght

[SweeTang22]

get the QT tank up and running and the next time you purchase fish, get some gralic guard to soak the food in. this helps build immune system to fight off disease. if something is wrong with the showtank give it anywhere from 1 month to 5 months to die off. some fungal infections and bacterial infections can last a long time just living off resources in your tank!!

[dmachog]

Heniochus not the best "starter fish". I nearly gave up the hobby in my first six months....and that was five years ago. I have fish that are still with me!

Agree with cleaner crew, maybe add a six-line wrass if you see bristle worms-or just use a trap.

Try acclimating some black mollies as staters-easy and cheap.
or a clown or two.

Friend or not, he does not seem very knowledgeable, especially replacing the heni's after losing the first!

It's frustrating-but once through the start up, it is a great hobby.

[malawiman]

i agree take over your tank and get a six lined wrasse he is great and mine spends most of his time grazing my rocks for unwanted worms and critters. as for the fish death i would change water and try one small fish like damsel or wrasse or the clown but i say damsel. also try runnin carbon if havent already. do you have a skimmer? if so how big.

[Azreal]

lots and lots of possibilities here. without parameters it might be tough to get accurate suggestions. Anyway, you sound like me when I setup my tank. I waited a while before putting fish in and slowly lost each round of fish one after the other. All mine were inexpensive so it wasn't hugely expensive, but it was frustrating.

turned out my issue was a bad thermometer. I found out by investing in a $2 back up glass stick on thermometer. =) Fortunately it was an easy fix.

Best of luck figuring yours out!