All fish dead over night

[jayman19]

Hello All,

Im making this post for my Dad. He started up a salt tank a few months ago and recently has been having trouble getting fish to live. I told him I thought it was a sailfin tang that was super aggressive harassing fish. We thought it killed at least 4 fish. They’d go int the tank and 2-3 days later they’d die. So he he returned it to fish store and got a blue tang and 2 clownfish. All was a good for about 3 days and just today he sends me a picture of his tang dead. Clownfish too and one other fish. This is leading me to think it’s a disease. I feel bad cause he’s getting discouraged. He just had his water checked before buying the new fish too and ammonia levels were 0 and nitrate around 15-20. Nothing crazy. I have a pic here of the blue tang. Any thoughts?

 

[Cell]

What size tank?

 

[Troylee]

Possible stray voltage…

 

[threebuoys]

Very difficult to diagnose a fish out of water due to combination of death has already occurred and the glare of the lights obscure any signs of issues on the skin.

Please review the link below outlining info that will aid diagnosis.

 

[jayman19]

What size tank?

40 breeder. Tang is still small

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hello All,

Im making this post for my Dad. He started up a salt tank a few months ago and recently has been having trouble getting fish to live. I told him I thought it was a sailfin tang that was super aggressive harassing fish. We thought it killed at least 4 fish. They’d go int the tank and 2-3 days later they’d die. So he he returned it to fish store and got a blue tang and 2 clownfish. All was a good for about 3 days and just today he sends me a picture of his tang dead. Clownfish too and one other fish. This is leading me to think it’s a disease. I feel bad cause he’s getting discouraged. He just had his water checked before buying the new fish too and ammonia levels were 0 and nitrate around 15-20. Nothing crazy. I have a pic here of the blue tang. Any thoughts?

Sorry to hear and issue may be that he has an issue disease or water related and not aware of it.
Can you describe an abnormalities noticed such as heavy breathing, itching or darting. loss of appetite, swimming at the surface, lethargic behavior?
Frequency Of maintenance?
Current ammonia-nitrate-salinity-ph after loss of fish and tested with what test kit by pet store?
How were fish introduced and for how long ?

My suggestion - Set up a quarantine tank which can be as simple as a starter tank kit from Walmart and let the 40 breeder sit 6-8 weeks with no fish to eliminate any parasite life cycles and focus on the new and any fish for 6-8 weeks. . . . Or leave tank empty for that period and he can add a shrimp or similar to enjoy while tank runs empty for that time period.

 

[jayman19]

Sorry to hear and issue may be that he has an issue disease or water related and not aware of it.
Can you describe an abnormalities noticed such as heavy breathing, itching or darting. loss of appetite, swimming at the surface, lethargic behavior?
Frequency Of maintenance?
Current ammonia-nitrate-salinity-ph after loss of fish and tested with what test kit by pet store?
How were fish introduced and for how long ?

My suggestion - Set up a quarantine tank which can be as simple as a starter tank kit from Walmart and let the 40 breeder sit 6-8 weeks with no fish to eliminate any parasite life cycles and focus on the new and any fish for 6-8 weeks. . . . Or leave tank empty for that period and he can add a shrimp or similar to enjoy while tank runs empty for that time period.

Unfortunately I live far from my dad so I’m not sure of all the behaviors I would have noticed that he didn’t. He said all were swimming fine and the clownfish were even in their BTA looking fine yesterday. but I also told him no fish in the tank for at least 2.5 month months. He only had 4/5 fish total. I let him know anemone and inverts are fine. He’s also going to check his equipment for exposed wire etc. This tangs skin looks damaged though and I saw videos of him when he bought it, did not have those marks

 

[vetteguy53081]

Unfortunately I live far from my dad so I’m not sure of all the behaviors I would have noticed that he didn’t. He said all were swimming fine and the clownfish were even in their BTA looking fine yesterday. but I also told him no fish in the tank for at least 2.5 month months. He only had 4/5 fish total. I let him know anemone and inverts are fine. He’s also going to check his equipment for exposed wire etc. This tangs skin looks damaged though and I saw videos of him when he bought it, did not have those marks

tang is either aggression or injury but this will be a difficult one to resolve with you not there to provide assessments or photos under white lighting . Even a couple of the tang will be helpful

 

[MnFish1]

With multiple fish deaths - to me it would suggest one of a couple diseases. It's not clear whether all of the fish were quarantined, etc. Can you look at the link in my signature - and perhaps ask your dad - the quetisons - and answer them? As others have said - it's almost impossible to decide why a fish died once it's dead (and especially out of water) - sorry about your dad's losses

 

[mnl119]

Did your Dad check pH? Excess carbon dioxide will show up as lowered pH.

 

[RedoubtReef]

Sorry to see this. One thing is for sure, the 40 breeder is far to small for any tangs. I would suggest re-homing the sailfin tang until you can figure out why the fish are dying. Once you get that figured out, I'd look at at fish that are a better fit for 40 gallon tanks.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hello All,

Im making this post for my Dad. He started up a salt tank a few months ago and recently has been having trouble getting fish to live. I told him I thought it was a sailfin tang that was super aggressive harassing fish. We thought it killed at least 4 fish. They’d go int the tank and 2-3 days later they’d die. So he he returned it to fish store and got a blue tang and 2 clownfish. All was a good for about 3 days and just today he sends me a picture of his tang dead. Clownfish too and one other fish. This is leading me to think it’s a disease. I feel bad cause he’s getting discouraged. He just had his water checked before buying the new fish too and ammonia levels were 0 and nitrate around 15-20. Nothing crazy. I have a pic here of the blue tang. Any thoughts?

Not much you can see from a dead fish.

From the thread title, if the water checks out fine, it was probably a protozoan disease (Amyloodinium/velvet) as that is one that kills swiftly like that. If there are invertebrates in the tank and they are fine, that pretty much confirms that.

Jay

 

[jayman19]

No

With multiple fish deaths - to me it would suggest one of a couple diseases. It's not clear whether all of the fish were quarantined, etc. Can you look at the link in my signature - and perhaps ask your dad - the quetisons - and answer them? As others have said - it's almost impossible to decide why a fish died once it's dead (and especially out of water) - sorry about your dad's losses

fish were not quarantined and I never liked the lfs he went to before the one he goes to now. He had ample water oxygenation and filtration. Just seems like these fish all would die so quickly even when looking healthy. I suspect one of his earlier fish brought in a disease before he switched stores

 

[jayman19]

Not much you can see from a dead fish.

From the thread title, if the water checks out fine, it was probably a protozoan disease (Amyloodinium/velvet) as that is one that kills swiftly like that. If there are invertebrates in the tank and they are fine, that pretty much confirms that.

Jay

That’s what I was thinking

 

[jayman19]

Sorry to see this. One thing is for sure, the 40 breeder is far to small for any tangs. I would suggest re-homing the sailfin tang until you can figure out why the fish are dying. Once you get that figured out, I'd look at at fish that are a better fit for 40 gallon tanks.

There was was only 1 tang in there at a time. He took the other back to the lfs

 

[Crabby48]

I would let tank sit fishless for 8 weeks. Also small tang in a z40 is possible but yet some tangs are still stressed and allows disease to overcome the fish. Also recommend not using same store if it was parasites as they have them on the tanks and all fish will be contaminated. So sorry for the struggles

 

[Johne]

First off, welcome to our hobby. Patience is the key to success. Most beginners rush the process of cycling their tanks. I would suggest buying 3 or 4 black mollys (yes I know that they are considered fresh water fish) not only will they thrive, but will reproduce as well in your tank. All you want them for is their waste to create bacteria on the live rock. They are far more easier to catch than damsels and cheaper too!. In time your live rock will be covered with bacteria and your 40 gallon tank should be ready for MUCH smaller fish. You can find colorful fish that are pigmy or dwarf in size. Tangs over time can get huge. It's always best to do research on any fish you are interested in. Good luck