New setup and beginning the cycle.

Question
I setup my first saltwater tank about 5 days ago. On the third day, I checked all the levels (nitrite, nitrate,salinity, and ammonia), and they all looked perfect. So I put two blue damsels in the tank (upon direction from multiple people). The second day of having them in the tank, one of them died, but the other looked like it was in perfect health. Two days later the second one died. It seemed the blue slowly hanged to white on their bodies. Also I noticed about a half hour before they croaked, they started breathing pretty heavily, but the tank is plenty aerated. I was wondering if you could give me any sort of explanation about this?

Answer
hi josh,

    three days is not long enough to check for ammonia. A tank takes 3 to 5 weeks to cycle. the ammonia rise only starts after several days. do you have live rock or live sand in the tank? during the cycling process you can put damsels in your tank to help it cycle but only after the ammonia reaches non toxic levels. there are a number of good ammonia reduction products you can use. amquel is one I have used. keep rechecking your ammonia and nitrite levels every few days bfore you introduce any fish or other livestock. their rapid breathing was due to ammonia blocking their intake of oxygen. Aeration is okay but it will promote the ammonia levels in the early stages. good water circulation is more important. please be patient and you will be rewarded. Also monitor ph, salinity and temperature closely before adding fish. Also when you add fish you must acclaimate them to your system by pouring the water they come in into a large pitcher or small bucket. You then use an airline tube with an adjustable valve to drip your tank water into the water they came in. [double the amount of water and pour half out and double it again and you should have an okay transition to your tank. use a net, do not pour the store water in your tank. replace your tank water with clean saltwater] this slowly introduces them to your tank water without shocking them. Saltwater creatures are generally very delicate. when used to a system they will become hardy and robust with the proper care. touch base and let me know how things are going. remember-patience, patience, patience. Good luck, gerry.