Fish dying quickly

[ups.0fficial]

Please help, I got a court jester goby yesterday and found him stuck in the filter this morning, didn’t think anything of it and just came up with the conclusion that he was too weak to fight the filter and told myself to do a water change after I finished work. Went back to my room to go get some things I needed and I find my naked clown getting eaten by my hermit crab and pep shrimp. There are very noticeable bite marks out of the other midnight clown who was paired to him. My Midas Blenny looks completely fine (except for his usual traumatized look x5) and I took out the midnight blenny. I don’t have a quarantine tank set up since we haven’t been able to get the money to get one so right now my midnight is in a bowl. What’s going on with my tank? I’ve never had any deaths or difficulties with it before and it did cycle. Was it a clownfish fight or did they just drop dead?

Ammonia- around 0-0.10
Nitrates- 0
Nitrites- 0
Ph- looks around 7.5 ish (I’m assuming it’s because of the deaths)

A little warning since I’m going to be posting my dead fish, midnight clown, and Midas blenny along with my hermit crab

 

[Brooke24]

@Jay Hemdal

 

[MnFish1]

Since you added a new fish - did you QT? To me there are a couple possibilities - I'm sure someone will also have other suggestions::

1. How big is the tank, how long set up, any other recent additions (i.e. how long have the other fish been in the tank)
2. Any other changes besides adding the fish (water change, salt change, etc) - are there corals?

To answer the question - it seems to me - either the new addition had velvet or something along those lines - and transmitted it to the others (though it seems really fast) - Or the other fish had something already - and it was a coincidence if they were recently added.

OR - the dead wish caused enough of an ammonia/bacteria spike (again depending on the age size of the tank) - to kill some of the other fish.

OR - there could be some other problem coincident with addition of the fish (heater, etc) - something causing Low O2

 

[ups.0fficial]

Since you added a new fish - did you QT? To me there are a couple possibilities - I'm sure someone will also have other suggestions::

1. How big is the tank, how long set up, any other recent additions (i.e. how long have the other fish been in the tank)
2. Any other changes besides adding the fish (water change, salt change, etc) - are there corals?

To answer the question - it seems to me - either the new addition had velvet or something along those lines - and transmitted it to the others (though it seems really fast) - Or the other fish had something already - and it was a coincidence if they were recently added.

OR - the dead wish caused enough of an ammonia/bacteria spike (again depending on the age size of the tank) - to kill some of the other fish.

OR - there could be some other problem coincident with addition of the fish (heater, etc) - something causing Low O2

I wasn’t able to quarantine so I didn’t thinking it would be okay. It’s a nano tank that’s 15g and all the other fish and inverts have been in there since around Christmas with no problems, the water was perfect every day and nothing has died in there since except for these two. There has never been corals in the tank. I did a recent water change when I got the court jester yesterday but I tested it and the water perimeters were perfect. Tested after the deaths and the ammonia was only slightly higher than 0. I can’t say for sure about the heater and everything, the water temp dropped a tiny bit with the water change. Should I take the other animals out or just keep the tank running and do a large water change? Thank you so much for the response I really appreciate it!

 

[MnFish1]

I wasn’t able to quarantine so I didn’t thinking it would be okay. It’s a nano tank that’s 15g and all the other fish and inverts have been in there since around Christmas with no problems, the water was perfect every day and nothing has died in there since except for these two. There has never been corals in the tank. I did a recent water change when I got the court jester yesterday but I tested it and the water perimeters were perfect. Tested after the deaths and the ammonia was only slightly higher than 0. I can’t say for sure about the heater and everything, the water temp dropped a tiny bit with the water change. Should I take the other animals out or just keep the tank running and do a large water change? Thank you so much for the response I really appreciate it!

Do the other fish look 'ok'? If so - I would tend to monitor. Of course there is no way to know for sure what happened. It seems 'quick' for it to be disease. Sometimes if the salt is not mixed enough - sulfur etc - can be liberated - that can cause problems (if you have one of the varieties of salt that need to be mixed overnight - and you used it quickly for example)

 

[ups.0fficial]

Do the other fish look 'ok'? If so - I would tend to monitor. Of course there is no way to know for sure what happened. It seems 'quick' for it to be disease. Sometimes if the salt is not mixed enough - sulfur etc - can be liberated - that can cause problems (if you have one of the varieties of salt that need to be mixed overnight - and you used it quickly for example)

The midnight clown look a lil loopy but I would blame that on the bowl. Aside from the damaged fins, he looks like he always had. The Midas blenny that’s still in the tank looks really good and still has his pale yellow color. The hermit crabs and shrimp are all good and my snorkel snails buried themselves after I took out the naked clowns body. We get our saltwater from a local experienced fish store that’s premixed, though I did use already dechlorinated freshwater that was ready for the tank to top it off to make sure my salinity wasn’t too high.

 

[DE FISH]

How many fish have you got in your 15 gal and when was the tank set up ?

 

[ups.0fficial]

How many fish have you got in your 15 gal and when was the tank set up ?

I have a small ish Midas Blenny, the naked clown that died, a midnight clown, and I added the court jester yesterday.

 

[DE FISH]

I have a small ish Midas Blenny, the naked clown that died, a midnight clown, and I added the court jester yesterday.

when was the tank set up and how long did you cycle it for? I hate to break it to you but four fish in a 15gal is very overstocked. The max stocking I’d recommend is two fish plus cuc. It sounds like you added to much to quick which caused an ammonia spike which most likely killed your fish.

 

[Rmckoy]

A few things ...
if you tested ammonia ( depending on what kit used )
Some are inaccurate and will give false results .

adding a clownfish to a “bowl” that’s not established or has any biological nitrifying bacteria the clown will experience ammonia levels begin to increase

keep a eye on him ...

 

[[Cameron]]

Could be a fluke or it could be a parasite or disease coming in with the new fish. Some diseases can wipe an entire tank in 24 hours. Your crabs are opportunity feeders and unlikely the culprits. At this point you are basically in a holding pattern to see if a pattern emerges.

 

[ups.0fficial]

Please help, I got a court jester goby yesterday and found him stuck in the filter this morning, didn’t think anything of it and just came up with the conclusion that he was too weak to fight the filter and told myself to do a water change after I finished work. Went back to my room to go get some things I needed and I find my naked clown getting eaten by my hermit crab and pep shrimp. There are very noticeable bite marks out of the other midnight clown who was paired to him. My Midas Blenny looks completely fine (except for his usual traumatized look x5) and I took out the midnight blenny. I don’t have a quarantine tank set up since we haven’t been able to get the money to get one so right now my midnight is in a bowl. What’s going on with my tank? I’ve never had any deaths or difficulties with it before and it did cycle. Was it a clownfish fight or did they just drop dead?

Ammonia- around 0-0.10
Nitrates- 0
Nitrites- 0
Ph- looks around 7.5 ish (I’m assuming it’s because of the deaths)

A little warning since I’m going to be posting my dead fish, midnight clown, and Midas blenny along with my hermit crab

Update, I rechecked the ammonia, it got really high and I think I did it wrong the first time. The midnight clown is on the verge of dead and I’m gonna do an immediate water change to help curb it a little. I think already having 3 in the tank was pushing it and adding that court jester goby pushed it passed the limit. Thank you for all the responses, but it doesn’t look like the clown will make it. I’ll update after the water change and see if it helps and if the midnight will live through it. If you have any info on how to help ammonia or if I should be doing this water change or not it would be very very helpful. Thank you guys so much.

 

[DE FISH]

Yes do a water change to lower the ammonia ensure salinity and temp match the tank to avoid more stress to the fish. stop adding livestock. You need to add beneficial bacteria to deal with the ammonia. You could add some Fritz turbo start (follow instructions on bottle) or microbactor7 5ml a day for 2 weeks

 

[ups.0fficial]

A few things ...
if you tested ammonia ( depending on what kit used )
Some are inaccurate and will give false results .

adding a clownfish to a “bowl” that’s not established or has any biological nitrifying bacteria the clown will experience ammonia levels begin to increase

keep a eye on him ...

I realized that right after and put him back in the tank with some assistance so that the shrimp wouldn’t get him. I think I just panicked and tried to do what seemed sensible at the time. He just passed while I was monitoring him, I’ll definitely remember this for if it happens again. Thank you so much

 

[Rmckoy]

I realized that right after and put him back in the tank with some assistance so that the shrimp wouldn’t get him. I think I just panicked and tried to do what seemed sensible at the time. He just passed while I was monitoring him, I’ll definitely remember this for if it happens again. Thank you so much

Sorry for your loss !
Adding any livestock is best when done gradually . Over time .
Add one , wait for system to adjust for the added bio load .
When stabilized , add another .
Every tank is different even terms of maturity .
How fast that particular tank can process ammonia .

I’ll suggest research and understand where this one went wrong , learn from it and move forward .
reefing and even saltwater fish keeping can be and is a very rewarding hobby .
even with all the bumps and snags

 

[MnFish1]

Update, I rechecked the ammonia, it got really high and I think I did it wrong the first time. The midnight clown is on the verge of dead and I’m gonna do an immediate water change to help curb it a little. I think already having 3 in the tank was pushing it and adding that court jester goby pushed it passed the limit. Thank you for all the responses, but it doesn’t look like the clown will make it. I’ll update after the water change and see if it helps and if the midnight will live through it. If you have any info on how to help ammonia or if I should be doing this water change or not it would be very very helpful. Thank you guys so much.

You can also add prime. (assuming you're not using copper)

 

[MnFish1]

Agree with the rest - one dead fish - can rapidly cause an ammonia spike in a tank - causing a cascade of more deaths, more ammonia. PS - I do not think the number of fish you had in your 15 gallon tank was 'too many' - it may just have been too much too soon. Assuming you had good filtration. Hopefully your tank will do well - and you will be successful - In a small tank - its a good idea to add fish slowly - to allow the nitrifying bacteria to increase - but - with a small tank - even a little blip can cause this type of problem. Sorry you had to go through it.

 

[DriftN201]

I had an issue a few years back with fish quickly dying and I went through all of the steps before realizing it was a bad heater. It would get stuck on for a couple of hours then kill some fish and return to normal. If you don't have a controler you might want to pick up something to help monitor and control your temp.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Sorry to hear of losses. Lets go through a few things that are generally critical with initial stocking.
First and always are your parameters (levels). You have quite a few Zeros for what appears to be a newer tank, which tells me you may be using an API test lit. If so, they are notorious for false readings.

- Are you using RODI or tap water from the faucet ?
- Age of tank
- Type of test kit(s) used
- Type of filtration ?
- Amount of water movement and what youre using for Pumps

Suspected issues:

Age of tank
Typical chemical spikes (ammonia and nitrate)
Possible sick fish or more than one
Filtration. Ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates can build up fast in a marine aquarium. As the high ph requirements for a saltwater tank indicate (8.3), saltwater fish are very intolerant of even the slightest change in these parameters. Vigorous filtration helps move the nitrogen cycle along.

I recommend to take a water sample to a trusted Store that DOES NOT use API test kits and have them check your water to see what they come up with and to compare with your readings.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Please help, I got a court jester goby yesterday and found him stuck in the filter this morning, didn’t think anything of it and just came up with the conclusion that he was too weak to fight the filter and told myself to do a water change after I finished work. Went back to my room to go get some things I needed and I find my naked clown getting eaten by my hermit crab and pep shrimp. There are very noticeable bite marks out of the other midnight clown who was paired to him. My Midas Blenny looks completely fine (except for his usual traumatized look x5) and I took out the midnight blenny. I don’t have a quarantine tank set up since we haven’t been able to get the money to get one so right now my midnight is in a bowl. What’s going on with my tank? I’ve never had any deaths or difficulties with it before and it did cycle. Was it a clownfish fight or did they just drop dead?

Ammonia- around 0-0.10
Nitrates- 0
Nitrites- 0
Ph- looks around 7.5 ish (I’m assuming it’s because of the deaths)

A little warning since I’m going to be posting my dead fish, midnight clown, and Midas blenny along with my hermit crab

The pH wouldn't have dropped due to freshly dead fish, so you should probably consider a partial water change to bring it back up (and run a pH test on the freshly mixed water, just to ensure your test kit or meter isn't wonky).

The court jester didn't bring a disease into the tank - the timeline is too short for that. It may have died from acclimation issues, or the midas blenny nailed it perhaps. The clown may have been fighting, or maybe the midas is going after them also. With non-quarantined fish, there are a number of issues this could be - but I'm seeing mostly aggression here.

Jay