As for the loss of new fish being added, I would recommend quarantine for at least 2 weeks. The most important part of the quarantine is a) to give any disease the opportunity to show up before adding the fish to your tank, and b) getting the fish conditioned to eat consistently. Most fish do not get sufficient diet during their movement from collection to wholesaler to retailer to your tank. I wouldn’t be concerned about any nuisance algae, as far as any negative affects on your new fish.

The possible causes of your fish dying are:
- not fed enough during transport
- not conditioned onto food quick enough
- improper acclimation (sudden increase in salinity, sudden increase in pH)
- aggression from other angels in the tank

The acclimation process can make the difference between success and failure. Always float the fish (in the bag) in your aquarium for at least 10-15 minutes. Make sure there is no more than a 2 degree difference in salinity. Most fish can handle a sudden drop in salinity, but a sudden rise in salinity can kill them.

The ideal acclimation process involves matching temperature, salinity, and pH. While the fish are floating to temperature (in their bag), I prepare a vat of water from the exhibit tank, in which I match the salinity, temperature and pH of the bag water the fish was transported in. Most fish that arrive via mail order (purchased online) have been in the bag for 24 hours and the pH is typically down to 7.2 instead of 8.3 (exhibit tank). And sometimes if you start dripping the fish in their bag with 8.3 water, they go into shock and die within a couple days. This is because the ammonia in the shipping bag becomes more toxic as you raise the pH up to match your tanks pH.

I start by setting up a vat of tank water and then matching it to the temp/pH/salinity of the bag water, before I begin acclimation. Also, add an air stone in the acclimation tub, as this makes a big difference. Then, once the acclimation tub matches the temp/pH/salinity of the bag water, I then move the fish from the bag into the acclimation tub (keep the room dark – a lid on the acclimation tub too). So, for the fish, the water in the acclimation tub is exactly the sam as the bag water – only no toxic ammonia. By the way, I lower the pH with muriatic acid (Home Depot).

Then all you have to do is setup an airline siphon from your tank to the acclimation tub and let it run for about an hour – at a fast drip rate. As the acclimation tub fills up, you will need to remove water.

Hope this helps.

I have a 90 gallon aquarium with a 25 gallon sump and an aquac ev180 skimmer, a TLF phosban reactor with rowaphos, a GEO 618 Ca reactor and a hydor L40 return pump. I had algae outbreaks before, which is why I added the phosban reactor. working well so far. My question is : I added some fish – 1 keyhole angel and 1 rusty angel to my tank a week ago and they died 2 days ago. It seems that whenever i add fish to my aquaria (after quarantining it for 3 days) it doesnt last long in the tank. I have little nuisance algae in my tank. I was wondering if a UV sterilizer would help. Also does it matter which make it is? Furthermore what wattage would you recommend for my setup?

Thanks for the help.