Fish suddenly dying, please HELP!

[beesnreefs]

I started losing fish all of a sudden. Royal gramma died yesterday. Female bellus angel died this morning. Male lyretail anthias is on the way out right now (laying in the rock work breathing fast).

No visible issues on any of these fish prior to their demise. A few days ago my white-tailed bristletooth tang began showing signs of what looks like black ich:

I ordered PraziPro which is coming today and plan to treat the entire display.

Coincidentally so not sure if it's related, my torches and gonis began acting angry about 2 weeks ago. I also have developed what looks like chrysophytes to me but I don't have a microscope yet to confirm so maybe it's dinos? You can see what my tank looked like yesterday here:


You'll even see the Bellus early on in the vid. I just pulled her out of the tank. This is what she looks like:

I'm at a loss and don't know what to do. Any help is most welcome. This is heartbreaking.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Did you by chance test for ammonia? What's your pH?

Started dosing lanthanum lately?

 

[Dom]

Of your inhabitants, which is the one most recently added and how long ago did you add it?

 

[beesnreefs]

Did you by chance test for ammonia? What's your pH?

Started dosing lanthanum lately?

pH is 8.1 - 8.3 depending on time of day. I don’t test for ammonia but find it hard to imagine I have high ammonia since several other fish seem to be acting and breathing fine.

I have not dosed any lanthanum to this tank

 

[beesnreefs]

Of your inhabitants, which is the one most recently added and how long ago did you add it?

I got two tangs from TSM Aquatics 3 weeks ago. They were delayed so took 48 hours to arrive. The blond naso tang died five days later. The Gem tang is still going strong, or at least appears to be well

 

[Sharkbait19]

Were the fish ever flashing or swimming against the flow? Any loss of appetite?

 

[vetteguy53081]

I started losing fish all of a sudden. Royal gramma died yesterday. Female bellus angel died this morning. Male lyretail anthias is on the way out right now (laying in the rock work breathing fast).

No visible issues on any of these fish prior to their demise. A few days ago my white-tailed bristletooth tang began showing signs of what looks like black ich:

I ordered PraziPro which is coming today and plan to treat the entire display.

Coincidentally so not sure if it's related, my torches and gonis began acting angry about 2 weeks ago. I also have developed what looks like chrysophytes to me but I don't have a microscope yet to confirm so maybe it's dinos? You can see what my tank looked like yesterday here:


You'll even see the Bellus early on in the vid. I just pulled her out of the tank. This is what she looks like:

I'm at a loss and don't know what to do. Any help is most welcome. This is heartbreaking.

Black ich yes on tank. Not chrysophytes but appears to be dino explaining the unhappiness of torch. What is your phosphate and nitrate readings? On the bellus angel, hard to tell anything on bellus angel especially after 2 hours from point of death.
The black ich- Fish will have to go into a quarantine tank.
These are turbellarian worms and likely the Paravortex version which are smaller and appear as grains of black spots
These worms have a single host life cycle producing several juveniles which can last up to 30 days but rarely do. Best is to treat with Praziquantel better known as prazi pro for two 8 day intervals with a water change on day 9.
other option is formalin based medication such as quick cure or ruby Rally Pro starting with a bath for 45 minutes followed by treatment
Do note that Prazi will lower both oxygen and appetite, so an airstone is recommended for added aeration and monitor water quality during treatment.

While fish are in quarantine- The dino. . . . . .
Prepare by starting with a water change and blow this stuff loose with a turkey baster and siphon up loose particles.
Turn lights off (at least white and run blue at 10-15% for your light dependent corals) for 5 days and at night dose 1ml of 3% hydrogen peroxide per 10 gallons for all 5 nights.
During the day dose 1ml of liquid bacteria (such as bacter 7 or XLM) per 10 gallons.
Clean filters daily and DO NOT FEED CORAL FOODS OR ADD NOPOX as it is food for dinos.
Day 5,, you can start with blue lights - ramping up and work your white lights up slowly then run tank fishless for an additional 45 days

 

[beesnreefs]

Were the fish ever flashing or swimming against the flow? Any loss of appetite?

The fish that have died I never saw flashing. The gramma was avoiding flow when I pulled him to a hospital tank. He died 24 hours later.

My Midas Blenny and Radiant Wrasse have been flashing periodically.

 

[beesnreefs]

Black ich yes on tank. Not chrysophytes but appears to be dino explaining the unhappiness of torch. What is your phosphate and nitrate readings? On the bellus angel, hard to tell anything on bellus angel especially after 2 hours from point of death.
The black ich- Fish will have to go into a quarantine tank.
These are turbellarian worms and likely the Paravortex version which are smaller and appear as grains of black spots
These worms have a single host life cycle producing several juveniles which can last up to 30 days but rarely do. Best is to treat with Praziquantel better known as prazi pro for two 8 day intervals with a water change on day 9.
other option is formalin based medication such as quick cure or ruby Rally Pro starting with a bath for 45 minutes followed by treatment
Do note that Prazi will lower both oxygen and appetite, so an airstone is recommended for added aeration and monitor water quality during treatment.

While fish are in quarantine- The dino. . . . . .
Prepare by starting with a water change and blow this stuff loose with a turkey baster and siphon up loose particles.
Turn lights off (at least white and run blue at 10-15% for your light dependent corals) for 5 days and at night dose 1ml of 3% hydrogen peroxide per 10 gallons for all 5 nights.
During the day dose 1ml of liquid bacteria (such as bacter 7 or XLM) per 10 gallons.
Clean filters daily and DO NOT FEED CORAL FOODS OR ADD NOPOX as it is food for dinos.
Day 5,, you can start with blue lights - ramping up and work your white lights up slowly then run tank fishless for an additional 45 days

Phosphates steady at 0.04
Nitrates have been a battle. I'm dosing NeoNitro now. Last test they were at about 1 ppm.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Phosphates steady at 0.04
Nitrates have been a battle. I'm dosing NeoNitro now. Last test they were at about 1 ppm.

Hold off on neo product.
use the formula I gave you which Does work, After all has cleared which will, then add neo

 

[MnFish1]

Many times, black ich (turbellarians) do not require treatment - the usual rule of thumb is if there are more than 20 or so spots or if there is any sign of illness. (Clearly - yours has more than 20 spots. Prazipro in the display - for 8 days - followed by another 8 day treatment should take care of it without moving the fish to a QT tank (again - increase aeration). Prazipro also does not always work. The fallow period is listed as 2-4 weeks - however if you treat your display - you should not need a fallow period.

However, that said, it does not explain why your other fish are dying - and suggests that another illness is present( Or - since your corals seem angry - possibly a chemical issue) , even if you can't see it. Can you give any more information about your parameters, etc? The black ich will not have caused those other deaths. You may very well need a hospital tank etc in any case.

Also - I doubt that your corals are being affected by 'Dinos', and I would defer trying to attack that problem until you have your fish issues under control.

 

[beesnreefs]

Many times, black ich (turbellarians) do not require treatment - the usual rule of thumb is if there are more than 20 or so spots or if there is any sign of illness. (Clearly - yours has more than 20 spots. Prazipro in the display - for 8 days - followed by another 8 day treatment should take care of it without moving the fish to a QT tank (again - increase aeration). Prazipro also does not always work. The fallow period is listed as 2-4 weeks - however if you treat your display - you should not need a fallow period.

However, that said, it does not explain why your other fish are dying - and suggests that another illness is present( Or - since your corals seem angry - possibly a chemical issue) , even if you can't see it. Can you give any more information about your parameters, etc? The black ich will not have caused those other deaths. You may very well need a hospital tank etc in any case.

Also - I doubt that your corals are being affected by 'Dinos', and I would defer trying to attack that problem until you have your fish issues under control.

Current parameters:

Alk - 7.7
Calc - 410
Mag - 1300
Phosphates - 0.04
Nitrates - 0.05 - 1
pH - 8.3

I'm truly at a loss with the fish deaths. 3 fish have died quickly in the last 3 days, all appeared healthy prior. I've seen no signs of obvious disease (velvet, ich, etc.). Royal gramma has been with me over 2 years and was fat and active. 2 days ago began hovering in an upper corner (where there was lower flow). Yesterday morning laying on sand. I moved him to a small hospital tank with heavy aeration and methylene blue and he progressively worsened and died within 24 hours. Found female Bellus dead on the sand this morning. Male Anthias was hiding in the rock and breathing very heavy - died within an hour. Other than the tang, all other fish seem generally normal and ate today.

Only other thing I can think of is during weekly maintenance this weekend I blasted all the rock and sand with a turkey baster to try and remove the snotty gunk. Then did a small water change.

I did put a bag of carbon in the sump this morning and have a pending ICP test from Triton I'm hoping comes back with results this week.

My primary concern, in order is:

1. Preventing any more fish loss
2. Reviving the torches and gonis that are mad

But other than the PraziPro for the tang, I'm at a loss on what to do.

 

[MnFish1]

PS - looking at your video (the frustrating tank one) - your water looks cloudy to me - suggesting a bacterial bloom of some kind - which can dramatically lower oxygen levels. It may be that its an artifact of lighting or the video.

 

[beesnreefs]

PS - looking at your video (the frustrating tank one) - your water looks cloudy to me - suggesting a bacterial bloom of some kind - which can dramatically lower oxygen levels. It may be that its an artifact of lighting or the video.

The water is a bit cloudy for sure. Your perception is spot on.

If that's the case (bacteria bloom), do you have a recommendation?

 

[MnFish1]

Current parameters:

Alk - 7.7
Calc - 410
Mag - 1300
Phosphates - 0.04
Nitrates - 0.05 - 1
pH - 8.3

I'm truly at a loss with the fish deaths. 3 fish have died quickly in the last 3 days, all appeared healthy prior. I've seen no signs of obvious disease (velvet, ich, etc.). Royal gramma has been with me over 2 years and was fat and active. 2 days ago began hovering in an upper corner (where there was lower flow). Yesterday morning laying on sand. I moved him to a small hospital tank with heavy aeration and methylene blue and he progressively worsened and died within 24 hours. Found female Bellus dead on the sand this morning. Male Anthias was hiding in the rock and breathing very heavy - died within an hour. Other than the tang, all other fish seem generally normal and ate today.

Only other thing I can think of is during weekly maintenance this weekend I blasted all the rock and sand with a turkey baster to try and remove the snotty gunk. Then did a small water change.

I did put a bag of carbon in the sump this morning and have a pending ICP test from Triton I'm hoping comes back with results this week.

My primary concern, in order is:

1. Preventing any more fish loss
2. Reviving the torches and gonis that are mad

But other than the PraziPro for the tang, I'm at a loss on what to do.

Just to be sure - there were no other new additions to the tank other than the gem tang and the other dead one? Did you QT them?

 

[MnFish1]

The water is a bit cloudy for sure. Your perception is spot on.

If that's the case (bacteria bloom), do you have a recommendation?

Increase oxygenation - otherwise it is likely to go away on its own. You may want to cut back on feeding for a day. One issue - you'll want to remove carbon, and assuming your skimmer is in the sump - take off the collection cup - so that aeration is maintained - but the prazipro is not removed.

 

[MichaelReefer]

The water is a bit cloudy for sure. Your perception is spot on.

If that's the case (bacteria bloom), do you have a recommendation?

Air stone on blast, maybe take skimmer collection cup off and run it.

 

[beesnreefs]

Just to be sure - there were no other new additions to the tank other than the gem tang and the other dead one? Did you QT them?

No other fish additions. I did not QT them myself since all my fish have come from reputable QT vendors (TSM Aquatics, Dr Reef)

Increase oxygenation - otherwise it is likely to go away on its own. You may want to cut back on feeding for a day. One issue - you'll want to remove carbon, and assuming your skimmer is in the sump - take off the collection cup - so that aeration is maintained - but the prazipro is not removed.

I haven’t applied the PraziPro yet. Once I get some today I’ll remove the carbon. Just thought it might help in the meantime I’m case there was a toxin in the water

 

[Dom]

Phosphates steady at 0.04
Nitrates have been a battle. I'm dosing NeoNitro now. Last test they were at about 1 ppm.

I don't think this is a water quality issue.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Just chiming in here - I also noticed the slightly cloudy water. For a split second that I could see the bellus, it looks severely parasitized - could be flukes, which also matches with the other tang.
Can you check the respiration rates on the remaining fish? They should for the most part be breathing less than 150 beats per minutes, and 120 would be better.
Jay