All of my fish are dead. They were doing great. My dog face puffer, Puffy, had grown less timid. The Bi-Color Angel fish was swimming all over the tank, all of the time. The baby clown trigger, Scooter, seemed right at home.
Then we added two clown fish. Stripey, the Bi-Color Angel, began hiding. We didn't realize it was a problem until we realized that we never saw him.
A few days went by. The green algea that began growing turned black. We saw Stripey and noticed he was looking boney. Puffy was a dark grey instead of his usual white.
Scooter, the baby clown trigger, died first. Stripey died the next day. Puffy, the star of our tank, died the same afternoon. One of the clown fish died that night.
The last clown fish is still in there, with his mouth to the top of the tank. Neither clown fish ever ate, though, so I don't anticipate it living.
I feel devastated. I put so much time, caring, and love into this tank and these creatures with my girlfriend. They were more than just fish... they were all of the intangible things we attributed to them.
They're all dead now. I have no idea what caused it. I tested the levels myself, brought water to a lfs to have them test it... the water was fine. One guy said it could be a parasite, but no fish had white marks and their eyes looked okay. I bought a product called Cure All anyways and began applying it. I only got to put it in for two days before everyone was dead.
How do I start over? This was my first time doing saltwater and I was so happy... I feel like no fish could replace them. I almost feel like it would be wrong to replace them. I'm also afraid of the tank/water.
If the levels tested fine, how would I ever know if the water is safe for more fish? After I bought Puffy I saw other dog face puffers in stores and they were all ugly. I really lucked out with a cute one. But he's gone.
Sigh.
Then we added two clown fish. Stripey, the Bi-Color Angel, began hiding. We didn't realize it was a problem until we realized that we never saw him.
A few days went by. The green algea that began growing turned black. We saw Stripey and noticed he was looking boney. Puffy was a dark grey instead of his usual white.
Scooter, the baby clown trigger, died first. Stripey died the next day. Puffy, the star of our tank, died the same afternoon. One of the clown fish died that night.
The last clown fish is still in there, with his mouth to the top of the tank. Neither clown fish ever ate, though, so I don't anticipate it living.
I feel devastated. I put so much time, caring, and love into this tank and these creatures with my girlfriend. They were more than just fish... they were all of the intangible things we attributed to them.
They're all dead now. I have no idea what caused it. I tested the levels myself, brought water to a lfs to have them test it... the water was fine. One guy said it could be a parasite, but no fish had white marks and their eyes looked okay. I bought a product called Cure All anyways and began applying it. I only got to put it in for two days before everyone was dead.
How do I start over? This was my first time doing saltwater and I was so happy... I feel like no fish could replace them. I almost feel like it would be wrong to replace them. I'm also afraid of the tank/water.
If the levels tested fine, how would I ever know if the water is safe for more fish? After I bought Puffy I saw other dog face puffers in stores and they were all ugly. I really lucked out with a cute one. But he's gone.
Sigh.
Don't loose faith just because your first try at it didn't work out. Did you have the water tested for phosphates, as the main contributor to algae problems is because of nitrates and phosphates. What I would do is a big water change maybe 50%. Clean everything in there that has signs of algae growth. When you start over and begin to see algae growth again clean it but make sure to leave a little. If you clean all of it out it will return worse, if you leave a little it won't grow as bad. Some people will actually leave the algae alone when they first start their setup as this will consume the nutrients in the water and the algae will die off as it consumes all the nutrients. What might of happened to your fish (which is not rare) is that if you don't have enough oxygen following though the tank. The algae when consume the oxygen in the water leaving the fish with no oxygen for them self and eventually will die off from lack of oxygen. You said your water is fine. There could be a lot of possible reasons why the fish died. Don't loose hope though. Even the best loose fish to. 
