Fish loss

[sresczenko]

Hi! I’m jumping on here to ask a few questions. This week I look my whole group of fish. A flame angel last Wednesday, and my valentine puffer and two pajama cardinals today. I don’t know what the heck happened. My puffer had sand stuck to him when he was still alive when he was resting on sand bed. When he died, he was bloated and squishy not typical like with the other fish that become firm upon death. All my water parameters were fine. Also, in my smaller tank, I lost my lawnmower blenny and two small chromis. Again, water parameters fine.

 

[Privateye]

It sounds like there weren't any disease symptoms in advance, and there aren't any you see now? Some photos could help, but if the fish are lost then it may be too late to ID the disease.

I know you said the water parameters were fine, but could you post the parameters tested and the values you obtained? Perhaps there's something else worth testing.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hi! I’m jumping on here to ask a few questions. This week I look my whole group of fish. A flame angel last Wednesday, and my valentine puffer and two pajama cardinals today. I don’t know what the heck happened. My puffer had sand stuck to him when he was still alive when he was resting on sand bed. When he died, he was bloated and squishy not typical like with the other fish that become firm upon death. All my water parameters were fine. Also, in my smaller tank, I lost my lawnmower blenny and two small chromis. Again, water parameters fine.

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Sorry to hear about the fish loss.

There really isn’t enough to go on here. I recently posted about how to self-diagnose fish diseases. Maybe something in that will strike a familiar chord?

Self-Diagnosis of Common Marine Fish Diseases

Self-Diagnosis of Common Marine Fish Diseases Jay Hemdal, c. 2025 Misdiagnosing fish diseases often leads to ineffective treatments, which can result in the loss of fish. Early and accurate diagnosis is critical for successful treatment. While the Fish Medics at Reef2Reef are trained to...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[W31Olds]

So you have no fish left in either Tank that you could post a Video of? Please describe their behavior in the days before they died.
Eating
Breathing Rate
Fin Condition
Flashing or Scratching
Swimming in Flow
Excessive Hiding
Anything you can think of.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hi! I’m jumping on here to ask a few questions. This week I look my whole group of fish. A flame angel last Wednesday, and my valentine puffer and two pajama cardinals today. I don’t know what the heck happened. My puffer had sand stuck to him when he was still alive when he was resting on sand bed. When he died, he was bloated and squishy not typical like with the other fish that become firm upon death. All my water parameters were fine. Also, in my smaller tank, I lost my lawnmower blenny and two small chromis. Again, water parameters fine.

Is this a newer tank?
You said water was fine- what readings are you getting and how are you testing?
Any crabs or shrimp in the tank?

 

[Dom]

My puffer had sand stuck to him when he was still alive when he was resting on sand bed.

Might specs of sand actually be flukes?

 

[larrysaltisfun]

My puffer had sand stuck to him when he was still alive when he was resting on sand bed.

Might specs of sand actually be flukes?

Or Cryptocaryons

 

[sresczenko]

Thanks for all your feedback. Unfortunately, I don’t have all that info bcuz the pet store tested the water and said everything was in range. I went to another pet store and was told that it could be electrical sparks or surges, even though I have everything plugged in a surge protector so he suggested getting a grounding probe for future. I feel horrible.

 

[W31Olds]

If you don't have a video, this type of information is still very helpful.
Eating
Breathing Rate
Fin Condition
Flashing or Scratching
Swimming in Flow
Excessive Hiding
Anything you can think of.
Do you have a surge protector or a GFCI outlet or GFCI Extension Cord? Two completely different things.
Electrical sparks or surges? Interesting description by someone that clearly knows nothing about Electricity. You may already have a grounded Tank and not know it. Titanium heaters are often grounded.
Anyway, it's unlikely that leakage voltage is causing your fish to die.

 

[Privateye]

I highly doubt it was anything electrical that caused this. I've been shocked by tanks way too many times, and in none of those cases were the animals affected. Your fish died over several days, and you removed them from the tank without noticing stray voltage, so I think this follows more of a disease pattern than an electrical event.

Grounding probes can be useful in certain circumstances, but they're also commonly an "I don't know so buy this" kind of product. There are still people out there selling them to treat lateral line erosion. It won't hurt to have it though. It could help with something some day.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thanks for all your feedback. Unfortunately, I don’t have all that info bcuz the pet store tested the water and said everything was in range. I went to another pet store and was told that it could be electrical sparks or surges, even though I have everything plugged in a surge protector so he suggested getting a grounding probe for future. I feel horrible.

100% you can rule out electrical issues. However, for human safety sake, your aquarium should be plugged into a GFCI outlet protected system.

 

[Ryan15236]

Disease or water parameters.
Salinity or temperature issues? Swings or extremes can cause it. One fish dying setting off ammonia spikes

I have never had a disease that wasn’t accompanied with visual observation that something isn’t right