Fish All dying

[rangerchris00]

Hey everyone I need some advice. So I have a 60 gallon breeder with 50lbs of rock. I cycled my tank back in July and did a fishless cycle. I slowly added fish to the tank. I had 2 clowns, 2 firefish, 1 blenny and 2 anthias with a cleanup crew. After my first fish died I checked the water parameters and everything was good. PH 7.8 ammonia 0 nitrite 0 and nitrates 5-10. My last fish just died today. Water parameters are the same. Does anyone have an idea of what it could be. Could my tank gotten a parasite. What would be the next step. Thanks in advance to everyone

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

It is likely a disease issue of some sort. Have you looked carefully at the fish?

 

[allof fish]

I agree but you should see some sort of symptoms. Fish don’t just drop dead for nothing so I would look very closely at all of them and maybe considering quarantining

 

[rangerchris00]

I agree but you should see some sort of symptoms. Fish don’t just drop dead for nothing so I would look very closely at all of them and maybe considering quarantining

They were looking a little pale if that makes sense. Like there colors weren’t as bright. I noticed on one of the clownfish by its dorsal fin it almost looked like mucus on it. One of the anthias was just swimming on an angle in place. All fish were still eating up until they died.

 

[allof fish]

Is there any white spots resembling ich or anything like velvet. Velvet can wipe fish out very quickly. If colors are pale definitely something is going on

 

[rangerchris00]

Is there any white spots resembling ich or anything like velvet. Velvet can wipe fish out very quickly. If colors are pale definitely something is going on

No spots. It looked like a white mucus/ slime by the dorsal fin.

 

[rangerchris00]

What should I do next. Do I drain all the water out. Do I just let the tank sit with the clean up crew and just feed them. If I don’t remove all the water how long should I wait till I start adding fish again ?

 

[allof fish]

If you are going to quarantine then yes remove fish and place in another tank. For it to be better you want to diagnose the disease first before treatment. Then have to go fallow for a period of time. “No fish” yes you can still feed clean up crew

 

[TheNative192]

No spots. It looked like a white mucus/ slime by the dorsal fin.

Did it look like this? It sounds like brooklynella which is common on clownfish. It usually doesn’t affect all fish though. If it was you want to wait 6-8 weeks for the parasites to die out with no fish. If you add any before that period it will not go away. Also if you drain the water it won’t do anything as it can be on the rocks and sand.

With diseases a lot of the time other stress causes the fish to catch the disease as most fish always have diseases on them and just succumb to the disease do to other factors like stress. Does the tank have proper flow/surface agitation. Also what is the PH levels (make sure it is above 8.0)

 

[rangerchris00]

Did it look like this? It sounds like brooklynella which is common on clownfish. It usually doesn’t affect all fish though. If it was you want to wait 6-8 weeks for the parasites to die out with no fish. If you add any before that period it will not go away. Also if you drain the water it won’t do anything as it can be on the rocks and sand.

With diseases a lot of the time other stress causes the fish to catch the disease. Does the tank have proper flow/surface agitation. Also what is the PH levels (make sure it is above 8.0)

Ph is good. The clownfish did not look like that. There was only a little by the top of the dorsal fin and pale looking. I’m probably going to have to do the 6-8 week fallow. Do I do water changes during those 6-8 weeks and how much water should I change ?

 

[TheNative192]

Ph is good. The clownfish did not look like that. There was only a little by the top of the dorsal fin and pale looking. I’m probably going to have to do the 6-8 week fallow. Do I do water changes during those 6-8 weeks and how much water should I change ?

You should not need to do water changes other than adding RODI water to keep your clean up crew alive. Make sure to add a bit of food as well so the beneficial bacteria does not die off. It could be velvet which also looks similar to what you described. That picture was definitely the extreme too. I would say definitely do 8 weeks to be on the safe side.

I’m sorry for your loss.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Any thoughts, Jay?
@Jay Hemdal

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hey everyone I need some advice. So I have a 60 gallon breeder with 50lbs of rock. I cycled my tank back in July and did a fishless cycle. I slowly added fish to the tank. I had 2 clowns, 2 firefish, 1 blenny and 2 anthias with a cleanup crew. After my first fish died I checked the water parameters and everything was good. PH 7.8 ammonia 0 nitrite 0 and nitrates 5-10. My last fish just died today. Water parameters are the same. Does anyone have an idea of what it could be. Could my tank gotten a parasite. What would be the next step. Thanks in advance to everyone

If the invertebrates in the tank are all doing reasonably well, this is almost assuredly a fish parasite. Tough to say which one. You didn't see white spots (from ich) and you didn't see the mucus like in the photo that was posted (Brooklynella) so that leaves flukes or velvet as the most likely causes. Did you see any rapid breathing?

Flukes will cause fish to die over weeks, while velvet will cause all fish to die in a few days. The only other non-disease cause that *might* be at work is low dissolved oxygen/high carbon dioxide from poor gas exchange. That will kill fish and shrimp faster than with other animals. If the tank has good aeration from bubbles (not just circulation) you can rule that out.

If it was a disease, then holding the tank fishless for 60 days will render that disease non-infective for future fish. However, if you don't quarantine the new fish (or buy tank raised or pre-quarantined fish) the same thing can happen in the future.

Jay

 

[rangerchris00]

If the invertebrates in the tank are all doing reasonably well, this is almost assuredly a fish parasite. Tough to say which one. You didn't see white spots (from ich) and you didn't see the mucus like in the photo that was posted (Brooklynella) so that leaves flukes or velvet as the most likely causes. Did you see any rapid breathing?

Flukes will cause fish to die over weeks, while velvet will cause all fish to die in a few days. The only other non-disease cause that *might* be at work is low dissolved oxygen/high carbon dioxide from poor gas exchange. That will kill fish and shrimp faster than with other animals. If the tank has good aeration from bubbles (not just circulation) you can rule that out.

If it was a disease, then holding the tank fishless for 60 days will render that disease non-infective for future fish. However, if you don't quarantine the new fish (or buy tank raised or pre-quarantined fish) the same thing can happen in the future.

Jay

Thank you for the information. I don’t think it’s aeration. I have a gyre pump on one side that breaks the surface and on the other side I have a HOB filter. Currently my shrimp seems to be doing ok