This line struck me.. so your tank in theory could have been less than 2 months old? That's a pretty new tank. Did you start it up from scratch? If so, that is a VERY new tank. New tanks like that can be unstable and even after the cycle has completed need a little while longer to get its groove/stabilize/balance out etc..

In the first two months anything from adding too much fish to doing too much water change can throw the tanks balance off. You really do have to be careful in the first few months.

Did you set up your bathtub with brand new fresh saltwater ? They could have been stressed over a chemical imbalance due to the water change AND rock movement (potentially releasing chemicals), and then throwing them into a tub of newly mixed saltwater did them in. Anyway, that would be my theory.

Sorry to hear of your loss.

well things happen and I will move on and get more fish I just wish I had some answers on why it had to happen and why they could not be saved.

The fact that you moved everything into the bathtub really stikes me as well. Unless it was brand new it will be covered in soap scum and other chemical residues that will certainly kill everything.

yes the tank was newish (half old half new) and the tank cycled in 3 days (did not believe it my self but ???).
yes the bathtub was all new for if something was in the water I wanted to try to give them a fighting chance for they did not look good in the tank at all.

I never thought about stress or anything by moving the rock around.
would doing a water change changing or rock movment that has affected the chemical balance not show on tests though?

In the end, I think you may find that it was a series of unfortunate events.. which is the case most of the time. Something relatively small and benign happens to/in the tank, which leads to something else.. then another thing.. (think domino), next thing you know it is out of control and poof, tank has crashed :( Then looking back it is hard to trace it down to any one thing because it was a whole slew of things.

For what it is worth, it happens to the best of us..

well i do keep my condo cleen and it was a clean bucket in the bath tub (I should have described that all better)
the clowns showed better sines after the move but did not make the night.

I will move on and try harder to prevent things in the future from happining and you are correct one little thing can start another little thing intill problems start, it would just be nice to know what little thing it was.

thanks everyone for your input on what it could have been.

The little thing is obvious, new tank barely cycled with way too much stuff in it. Then a quick dump in a much much colder chemical, dirt and soap infested bathtub. I'd be more surprised if anything lived.

well the tank is cycled and I know that when too much to fast is added it can be found with testing usually (nitrate...) and nothing new has been added in days and the last thing added was the clowns (babies) last weekend.

If there is more to cycling then watching the chemical levels rise and fall back and forth till there is no more change even after adding new stuff then I need to know more.

also the temp that I moved them too was the same as what they come from I admit it was not cycled water or fully chemical treated but what you do in a situation like so?

what I put them into was CLEAN and they did just fine for the couple of hours I was up with them.

did I miss the part when you said how many fish? If there was 10 fish added in less than 2 months.SLOW DOWN. I don't think I added any fish for 3 months then I added 1 a month