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OceanBlueSky 
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Joined: May 26 2005
Location: Eagle Mountain
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 Posted: May 29 2009 at 11:47am |
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How old is the tank? I've noticed the longer the tank is up (usually around the 6 month mark), the easier it is to keep fish alive and healthy.
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Arthur
220 Reef, 90 Lightning & RBTA, 7 nano
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Acrid
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Joined: April 13 2008
Location: Murray
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Posted: May 29 2009 at 11:56am |
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Well, we recently switched from a 65 to the 90, but kept all the rock and used live water. So this exact tank, a month or two; but the system in general is over a year.
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90g Reef
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superman1981
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Joined: October 09 2006
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Posted: May 29 2009 at 2:58pm |
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I went through the exact same thing with my 125 about 3-4 months after it was set up. I had upgraded from a 29 gal and a nano cube into the 125. After about a week I started adding new fish, got up to about 14-16 (some where around there... hate to think about it too much) and then lost all but 4 in a two week period. If you search my old posts you'll see that I was ready to quit the hobby...
Anyway, after I got over being pissed, I started re-stocking slowly. I now have several fish that are a year or more old. I'd go slow, only add one or two new fish at a time, and make sure you give all new fish a good 3-4 weeks before you add any more. I've done this and have only lost like one or two fish since my tank "crashed" last year.
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Sure you are, you are Crappy Reef Club Member #1 -Chk4tix 6 gal nanocube 65 gal build thread
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superman1981
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Posted: May 29 2009 at 2:59pm |
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One other quick thought, if a LFS gets in a new shipment and has a fish you "must have." Most of them will allow you to pay for it, and then they'll hold it for a few days to make sure it's healthy before you take it home. This is always a good option.
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Sure you are, you are Crappy Reef Club Member #1 -Chk4tix 6 gal nanocube 65 gal build thread
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Acrid
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Posted: May 29 2009 at 4:16pm |
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I rarely, if ever, buy fish the first day it's in the store. I hate when fish die, so I try to not take many chances. I would have to say that at least several of those fish were healthy when they left the store, I just don't know what in/about my tank did them in.
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90g Reef
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Mark Peterson
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Joined: June 19 2002
Location: Murray
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Posted: May 30 2009 at 11:40am |
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I agree with what people have said.
Another thing I noticed is that except for the Chromis, which we can often have continual bad luck with, those fish are ones I typically stay away from. You ought to pick some more common fish.
And also wait 2-3 weeks in between adding them.
Also use Garlic Oil in the proper way for the first 5 days, and then every 2-3 days for another week or two.
Acclimation is a funny thing. Too much of a good thing is the problem. Inexperienced hobbyists think that the longer the acclimation the better. That is just plain false.
I usually acclimate fish from friends or the LFS for about 10 minutes with a change of just half the water and I do not float them in the bag. That often leads to stressful low oxygen levels. I pour the fish into an open container and replace half the water with tank water, then after 10 minutes lift it out with my hands and place it carefully into the tank.
Fish from a shipment are handled slightly differently...
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