Every fish I add dies!

[Reeftanker3295]

So, my 90 gallon reef has been set up for 11 months now. My first fish in it were a yellow tang and a pair of black saddleback clowns. All 3 of these fish live happily today and are very healthy.
I can't keep any fish other than these though. My anthias died for unknown reasons after 3 months, bangghai cardinal died in 2 days, and now I got a beautiful little fairy wrasse and it developed a white spot on its side and died within 48 hours of adding to my tank. Drifted right into my haddoni
What fish can I add?! I want a fish that will stay in the water column so that it doesn't get close to my anemones. My other fish are never aggressive towards the new fish, they just die.
Should I just stick with the 3 fish I have now? I really want more fish but i'm afraid to add any now.

 

[Awibrandy]

Oh dear! I can see how disheartened you must feel!

The 3 fish you had that died are not the hardiest to begin with. Try researching some fish that you like. Then post back on MR before purchasing.

Anthias need several feedings daily which is not the easiest thing to do. Some anthias are hardier then others. I had a similar experience with bangghai until I purchased one from another reefer. I think I've had this one for about 3 years now.

 

[Reeftanker3295]

Oh dear! I can see how disheartened you must feel!

The 3 fish you had that died are not the hardiest to begin with. Try researching some fish that you like. Then post back on MR before purchasing.

Anthias need several feedings daily which is not the easiest thing to do. Some anthias are hardier then others. I had a similar experience with bangghai until I purchased one from another reefer. I think I've had this one for about 3 years now.

I believe my anthias' death may of been because I wasn't feeding him enough, and my cardinal I know they don't eat very well and mine refused to eat. But the death of my tiny flasher wrasse completely caught me off guard. He looked so healthy in the LFS and within 48 hours died
Do you think some sort of hawkfish would be ok? I really like the lyretail hawkfish and it seems like my tank would be great for one.

 

[NYreefNoob]

what are parm, how do you acclimate ? and personally do a test on alk and ph. those are the one's that will cause most problems with fish, and which lfs

 

[Reeftanker3295]

My parameters are spot on, I float for 20 minutes and then drip acclimate. I also got a clam and it's doing awesome so far. I think I need to buy a fish that is already acclimated to life in a tank. NY I would of bought that angel off you if you hadn't sold it already!

 

[125reefer]

try drip acclimating first then let float.as you drip acclimate unless you have a heater in the bucket the water becomes colder then the tank.i drip then i put in a ziplock bag and float for 20 min

 

[stbarnabas]

same issue here tagging along ......

 

[NYreefNoob]

i get a bag of fw from store when i buy from cichlad tank, and do a 5 min fw dip, then i drip acclimate with pro cure, knock on wood i havent lost a fish in a long time. plus i make store feed fish and if it isnt aggressively eating i wont buy it

what test kits are you using ? and check experation date, reeftanker plz pm with which store, this could be problem also if parms are way different, years back i had issue with fish and come to find out my alk was 6.5 which was way lower then where they were coming from

 

[Reeftanker3295]

My test kit is only a year old. Plus all other livestock is doing awesome.

 

[Awibrandy]

If I'm not mistaken the larytail hawkfish is similar to the anthias in it's feeding requirements. You should be feeding it 2X per day.

 

[Awibrandy]

Definitely check fish before you buy them for any obvious signs of decease; as well as be certain they are actually eating not just nipping at the food.

Sometimes the fish we purchase at lfs have been to stressed out during catching, shipping, several acclimations to bounce back. Also, how are you transporting them from the lfs to your place?

Then there are those times where we are just out of luck (not blessed). I tried to keep a Majestic Angelfish/Pomacanthus Navarchus so many times, and just could not keep one a life.;( Honestly I had given up. Until a little over a month ago I saw another small one at an lfs, and decided to try this one last time. Guess what? It is doing just fine.

Guess what I am trying to say is: Sometimes we do everything correctly, and it just doesn't work out......

 

[Reeftanker3295]

I'm driving them 15 minutes from the LFS to my house. I think I will try the mt. vernon LFS this weekend and see how my luck goes.

 

[shark32]

Sorry to hear about your losses. I have a flame hawkfish who is great. He is very active and has tons of personality. Look into that type of hawkfish if hawks are your next choice. I have had mine now for about 6 months.

 

[LongIslandAndy]

Not knowing what you are trying to keep as inverts, Here are some pretty hardy options

1) Most wrasse's from Halichoeres family. ( Make sure it is eating)
2) Blue Throat Trigger or Niger Trigger(reef sale with caution)
3) Cardinal fish
4) Dottybacks
5) Most Hawkfish ( they do do eat shrimp)

Hope this helps


5)

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Sounds like one of the anemone stung the wrasse and that was the spot you saw on it. If you have a couple of anemone's that could be one of the issues. Anthias and cardinals are hit or miss in my experience and have a habit of just giving up and dying. What are your water parameters? How do you acclimate? Where are you buying the fish from?

 

[Wes]

Please post your params. No offense but usually when people just say, "my params are spot on," it's because they don't necessarily know all of their params.

Not saying this is you. But posting up your actual parameters helps us help you.

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Predominantly I think your issue might be 2 things stress and the anemones.