Angel fish in reef tank

[Rossf1]

Hello,

My tank is 150 gallons. I have a aquean profllex 4 sump runnung underneath with a refrugium center chamber.
150 lbs live sand maybe more 150 lbs live rock.

here is my problem. I have a few coral frags I keep in the refrugium. none in the tank.

the tank had a yellow tang, hipo tang, sail fin, mandarin, and some few small fish.

over the last month or so i added a empror angel, died in 2 weeks, a majestic angel, died in a week, bicolor died in a few weeks. though tas icy, did copper in hospital tank, still side. also a small french angel.

i tried a few again in main tank, a majestic, flame, and butterfly. all fine for 3 days then all dead the next.

so today I call the guy who owns the local fish store and he says take a video of my tank and bring to him. so i do. he claims that the live rock, and the live sand are causing them to get parasites and die. in order to keep any of these types of angels safely i need fish only and treat tank with copper. he said it has something to do with the types of scales on theses fish.

is he right? my coral beauty is fine, hippo tang, yellow tang, sail fin, pj cardinals, snowflake eel all do just fine. angels keep dying as fast as i can get them.

i need help. water temp 78, ph 8.4 no ammonia, nitrate or nitrite. angels and butterflies just wont live what am i doing wrong....

is it the live rock and invertebrates making them sick? it doesn't sound right but I do not know enough to be sure.

also have a uv going and salinity at 1.023-1.024

thanks all help appreciated i really want some angels in the tank

ross

[stevem]

sound to me like u need to find a new store.
first live sand nor live rock cause ich
u can not treat with copper in tanks with either.
second r u buying all the fish from the same store, maybe u r getting sick fish to start with.
third your choice of fish is a problem
snow flake should not be in a reef as they will nock rocks down constantly.
emperer angels, bicolor angels and most butterflies are near impossable to keep, but yet stores keep selling them.
yellow tangs, cardnials,sailfins easy to keep
Mandarins not so easy as they need a large amount of live food, before long they eat all live food in the tank and starve to death.
hippo once they are established they r pretty hardy.
your water chemistry seems fine
how many fish do u have total and how long is your tank up ?
french angel is also not reef safe
u need to do a little research before u buy your fish, and add 1 at a time with atleast 2 weeks between

[stevem]

r u in brooklyn?

[Astchiefy]

I hope I never end up in that store because they have steered you in THE wrong direction.. Your parameters as mentioned should not cause a problem, however you do not mention your acclimation method. The PH and other water parameters of the store can vary greatly from that of your tank. Ph shock can be the number one cause of delayed fish death. Fish should be slowing acclimated to your tanks water by first allowing the bag water to reach tank temp, then SLOWLY dripping water into the bag with the fish for about an hour. I use airline tubing with a plastic control valve on the end. When the bag is full dump half the water and drip again. Its also good practice to quarantine fish before adding them to your tank but most don't have room for another tank. I use a 10 gallon under my main tank for this.

My tip to you is to test a sample of the bag water when you buy a new fish and compare it to that to your tank water. It may surprise you...

[stevem]

also salinity, most stores keep their salinity low to save money and lessen the chance of ich
u can not do this if u have live rock
you will kill it off