Fish keep dying

[Baronen]

Ammonia, brook or false readings

False readings of what?

 

[Lavey29]

There’s been no evidence of anything though. Perfectly healthy looking fish. The helfrichi was eating 1 hr prior. Only weird thing was he went to his cave maybe 30 minutes early and I found him 1 hour after lights out dead and covered in slime

You said heavy breathing and covered in mucus followed by rapid death. This is indicative of disease in the tank which can be introduced in a variety of ways most commonly by non QT fish added.

 

[Lavey29]

How was fish appearance? Was slime coming out such as this?

That clown has brook

 

[Lavey29]

Does brook cause random death without any warning or signs?

Once the initial symptoms show like a cloudy appearance on the fish body with heavy breathing the fish typically die in 24 hours or less occasionally they might last 48 hours.

 

[Baronen]

You said heavy breathing and covered in mucus followed by rapid death. This is indicative of disease in the tank which can be introduced in a variety of ways most commonly by non QT fish added.

I understand it’s likely a disease. That’s what I am trying to figure out. The mucus came after the deaths of a few of the fish though. Heavy breathing on the blenny and possibly the firefish was noted though

 

[Lavey29]

I understand it’s likely a disease. That’s what I am trying to figure out. The mucus came after the deaths of a few of the fish though. Heavy breathing on the blenny and possibly the firefish was noted though

If the only primary symptoms was heavy breathing followed by quick death that indicates probably velvet. If the fish displayed a slimy mucus coat looking like cloudiness on the body that leans more towards brook. Assuming your tank parameters are correct including no ammonia and proper salinity.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Just weighing in late here -

First thing is damage control - are there any fish left alive?

Then, does the tank have invertebrates in it? How are they doing? If all of those are fine, then fish disease is most likely the issue.

From the descriptions, sounds like Velvet (Amyloodinium) or Brooklynella. You can actually have both at the same time.

Jay

 

[Baronen]

I think this guy is next. He never swims on that side of the tank. Thinking back the firefish always swam on one side and last night I saw him exploring that side just like assesor is doing. He seems to be breathing a little heavy as well. The inverts are fine

 

[Baronen]

In terms of fish left
Tomini tang
Pygmy wrasse pair
Midas blenny
Barnacle blenny
Yellow assesor
Black leopard wrasse

 

[Jay Hemdal]

In terms of fish left
Tomini tang
Pygmy wrasse pair
Midas blenny
Barnacle blenny
Yellow assesor
Black leopard wrasse

O.K., not 100% certainty, but I think the fish have Amyloodinium/velvet. I don't see any symptoms of Brooklynella on the assessor. However, that means that the only truly effective treatment would be immediate coppersafe treatment in a hospital tank for all of the fish. I would also give the fish a hydrogen peroxide dip as you move them over (I can give you the calculations for that if you decide to go that route).

Jay

 

[Baronen]

I brought some water into the lfs (no ammonia, no nitrite ph was 8) and showed them a long video of my aquarium and they think it could be stray voltage or scented candles which my fiancée likes burning. Our house is basically one big room and the bedrooms so maybe something is poisoning them?

 

[Baronen]

I am afraid to take drastic action and stress the remaining fish out if it isn’t velvet/brook. I am unsure of what the heck to do. I bought a grounding device as well

 

[mtraylor]

Have you checked the fish for flukes? Fresh water dip will reveal if they have flukes. Then you can treat the display with prazi pro and won't harm corals etc.

The one dead fish with abrashion looked like Uronema. Have had that battle on anthias. First looks like little cut then next day abrasion. 3rd day dead. Will spread on certain fish that are susceptible to it. Didn't bother my tangs or other fish but wiped out anthias and copperbanded butterflies


Hopefully you can figure it out. It's sad to see. Good luck

 

[Baronen]

My tang was acting weird before I left to the lfs and my leopard hadn’t gotten out of the sand yet either. Upon grounding the tank the leopard immediately came out and the tang started grazing 5 minutes later. No idea if this is actually the cause or cure but I’m hoping. I did notice last night the leopard wrasse was randomly shaking his head quickly. Almost like it was getting stung by something

 

[Baronen]

I did install a new Red Sea wave maker maybe 2 weeks ago. A torch randomly started bleaching immediately after. Could it have just been stray voltage? Can that make corals bleach as well?

 

[Lavey29]

I did install a new Red Sea wave maker maybe 2 weeks ago. A torch randomly started bleaching immediately after. Could it have just been stray voltage? Can that make corals bleach as well?

I doubt it is related. Do you see inverts dying? Did you feel any low voltage with your hand in the water? Have you checked all your equipment or used a volt meter? Some prior threads on here post that spinning wave and return pumps can put an insignificant amount of low volts into the water that has no affect on fish or corals. I don't know if this is accurate or not.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I brought some water into the lfs (no ammonia, no nitrite ph was 8) and showed them a long video of my aquarium and they think it could be stray voltage or scented candles which my fiancée likes burning. Our house is basically one big room and the bedrooms so maybe something is poisoning them?

It is NOT stray voltage and if it were scented candles, or something toxic in the water, the invertebrates, being more sensitive, would have issues before the fish did. The only thing that tends to affect fish before most invertebrates is a lack of oxygen. Does the tank have good aeration, like a protein skimmer or a powerhead that breaks the surface tension? If so, then you are chasing a fish disease here and should focus on that.

Jay

 

[Baronen]

It is NOT stray voltage and if it were scented candles, or something toxic in the water, the invertebrates, being more sensitive, would have issues before the fish did. The only thing that tends to affect fish before most invertebrates is a lack of oxygen. Does the tank have good aeration, like a protein skimmer or a powerhead that breaks the surface tension? If so, then you are chasing a fish disease here and should focus on that.

Jay

Yes I’ve got a sump with skimmer and then it flows into a sponge with a sort of waterfall affect so I couldn’t imagine the 02 being low. What about all this being a weird coincidence? The 3 fish were new additions and then the firefish was 1.5 years old, sake with the barnacle blenny and I know they aren’t long lived fish. If another long term additions dies then yes I will take action

 

[Lavey29]

Yes I’ve got a sump with skimmer and then it flows into a sponge with a sort of waterfall affect so I couldn’t imagine the 02 being low. What about all this being a weird coincidence? The 3 fish were new additions and then the firefish was 1.5 years old, sake with the barnacle blenny and I know they aren’t long lived fish. If another long term additions dies then yes I will take action

Do you have strong surface ripple at the top of the tank for gas exchange?

 

[hexcolor reef]

I’ve got reefer 350 and fish are dropping like flies ever since I order some new fish online. I didn’t qt (never have) and I guess I’ve learned my lesson. I ordered two wrasse an Anthias and a jawfish. All came in good shape. One wrasse died the next day. The Anthias was getting picked on by my tomini tang and developed tail rot and I did set up a qt tank for him but he quickly died. Then the other wrasse died a few days ago. Then today a barnacle blenny literally died while I was watching. Darted into some gsp and died. Almost like it had a heart attack. Then tonight. I noticed my helfirichi firefish may have been breathing a little heavy and went to bed a little early. Well I just looked at the tank and it was dead as well. The wrasse and firefish were covered in this thick mucus like substance that I have never seen before.

Besides the Anthias, all have this fish have literally just perished before my eyes. What could be causing this??

Check your ammonia levels