fish disappearing and dying

[leslee5050]

I bought a 55 gallon tank from someone in February, 2007. It has a sixline wrasse and a green chromis. It had some corals, and other inverts. I put a cleaner shrimp, a clam, 2 feather dusters and a couple of fish in there. Within 3 days, my new fish died. The existing 2 fish haven't had a problem. I have also added 3 gobies, which are fine also. I also added an amenome, which seems to be fine also. I do not see an spots on my fish, nor cloudy eyes. I am a very new, newcomer, but I have been talking to several people, and they seem to think I have a parasite from somewhere. I bought kick=ick, and started the treatment. After 3 doses, I decided to try with fish again. I bought 2 clown fish, and 1 goby. The 2 clown fish died, one on the 3rd day, the other on the 4th. The goby is fine. I planned to do the kick-ick for one week, wait a week and then do for another week. and not put any fish in there for 4 weeks. Now, I have a Jobert system (plenum). I just found out my protein skimmer hasn't been working properly. Could this have anything to do with my losing my fish. Also, since it hasn't been working properly, my sump is pretty nasty. Can I take it out and clean it, or will I wash out all the good algae and other things? Also, any suggestions on why my new fish keep dying, and all the rest of the crittes are fine? Leslee

[scrmbld33]

how does your water test? also did you aclimate the new fish? what are you using for filtration besides the plenum, do you have live rock? fish can die from lots of things, were all the fish from the same vendor? the most important thing we need is your water params, amonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph, salinity

and
To Reef Central

[kathainbowen]

Unfortunately, at the moment, it could be any number of things. When you purchased the tank, did it come with any testing equipment or kits? If so, we need to know your specific gravity, pH, NO2 (nitrites), NO3 (nitrates), and NH3/4 (ammonia). Knowing this information will give us a far better idea of what's going on.

Also, could you give us a timeline of when you added the new fish and when they died in regards to when you purchased/installed the tank in your own home? Most likely, it sounds like new tank syndrome, but it might not be if you've had the tank for some time.

[leslee5050]

I purchased the tank in February. I didn't add any fish for a few weeks after I bought it. Most of the fish I bought from the same place with the exception of 2. I bought 2 fathead anthias from somewhere else. The tank didn't come with any test kits. Ever since I purchased the tank I have been testing the water. I bought my own testing kit, and also, after every fish died, I took the water down to Tideline and had it tested. It tested fine. The only thing, once or twice, my kh was a 9 and my ph was a little low, so they told me to add buffer. Other than that, my water has been fine. I have live rock, mushrooms, feather dusters, 2, leather coral, green clove, frog spawn, zenia, and a couple of others. As far as acclimation, yes, I acclimated every fish I put in there. Initially, I had 4 fish come with the tank. A sixline wrasse, royal gramma, clown, and green chromis. I believe I first put in yellow chromis, a pair. I was told that they would be fine in my tank. About a week later, I put in the 2 fathead anthias. First, my anthias went. It was killed by the chromis. This was on a Friday. I found it dead when I came home from work. I work the early shift on Saturday, so when I came home Saturday afternoon, the chromis had killed my royal gramma. I spent 2 hours trying to catch them. I caught one and took it back to Tideline. The next morning, my anthias was dead, also my clown. . I took everything out of my tank, rock included and caught the second chromis. Took it back. So much has happened, I may have some things out of order, but I lost another clown also. After the chromis were gone, I bought 2 fathead anthias, a squareback anthias, 2 green chromis to join my single chromis, a purple pseudochromis, a barnacle blenny and another clown. My fathead were gone within 2 days. Literally gone, no sign of them. The purple psuedochromis, gone too. Never saw it again. Then the clown died. Then the squareback anthias died. Then one of the chromis acted funny on a Monday night, but seemed to perk up. 2 days later, he was dead. So out of the originals, I have a sixline wrasse, a green chromis, I still have one of the green chromis I bought that didn't die, I have 3 gobies that haven't died, 2 starfish that are ok, and I just added an anemone, and another goby that seem to be fine. Again, all the water tests were fine. And everytime a fish died, I had the water tested at Tideline. Now I think my protein skimmer is starting to function properly again, and I am in the middle week were I am not doing the kick-ick. I will start it again on Monday for another week. But as I mentioned, there seems to be no sign of ick. The only thing I did notice is that before the last chromis died, and the last clown, they seemed to be having trouble breathing. They kept opening their mouths as if trying to get air.

[leslee5050]

One more thing, everything seems to be fine except new fish. The life expectance in my tank with new fish is about 3 days.

[kathainbowen]

Bear in mind, please, that Reef Central members span the country. Me, I'm in NJ. I have no idea where or how good Tideline may be, nor do I have any idea what they tested your water for. Did they give you a break down or did they just say "fine?" If don't give you a break down, ask for one. Otherwise, they could just be doing specific gravity and pH, while there could be something else at play.

Out of curiosity, how do you acclimate your knew arrivals?

[waterfaller1]

Are you using RO/DI water? Do you have surface movement? If your protein skimmer is'nt working and there is minimal circulation it could be lack of oxygen. Do you have powerheads, a sump and return pump? It sounds like you are adding many fish at once. With the exception of a harem or pair, fish should be added one at a time and let the tank catch up to the bio-load. Are you adding fresh RO/DI water daily as the water evaporates to keep the SG. stable? Are you using a refractometer and what is the SG.? What is the SG of the water the fish are in when you buy them, how long are you acclimating them? Fathead anthias or any anthias are not a good choice for a new hobbiest, and fairly new tank. A 55 gal is no place for a squareback anthias, please research the adult size of fish. Ask other hobbiests, don't go by websites trying to sell fish. They lie. What type of lighting do you have?{concern for the anemone & corals} If you are keeping corals, you should know parameters such as calcium and alkalinity as well as the others. Use good test kits, not a master kit. Salifert is best for CA & alk. The Instant Ocean test kits are accurate enough for values like amm, nitrate, etc. Also what about temperature and temp. swings? Stop using kick ich, it drops the PH like a rock and does nothing for ich. When you see the ich gone, it is just part of the lifecycle of the parasite. It is still in the tank. You should have a quarantine tank, so new arrivals can be observed before placing them in the display. To cure the ich the fish have now, hypo-salinity would be best..read here:
http://www.petsforum.com/personal/tr...osalinity.html

[markzfishn1]

I use Tideline all the time. That is a very good LFS. It sounds like your adding too many fish too quickly. It doesn't sound like ick is killing them. If you don't drip acclimate them, get a drip acclimator, they have them already made for about $2. Do the guys at Tideline know you only have a 55g? They won't sell too many fish to someone at one time (at least they haven't when I was around). I'd recommend stepping back and take a break from adding anything new for at least a month. Then add SLOWLY.

[tenwhiteduke]

It seems I am having the same problem, and my tank has been set up since Jan 07. I started a thread DEAD FISH!! Just before reading yours. I am down to one GSM clown now. I had a RG, two GSM, and a Flame Angel. All died, ALL. The GSM thats in the tank now is a week old.

[kathainbowen]

Originally posted by markzfishn1
I use Tideline all the time. That is a very good LFS. It sounds like your adding too many fish too quickly.

That was pretty much my thought on the root of the problem. It's just easier to be for certain with knowing the specifics of the water conditions. At least, I'd find it fair easier to diagnose. Especially considering that hardy fish from the original tank have died (the gramma and the sixline wrasse). That, to my mind ruled out any foul water quality at Tideline or other LFSs (because the original fish would have all remained and only the new fish would have died from an acclimation issue).

Iunno. Something's just ringing weird in my head. I do agree that anthias are best suited for a far larger tank (especially considering they prefer to school and be kept in at least small shoals of females with a male), especially the squareback anthias. And I do agree it was too many fish to be adding too swiftly, but there is something strange that even very hardy fish like pseudochromis perished. Dottybacks like the purple are super-hardy, unless, perhaps, it was the orchid, aka Fridmani, dottyback (to the point that many keepers after seeing their nipping find themselves at wits end praying for them to just keel over) I can see the chromis perishing, but something about the sixline, the gramma and the dottyback are all raising an eyebrow.

I suppose that's why I'm so keen on knowing what the specifics of the water quality.

[leslee5050]

The sixline and the green chromis made it from the original tank. The two that died from the original tank were killed by 2 yellow chromis. It has been since that point that I have added fish, and with the exception of the gobies and one green chromis, that is all that lived. They have no spots, or cloudy eyes, or anything showing they are sick. I did watch one of the chromis one night. He seemed to be trying to swim, but kept coming up against a brick wall. Then he kept opening his mouth, like he wasn't getting any air. Then he would sink, then come back up. At the point, I went to bed, and he was dead in the morning. My clown did the same thing. The anthias just disappeared. One day they were there, the next they weren't. As for my test results: my KH is 12, my water temperature is 78 degrees. My salinity is 1.025, I am not sure about ph or nitrate numbers, but they were within range on my test. And every time a fish died, I took my water to be tested and it was fine. My protein skimmer, I found out last night, wasn't functioning properly, but it is now. I have a 20 gallon powerhead at one end of my tank to help circulation. As for acclimating, whenever I got the new fish, I would drip acclimate them separately, for about 1 to 2 hours. So far, my gobies, my 2 green chromis, and my sixline appear to be fine.