Fish dying

kgh9555 · Nov 5, 2021

I have an established tank 10 years plus. 150g, live rock, Refugium sump (trigger emerald 39), apex system with apex dc pump with flow of 688. Water chemistry is good (0 ammonia, 0 intrite, 5 nitrate, 0 phosphate, 8.1 PH). 2 reef breeder leds. Coral, anenome, 2” sand bed and 36 watt UV. Had 2 file fish, blue gas trigger, square back Anthius (1 male 2 female), Atlantic blue tang, tomini tang, 2 clown 3 green chromis, diamond back gobbi, a clam and 1 cleaner shrimp. One by one the fish are dying. As of today have 1 clown, 1 green chromis and the diamond gobbi. One of the female anthius had a big spot on the belly and was not eating. It died and removed it right away. We also purchased brown spotted rabbit in the past month which died with a few weeks. We have never used house hold cleaners near the tank at all. No air fresheners nothing goes near the tank. We mix our salt and have an aqidic life twist RODI system with 0 tds. I am totally frustrated and at a loss as to what is wrong. It is obvious that there some kind of bacteria in the water. Clam, corals and anemone appear to be doing fine as well as the sand sifter star fish. Does any one have any ideas and/or suggestions. Desperate

Jay Hemdal · Nov 6, 2021

You might have better response over in the fish disease forum. Here is a link to how to post a fish disease report:

Some Helpful Hints When Posting or Responding to Threads in the Fish Disease Treatment and Diagnosis Section

Aquarium Fish Disease Problem Solving Determining the best course of action for a problem with your aquarium can be a difficult task. Even advanced aquarists will often need to seek the help of others for complicated or unique issues. Our intent here on Reef 2 Reef is to offer expert advice...

www.reef2reef.com

Just off the cuff though, the anthias in the picture seems to have Uronema. It is probable that your fish losses are not all related though. One common theme is - if your corals and invertebrates are thriving, then it is NOT a toxin or water quality issue and you should focus on possible fish diseases.

Jay

p.s. - Uronema is difficult to treat and impossible to treat when it reaches the stage that anthias has. Luckily it won't spread to all other fish like ich will. Here is an article I wrote on that issue:

Uronema / Red Band Disease - Hemdal

Red Band Syndrome in Marine Fishes: Caused by the Protozoan; Uronema sp. Jay Hemdal Introduction: This moderately common disease of certain species of marine fish is so often misdiagnosed that most aquarists apply incorrect treatment methods...

www.reef2reef.com

kgh9555 · Nov 7, 2021

Hi Jay and thank you for the response.
My LFS Said that the fish had internal bleeding from what they did not know. They wanted to sell me some kind of medication but they were unsure if it would hurt the corals and other invertebrate.

I agree that there is some kind of bacteria in the tank which is hurting the fish. Even if I go and purchase new fish in quarantine them, it doesn’t sound like I am doing the fish any justice.

So I’m unclear as to what my options are here. Do I complete a few order changes, take down the tank and thoroughly clean it?