spiffyreefer
Community Member
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2020
- Messages
- 29
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- 7
Hello all,
I'm trying to get a better sense of what may be causing the fish to die off in my tank over the last 6 months. The tank has been running for 8 months - a new 100 gallon tank. I transferred 3 original fish into this tank from one cube 20 (firefish, pink streaked wrasse, tanaka pygmy wrasse) followed by 4 others from a seperate cube 20 (2 clownfish, yellow watchman goby, tailspot blenny). All of those fish were healthy and living peacefully in those tanks for about 2 years before moving into the new tank. Unfortunately, I did not QT the fish when I bought them or when I moved them into the new tank (mistake I know). Right after I moved them, the firefish died (I chalked this up to stress). But then I started losing one fish at a time at random times. The watchman goby died second, and the pink streaked wrasse died third. The pink streaked wrasse lived for about 7 months in the new tank. I also attempted to add a group of three juvenile bangii cardinalfish and a royal gramma to the tank (at separate times) during this 6-month period and they all died after about 2-3 weeks in the tank. I drip acclimated them but did not use an acclimation box. Of the original 7 fish, the two clownfish, tailspot blenny, and tanaka wrasse are still alive, but this week the tailspot blenny developed a pretty big hole in his side behind the side fin (sorry I'm still trying to get a good picture of it). I think this might be a bacterial infection from fighting with the royal gramma but I am not sure. Regarding the fish that have died, I noticed that they would stop coming out to eat over ~3-5 days. I would find them laying on the bottom of the tank with labored breathing, but could never visually see any spots, sores, or slime. They die off one by one and there is no real pattern with the timing. My basic water parameters seem okay (Nitrate 20, Phosphate 1.2, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Salinity 35 ppt, Temp ~78) but I haven't done any comprehensive testing yet. During this same time period, all of my euphyllia died off too (but none of the other corals and none of the inverts have died). The euphyllia deaths might have been a coincidence due to a lighting issue. I know there is most likely disease in the tank, but could this also be a bullying problem? I have seen tailspot blenny chasing the royal gramma around the tank, but as far as I can tell my clowns keep to themselves. At this point, I think I'm going to pull the living fish in QT and go fallow so I can reset as best I can and use the QT & acclimation box going forward. But what does this sound like to you? Clearly something is happening, but I can't nail it down.
I'm trying to get a better sense of what may be causing the fish to die off in my tank over the last 6 months. The tank has been running for 8 months - a new 100 gallon tank. I transferred 3 original fish into this tank from one cube 20 (firefish, pink streaked wrasse, tanaka pygmy wrasse) followed by 4 others from a seperate cube 20 (2 clownfish, yellow watchman goby, tailspot blenny). All of those fish were healthy and living peacefully in those tanks for about 2 years before moving into the new tank. Unfortunately, I did not QT the fish when I bought them or when I moved them into the new tank (mistake I know). Right after I moved them, the firefish died (I chalked this up to stress). But then I started losing one fish at a time at random times. The watchman goby died second, and the pink streaked wrasse died third. The pink streaked wrasse lived for about 7 months in the new tank. I also attempted to add a group of three juvenile bangii cardinalfish and a royal gramma to the tank (at separate times) during this 6-month period and they all died after about 2-3 weeks in the tank. I drip acclimated them but did not use an acclimation box. Of the original 7 fish, the two clownfish, tailspot blenny, and tanaka wrasse are still alive, but this week the tailspot blenny developed a pretty big hole in his side behind the side fin (sorry I'm still trying to get a good picture of it). I think this might be a bacterial infection from fighting with the royal gramma but I am not sure. Regarding the fish that have died, I noticed that they would stop coming out to eat over ~3-5 days. I would find them laying on the bottom of the tank with labored breathing, but could never visually see any spots, sores, or slime. They die off one by one and there is no real pattern with the timing. My basic water parameters seem okay (Nitrate 20, Phosphate 1.2, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Salinity 35 ppt, Temp ~78) but I haven't done any comprehensive testing yet. During this same time period, all of my euphyllia died off too (but none of the other corals and none of the inverts have died). The euphyllia deaths might have been a coincidence due to a lighting issue. I know there is most likely disease in the tank, but could this also be a bullying problem? I have seen tailspot blenny chasing the royal gramma around the tank, but as far as I can tell my clowns keep to themselves. At this point, I think I'm going to pull the living fish in QT and go fallow so I can reset as best I can and use the QT & acclimation box going forward. But what does this sound like to you? Clearly something is happening, but I can't nail it down.
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