currently  i have a 55 gal tank with a HoB octopus skimmer and a biowheel 400 for a filter.

my problem lies with keeping fish alive, my coral seem to grow so well i can almost sit here and see it grow in front of me, but anytime i  have more then 1 fish in my tank i end up losing them.

i do daily water checks, and everything seems to be in order there.  so my question is, is the bio load from mroe then 1 fish to much for my filter? i kow when i had this for freshwater i was able to keep 20-25 africans with no trouble.

You should be able to have more than 1 fish with that HOB. I have one on my tank and have 2 in a 20g so you would have just as much filtration and more room so you should be able to have more than that even. I would be curious in the fish themselves. How long can you keep one alone alive? Is it a long time where he/she is obviously established and happy? Are the new fish you are getting from a reliable source? Any signs of illness before or on the day of purchase? I don't really know anything about saltwater fish illnesses but you have a good skimmer and the water is obviously good since you are growing corals well. If it were me, I would see if any of your fish were/are sick before you add them to the tank.

Good luck!

im pretty confident in my LFS aquatic enviroments, i dont have a way to Quarenteen a fish so i have them keep it for a week after i purchase.

best example is i recently brought home a sixline and a firefin. i had a clown well established in the tank, come home from coffee today and the sixline and clown are dead but the firefin is doing wonderfully.

Hmmm... I'm not sure then. Aquatic Environments is an excellent store and I would trust any of their fish. Sorry I couldn't help out more. Hopefully gered or aj or someone will be able to help with more experience.

Have you tested your water? What are your water parameters? How long has your tank been up and running?

--AJ

What do you have for coral? Some corals can and do eat small fish. I use to have a bubble coral that killed ate fish all the time.

i test my water daily, water params are 0 amonia nitrites are 0 nitrates are.25 ph is 8 sg .024 tank has been running for about 1.5 months.

the coral i have devils hand large, colt coral too big. a couplke zoo frags a few button polyps candaycane frag, and a couple frags i got today from potroast.

You should be fine..not sure why stuff is dying. What are you feeding?

--AJ

rods food. limited amounts 2 times a day.

Do you have sand in your tank? What's your alkalinity?

--AJ

thats one test i do not have, as far as sand goes, i have 40 lbs of sand in the tank. i should probably get in there and spread it out better, it is as deep as 2 inches in a couple spots.

i was so used to me cichlids spreading my stuff around, i was thinking my salt fish would act similarly.

You said every time you add new fish they die right? How long have you been adding new fish? I hope you haven't gone through too many new additions to the tank in the 1.5 months it's been up. Most saltwater tanks take at least a month before they would be considered safe to add any fish. Also, you said "my coral seem to grow so well i can almost sit here and see it grow in front of me." It's pretty cool that you've seen that much growth in less than 2 months. How much growth do you think you've had?

Side note, biowheel filters are not a good idea in saltwater tanks. They buildup and release nitrates very quickly if you don't change out the filter pad every month or so. Every book or article I've read on them in saltwater says they are a no-no. This is totally up to you, just my opinion.

Good luck with new fish in the future, I hope this doesn't discourage you to keep a saltwater tank.

ive lost 3 fish so not an awful lot but still disturbing. as far as growth goes, my fire and ice zoas have doubled in size, this colt coral i have seems to grow like a weed and i almost wish i didnt have it lol.

as far as the bio wheel goes, i went with it because i had one and the guys at AE said it would work great, maybe if i take the wheels out of it that may help. i have considered trying a canister filter just need to find the right deal and some know how on how they work.

I have seen a few tanks fully stocked within a month (not that I recommend it) and they did just fine. Took owners more water changes to get levels to balance. Do you have any aptasia? i have seen two fish go to their deaths when caught by a few heads. sometimes ive found aptasia living in small dark caves where little fish like to hang out.

Do you check your levels right after you put in a new fish? Ive seen new tanks like yours go through "mini" cycles that spike and drop within days of adding new fish.

-Box

havent seen any aptasia, but i do have a couple peppermint shrimp in the tank to help battle any such things.

i have had buddies tell me to just ditch the biowheel and allow my livingrock and coral do my filtration, although i dont feel thats a good idea.

going to do some research on canister filters today and see what is available.

Posted By mthomp on 03/10/2010 10:06 AM
havent seen any aptasia, but i do have a couple peppermint shrimp in the tank to help battle any such things.

i have had buddies tell me to just ditch the biowheel and allow my livingrock and coral do my filtration, although i dont feel thats a good idea.

going to do some research on canister filters today and see what is available.

You should listen to your buddies, sounds like they know a thing or two   In general, canister filters and HOB biowheel filters aren't used in SW set-ups, at least not long-term.  They tend to generate nitrates........invest in a better skimmer instead and more live rock or a sump with live rock and macro algae.

As for your fish dying, how are you acclimating them to your tank?  Do you acclimate for temp?  Do you drip acclimate them?  How do they act after you've released them into the tank?  Do they hide?  Swim near the surface?  Respirate quickly etc?  There has to be more to this picture your painting here, some details must me going overlooked........

no room for a sump. im thinking im going to invest in a fe more pieces of liverock, and ditch the filter entirely.

as far as my fish go, i usually add a cup of my water to the bag after they have been floating for an hour, after another 20-30 mins i release them.

they hide for a little while then come out. I did notice that before the bit it, alot of heavy breathing. in fact i think my tank is cycling again as im noticing alot of the brown algea stuff on my sand again.

Easy enough to tell if its cycling again......check if you have any ammonia.

Floating the bags for an hour seems a little long to me.  Just float the bags to get the temps the same......the water in the bag will likely be pretty close to the tank temp.  I usually float a bag for 15-20 minutes tops, especially if I just got it from a pet shop.  If it was a shipped item, maybe 30 minutes.  I also drip acclimate all SW fish and especially SW inverts.  Maybe its not necessary for all marine fish, but that's what I do.  Fosters and smith does have a nice little drip acclimation kit for like $2

Drip acclimation (scroll down)