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Okay. I have had my 44 gallon Pentagon/corner salt water FOWLR going for a year now, average 4" deep aragonite bed, only five pounds of live rock due to money issues (though stuff has moved to the base rock in that year). Two marineland powerheads (550 I think?) and a Proquatics/Hydor 2400 cannister filter (Rated for up to 125 gallons, I think).
Temp: 80-84 Farenheit
Salt 1.023 (though I think it was a little lower, there was some evaporation)
Hardness and Alkalinity are good.
pH is 7.8 (I've been trying both Seachem Reef Buffer and Seachem Liquid Marine buffer, neither raise the pH)
Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates about 20-25

I use Purigen in the filter instead of Carbon, and I use Prime as my water conditioner, and occasionally use Kent Marine Essential Elements.

I hadn't had fish in there since late summer; I gave them to a friend who had a bigger tank because they were bickering (a cardinal, some chromis) In November I bought one baby gold banded maroon clown and a very beautiful coral beauty angel, but the next day the angel was dead, and within a couple days the clown developed a sore (kind of looked like the ulcers that freshwater dwarf gouramis get) and he was dead a couple days later. He had been eating very well. The only other things in the tank are a couple zebra leg hermit crabs, a couple blue leg hermit crabs, and some snails.

So, is it a problem with my system? Or were those fish inappropriate for that tank? Because I may have the chance to go to the LFS tomorrow, and I want to know if I should bother getting more fish... I really really liked the two that I had, I have always wanted a coral beauty, since I don't think I'll be getting any live corals anytime soon.

Suggestions?



I'm so adjective, I verb nouns!

I dont think there was really much of a tank problem.
My guess is that the clown was probably territorial in the tank.

After the angel died, he was the only fish in there.

I'm so adjective, I verb nouns!

What are you checking your PH with?
For two fish or no fish at this time your Nitrates seem alittle high. I would recommend a water change!

nitrate does pop up, it is normal....especailly when u have LR in there, there will always be deaths and decompositions.

what I think is that you might have done something wrong with the climatisation that's why the Coral Beauty die the next day (unless you got a sick dying fish from the shop from the beginning)....a good climatisaion should take you an hour or a bit more for fish, and it is suggested to have a freshwater dip as the final step

And...due to evporation, the salinity will increase, not decrease due to salt concentration increases with less volume of water.

If you haven't had fish in your tank for such long time(since last summer you said?)...I think it is a good idea to change your filter media (pads and carbon, not substrates) and do a 25% water change before you add fish

If you're managing to keep your snails and other invertibrates in the tank without trouble I'd be more inclined to believe that the fish stock themselves might be the source of your problems..

Unfortunately with saltwater, stress can be a major factor when purchasing new stock.. Not only do these fish normally travel under less than ideal conditions, they also deal with changing parameters from store tanks to hobbyists tanks.. You can do everything right in regards to acclimation and upkeep and still lose new aquisitions..

One of the first lessons I learned from one of the old sw gurus here, be prepared to deal with losing fish from no fault of your own..

If you don't do this already, ask your lfs at what salinity they keep their store tanks at.. I've noticed that different stores in my area keep their stock at levels that range from exactly like my own to much lower than my own.. Makes a difference in how much time I spend acclimating each purchase..

Good Luck with it..