losing fish

[keats]

Hello all
Yeh well I recently got a larger tank made up.
So moved all my stuff into it it was all run of a cannister filter but this time i decieded to use sand as a base, which i got from a local beach.
Every thing was fine for a week or so then i started to lose fish. i only had five in there,first i lost a thredfin butterfly, then flame angel. occ clowns.
They seemed to go pale but had no itching
I was just left with my blue damsel.
I asked around people say i most likely got a nitrite spike which i thought was possible due to the new sand which was also dead sand.
But now after a couple of days my damsel is looking good had the water tested and all is fine.
Bought a couple clowns but after one night they are just staying at the surface,not quite right.
Thinking now maybe i introduced something with the sand that may be causing some kind of disease.
Gonna watch my clowns and see how they go.
Any suggestions.

[geekdafied]

Im guessing you didnt boil your sand or sterilize it in any other way. Beach sand has god knows what kind of chemicals etc in it. When you put that into your tank, you risked losing everything, even your liverock. Damsels are hard to kill (trust me, Ive tried) they can take quite a bit of stress. The butterflies and angels, it doesn't take much to kill them. Clowns are pretty sturdy too, as they are in the same family as damsels. If your tank had only been set up for a few days, I would worry about the sand being the factor, but if it had been over a week, then possibly a spike in the bioload.

[Jason McKenzie]

Well I would recommend you get the 3 basic test kits. Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate.

The shore line is the most polluted part of the ocean so any problems would end up in the sand on the beach. It would be very difficult to isolate and eliminate something that can in the sand.

Sounds like a Ammonia spike though. Is there live Rock in the tank?

J

[keats]

Hello
yeh the tank has a fair bit of rock a good bucket load at least plus some corals Catophilia & polop type all looking good.
As i said the sand was dead from high up and well away from the water
i did wash /rinse it thats all. It's been removed now. at the moment i have nothing on the base But i'm worried that if it was contaminated in some way it could have done so to my filter system.
The clowns arn't looking to bad health wise at the moment it's just that they are staying at the surface, maybe they are just adjusting. The tank does have a large 5 inch air stone.
I have had the Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate tested all are fine,since the fish became ill i have done 2 half water changes.
Thanks