Bad LFS or is my tank a death trap?

I have purchased 3 fish from DeathCo that all have lived, 2 O. Clowns and a neon dottyback. These fish are happy and healthy. I went to a locally owned LFS where the employees are much more knowledgeable and purchased a coral beauty. This fish lived about 2 weeks before passing. I was then given a powder brown tang for a b-day present that lasted about a week, then died. My final fish I bought there was a green chromis that died 6 days later. I am acclimating these fish the same as I do anything, float for 10-15, then pour a 1/4 cup in every 4-5 mins for roughly an hour.

So my question is, is it my tank or are the fish from the other LFS not healthy to begin with? I understand the Powder Browns are hard to keep, but the other 2 are fairly hardy from what I understand. All of them have eaten and only the tang showed signs of stress. I have 2 skunk shrimp and numerous snails and hermits that are thriving.

My stats are as follows:
72 Gal FOWLR with 20l sump
Amm 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 2.5
Tmp 79.0
PH 8.2
I currently do not test for phosphate.
SG 1.025
RO/DI all the way with Reef Crystals salt mix

I am hoping to make the jump to reef in another month or 2 and would like to get this sorted before buying corals.

 

From what you say everything looks good. It's hard to say what's going on. Assuming all of your tests are correct, it may have just been sick or doomed fish from the start. I've purchased fish like this that have mysteriously died within 2 weeks as well.

My acclimation process is a bit different from yours. I normally float my fish for a 10-15 minute interval and then put them right in the tank with a net. I doubt the way you're doing it though is having any effect on the fish; they'd probably be dead in hours if that were the case.

 

Probably just a run of bad luck, but just incase I would watch out for bullying from the dottyback and the clowns.

 

that's prison rules acclimation, you don't introduce your water to their bagged water to get them used to your chemistry? I've watched LFS acclimate the same way or extremely quickly but wondered if you had any losses.

 

I try to hit the local stores the day their fish arrive...Well i can tell you i noticed one of my local fish stores just floats the bags than nets them and puts them right into the tank. the other fish store drip acclimates. i have better luck with the fish that come from the store that drip acclimates.
check this guys video out on drip acclimating. they really do show how simple it is. after watching it i now always drip acclimate i used to do the cup way little bit of water little bit. but the drip way is so much easier and less stressful on the fish no cup of water hitting them and freaking them out . oh the air line was $1.25 from the fish store eBay - New & used electronics, cars, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods & more at low prices

 

Until 2 weeks ago, I was using red seas master test kit. I was having problems with the ammonia test in that it was either cloudy or reading .25 or .50. I realized it was expired and replaced all of my tests with API tests and those are the readings I am getting. I am thinking about switching back to Petco for my livestock as everything I have gotten from them has survived.

This petco might actually be one of the good ones, as the tanks seem clean and the employees are quick to offer to feed the fish and test their water when asked to do so. The other petco I went to the tanks looked disgusting and there were 25 fish in probably 20 gallons of holding tank. I walked out of there and never went back. I was really hoping this other LFS was going to be a good one as they have the greatest selection of livestock(which does me no good if they don't stay alive).

 

I will start dripping my fish from now on. I need to get into the habit of it so I know what I am doing when I start getting coral.

 

I'll second that petco isn't always bad. Ours only sell schooling fish together or if you already have some already and I saw an employee refuse to sell a freshwater angel because the customer's tank was too new.

On the other hand, the only lfs near my college is horrible. The tanks look unkept and they sell things they shouldn't such as painted fish (injected and dyed), pacu, alligator gar, etc.

 

i think drip acclimation is more important for fish than corals. with the drip way it takes 2 to 3 hours, no big deal since you can walk away during the acclimation process, i have done the other way, the way you do now. you will love this way once you have tryed it . well i do anyway . i add the fish to my tank when the salinity matches with my tanks. if you noticed most fish stores keep their fish at a lower salinity than you do a reef tank or a tank with inverts.

Stores corals are kept at a higher salinity as your reef tank is

try liveaquaria they are awesome for fish and corals

 

MoJoe, I acclimate my fish the same way. Float for 20 minutes and put them in. I've done this for almost every fish I have and never had a loss.