Fish aren't Swimming! Help

Hello--

Brand new to the forum and saltwater life...
I have had my tank for 1 week...
The LFS gave me "cycled" water and the fish have been great up to today. This morning we noticed 5 out of 7 weren't swimming... they just sat at the bottom breathing, not moving, or hiding for about 15 hours now. This is not typical behavior. I haven't tested the tank yet, and can't get a kit now it's too late in the night... should I do something? I know the PH is fine... I have a hot tub so used a test strip... I also know the tank is chlorine free. I did do a 10 percent water change this weekend... used a clean bucked, and dechlorined water from a filtered water place nearby. I also added the correct amount of sea salt...
The blue damsels aren't moving... but the yellow tang and clown fish are.
My purple queen anthias and royal gramma aren't moving along with the goby... they are hiding or sitting at the bottom ... again... this is for about 12 to 15 hours and is NOT TYPICAL BEHAVIOR. I don't want to lose them tonight... any suggestions! thanks... ryan

PS I have a 72 gallon bowfront, wet/dry filtration, protein skimmer, 4 powerheads, 90 lbs live rock, 70lbs live sand, 216 watts of t5 HO lighting...

 

this tank has only been running for one week ? and youve got 90 pnds of live rock in there ?

have you even tested for amonia / nitrates/phosphates any thing ? and PH test strips are NOT ideal for ph testing.

wheres you specific gravity i.e > slainity ?

First off theres NO such thing as "cycled" water , your tank is most likely cycling with all that new "uncured" live rock in there and those fish are taking one hell of a beating .
not to mention the bio-load ( amount of fish you just plopped in there ).

can you provide some pic's ?

 

Do a water change, your tank is overloaded. You need a good master test kit. pH is not an issue in a new tank. I'll bet your ammonia, nitrites and nitrates, are off the charts.
They're not swimming because they're gills are burning and can't breath.

 

take all fish back to fish store and have them hold them until your tank is hospitable, or they're going to die

 

but the fish store said

I understand your concerns...
the lfs told me the water and rock they had was already cycled and cured for immediate fish...
they pumped in the water from a tank on the truck and put in the rock and sand...
I just ran into the problem after adding two new pieces of rock...
about 10lbs each... or it was the water change...

my hydrometer says between 36 and 38 on the dial...
I don't have a testing kit yet because lfs said why test if you don't need it...
I know it doesn't make sense ... but it's late in the night ... is there anything i can do???
I don't know if it was the new, cured rock... or the water change...
the tang and clown fish appear fine... does that mean anything??

 

i have 10 gallons of filtered water left ...
and the seasalt mix...

What should i do??

THANKS FOR YOUR HELP!

 

ok the first thing you should have done was buy a test kit with your tank but it's too late for that now. I'm worried about that purple queen anthias as they are very hard to keep even for experienced aquarists. Now, on to the "cycled" water. There is no such thing as cycled water. The water in my 2 yr old tank is no more cycled than the water in my mixing barrel in my garage. Bacteria doesn't live in the water, it lives on the surface of your rock and every other surface in the tank including your substrate. Now to your rock. No matter how long rock has been in a tank once you move it you are going to expose dead spots. This will cause ammonia to spike in most cases causing a cycle. Now, on to your stocking. I would understand (I would still frown) if you had one little fishy in the tank but 7????? Your LFS set you up for failure and that's a shame. If at all possible I would do one heck of a water change really really soon, go to a different lfs tomorrow and buy a product called "stability" it's made by seachem and use that. The other option (and this one is better) is break the tank down, catch the critters, and take them to a buddy who has a tank or an lfs. Sorry bout all of this bad news but it's the best I can do.

 

If I were you I'd stay away from that fish store, they are giving you a bunch of BS. To start with any Anthia's are pretty tough and should not be introduced to a non mature tank. And one of the first things you need is a test kit, just for this reason. Now you have no ideal whats wrong and when all your fish are dead they'll say well what are your water parameters????

 

what's the best way for the quick water change...
siphon out 10 gallons...
and put back in 10 gallons with 5 cups of sea salt???

 

First off that guy at the LFS is a "doofus" and more bout moving merchendise than thinking of you or your fish/tank.

that NEW live rock you added only compounded the problem, you have a 72 gal. and while a sizible tank isint big enough to take that much uncured rock in at one time ontop of the "bought or near to uncured rock that you all ready had in it ".....
SLOW DOWN,!

I fear' that you will lose all fish in that tank , the only reason why the clown is still there and the yellow is because they tend to be a more hardier fish than the others you have.

that tank is sooo new' and still in a cycle then you go throwing more in there
( it dosint work that way my friend in a reef set up )

Paitence is the key here my friend , I think you are going to learn the hard way here and take a big dent in your pocket book .

( LFS will like that, you'll come back for more )
I'd give that guy a piece of my mind to do that to a beginner !

AND first and formost before you bought even 1 fish, you should know exactly where tank parameters are before and after any fish are added.